Eagles will remain on 94.1 WIP thanks to a new broadcast deal

If you enjoy listening to Eagles games on WIP-FM (94.1), you won’t have to change your dial anytime soon.

The Eagles and Audacy, the parent company of WIP, have agreed to a six-year deal that will extend the broadcast rights for Eagles games through the 2028 season. Financial terms were not disclosed.

“It’s been a long-standing partnership. We’ve had the good fortune to have very close relationship across the board, across the station,” Eagles president Don Smolenski said Wednesday on WIP.

The extension is separate from the deals in place for popular Eagles announcers Merrill Reese and Mike Quick, who will continue to call games through at least the 2024 season. Reese, who turned 81 in September, is in his 47th season calling Eagles games and has given no indication he’s ready to walk away. Quick hinted the duo could remain in the booth through the end of this new deal.

“This has been such a great marriage over the years,” Quick said. “I’m just happy that we know this partnership is going to last much longer.”

Smolenski praised Reese and Quick and also got a bit of a zinger in at the expense of longtime WIP host Howard Eskin, who serves as the sideline reporter during Eagles broadcasts on the station.

“We’re very fortunate to have two legends in the booth and a genius on the field,” Smolenski joked.

Morning show host Joe DeCamara created some awkwardness for Smolenski during the broadcast, pointing out that the Eagles once cut current WIP hosts Jon Ritchie and Hugh Douglas and didn’t re-sign Ike Reese when his contract was up in 2005.

“I mean, Don, it’s really quite a thing. Eventually, basically you get rid of everybody, and yet we still love the Eagles,” DeCamara said to a smiling Smolenski, who remained silent.

“How’s he supposed to respond?” producer James Seltzer asked.

Eagles games have aired on WIP and various CBS Radio stations since 1992. WIP also is the exclusive radio home for Phillies games thanks to a multiyear deal signed in 2021.

97.5 The Fanatic has the radio rights for Sixers and Flyers games.

This year, WIP rolled out a new feature that allows fans to stream Eagles games through the Audacy app, making it easier to sync up the radio broadcast to your television. That didn’t prevent Eagles fans from piling on Fox Sports announcer Mark Schlereth a few weeks back, which led to a feud with DeCamara.

DeCamara and Ritchie are closing in on their first year hosting WIP’s morning show after replacing veteran sports talker Angelo Cataldi, who retired after the 2022 Eagles season. So far, they duo have managed to keep Cataldi’s large audience, remaining No. 2 in the market behind only Preston & Steve on 93.3 WMMR.

While WIP has easily outpaced The Fanatic in ratings in recent years, Audacy has struggled this year amid an advertising slump. The company reported a $234.3 million loss in the third quarter of this year and remains in talks with lenders to refinance its debt. Audacy’s stock price was 30 cents a share on Wednesday afternoon.

In addition to WIP, Audacy owns KYW NewsRadio 1060, The New 96.5, 92.5 XTU, 1210 AM WPHT, B101, and 98.1 WOGL in Philadelphia.