The Fanatic’s Mike Missanelli back on top, WIP’s Angelo Cataldi remains dominant

Mike Missanelli is back on top.

After finishing behind 94.1 WIP’s duo of Jon Marks and Ike Reese for three consecutive quarters, Missanelli and his 97.5 The Fanatic cohosts Tyrone Johnson and Natalie Egenolf retook the No. 1 spot in the afternoons on Philly sports talk radio, according to Nielsen numbers obtained by The Inquirer.

Missanelli finished nearly two full ratings share ahead of Marks and Reese among male listeners between the ages of 25 to 54 (the most-important demographic for both stations) in the fall book, one of four quarterly rating summaries used to determine bonuses, advertising rates, and bragging rights.

Both shows managed to grow their ratings significantly compared to last year’s fall book, with Marks and Reese up 20 percent and Missanelli up nearly 32%. But Missanelli’s show also draws a second audience on NBC Sports Philadelphia, which doesn’t appear to be stealing away many radio listeners (the network has declined to provide ratings information).

The ratings win is welcome news for The Fanatic, which lost station manager Eric Johnson to layoffs by parent company Beasley Media Group back in November. Stepping up in place of Johnson has been assistant program director Eric Camille.

Outside of afternoons, WIP continues to dominate. The station’s morning show team of Angelo Cataldi, Rhea Hughes, and Al Morganti remains a ratings force, defeating The Fanatic’s Marc Farzetta and Tra Thomas by more that five ratings share. Cataldi told the Inquirer back in November he was motivated to sign a new multiyear deal with WIP in order to defeat Farzetta, a former colleague who left WIP in 2018 to host a competing morning show at The Fanatic.

“I think it’s safe to say I would have retired by now if he had stayed,” Cataldi said, adding he “wasn’t pleased with the way it ended.”

During middays, WIP hosts Joe DeCamara and Jon Ritchie finished in first place for the first time during their three-year run. They easily defeated The Fanatic’s Anthony Gargano, who finished in fourth place and is now hosting solo since his former cohost, Jason Myrtetus, was laid-off back in October. I just hope we get more of Gargano’s dad in 2020.

Adam Schefter may be the resident NFL insider for ESPN, but his daughter just landed a gig at Fox Sports.

Dylan Schefter, Adam Schefter’s 11-year-old daughter, will host a regular feature on Fox’s Big East basketball coverage called “Dylan’s Sweet Corner.” Her first interview, with Villanova men’s basketball head coach Jay Wright, will air on FS1’s Inside the Big East at 7:30 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 5.

Dylan, who has described herself as an aspiring “interviewer,” first made her way onto the sports media scene as an 8-year-old by interviewing several New England Patriots stars and coaches. Her enduring victory remains getting head coach Bill Belichick to smile, albeit awkwardly.

“You’re known for rocking sweatshirts. What’s your wardrobe this season?” Dylan asked Belichick.

“Uh, yeah, still, I’m going with the sweatshirts,” Belichick responded.

• On Sunday morning, NFL Network hosts Kyle Brandt and Horsham, Pa., native Colleen Wolfe will broadcast live from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. at New Wave Cafe in Queen Village ahead of the Eagles playoff matchup against the Seattle Seahawks.

• Showtime’s Inside the NFL (yes, it’s still on) aired mic’d up footage of Eagles running backs coach Duce Staley trolling Boston Scott’s spin move during last week’s win against the New York Giants.

• Butch from Manayunk — a regular WIP caller — shouted out … something to Eagles wide receiver Greg Ward (seated left) and defensive end Vinny Curry Thursday night at Chickie’s and Pete’s. My colleague Mike Sielski has a great piece about Ward’s long and winding journey to the Eagles starting roster.