In return to 94.1 WIP, Mike Missanelli talks Howard Eskin and the punch that got him fired

Missanelli co-hosted a show with Eskin for three years on WIP. His opinions haven't softened.

Former 97.5 The Fanatic host Mike Missanelli (right) spoke about his former colleague, 94.1 WIP host Howard Eskin, during an appearance on the station Thursday.Read moreStaff file photos / Staff file photos

Published Dec. 8, 2022, 10:11 a.m. ET

For the first time in 16 years, 94.1 WIP listeners heard from a familiar Philly sports talker: Mike Missanelli.

“Am I in the twilight zone here?” Missanelli asked soon-to-be retired WIP Morning Show host Angelo Cataldi on Thursday.

Missanelli, the longtime afternoon host on 97.5 The Fanatic who left the station abruptly in May, had two stints at WIP — from 1992 to 2003 and from July 2005 to March 2006, when he was fired after punching a producer during a live broadcast.

Missanelli and Cataldi discussed their history as reporters for The Inquirer before jumping into sports talk radio in late 1980s and early ′90s. Missanelli’s first job at WIP was cohosting on the weekends with Daily News stalwart Stan Hochman. He was then offered a one-year contract to do evening drive time alongside Stephen Fredericks (where one of his producers was current morning show cohost Rhea Hughes).

But it was his former afternoon partner, longtime WIP host Howard Eskin, whom Missanelli had the most to say about.

“I wasn’t in favor of it, and I didn’t think it would work,” Missanelli said of his pairing with Eskin, who still hosts a weekend show for the station and does sideline reporting during Eagles broadcasts. “Howard is what he is, but what he isn’t is a team guy. We went on for three years and a lot of people liked it, some people didn’t. I literally wanted to kill him every day.”

“He would come in within 10 seconds of the show starting saying, ‘What went on today?’” Missanelli added. “It was stressful for me. I’m a A-type personality who wanted to do the right thing, he’s an A-type personality, and we clashed.”

Missanelli was also asked about the incident that got him fired from WIP in March 2006, when he punched part-time producer Brian Robbins during a live broadcast in Ardmore.

“The altercation I regret,” Missanelli said. “I wish I would have been a little calmer in that particular situation, but I had two strikes against me. I’m Sicilian and I’m a Scorpio and that’s bad DNA, it mixes.”

Since his exit from The Fanatic, Missanelli has been keeping busy. He hosts the appropriately titled The Mike Missanelli Podcast as part of his role as a brand ambassador for BetRivers. He’s also cohosting an Eagles postgame show on YouTube for JAKIB Media Partners alongside former NBC Sports Philadelphia reporter Derrick Gunn, ex-Eagles linebacker Seth Joyner, and part-time WIP host Devan Kaney. The show also streams on 6abc’s website.

But does he want to come back to radio?

“My ears are always open,” Missanelli said. “I’m not ready for the grave.”

Listen to the full interview here:

After hosting the morning show for more than three decades, Cataldi is retiring from radio once the Eagles’ season is over, which at this rate could end up being in February.

WIP will replace him with the station’s current midday show, which features Joe DeCamara and former Eagles fullback Jon Ritchie. Hughes will also remain on the morning show.