Eagles announcer Merrill Reese unloads over ‘embarrassment’ of a loss

Not even longtime Eagles announcer Merrill Reese can put a positive spin on the Eagles following their demoralizing loss to the New York Giants on Sunday.

“This was so hard to take,” Reese wrote on social media following the game. “I hate to do a broadcast full of negatives about the Birds but there were no silver linings to point out in this one.”

Throughout the game’s radio broadcast on 94.1 WIP, Reese couldn’t hide his contempt over what he was seeing on the field. Reese said it was an “embarrassment” to see the Eagles pull their starters before halftime, and at times described the Birds as “getting murdered” and “not playing like a professional football team.”

“I don’t know how they could have any confidence after this performance,” Reese said during the broadcast.

Reese and his broadcast partner, Mike Quick, will be in Tampa this weekend to call the Birds’ wild-card game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Joining them will be longtime WIP host Howard Eskin, who handles the broadcast’s sideline reporting. The game will also air on ESPN and ABC, with Joe Buck and Troy Aikman on the call. And yes, there will be a Manningcast featuring Peyton and Eli Manning on ESPN2.

WIP signed a deal in November that will keep Eagles games on the station through the 2028 season, and Reese and Quick will continue to call games through at least the end of next season.

Speaking of WIP, the station’s parent company Audacy has reached an agreement with its debtholders on a Chapter 11 bankruptcy restructuring plan the company says will position it “for long-term growth.”

According to Audacy, the move will allow the company to shed about $1.6 billion in debt, leaving it with $350 million to pay off. It will leave its debtholders in charge of the company, which owns over 200 radio stations nationwide. In addition to WIP, Audacy owns five other Philly stations: KYW NewsRadio, the New 96.5, 1210-AM WPHT, B101, and 98.1 WOGL.

The company said in a statement it “does not expect any operational impact from the restructuring,” and a spokesperson said Audacy will continue “business as usual.” Audacy CEO David Field said in a statement a “perfect storm” of reduced ad spending and shifting market forces has led to a reduction of “several billions dollars” in radio ad spending.

“These market factors have severely impacted our financial condition and necessitated our balance sheet restructuring,” Field said in a statement. “With our scaled leadership position, our uniquely differentiated premium audio content and a robust capital structure, we believe Audacy will emerge well positioned to continue its innovation and growth in the dynamic audio business.”

Audacy, which has a podcast partnership with The Inquirer, reported a $234.3 million loss in the third quarter of this year and skipped a debt payment in September. It also delayed a debt repayment of $18.9 million that had been due in December, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.