RADIO WARS: Contract Extension for Mike Missanelli
In recent years, the RADIO WARS have died down. Outside of Joe “The Hammer” DeCamara hanging up on Howard Eskin, there’s been very little in the way of terrestrial conflict, be it internal or external. There have been guerrilla movements and demonstrations of military might, but no OUTRIGHT battles in the year 2021.
However, one item has yet to be addressed, and that is Mike Missanelli’s future at 97.5 the Fanatic. Does he have a future there?
Last December, you may recall that Mike’s contract was extended another year. We received something like four different explanations for this. It was weird. One source said it just “triggered” based on performance and another said it was an exercised option. Whatever; it doesn’t really matter.
What we’ve been told this year is that Beasley was originally NOT going to renew Mike’s contract, but ultimately a short-term deal was agreed upon, which will keep Mike with the Fanatic for an unknown amount of time, perhaps until spring or summer. They’re essentially kicking the can down the road, and a Mike departure could take place at that point, with him going out on his terms (or they just kick the can down the road again). Mike launched his personal website not long ago and has pursuits outside of radio that interest him.
One thing to consider is that we’re in the middle of football season, which is sacred in local radio. It would be rough to move on from your longest-tenured and most recognizable host in December, when the Eagles are still alive in the playoff race. Even as a non-rights holder, the Fanatic still talks predominantly Eagles football from August to February (and every other fucking month, if we’re being honest). Pushing this down the road to spring or summer makes sense, considering that that’s the slow part of the year where listenership is down across the board.
There are plenty of more details to go through here. All kinds of CRAP to sift through. If I get more, I’ll update the story in the name of journalism, lest we be branded as “salacious” bloggers.
EDIT – as a generic observation, Mike seems bored doing his show, like he’s checked out a bit, right? you get that vibe, don’t you?