After three decades, WIP’s Angelo Cataldi hosts his final show

Lots of Philly sports fans hate him. Another huge group loves him. Just about everyone listens to him. And on Friday, they all heard Angelo Cataldi host his long-running sports talk radio show for the final time.

Cataldi, the lead host of 94.1 WIP’s morning show, is retiring after a broadcast career spanning more than three decades. His unprecedented run as Philadelphia’s highest-rated sports talker was preceded by six years as a sports writer at The Inquirer, where his coverage of Buddy Ryan’s Eagles was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in 1987.

“I was honest. I gave my honest opinion,” Cataldi told The Inquirer. “When I covered the team for The Inquirer, I covered it the way you covered City Hall. I asked tough questions. I alienated people. … And when I got to radio, it was again serving the fans and giving the people a voice.”

Cataldi was hoping to ride off into the sunset — if the Eagles won Super Bowl LVII, he planned on hosting his last show the day of the Birds’ parade. Instead, he’s saying goodbye the week following another championship loss, which seems oddly appropriate.

“Let’s do the math — 33 years of four sports, I guess that’s 132 seasons. And we won two championships,” Cataldi said. “So it’s more natural for me to end my time complaining about how the Eagles should have won the Super Bowl and blew it because the defense collapsed.”

Friday’s show was filled with special guests and clips of Cataldi during his 33-year run, including an acknowledgment of Wing Bowl, the notoriously sleazy promotion that lasted 26 years before WIP pulled the plug in 2018. Some clips, including one from his early years as cohost of Brookie and the Rookie with Tom Brookshier, the former Eagles star turned iconic broadcaster, were hard for Cataldi to hear.

“There’s a clip where I’m on with Tom Brookshier, and we’re interviewing [former Flyers great] Bobby Clarke. And he hated me, too,” Cataldi said, pointing to his coverage of the Flyers for The Inquirer. “I had completely rankled him, and he despised me, but he came on for Brookie and it’s fun to hear me in this quite different voice 30 years ago — squeaky and nervous, and not sure what I’m doing.”

Leading up to his retirement, Cataldi has drawn congratulations from his WIP colleagues and notable Philadelphia sports figures, including Eagles executive vice president Howie Roseman and team president Don Smolenski.

“In some ways, it’s kind of humbling. And then in other ways, it’s like you’re at your eulogy at your own funeral,” Cataldi said. “You hearing people say things they would say when you’re gone.”

Even two former foes — Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid and former Phillies manager Charlie Manuel — recorded messages for Cataldi. Manuel, who never appeared on WIP’s morning show during his nine-year run as Phillies manager, admitted he was often upset by Cataldi’s criticism, but also confessed it “might have motivated me a little bit.” Meanwhile, Reid’s video congratulating Cataldi was dripping with sarcasm.

“Angelo Cataldi, this is your alter ego talking to you, doggonit. What a sensible thing you’re doing in retiring,” Reid said in a prerecorded message shared on Twitter. “Great years that you put in there, and your shtick was something really special. I know you’re a very intelligent guy, and it took a lot of work to do that.”

Reid acknowledged that not that many guys get the run that Cataldi did. Cataldi echoed those sentiments.

“People in our city don’t like change,” Cataldi said. “But then if they hear it and like it, they come around. It doesn’t happen immediately, but it’ll happen. … And once you’re there, the loyalty is mind-boggling. They don’t get tired of you the way they do in other cities. We got 33 years, which is an eternity in radio. It’s incredible.”

A former foe whom Philly fans didn’t hear from Friday was San Francisco Giants manager Gabe Kapler. During his brief stint as the Phillies’ manager, Cataldi and Kapler got into several dustups, including ones about former Phillies general manager Matt Klentak and Andrew McCutchen’s season-ending injury in 2019.

“I still don’t like him, either,” Cataldi said of Kapler. “They asked him to do one of those videos and he declined. [Laughter] You know, I respect that.”

So what’s next for Cataldi? A memoir, for starters. He doesn’t have a publisher — “not even a nibble” — but Cataldi wants to return to writing, his first love. He also might return to the world of sports columns, and he cohosts a podcast called The TV Show with longtime morning show cohost Rhea Hughes and Philadelphia comedian Jay Black.

Just before Cataldi joined WIP, he said he told The Inquirer he would remain at the paper if they allowed him to be a television critic. But at the time, David Bianculli — a longtime contributor to WHYY’s Fresh Air with Terry Gross — held the role, and Cataldi was denied the job.

“They said no, and I said, ‘Fine, I’m going to radio,’” Cataldi said. “Now 30 years later, I finally get to be a TV critic.”

During the closing minutes of his final show, Cataldi thanked a long list of contributors and former interns who helped make his show a success over the year. But he didn’t really choke up until discussing his wife, Gail, who has been his biggest supporter and confident for the past 25 years.

“I mocked every athlete who said this when they retire, and I’m going to close by saying it myself — it’s time for me to go, Philadelphia. I need to spend more time with my family,” Cataldi said to close his final show. “Thank you all for an amazing run. Goodbye.”

Attempting to follow Cataldi’s long run and retain his sizable audience will be WIP hosts Joe DeCamara and Jon Ritchie, who are moving from middays to take over the morning slot. They’ll be joined by Hughes and producers James Seltzer and Joe Weachter.

“Here’s what you do know. Since even before the pandemic, I relied on Rhea Hughes to hide my skills that were diminishing, my memory, which is faltering, and my fatigue, which got to the point where I could not possibly do five of these a week,” Cataldi said during his final show.

Joining the new morning hosts will be a rotating cast that includes former Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr., part-time WIP host Devan Kaney, comedian Joe Conklin, and longtime Eagles analyst Ray Didinger.

Two voices you will no longer hear on WIP’s morning show are Al Morganti and NBC Sports Philadelphia Flyers analyst Keith Jones. Morganti signed a new five-year deal with WIP to host an unspecified weekend shift and a new podcast centered on the Flyers. Jones opted not to return because of his hectic schedule calling Flyers games on NBC Sports Philadelphia and NHL games on TNT.

You also no longer will hear from Ava Graham, the daughter of former WIP overnight host Big Daddy Graham, who is shifting from her on-air role to become the station’s assistant brand manager.

WIP will also launch a new midday show Monday, featuring current evening host Joe Giglio and former Eagles Pro Bowler Hugh Douglas, who resurrected his media career on Atlanta sports talk after being fired by ESPN in 2011 over an altercation at a party. WIP has yet to announce who will take over Giglio’s vacated evening role.

The station’s drive-time show stays the same, cohosted by Jon Marks and former Eagles linebacker Ike Reese. Jon Johnson hosts the station’s overnight show.