After several months of dilly dallying, Mike Missanelli’s 97.5 the Fanatic return is official. They brought him in for Friday’s morning show and announced he’ll be back in mid-August, hosting middays with Bill Colarulo:

Mike is 68 now. He left the Fanatic a little more than two years ago, somewhat randomly, on a Tuesday afternoon. He had been doing a BetRivers podcast and some side work for JAKIB Media following the departure.

At this point, it feels like 97.5 needs Mike more than Mike needs 97.5. The Fanatic is getting thumped by 94 WIP in the Nielsen ratings and just doesn’t have much juice at all these days. They needed something, anything, to move the needle and drive interest in the station, so this feels like a box checker. After Mike’s departure, Beasley became entangled in the Anthony Gargano lawsuit, Cuz departed for PHLY, and they reshuffled a lineup that no longer included Missanelli, Gargano, Devon Givens, Jamie Lynch, Pat Egan, and Jen Scordo, the latter two laid off at the beginning of 2024. Bob Cooney was dismissed to make room for Mike’s return while John Kincade and Andrew Salciunas man the morning show and Tyrone Johnson hosts P.M. drive with Ricky Bo. Weekends have been handled by a combination of Colarulo, Kevin Cooney, Dei Lynam, and the youngish trio of Ray Dunne, Connor Thomas, and Tom Alvord.

Going back about 10-12 years now, the talent churn at the Fanatic has seen the following departures:

  • Missanelli (now back)
  • Tony Bruno
  • Harry Mayes
  • Jason Myrtetus
  • Jon Marks
  • Joe DeCamara
  • Sean Brace
  • Nick Kayal
  • Tom Byrne
  • Dan Schwartzman
  • Matt Nahigian, Eric Johnson, Eric Camille, Chuck D’Amico
  • Lynch
  • Hunter Brody
  • Natalie Egenolf
  • Marc Farzetta
  • Tra Thomas
  • James Seltzer
  • Phil from Mount Airy
  • Vai Sikahema
  • John Gonzalez
  • Rob Ellis
  • Jody Mac
  • Pat Gallen
  • Eytan Shander
  • Matt Lombardo
  • Sam Wilson
  • Joe Staszak
  • Kevin McAlpin
  • Rob Maaddi
  • Tyler Zulli

And there are probably a few more I’m forgetting, but there hasn’t been a ton of consistency over there. WIP has been hit with a lot of retirements and other movements as well, like Angelo Cataldi, Glen Macnow, and Jonny Marks, but they’ve successfully shuffled the deck within the framework of their Eagles-heavy lineup. When you listen to WIP, you know you’re getting a lead host paired with a former Philadelphia Eagle, and you will be bludgeoned to death with football talk. They leverage their position as the Birds and Phillies rights holder and stick to a formula that works.


With the Fanatic, what even is the formula? What’s the strategy? They’ve got the Sixers radio rights, but lost their best Sixers hosts in Cooney and Givens. They have the Flyers rights but don’t talk hockey. They have the Union rights, which probably should have stayed with The Gambler. If the Fanatic plays the hits and goes Eagles-heavy, they don’t have half the football upside that WIP does. And if they talk Phillies, they can lean on Ricky Bo, but again, no rights holder strength there. So you ask yourself if it makes sense to talk about everything WIP doesn’t, or try to beat them at their own game without the same resources.

Say what you will about Mike and his past transgressions, but in a world of shallow radio hot takers, he is not that. He’s not going to come on the airwaves and declare that Vic Fangio must be fired if the Eagles start 1-3. He’s not going to have the producer put out a poll asking how concerned you are about some stupid thing Jalen Hurts said at a press conference. You’ll get more depth to the discussion from someone who has seen a lot of shit in 68 years. But he’s gotta keep it on topic. We’ve got an election coming up in a few months and if he strays from the path and starts talking about Donald Trump, or, god forbid, unpaid internships, then this thing could go off the rails again. No headphone throwing or Beth Mowins criticism. Stick to sports and we’re good.

Mike historically performed well in the Nielsen books over the years, but was losing consistently to Jonny Marks and Ike Reese towards the end of his first stint. Now he comes in to compete against Joe Giglio and Hugh Douglas in a time slot where 97.5 might be able to gain a foothold. People seem to think that’s the best entry point if you’re going to take back some of the WIP audience.

Regardless, 97.5 had to make some kind of splashy move. They needed something to move the needle, which wasn’t just stuck. It was rusted out entirely. In this analogy, Mikey Miss is an industrial-sized barrel of WD-40, we think.