Andre Gardner announces new contract with WMGK to remain afternoon drive host
John DeBella, the host of the "John DeBella Show" on 102.9 WMGK in Philadelphia, has signed a new contract with the station.
Andre Gardner has been the afternoon drive host at 102.9 WMGK FM for 21 years and is a resident Beatles fanatic. He announced on Thursday that he had signed a multi-year contract extension to continue his role with the parent company Beasley Media Group.
Gardner thanked WMGK's Bill Weston and Beasley Philadelphia's Market Manager Joe Bell in a post on social media.
Gardner, a Philadelphia radio personality and rock music fanatic since the late 1970s (except for a brief stint in New York at 92.3 K Rock from 1993-2002), has worked on the Philadelphia area's radio scene. Gardner's LinkedIn page states that he began working weekends at Trenton WPST in 1977, as a student. He then moved on to Sunny 104.5 and Z-106, with short stints in Atlanta, Dallas, and Fort Pierce.
Gardner was hired by 94.1 WYSP as nighttime disc jockey and music director at a time when the station was at its height of popularity, with Howard Stern on morning drive. After five years, Gardner left to work for K-Rock, but Buzz Knight hired him to manage afternoon drive at WMGK. His show consistently ranks among the highest-rated shows in its time slot for the 25-54-year-old demographic. Gardner hosted the Sunday morning "Breakfast with The Beatles" program for the station, which was syndicated. Gardner held this position until last year.
A request for additional information Thursday afternoon was not immediately answered by either a Beasley or Bell spokesperson.
WMGK ranked second among Philadelphia radio stations for overall ratings in March behind iHeartMedia’s urban adult contemporary 105.3 WDAS. Matt Cord hosts the middays and John DeBella is in charge of morning drive.
Beasley has its Philadelphia office at One Bala Plaza, 231 St. Asaphs Road, Bala Cynwyd. It also owns adult contemporary station 95.7 BENFM, sports talk station WPEN 97.5 The Fanatic, and country radio station WXTU 92.5 XTU.
Beasley, based in Naples, Florida (NASDAQ:BBGI), has been experiencing a decline in The Fanatic's ratings since Mike Missanelli left the afternoon drive last year. Last May, the company re-signed top-rated morning show hosts Preston & Steve from WMMR.