Angelo Cataldi’s rant against Philly sports media continues, this time targeting Reuben Frank

Tell us what you really think, Angelo Cataldi.

In recent days, the former 94.1 WIP sports talker has made waves across the Philly media scene, upsetting former colleagues by criticizing his erstwhile radio station, other news outlets across the city, and the state of sports journalism itself.

It happened again Thursday, this time during an appearance on the On Pattison Podcast with Anthony SanFilippo and former 97.5 The Fanatic host Mike Missanelli. This time, Cataldi took the opportunity to rip veteran NBC Sports Philadelphia reporter and Eagles postgame co-host Reuben Frank by name.

“If you want an example of somebody who went to the dark side, who was really doing hardcore journalism and is now a glorified PR agent, read Reuben Frank pretty much any day,” Cataldi said on the podcast.

“Ask him to give you some stats on [Eagles head coach Nick] Sirianni, and by the end, you’ll think Sirianni is better than Vince Lombardi,” Cataldi added.

Frank could not be reached for comment.

After the interview, Cataldi told The Inquirer there was no bad blood between him and Frank, who like Cataldi also began his career as a newspaper reporter. It was just one example of the “happy talk” Cataldi associated with today’s sports coverage, especially when it comes to the Eagles, the city’s most popular team.

“You would think they just won four or five straight Super Bowls,” Cataldi said of Frank’s coverage. “They just blew a season because they had the wrong offensive coordinator. And that, to me, is the headline of the 2025 season.”

Cataldi’s basic thesis is all but a handful of people covering Philadelphia’s sports institutions — reporters, columnists, podcast hosts, and sports talkers — are too soft on the millionaires playing the game and the billionaires who own the teams.

“I think I’m seeing people trying to write or broadcast for the players and the teams and the managers and the coaches, and that really nauseates me,” Cataldi said. “Philadelphia was a tough sports media city. I don’t think you could say that anymore.”

But Cataldi’s critique can also be selective. Take Frank, who isn’t a fiery personality but wasn’t afraid to call out Sirianni and his staff following the team’s season-ending playoff loss to the San Francisco 49ers in January.

“You can’t run it back with this coaching staff,” Frank said before calling the final play call by Sirianni and former offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo “inexcusable.”

As Cataldi sees it, sports coverage in the city has changed largely because power has shifted from media organizations to the teams themselves, who can bully reporters and sidestep traditional media in a number of ways.

Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown hasn’t spoken to a single reporter since the end of the season, but last month he made a friendly appearance on the Dudes on Dudes podcast, hosted by former New England Patriots stars Rob Gronkowski and Julian Edelman. Neither pressed Brown about whether he’s pushing for a trade or if he’s unhappy with Sirianni or Jalen Hurts.

The Eagles and other teams also have their own content creators, websites, and social media platforms to control a lot of their messaging, a big change from the days when they depended on reporters to tell their stories and reach fans.

“These teams now have more power and know how to assert it better than they did when I was there,” Cataldi said.

Cataldi’s criticism of the media stems from his new role as an angry fan with unanswered questions. Since retiring from WIP in February 2023, he’s been writing weekly sports columns on his own personal blog, bashing just about everyone in the Philly sports ecosystem, including journalists.

In just one example, he called Phillies reporters “impossibly soft” for not breaking the news sooner that Nick Castellanos was benched for bringing a beer into the dugout. Though Cataldi neglected to mention it was reporting from the Athletic’s Matt Gelb that forced Castellanos to admit the transgression in the first place.

“A generation ago, a player bringing a beer into the dugout during a game would have been a major headline within a few days of the incident, if not a few hours,” Cataldi wrote.

Cataldi also wasn’t a fan of what became a unifying moment in Philadelphia sports, when WIP producer-turned-host Jack Fritz helped convince Phillies fans to cheer on a struggling Trea Turner in 2023. While the standing ovation helped turn the shortstop’s season around, Cataldi resented the lift given to a three-time All-Star on a $300 million contract.

“Whatever it started as, by the time the national media got a hold of it, it was, ‘WIP radio is even supporting the players who stink this year,’” Cataldi said. “It made me question everything I had done for all the years I was there. Maybe we’d have won more if I just told people to cheer the losers.”

But Cataldi’s criticism remained largely under the radar until last week, when he targeted his former radio station alongside Howard Eskin, the famed former WIP host who has been hosting a podcast since he was forced off the station in December 2024 following a confrontation with a female staffer. Eskin has denied any “physical altercation.”

“This is the most talented staff WIP ever, our ratings lap theirs, and we all get along instead of trying to backstab each other like they did,” WIP afternoon host Spike Eskin, Howard’s son, wrote on social media. “We showed them respect. Sad they can’t just enjoy their lives.”

While forceful in his criticism, Cataldi admitted he doesn’t listen to WIP much these days and even praised a number of the station’s personalities, such as ex-Eagles players Hugh Douglas and Jon Ritchie.

“I’m on the sidelines now, and these are the words of a dinosaur,” Cataldi said. “I’m part of a world that no longer exists.”

It’s hard for some Philly sports media veterans to stay unretired.

Both Eskin and Missanelli — who was let go by 97.5 the Fanatic in August — are hosting podcasts. Glen Macnow, who retired in 2024, is still hosting What’s Brewing PA on NBC Sports Philadelphia. Cataldi’s former morning show co-host, Al Morganti, still hosts Flyers pre- and postgame coverage.

Cataldi said his first love was always writing, and he’s very happy churning out weekly columns about Philly sports for the small group of like-minded readers who like his brash tone and blunt opinions. He also co-hosts The TV Show, a podcast about television alongside comedian Jay Black and his longtime WIP colleague Rhea Hughes.

So is all this recent chatter a sign Cataldi wants to be back on the air talking Philly sports?

“Oh God, no. Not at all,” Cataldi said. “I tried to be a spokesperson for the fans. I tried to represent the way they saw things. Clearly, at age 75, I no longer have any concept for what the fans are.”