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Sports Radio WIP Parts Ways With Josh Innes

Jason Barrett

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Josh Innes’ time has expired at Sports Radio 94 WIP in Philadelphia. The talented and polarizing sports talk show host was fired prior to his afternoon program on Wednesday.

“We can confirm that Josh Innes is no longer with WIP,” said a WIP spokesperson said in a written statement. “Various station personalities will fill in during the afternoon show until a new host is announced.”

Marc Farzetta and Hollis Thomas hosted Wednesday’s show. No announcement has been made regarding the rest of the week.

The decision to drop Innes came the day after the afternoon host verbally criticized competitor Mike Missanelli and 97.5 The Fanatic for their participating in a story involving a white producer creating a black character to call in to their show.

Innes drew the ire of some listeners after sharing a photo on social media of a performer in blackface. He posted the image in response to the controversy over the incident at The Fanatic. It wasn’t the first time Innes came under fire. He was previously suspended in January after using a racial epithet to describe Philadelphia Eagles Center Jason Kelce.

David Brody, Innes’ agent, blamed WIP program director Spike Eskin for the relationship with Innes becoming sour. Eskin moved from hosting alongside Innes in afternoons to managing him when former boss Andy Bloom (the man who hired Innes in Philadelphia) lost his job due to CBS layoffs.

“Josh didn’t forget how to attract an audience in January 2016,” Brody said of his ratings decline after Bloom’s departure. “He lost a manager who knew how to manage him. He was suspended within 30 days of that managerial change. That has brought us to where we are today.”

Innes’s tenure in Philadelphia provided mixed results. Although he had his run ins with management and paid the price for a few on-air mistakes, he also recorded high ratings when paired with Tony Bruno. From February 2015 to July 2015 the duo gained the upper hand on Missanelli, beating him head to head in the ratings. When Bruno departed though after six months, the program went through a series of changes which eventually reduced the show’s momentum.

Following Bruno’s exit, Innes was paired with former Eagles defensive tackle Hollis Thomas and Eskin. Ratings for the show were strong out of the gate. But when Eskin left the show to become the station’s head programming boss, the decline began to take place.

The inconsistency with the show, combined with Innes’ love/hate relationship with local listeners led to the show experiencing a big drop in the numbers. For the past nine months, Missanelli has won the head to head battle against Innes consistently, leading to speculation that WIP wouldn’t retain him when his contract expired at the end of 2016.

With Josh now out of the picture, the big questions become, who fills his vacancy? Does the new afternoon show follow Innes’ playbook or explore a different creative direction? And which radio station will take a chance on adding Innes?

Making things more difficult for WIP is the fact that Missanelli has been on fire at The Fanatic and shows no signs of slowing down. To unseat him in the top spot won’t be easy but Eskin now has an opportunity to add someone who fits his vision, and demonstrate that he has the right blueprint to lead WIP to a stronger tomorrow. What happens next will tell us a lot about the future state of the afternoon sports radio battle in the city of brotherly love.

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Former 670 The Score Host ‘Big Papa’ Tommy Williams Has Died

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Photo of Tommy Williams
Courtesy: Lakeshore Public Media

Tommy Williams, who was known for a decade as ‘Big Papa’ Tommy Williams on 670 The Score, died on Wednesday at the age of 66.

Williams began his broadcasting career in his hometown of Gary, Indiana in 1982 at WLTH before moving on to The Score. In 2003, Williams became the PA Announcer for the Gary Southshore RailCats of the American Association where he had his signature call to get the attention of the fans, “People, People, People.”

A story in The Times of Northwest Indiana said, “The longtime RailCats public address announcer and Lakeshore Public Media sports journalist was known for broadcasting countless games, interviewing countless athletes and covering Region sports at all levels. The Gary native and co-host of “Prep Sports Report,” “Prep Football Report,” and “Lakeshore PBS Scoreboard” often signed off shows saying, “Gary, Indiana, you know I love you.”

“The cadence he had in his voice echoed across the Region in a way we may never see again. He was widely known and widely loved,” Tom Maloney, vice president of radio operations at Lakeshore Public Media told the paper.

“He’d want to be remembered as the voice of Lakeshore sports,” his Regionally Speaking co-host and producer Dee Dotson told The Times. “Most people will remember him for covering prep sports all the way up to semi-pros. He’ll be remembered for treating each of his subjects like they were world champions. His depth of knowledge of sports at all levels is commendable. He was a walking encyclopedia of stats.” 

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Compass Media Networks Promotes Three Members to Oversee Play-by-Play Sports Platform

“It is our pleasure to give these three talented executives their day in the sun, knowing that they will continue to work incredibly hard to carry on this tradition of excellence.”

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Logo for Compass Media Networks

Compass Media Networks has announced the promotions of three long-standing executives, Robert Blum, Tyler Brewer, and Chris Kleiber, who will collectively oversee the content creation, production, and distribution of the company’s play-by-play sports platform.

“For over 16 years, Compass Media Networks has set a standard of excellence for national play-by-play sports with Chris, Rob, and Tyler playing a vital part in our success,” said Peter Kosann, CEO/Founder of Compass Media Networks. “It is our pleasure to give these three talented executives their day in the sun, knowing that they will continue to work incredibly hard to carry on this tradition of excellence.”

Robet Blum has been appointed Vice President & General Manager of Sports and will also continue to serve as Vice President of Affiliate Sales for News-Talk and Sports. Tyler Brewer has been appointed Executive Producer – Sports Programming. And Chris Kleiber has been appointed Senior Producer – Sports Programming.

Compass Media Networks broadcasts annually over 100 play-by-play sporting events involving college men’s basketball and football (including the Big Ten Tournament and the Big Ten Championship Game), NFL 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. Sunday Doubleheaders, and complete coverage of the Dallas Cowboys and Las Vegas Raiders. The broadcasts are distributed across hundreds of terrestrial sports, news-talk and music stations as well as digital distribution platforms such as SiriusXM, Verizon Mobile, and the Varsity App.

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Charley Steiner Injured; Tim Neverett to Handle Dodgers Radio Play-by-Play

“This will be the first Opening Day that I will have missed since 1976, when I wore a younger man’s clothes.”

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photo of Charley Steiner
Courtesy: Los Angeles Dodgers

As the Los Angeles Dodgers get set to take on the St. Louis Cardinals in their first home game on Thursday, team play-by-play voice Charley Steiner has revealed he will not be doing games at the beginning of the season due to a severe back injury.

Through the Dodgers, Steiner posted a statement which said, “Over the winter, I landed on the Injured List with three compound fractures in my back. (I don’t recommend it.) With the start of the baseball season upon us, the Dodgers are ready to go – but I’m not. This will be the first Opening Day that I will have missed since 1976, when I wore a younger man’s clothes. I look forward to returning to the mic later this season. In the meantime, go Dodgers!”

TrueBlueLA.com reports Tim Neverett will handle play-by-play duties while Steiner recovers. Neverett called the first two regular season games with Rick Monday as the Dodgers started the season in South Korea. Neverett and Monday did not travel with the team, however, they called those games in a studio back home.

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