In the spring Nielsen ratings, 94 WIP once again thumped 97.5 the Fanatic in the men 25 to 54 demographic. The morning and afternoon shows continue to put up huge numbers and battle 93.3 WMMR for middle-aged male supremacy.

The Beasley-owned Fanatic did enjoy slight increases across the board, with John Kincade and Andrew Salciunas jumping from a 3.5 number to 3.7 and Tyrone Johnson and Ricky Bo logging a 4.6 with The Best Show Ever?.

What’s most interesting perhaps, is the 12.5 number posted by Joe Giglio and Hugh Douglas, which was the best number the duo has turned in since taking over the time slot about a year and a half ago. Since the full debut in the spring of 2023, they’re up 4.5 ratings points, as you see here:

There’s an asterisk on the 2023 winter book because it included Joe DeCamara and Jon Ritchie before they replaced Angelo Cataldi in the morning. That book took place during WIP’s big transition.

But the reason this is “interesting” is because of Mike Missanelli’s midday return, and the common thought that if 97.5 was going to gain ground somewhere, then focusing on Giglio and Douglas was the place to start. Before Anthony Gargano left for PHLY, the messy lawsuit took place, midday was the best-performing Fanatic daypart, and the gap between stations was smallest from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Now, with Giglio and Douglas improving their number, the gap is wider than it once was.


Here’s what that gap has looked like over the past six books:

  • spring book 2024: WIP +9.4
  • winter book 2024: WIP +7.6
  • fall book 2023: WIP +7.0
  • summer book 2023: WIP +4.1
  • spring book 2023: WIP +4.9
  • winter book 2023: WIP +11.4

After starting in the 4-5 range, the gap between WIP midday and Fanatic midday has increased to 9.4 share points over five ratings periods. Of course, it’s been a revolving door at WPEN in that time frame, with the station cycling through Gargano, Salciunas, and Bob Cooney + co-hosts.

The question is what makes for success from Beasley’s perspective. Hence the question mark added to the end of the headline. Mike would not necessarily have to beat WIP in this slot, nor was he beating WIP in P.M. drive when he left two years ago. But if you could hypothetically get that midday number up into the 5, 6 or 7 range, that’s a great start. Advertisers will look at that improved number and see Mike’s presence and may be more willing to spend their dollars with him. You don’t have to have monster ratings to make decent money, and with the relatively small Nielsen sample size, even if a handful of participants change their habits, you can see a notable shift in the numbers.

But based on recent trends, it does look like a steeper task than we had originally thought.