Missanelli and Cataldi top slow month for Philly sports talk
In the world of Philadelphia sports talk radio, it was more of the same in a slow ratings month.
A slow month in Philadelphia sports didn't do much to help the continued ratings decline of 94.1 WIP's Josh Innes.
For the ninth-straight month, 97.5 The Fanatic's Mike Missanelli crushed Innes, who has seen his year-to-year ratings share among the coveted 25-54 male demographic plummet more than 50 percent.
Missanelli ended the slow July ratings period (June 16-July 13) in fourth place, while Innes placed ninth. The results are jarring compared to this time last year, when Innes defeated Missanelli soundly by more than 1.5 share.
In light of the ratings decline, WIP faces a decision whether to re-sign Innes once his contract runs out at the end of the year. In recent weeks, Innes has responded to critics on Twitter by saying he's not leaving the station:
WIP beat The Fanatic overall during the July ratings period, ending the month in ninth place in the market compared to The Fanatic's 10th-place finish. For the fourth straight month, The Fanatic beat WIP overall from 6 a.m to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday among men 25-54 (though WIP still has a larger overall audience).
In the morning, WIP's Angelo Cataldi beat WIP's duo of Anthony Gargano and Jon Marks, but it was the closest finish since Gargano launched his morning show last April. Cataldi ended the month in third place, while Gargano finished fourth, though thanks to a slow sports month neither came close to 93.3 WMMR's market-leading "Preston & Steve" show.
During the middays, The Fanatic's duo of Rob Ellis and Harry Mayes once again topped WIP's Michael Barkann and Ike Reese. While both shows were down compared to last year, Barkann and Reese also saw their ratings share drop by more than 50 percent.
WIP picked up ground in the evening against The Fanatic's Joe Decamara, mostly because of Phillies games.
As far as streaming numbers go, only Missanelli and Ellis showed any ratings numbers. Nielsen has said for months that it is working on changes to better measure the size of a station's streaming audience, but there remains no word when those changes will take effect.
The ratings come at a time of uncertainty for both stations. In July, Greater Media (owner of The Fanatic) agreed to be sold to Beasley Broadcast Group in a transaction valued at $240 million. Meanwhile, WIP's parent company CBS is considering splitting off its collection of radio stations as an independent public company in an IPO later this year.