As Josh Innes departs Houston with an announcement on his future looming, the talented and polarizing sports radio host said his next stop could have been a return to Philadelphia.
Innes tweeted Wednesday that he was interested in joining 97.5 The Fanatic when they were searching for a new morning host last year, but the Philly station backed out. Hiring Innes would have been an interesting decision, considering his love/hate relationship with the local audience and his previous battles with The Fanatic’s afternoon host Mike Missanelli.
Innes spent 18 months in afternoon drive on Sports Radio 94WIP, from 2015-2016. Alongside co-host Tony Bruno, the duo quickly beat Missanelli in the ratings battle, but the show split after just six months, when Bruno announced one of his retirements.
Innes’s tenure in Philly included plenty of insults and punches being thrown in both directions with Missanelli. A culmination of decisions influenced Innes losing his afternoon spot on WIP, but his departure ultimately came after discussing a controversial incident at The Fanatic, where a white producer from the station pretended to be a Black caller into Missanelli’s show.
Considering his tumultuous relationship with Missanelli, both hosts working on the same team would have been a fascinating dynamic, with everyone wondering ‘how long can it last?’ Although it didn’t happen, a return to Philly for Innes would have generated local intrigue for both the people that hate him and the fans that love him.
Innes completed a 10-month tenure with ESPN 97.5 in Houston last week and already has the contract signed for his next radio stop, but hasn’t been able to announce what or where that will be.
Brandon Contes is a former reporter for BSM, now working for Awful Announcing. You can find him on Twitter @BrandonContes or reach him by email at Brandon.Contes@gmail.com.
