What was once is again. Or something like that.

Rob Tornoe of Philly.com is reporting – or at least speculating – that Tony Bruno could become the permanent co-host of the 97.5 morning show:

The most surprising name I’ve heard mentioned more than once is Bruno, the veteran sports talker who has been successfully podcasting since abruptly walking off his top-rated afternoon show on WIP in July 2015, a show he co-hosted with Josh Innes. Innes was subsequently fired by former co-host and current WIP program director Spike Eskin, and now hosts a sports talk show in Houston.

…

Bruno, who I’m told would consider joining Gargano if the situation were right, would have a lot to overcome before he joined the station. Before his stint at WIP, Bruno worked for The Fanatic for four years as a midday host alongside Harry Mayes before walking away after a contract dispute in 2014. If the station and Bruno could agree on a contract and salary, next on the list would be mending a rift that formed during his time at WIP with top-rated afternoon host Mike Missanelli.

The maestro checked with his sources, but none of them have returned my requests – mesah thinks they are a bit upset about our 610-632… jokes (as well they should be) – which makes me think there could be some smoke to this fire.

You may recall that, last month, I wrote that there would likely be a new full-time co-host on the morning show and that Harry Mayes could be sans Rob Ellis, who announced his departure from 97.5 last Friday, by the fall:

The 97.5 morning show has lost two of its original four on-air personalities– Jon Marks left on his own accord and went to WIP, and Maureen Williams was fired earlier this year. That has left Gargano with his longtime producer, Jamie Lynch. The two of them have a good rapport, but the morning show lacks an update person and has been using Eytan Shander as what feels like a short-term co-host. And it should be telling that on their website, 97.5 has a picture of only Gargano for its morning show, when it used to have a picture of all four personalities– Gargano, Marks, Lynch and Williams. The result is a show that has struggled to find its place in the market or pose any real threat to Cataldi. I would expect to see an addition to the show before football season.

In the mid-days, the picture is even more bleak. Harry and Rob, who, like, literally lifted our shtick (more on that later), just got trounced by DeCamara and Ritchie. One might wonder if 97.5 would consider pairing Jason Myrtetus, currently Missanelli’s producer and the station’s assistant program director, with Mayes. The two of them had good chemistry and received good feedback when they filled in for Missanelli when he was out after back surgery. Anecdotally, that’s the only sports talk radio show I’ve seen positive Tweets about in a while. People seemed to like the change of pace and authenticity. That pairing would make some sense in mid-days. Myrtetus also just announced that he was launching a hockey podcast, which will give him some space to talk puck given the fact that he’s currently on a show that seemingly refuses to do so.

The plan has always been to replace Shander with a permanent solution and to let Ellis walk.

Bruno and Gargano have a good rapport – as evidenced by Gargano’s appearance on Bruno’s podcast last week – and would add to the Italian-guys-in-the-morning thing that Philly loves so much. HOWEVER, the addition of Bruno would automatically make it an “old-school” show, which I’m not exactly sure is the way to endear yourselves to a younger, more progressive audience, especially as the Sixers expect to dominate so much of the coverage.

A dominant figure looms. A return is braced for. THE DRUMS SNAP: