Nick Piccone
There were a lot of rumors going around the last few days regarding the status of the WIP Afternoon Show with Josh Innes and Tony Bruno.
It all began last week when Crossing Broad and Philly.com reported on the apparent rift between Innes and Bruno, stemming from a segment on their show last month in which Innes made fun of a caller who sounded like he wasn’t in a sober state, and joked with the caller about his admitted past substance abuse [audio, which is hard to listen to, is here]. Bruno doesn’t sound too thrilled after listening to Innes berate the caller, and that’s probably where Bruno underwent his own epiphany and decided he really didn’t want to do radio anymore.
But the show went on and nobody really thought much would come of it. Until Monday, when Bruno was absent from his post. Tuesday, more of the same. Today, it all came to a head.
After starting his show with a rant against the establishment for not being able to say what he wants to say, Innes disappeared for a half-hour before coming back on the air at 3pm and letting the world know exactly what was going on.
Here’s the audio of the long segment.
It doesn’t sound like this happened out of the blue, but it sounds like Bruno just realized he didn’t want to do radio anymore, with or without Innes.
Bruno later tweeted his thoughts about leaving WIP and radio in general, linking to this article on his website.
“I have been silent for the last 6 days, allowing myself the time to reflect and make sure my decisions are thought out and proper.
There has been a flood of misinformation, speculation, twitter, blogger and newspaper hysteria, name calling, and just absolute insanity about what happened at WIP.
After 45 years of pursuing my dreams and goal of radio and climbing the sport radio stairs to the highest rungs, the format and industry in general no longer provide me joy and satisfaction, even after reaching number 1 in pm drive in record time in my hometown.
I decided to resign from WIP and from regular long-form terrestrial radio as a result and will pursue my podcasts and other things to keep me occupied and happy.
First off, I did not quit in haste because I “hated” or couldn’t work with Josh Innes. That is totally untrue. Josh and I have never had any arguments or confrontations during or after any shows since day 1. The modern world of radio and social media has sucked the fun out of doing this due to “factions” whose sole attempt is to provoke “wars” or have listeners “take sides” to anger or distract the process of doing radio every day.
I have embraced communicating with listeners on twitter and facebook as a necessary part of “customer service” and appreciation of the audience being all that matters in our successes and failures. I ignored any of the Josh bashers and blocked the truly offensive or vile fake accounts. I’ve even had to bring in experts in an attempt to track IP addresses of a myriad of fake accounts whose goal was to insult, lie, and terrorize me and my loved ones. We’ve narrowed down the location of the culprits and will eventually publicly expose and embarrass them.
People will speculate and makes stuff up to suit their own agendas or bias. I can’t control that. I know in my heart that my entire career has been based on trust, respect and working with people who have taught me and made me a better broadcaster and human being.
Andy Bloom and the entire staff at WIP have been nothing but great to me and have asked me for 3 days to reconsider my decision, and finally on this Wednesday, July 8th, accepted my decision. No rancor, ultimatums or temper tantrums necessary.
I’m not angry, bitter or disappointed in any way. Josh and I proved that giving people an option to the normal offerings can and does make a difference. Becoming number 1 in a matter of weeks is a testament to the need for new voices and ideas. I had an amazing run with so many wonderful co-hosts, teams from the local level to the top networks at ESPN, Fox and Sporting News, so my mission has been fulfilled on the radio airwaves.
Thanks to all of my loyal and faithful followers. You can find me on here and also on the weekly podcasts at www.blogtalkradio.com/tonybrunoshow.”