Mark Simone has been a popular presence on radio and numerous television appearances for decades. Since 2013, he’s been the midday host at WOR. Simone is also Sean Hannity’s main fill in on his Premiere Networks syndicated show, an estimated 200 times as host through the years. He was the top back-up for Don Imus, with as many as up ten weeks per year.
The year was 1977 when it all began for him in New York City on the now-defunct WPIX-FM, putting him on the precipice of 45 years. Milestones escape him as he is too busy to focus on the past.
“Oh yeah, could be,” Simone told BNM. “You’re right. I just never think of that stuff.”
He’s been taking on conversative politics for years, but that only scratches the surface for this versatile broadcasting giant.
Whether doing a music show, comedy, (yes, comedy), or talk, Simone’s common theme is entertaining the audience.
While at WPIX-FM, Simone would spin the cutting-edge music of Blondie and The Police. But his gift of gab would shine almost immediately as host of “The Simone Phone” that he credits as the first FM talk show.
The Sunday morning show was a ratings winner where music was mixed with bits including “Dial-A-Date,” a segment that would be copied by stations thereafter.
With Simone quickly gaining a following, in 1980 he jumped ship to WMCA, the top talk station of the era. He joined a “Murderer’s Row” of radio hosts with Bob Grant, Barry Gray, Barry Farber and Sally Jessy Raphael, before starting her syndicated show. WMCA also had Larry King, one of the top network shows of the time.
“They were looking for somebody really young,” Simone said. “Just like today, they wanted new, younger talk. So, they put me on there with that lineup and that’s where I first did talk radio for a couple of years.”
His days of music were not over. When he landed at WNEW-AM in the early 1980s, Simone was doing a hybrid show of music and talk. WNEW 1130 was the Big Band station in New York.
Comedy Today
Another legendary celebrity, Steve Allen, would co-host an afternoon show with Simone. It was a three-hour comedy show where some of the biggest names and those on the cusp of greatest would participate in the “open mic.”
The show was initially only heard on WNEW before getting picked up nationally on the NBC Radio Network in 1987.
Bill Maher and Jay Leno were among the regulars. Each day the show featured the talents of famed TV writers Herb Sergant and Larry Gelbart.
“That was the greatest radio show I ever heard,” Simone said.
Simone and Allen would hold a roundtable of sorts with the comics, discussing the latest news.
“It was the greatest graduate school ever in comedy,” Simone said.
Once that show ended, it was seamless for Simone to hold down the afternoon slot solo, “but we continued the flavor of that show,” as comedians still were a major part.
For example, there was Jerry Seinfeld chatting with Simone each week as his eponymous sitcom would struggle to find viewers.
“He didn’t think [Seinfeld] would make it. He was worried it would get canceled for the first couple of years,” Simone recalled.
Another NBC star, Jay Leno would frequently appear to test out a monologue before delivering it to millions on The Tonight Show.
Proud of that time at WNEW, Simone also had a budding comic segment called Punchline, where future headliners Jon Stewart, Ellen DeGeneres and Rosie O’Donnell were introduced.
As the show had so many big-name guests, it was decided Simone (and company) would host in front of a live audience.
“We did it from Mickey Mantle’s restaurant on 59th Street with about 150 people every day in the audience.” Simone said. “It was great.”
Ol’ Blue Eyes
“Frank Sinatra used to listen every day. It was that kind of audience,” Simone said of his daily WNEW show that would eventually lead to a friendship with the iconic singer.
“He’d wake up about 2:15, 2:30 every day, have breakfast listening to me like at 3 in the afternoon,” Simone said. “So, whenever I’d see him, he said, ‘I’m listening to you,’ which is the worst thing in the world because it made me more nervous.”
He would also do a Sinatra show for many years on WNEW. After the Chairman of the Board died Simone resurrected the program Saturday nights when he was employed at 77 WABC Radio.
“It was good that I did that because everybody from Sinatra-world was still alive [2000-2002] and we had them on the show, all the great singers and all the people that had worked with him,” he said.
WABC went back to the future with WNYM 970 morning host Joe Piscopo helming a Sunday night Sinatra and Cousin Brucie oldies show, which Simone also hosted at WABC.
“That was one of John’s ideas to bring both those back. Obviously, I couldn’t do them,” Simone said. “[Piscopo] is the perfect guy to do that right now.”
Despite the Saturday Night Live alum doing his weekly specialty show, Simone doesn’t think a larger role at WABC is in the cards.
“Bernie and Sid are a very successful show. You can’t trade that for a guy that hasn’t proven himself in the market,” he said.
In the bigger picture, Piscopo’s WNYM is barely a rival to WOR. In fact, the Salem Media Group station performs so poorly in the ratings that Simone said they stopped subscribing.
