Philly radio vet rips former employer on his way out

Longtime Philadelphia sports personality Anthony Gargano is finally settling in at All City Network’s PHLY outlet after a prolonged legal dispute with Beasley Media Group’s 97.5 The Fanatic station. Gargano took his solo radio show digital with his jump to PHLY and helps manage the outlet, which he says will be profitable as soon as next month.

In a profile at Barrett Sports Media, Gargano expressed his frustration with The Fanatic and Beasley while providing several hopeful updates about the future of PHLY.

All City and Beasley reached a settlement in January, but Gargano had already begun working in management at PHLY. Gargano said he expects PHLY to become profitable this summer, with more than 20 active advertising partners in the market. Gargano also revealed PHLY and other All City outlets will launch free, ad-supported television (FAST) streaming channels on over-the-top services by football season. The Anthony Gargano Show produced by PHLY already streams on the FAST channel of the local Philadelphia Fox affiliate.

In particular, Gargano highlighted low overhead costs for PHLY and other All City outlets as a key ingredient to reaching profitability quickly. PHLY launched last fall, meaning they could become profitable in less than one year. All City raised $9.4 million in Series A funding last November.

Gargano helped lead the network’s push into national coverage , cohosting the ALL NFL Podcast with Brian Baldinger.

As for The Fanatic, Gargano clearly has hard feelings toward his former employer.

“First of all, I helped The Fanatic more than The Fanatic helped me, and if anything, you can argue that WIP made me, which they did, but if you don’t do it yourself, you’re not going to last long,” Gargano told BSM’s Derek Futterman.

Gargano, who left WIP for The Fanatic in 2015, stated that he’s excited to broaden his coverage, expand his responsibilities, and chart a sustainable path in modern media at PHLY.

“The soul of WIP is still Eagles and football centric, even though it’s the home for the Phillies and they do some good Phillies content, but it’s really always been Eagles,” Gargano told BSM. “Sixers, Flyers, Phillies, there was more diversity in the conversation, and I think that’s kind of the difference between the two.”

All City owns four outlets in the U.S. after initially launching as an outgrowth of BSN Denver. PHLY appears to have grown most quickly despite launching after DNVR, PHNX and CHGO.

Gargano’s live daily show regularly brings in several thousand fews, making it one of the more consistently popular programs at PHLY.

[ Barrett Sports Media ]

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