Overview
The station is known for its influence on the Philadelphia sports fanbase. Its prominent hosts include Angelo Cataldi, who arranged for a group of Eagles fans to attend the 1999 NFL Draft in New York and demand the Eagles select University of Texas at Austin running back Ricky Williams with their #2 pick (which led to the infamous booing of the decision to select Donovan McNabb), and Howard Eskin, whose achievements included the Terrell Owens "funeral" (following the announcement of Owens's four-game suspension from the Eagles during the 2005-2006 season), and a short-lived hunger strike in support of trading Philadelphia 76ers superstar Allen Iverson. The station is also known for hosting the annual eating contest, the Wing Bowl.
It is also considered to be a sister station to another CBS Radio station, WFAN, in New York City. Both stations serve New Jersey in addition to their licensed cities.
WIP was the flagship radio station for the Philadelphia Flyers and Philadelphia 76ers. When both teams are playing at the same time, WPHT and/or WYSP will usually carry one of the games. WIP was also the flagship radio station for the Philadelphia Eagles until 1992, when Eagles broadcasts moved to WYSP-FM. On February 20, 2008, the station announced that broadcasts of Eagles games would return to WIP, plus remain on WYSP, with each radio station broadcasting different feeds to make it easier for local fans to watch television coverage of Eagles games but to lower the volume on their TV and listen to the game on the radio. The advent of digital television signals was putting television and radio signals too far out of sync. The station also carried Philadelphia Phillies games on Friday nights during the 2005 season, allowing WPHT to pick up some regularly scheduled programming on Friday nights. In 2008, WIP broadcast the Phillies' March 31 season opener against Washington along with WPHT.
Read more about this topic: WIP (AM)