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Why Joe Giglio is Actually Good at His Job
By Tim Reilly
Published:
Editor’s note: I hate this column and didn’t even ask for this column, but Tim is mostly right
I’m going to suggest something controversial, a take so hot in this corner of the internet that Eliot Shorr-Parks would be proud:
Joe Giglio, the 94.1 WIP Midday Show host who earned a well-deserved heaping of scorn on Wednesday for suggesting that the Eagles should consider benching Jalen Hurts, is very good at his job.
Let me explain before rushing to the comments to declare me a clickbait artist. This post is not an attempt to aggravate, but to understand. It’s worth considering for a moment the attention economy in which we live, the acts that secure market share, and the reason why they’re successful.
Our esteemed editor Kevin Kinkead is one of the best in the business at breaking down the entertainment product masquerading as sports talk at WIP. He declared the station “entry level performative outrage at this current point in time.” He also asserted that “they drag everyone down into the Eagles muck and scrape the bottom of the content barrel with fake outrage and idiotic declarations.”
Kevin was responding to a broadside delivered on X by WIP colleague-turned-competitor Jon Marks, whose show runs opposite Giglio’s program with former Eagle Hugh Douglas:
Here’s the thing: I agree with Kevin and Jon. Their assessment of Giglio’s bit specifically and the modus operandi at WIP generally is impossible to dispute. We all know what they’re doing. “Fake Take Radio,” as Jon hilariously dubbed it.
It’s cheap, silly, lowest-common-denominator material appealing to a fan’s basest instincts. When the Eagles are good, Giglio and company exploit the joy. When the football team is struggling, which is better for business, they stoke the outrage. Happiness, after all, gets boring. It doesn’t rate well in the long term. WIP instead aims to place the Philly sports fan in his or her natural state: miserable and frustrated.
At its core, the WIP business model prioritizes the gut over the brain. It’s the surest path to securing a mass audience. To paraphrase a line from Pearl Jam, Kevin’s favorite band: “We don’t want to think. We want to feel.” (editor’s note: that song stinks)
Why does it work? For the same reason why McDonald’s is so successful. They offer a product people want. The food isn’t particularly nutritious, but, in its way, it’s good.
Just as fast food is affordable, WIP is accessible. You don’t need to be a student of football to understand the conversation. Giglio and Douglas aren’t breaking down the All 22 film and taking their listeners on a deep dive of their findings. This is a program designed for the person on the go, listening in the car on the way to work or while running an errand.
And that person has choices that extend well beyond the offerings on the traditional dial. Satellite radio changed the game, but the explosion of the internet has revolutionized it in ways with which we have not fully reckoned. Podcasts abound for whichever flavor of sports coverage one prefers.
Yet, WIP abides. In fact, they do a robust trade. Giglio in particular has earned solid ratings since his move from a solo act in the evenings to a tandem with Douglas in the daytime. While terrestrial radio has struggled to maintain a foothold in other parts of the country, as evidenced by the financial woes of WIP’s parent company Audacy and The Fanatic’s Beasley Media Group, Philadelphia has continued to support its local offerings.
For whatever reason, there is a sizable, receptive audience in Philly for outrageous takes. People here must like to hear Chuck from Mt. Airy declare that Heisman Trophy finalist and Super Bowl MVP Jalen Hurts is today’s version of Kordell Stewart, because I had the privilege of catching that observation twice a few weeks ago (once when I was dropping off my daughter at preschool, and later when I was picking her up). On an unrelated note, perhaps one call per day is a fair allotment for Chuck.
It’s not necessarily that there is a critical mass agreeing that Hurts should be benched. This game isn’t about forging consensus around a nuanced assessment of the quarterback’s perfomance. It’s about provoking the audience to respond. And, in that environment, the listener who agrees with Joe is as valuable as the listener who disagrees. All that matters is that you’re listening.
In a follow-up post, Marks ascribed his competition as “professional wrestling on the radio.” That’s exactly right. Joe Giglio is a performer, an entertainer. His job, in wrestling parlance, is to cut a promo that gets over with the audience. If he gets you to care, he’s done his job.
There are people who do care. They think Jalen Hurts stinks. HE STINKS! Why can’t he move the offense down the field like other elite quarterbacks? How hard is it to throw the ball to A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, or Dallas Goedert? Get that bum out and give Tanner McKee a chance!
And then there are people who don’t care at all. They will tell you, loudly, how much they don’t care. What the hell is Joe Giglio thinking? He’s an idiot. Why doesn’t he understand the game the way I do? Does he not realize Jalen Hurts’s contract is unmovable for at least the next two seasons? Kevin Patullo’s lack of creativity is the problem. Injuries and inconsistent play along the offensive line have hampered the offense. Howie Roseman should have been more aggressive addressing the team’s deficiencies in the offseason.
No matter which path you choose, Joe Giglio wins. You clicked on the link. You tuned into the show. You wrote about his take, spreading it to even more people.*
Even if you’re a smart mark, you’re still a mark.
In my case, I don’t mind being a sucker for this lowbrow content, as long as I consume it in small doses. I don’t know Joe Giglio personally, but I do like the way he presents himself on the radio. His takes are crazy, sure, but he’s not bombastic or self-righteous. He doesn’t take himself too seriously or act like he’s better than his audience. I never get the sense that he holds his callers in contempt or laughs at their expense. It’s good, clean fun, even if it’s dumb fun.
You can call Joe Giglio a clown, but in a world obsessed with image and oversaturated with outrage, we’re all performers wearing masks. We might as well enjoy the show.
*Kinkead: The only thing I disagree with is this constant assertion that we and others ‘are giving them exactly what they want.’ I’ve said for years now that attention is not currency. Engagement is only meaningful if you do something with it. For instance, if 700 people are talking about you online, but all 700 think you’re an idiot, then what did you achieve? You generated some rev share on social and maybe pushed some programmatic clicks to your website, which doesn’t pay very much to begin with, certainly not in contributing to a WIP-sized wage bill. The recipients of rage bait are not tuning in to the live stream or joining the Nielsen PPM program or buying a product from one of your advertisers. Engagement farming, to carry the theme, is like growing a crop. Do you have something to harvest it with?
Tim Reilly is a freelance writer from Northeast Philadelphia. He can be reached at reillyt7@gmail.com.