Radio Crimes: WIP, 610 AM
It’s been said all the way back since the advent of television that radio — good old fashioned terrestrial radio, not satellite or Internet — is in its final death rattle. If that’s true, it’s been an unbearably long, gruesome and cruel death… and it’s still going on! Or could it be that radio plays to all of our better media instincts, absorbing personalities, demographics, and the best and worst traits of either, and therfore could survive infinitely? We don’t have the answer to that, but this summer, Philebrity intern Dan Pierson will be listening to a different Philly-area station for a full hour once a week, blogging what he finds, and then publishing those findings here. After the jump, Dan turns an ear towards that great bastion of Philly Loudmouth-ery, WIP 610AM.
Station: 610 WIP
Format: Sports Talk Radio
Demographic: Your Cousin Frank, your boss, the bathroom attendant. Even if you don’t listen to WIP, you hear their opinions everywhere. And not just on sports. This is a station that held an interview with Obama! Angelo Cataldi and the morning team were the original Preston & Steve, and their impact on Philadelphia is greater than even the Wingbowl. If there is an audience of bitter men clinging to things that any political contender needs, this is it.
1:45pm:
Hosts: Anthony Gargano (pictured) and Glen Macnow
Early Subjects: Pre-Season Football, Anthony Gargano’s wedding, Is Ryan Howard any good?, Does Philly care about Tennis? What’s the deal with the Sixers?
Apparently, Tennis is only interesting to WIP hosts if Anthony Gargano’s wedding if held during a rain delay of Federer-Nadal and a Pre-Season Eagles game follows. As to the Sixers, who does this caller think he is talking to? ESPN 950?
Caller Love:
Matt: I work at Construction site, working in Dover, Delaware.
Gargano: I love Delaware. We need to visit Delaware more.
Commercial Break: Howard Eskin at 3. Don’t cross him, dude’s got a whole wikipedia entry. Infiniti Cars, Geico, Webex.
2:00pm:
Station Promo: Broadcasting in TastyKake studios. Those Krimpet Walls really add a lot to the plush sound of AM Radio.
Intern Boot Camp. Oh Shit, Joey better not be listening. If the WIP Olympics consist of 42 push ups, the Philebrity Intern Camp will be at least that many PBR soldiers combined with a vicious Belle & Sebastian Quiz.
Results: 18 for one intern, 30 for other. Notice how neither Glen nor Anthony volunteer to do pushups…
Sports News: Uh, Billy Wagner Sucks.
Paying for Howard Eskin’s Minks: SunSetter Awnings, Life Insurance, Vai Sikahema vs. Jose Canseco, Credit Check. A Mormon vs a Surreal Life Contestant. I think my television might explode in self defense.
2:15pm:
Topics: How Boring is the Tour De France?, Baseball All-Star Game (by the way, vote for Pat so we can see his mug on lastnightsparty), Will the Devil Rays choke?, The first baseball scores you check, after the Phillies, of course, Vote For Pat at Citizen’s Bank Park, Are Showers Necessary?
Always probing the deep questions of the male pysche, 610 has decided that the Tour De France is lame, Pat Burrell deserves to be in the game even if they buy him a ticket in the stands, and showers can wait until tomorrow. Fits in nicely with the Philadelphia sports philosophy: We always have tomorrow.
Back to the Intern Challenge: A 51 year old man has beaten a 21 year old “punk” kid in pushups. And he ate 2 slices of pizza! Who needs those Viva Viagra Commercials after all?
“I’m an ageist” - Anthony Gargano
Caller: “I am taking a coaching class at Drexel, and I have learned that Andy Reid is an uneducated coach!”
Anthony: “Whoa Whoa Whoa. Drexel teaches a class about Football? How’s their season looking?”
pwned.
2:30pm:
Question: Can New York or Boston show Rocky as a pump up clip? (”We don’t use GhostBusters!”)
Answer: No, because we don’t use Good Will Hunting as a pump up clip. “Matt Damon is an okay actor. He is no thespian”. Anthony Gargano knew Sir Alec Guinness, and apparently you Matt Damon, are no Sir Alec Guinness.
Final Topic: Will the Phillies get any decent pitching?
Not looking good, instead it looks like we may get stuck with Kelsey Grammer as our bottom reliever. Guess that’s better than Niles Crane.
Wrapping things up: In one hour of listening, WIP might have taken 6 calls and discussed sports for about 20 minutes. The rest of the hour was dedicated to Intern abuse, promos for Howard Eskin, book suggestions for Glen Macnow, and ads for car insurance. The Championship drought for Philadelphia is a good thing for WIP; otherwise, one day, they might have to actually talk about…sports.
Previously: Radio Crimes, WMGK, 102.9
Radio Crimes, WIOQ, 102.1
