Now that the Eagles’ season is over, we know who will take over for legendary 94.1 WIP broadcaster Angelo Cataldi. In early 2023, Cataldi will be replaced by Joe DeCamara and former Eagles fullback Jon Ritchie, who now co-host WIP’s midday show. Rhea Hughes, Cataldi’s longtime cohost, will continue to appear on the brand-new morning show. Along with Joe Waechter, the seasoned producer of the morning program, James Seltzer, a midday producer, will join the group.
The news was announced by Cataldi, 71, on Thursday morning, the day before the Philadelphia Phillies’ World Series game against the Houston Astros. DeCamara declared, “I think we’re going to build a great team.” I have a lot of optimism. Cataldi requested that the final 30 minutes of his shows be the best because he would be sleeping by then.
Al Morganti, Cataldi’s other seasoned cohost who has been with the station since the early 1990s, will continue in an unspecified role but will not be a part of the new morning show. Morganti also contributes to pre-and post-game shows for NBC Sports Philadelphia as a Flyers pundit.
Ava Graham, a former WIP nighttime anchor whose father Big Daddy Graham passed away in September 2021, is switching from on-air to the assistant brand manager at WIP.
Since October 2016, when the station moved former Eagles linebacker Ike Reese to the afternoon shift and said farewell to Michael Barkann of NBC Sports Philadelphia, DeCamara and Ritchie, who spent the final two seasons of his seven-year NFL career with the Eagles, have cohosted WIP’s midday show.
Before working at WIP, DeCamara spent eleven years at 97.5 The Fanatic providing nationally syndicated programming for ESPN Radio. From 2013 to 2014, Ritchie co-hosted the Artie Lang Show on DirecTV in addition to working as an analyst for ESPN.
It is the first big scheduling adjustment that WIP’s program director Rod Lakin has made since taking over for Spike Eskin, who resigned to run sister station WFAN in New York City, a little more than a year ago.
The news ends the extensive rumors that had been going around the sports media in Philadelphia. On Crossing Broad, there were rumors that Mike Golic, the former co-host of the syndicated morning show Mike & Mike on ESPN Radio, would take over for his son, Mike Golic Jr. However, both rejected the offer on social media in June.
The longtime host of the 97.5-afternoon show, Mike Missanelli Another candidate was the Fanatic who abruptly departed the station in May. From 1992 to 2003 and again from July 2005 to March 2006, when he was fired for assaulting a producer during a live show, Missanelli worked for WIP. Sources claim that the station never looked for a qualified sports commentator.
Weeknights between 6 and 10 p.m. will continue to be hosted by Joe Giglio, who already does so. This choice appears obvious: Joe Giglio will continue to host weeknights between 6 and 10 p.m. (when the Phillies are not playing). Since joining WIP in 2013, Giglio’s nighttime shift has consistently received high marks.
According to Jeff Blumenthal of the Philadelphia Business Journal, retired Eagles defensive end Hugh Douglas had spoken with Audacy, the parent company of WIP, about coming back to the station. Douglas cohosts the morning show on Atlanta’s 92.9 The Game. He formerly worked for WIP in the late 2000s.
Since Cataldi joined WIP in 1989, the program has maintained a dominant position in Philadelphia radio’s ratings. Throughout the years, Cataldi has also maintained a rotating cast of cohosts, including former Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr., former player and Flyers commentator Keith Jones, former offensive lineman Ross Tucker, and Inquirer reporter Marcus Hayes.
Read More: Angelo Cataldi Has Been Replaced as the Lead Actor in WIP by Joe Decamara and Jon Ritchie.
The decision is made at a difficult time for Audacy, which, like many media companies, is dealing with a depressed advertising market. In August, the stock price of the company plunged below $1 per share, breaking New York Stock Exchange regulations (it closed yesterday at $0.36 per share). Approximately 5% of the company’s approximately 5,000 employees were let off a few weeks later, and it has lost $1 billion since 2018.
Before the market opens on November 8, Audacy will release its third-quarter 2022 revenue.
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