Anthony Gargano will stay at 97.5 The Fanatic as Marc Farzetta, Tra Thomas take over morning show
The Fanatic will unveil its new radio schedule next week, which will feature a new morning show and Anthony Gargano moving to middays.
In a new lineup that will debut next Monday, 97.5 The Fanatic is adding Marc Farzetta and moving current morning show host Anthony Gargano, the network announced in a statement.
Farzetta, the host of Philly Sports Talk on NBC Sports Philadelphia and a former 94.1 WIP talker, will co-host the station's all-new morning show called Farzetta and Tra in the Morning alongside former Eagles offensive lineman William "Tra" Thomas, who jumped to The Fanatic from WIP in July and has been acting as a fill-in host. Thomas is a three-time Pro Bowler who played 10 seasons for the Eagles.
Gargano, whose last day on the morning show was Sept. 20, will take over co-hosting duties on the Fanatic's midday show, alongside current host Jason Myrtetus.
"I'm thrilled to remain with my Fanatic family," Gargano said in a statement. He said he was "blessed" to work on his passions: Philly sports and his writing projects.
Former Daily News reporter Bob Cooney and producer Jamie Lynch (known to listeners as "The Bro") will both remain on the morning show. But current midday host Harry Mayes, who has been with the station since 2005, told the Inquirer and Daily News he was no longer with the station. Mayes was noticeably absent from Monday's midday show, and posted a statement on Twitter thanking listeners for tuning in.
"I'm bummed that Harry is not with the station anymore. It sucks. There's no other way to put it," Myrtetus said on his show Monday afternoon, telling listeners he only found out about Mayes' departure during his commute to the station.
Eytan Shander, The Fanatic's versatile fill-in host who had co-hosted the morning show in place of Gargano for the last week, announced on Twitter on Monday morning that his role was being cut at the station.
The dramatic lineup change in the midst of the Eagles' season sets up a high-stakes sports battle between Farzetta and Angelo Cataldi, his former boss and mentor. Farzetta spent 13 years on WIP's morning show in varying roles before quietly leaving the station before his wedding in July.
Gargano left WIP and joined The Fanatic in April 2015 to launch the station's first local morning sports talk show, which replaced ESPN's syndicated Mike and Mike. But after starting off strong and at one point presenting a serious challenge to longtime ratings champion Cataldi, Gargano's show endured several roster changes and began to trail his former rival in the ratings.
During the spring ratings book, Cataldi and the WIP morning show more than doubled The Fanatics' ratings among men ages 25 to 54. Cataldi finished the quarter in second place, while Gargano finished a distant fifth in the market.