Red Apple, No Red Herring
He spent more than a decade on WABC before moving down the dial to another legacy station. WOR will celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2022. Throughout the 2010s, WABC was in the hands of Cumulus Media until billionaire supermarket mogul John Catsimatidis purchased the station under his newly formed Red Apple Media.
“Before [Catsimatidis] got there, the place was a mess under Cumulus,” Simone said. “It was just sinking and sinking.”
Simone considers Catsimatidis one of his closest friends, gathering for dinner three times most weeks and the topic of hiring him “came up a lot,” but Simone admitted the timing didn’t work as he already re-signed a multi-year contract with WOR by the time Catsimatidis took over at WABC.
“But, you never know,” Simone said. “I really like iHeart, though, but obviously working for John would be great too.”
Agree or disagree, the radio station has made major changes to the lineup since Catsimatidis started signing the checks in 2020. Even though there are managers and executives, namely Chad Lopez (President, Red Apple Media) and Dave LaBrozzi (Program Director), Catsimatidis is completely in control of his radio station.
“It’s all John,” Simone said.
Catsimatidis, who doesn’t bring a media corporate mentality can “take some chances that nobody else will take with it. There’s no cheapness. Whatever It takes to make the best product, he’ll spend it,” Simone said.
However, part of the praising is selfish in nature.
“The worst thing for us is not to have a competitor. That’s what gets you lazy,” he said. “With them doing stuff it just makes us have to do better.”
Having said that, Simone’s iHeart bosses are “pretty generous,” and he believes “the four highest guys in radio” are in the iHeart’s New York City studios.
Plus, iHeart is entrenched as the top media conglomerate in the country. From on-air talent to management, they are a well-oiled machine.
“It’s another level with Tom Cuddy, top program director around [and] Thea Mitchem is like a programming genius who runs the whole cluster,” he said.
In 2022, WABC will mark 40 years as a Talk format, but Simone said that those legendary call letters mean nothing as the current line-up needs time to gel.
“WABC will get there, but it’s too early to compare,” he said.
WOR has seen a drop-off in recent Nielsen rating books, after a 2.5 in back-to back months to start 2021, has slipped to 1.8 for May, while WABC, although lower, has been more consistent from 1.9 to 1.7.
Personally, Simone, as stated on his website, has over 18 million listeners monthly.
Simone claims the slippage is across the board in talk radio as COVID-19 is winding down. Speaking of the pandemic, Simone and his WOR hosts have been broadcasting remotely since it began last year. It was at the time their numbers “went through the roof.” They came close to number one and were tops on Long Island among all 67 stations on AM and FM.
They won’t return to the studio until at least the fall, he said.
Change at the White House is causing a more chronic condition for radio and TV hosts without the daily exploits of Donald Trump to explore.
“That hurt everybody. That hurt us. That hurt Steven Colbert,” Simone said. “Trump was an incredible source of material every day. People would listen the whole two hours to my show. You could just talk about Trump forever—whether you loved him or hated him—it was riveting for people.”
By contrast, President Joe Biden is the “most neutral, bland; there’s nothing to talk about, no one wants to hear about it.”
Perfect for those situations, from his earliest days in radio, Simone has not relied exclusively on the political chat.
“I was always careful to make sure the show was about everything,” he said.
Weeks after Trump left office, Rush Limbaugh left an insurmountable void on the radio landscape.
Buck Sexton and Clay Travis launched on Premiere Networks in Limbaugh’s midday slot on June 21.
“You just have to wait and see. When [Joe] DiMaggio retired, that’s it. You’ll never see that again, and some kid replaced him. The kid later turned out to be Mickey Mantle, so anything can happen,” Simone said.
Best of Limbaugh portions were featured for months in the transition until the new hosts were named.
“The clips they played; it was the [wisest] things Rush ever said. So you wanted to hear all of that just to get it on the record.”
Moments after this interview, Simone was slated to appear with Greg Kelly for his regular Newsmax appearance.
Over the years, Simone has also been a contributor to Fox News and Fox Business shows.
That ability to move effortlessly from topic to topic helped him growth with his radio audience.
“That’s the way I do my show now. We’ll be talking about the latest bill in the Senate. The next thing you know we’re talking about the iPhone and the best restaurant,” Simone said. “It’s just a little bit of everything.”
Throughout his broadcasting career, Simone has built relationships and, even more important, learned from his influences that include Ted Brown, William B. Williams and Dan Ingram. Even Johnny Carson would the most important piece of advice, always talk to middle America.
“I worked with the absolute best ever—the greatest voices on the radio—if you need an education,” Simone said. “I had the best teachers you could have.”
