Howard Eskin is the original WIP sports talker. Eskin, dubber the market’s “hardest working sportscaster by local media for his eternal hustle on the job, started the sports talk revolution on SportsRadio 610 WIP in 1986.

Today, Eskin hosts WIP’s sports talk show weekdays from 3 to 7 p.m., the highest-rated afternoon drive radio program among men in the market. In addition to his dominant radio presence in Philadelphia, Eskin has excelled as a multi-media personality throughout his career, moving easily between radio and television in addition to writing a column for the Philadelphia Daily News in the early ‘90s.

The Emmy-Award winning sportscaster first made the transition to television in 1982 when he joined KYW-TV. Eskin made a name for himself in radio by breaking stories and stirring public opinion with his commentaries. He brought that same hustle with him to television where, with his efforts, breaking news was often found on the sports desk.

One of Eskin’s managers at KYW even credits the sportscaster with keeping the Eagles in Philadelphia by breaking the story in the ‘80s that the owner was trying to sell the team. “If Howard had not stepped in when he did…Leonard Tose would have snuck the Eagles out of town, says Frank Traynor. “Howard broke the Eagles story…and, by doing so, I believe helped to keep the team in town.

Eskin later helped launch Fox Station WTXF-TV’s Ten O’clock News as part of its original anchor team from 1986 to 1991. Later, he rejoined KYW-TV in 1992, and then moved to WCAU-TV in 1996 where he served as a host and contributor to Sports Final until April, 2005. He has also been a contributor to the George Michael Sports Machine on NBC; serves as a frequent commentator on ESPN’s Cold Pizza; co-hosted a nationally-syndicated radio show, Let’s Talk Sports, and been called on for his opinions by such diverse programs as NBC’s Today Show and PBS’s MacNeil Lehrer Newshour.

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Howard and Allen Iverson