We reported on Thursday that a shuffling of the 97.5 the Fanatic lineup, which should be announced today, includes the possibility of a Bob Cooney and Mike Missanelli midday show. I’m sticking with the word “possibility” because my understanding is that this is not a finished deal and there is no signed contract. Therefore, if it does get to the finish line, it would probably be officially revealed at a later date. Jon Marks touched on all of this Thursday night, saying this on his YouTube show:

“That is absolutely something that I have heard. While it’s not a done deal yet, according to my Fanatic sources, both on and off the air, in programming and not in programming, that Mike Missanelli is returning to the Fanatic. And he will be co-hosting with Bob Cooney middays. And Andrew Salciunas and John Kincade will be mornings, and Andrew will actually be driving the show, will be leading the show..”

Jon says that Mike only came into the picture in the last two weeks, which would explain why nobody in the local media had heard anything about this. The other lineup changes – Salciunas, Egan, Cooney – were first discussed months ago, but Mike’s name never came up, only as a total dark horse, outlier type of candidate. After the way Mike exited in May of 2022, it was hard to believe that a Fanatic reunion would be possible, at least with VP/Market Manager Joe Bell remaining in charge of Beasley’s Philadelphia cluster.

Since leaving WPEN, Mike has done a podcast for BetRivers and hosted an Eagles postgame show for JAKIB Media. He authored a children’s book and is part owner in a South Jersey winery. The split with Beasley was random and messy and my personal thought was that something would have to change to facilitate a reunion. Maybe the addition of Program Director Scott Masteller is that change.

We’ll see what happens over the next few days. The “major programming announcement” was teased on Thursday and will take place at noon today, during the midday show, but again, I don’t think a Mike/Bob thing is being revealed Friday.