On The Air
by Laura Nachman

Bucks County Courier Times

March 23, 2007

 

It’s 1993 All Over Again

Former Phillies pitcher Mitch “Wild Thing” Williams is joining the WIP morning show as a regular contributor.  He will make appearances once a week (maybe that’s how Jim Fregosi should’ve utilized him).

 

Though it hasn’t been officially announced, sports industry insiders say that Williams will also provide analysis for “Phillies Post Game Live” on Comcast SportsNet this season.  He’ll relieve John Marzano, who is going to mlb.com and will do only 30-games this year instead of the one-hundred games he was initially supposed to work.

 

This Sounds Crazy, But It’s True

Lenny “The Dude” Dykstra is dolling out financial advice these days as a columnist for www.thestreet.com and a guest commentator on Fox News Channel.  What’s next? Kim Batiste giving cooking tips on the Food Network?

 

Also, it doesn’t look like John Kruk’s Saturday afternoon show will return to WPEN 950-AM this year. According to program director Gregg Henson, Kruk will probably continue to call in to various shows.  Kruk has another “little” job as a baseball analyst on ESPN. 

 

Local Man Fills Washington Posting

Pennsbury High’s Andy Siegel will be calling shots as the producer of the new show “Washington Post Live” on Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic in Washington, D.C.

 

The live daily show, which has the same format as Philadelphia’s “Daily News Live” on Comcast SportsNet, will feature “Washington Post” sports reporters Tom Boswell, Mike Wise, and others.  Of course, “Post” reporters Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon have other obligations on ESPN.

 

Siegel, a producer for Comcast SportsNet for five years, spent the last two years as a sports reporter and anchor for the CBS affiliate in Altoona, PA, but is happier behind the scenes.

 

“I love making television programs. We’ll be able to dip into the world of politics and sports here,” the University of Maryland graduate said.

 

The show airs weekdays from 5 – 6:30 p.m. and can be viewed online at www.washingtonpost.com.

 

WIP and Phillies Strike Out?

Sports industry observers are wondering why sports station WIP 610-AM did not broadcast shows from the Phillies’ spring training headquarters in Clearwater, Florida this season.

 

Though some believe that the Phillies did not invite WIP to spring training because of the station’s criticism of the team, both the Phillies and WIP denied that theory.

 

Phillies public relations director Larry Shenk wrote, “WIP was invited to spring training.  And, we have had guests on the station during spring training: David Montgomery, Tom Gordon, Adam Eaton, Chris Coste, Shane Victorino and Matt Smith.

 

WIP program director Tom Lee also confirmed in an email that it was WIP’s decision not to go to spring training this year, though he did not elaborate on the reason.

 

Meanwhile, several other radio outfits including WYSP, WPEN, “The Tony Bruno Show,” XM Radio, WMMR, WXTU, KYW, WPHT and WDEL, made the trip (that explains the preponderance of poorly dressed, overweight, balding men in Clearwater.)

 

 

New Voices

There are a couple of new voices on WIP. Behind-the-scenes person Jason Myrtetus gets some on-air time Saturday night at midnight. And Philadelphia native Sandy Penner is getting some air-shifts on the weekend.  Penner, a graduate of Syracuse most recently worked at a sports radio station in Charlotte, North Carolina, before getting fired in October.

 

Saturday’s snowstorm in Philadelphia forced a few reporters including Fox29’s Bill Vargus and CBS3’s Steve Bucci to stay in Chicago an extra day after the Villanova loss to Kentucky in the NCAA’s.

 

There’s No “Vain” without “Vai”

NBC10 sports director Vai Sikahema, 44, has dropped 25-pounds since the beginning of December. 

 

In email he wrote, “I’ve done it the only way I know how - old-school style.  I jog five miles everyday but Sunday.  I lift weights every other day and do crunches/abs on days I don’t lift.  I carry bags of my favorite fruits like mango for snacking.  I feel better, I think I look better, and I sleep better. (Watch out Vai, with Amy Freeze out of the picture, Channel 10 will probably want to use you for a sweeps story in May).

No CN-11 

In radio ads that ran a couple of weeks ago, CN8 promoted the 7 p.m. version of  “Out of Bounds,” but not the 11 p.m. version.  If I were CN8, I wouldn’t call attention to the co-hosts at 11 p.m. either.