Longtime local radio personality Matt Fantone to host 94.1's new morning show

CANTON − Matt Fantone, who helms the lunchtime program on Mix 94.1 (WHBC-FM), will be the Canton-based radio station's new local live morning host from 6 to 10 a.m. weekdays beginning Monday.

The station's program director and late afternoon radio personality, "Java" Joel Murphy, announced Fantone as the new sole morning host on air shortly after 5 p.m. Wednesday. The new program will be called Mix Mornings with Matt Fantone.

The Canton resident had hosted the station's 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. time slot since April 2022.

"In my heart, I knew mornings was going to be the next step," Fantone said.

Radio personality Marissa Lanchak will take over the hosting duties for the 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. slot.

Murphy teased the announcement on his show for about a week.

On Wednesday, he said on air, "I got to tell you, morning radio sucks. It's either syndicated nonsense from California or Boston or New York. It's always a guy and a girl. The guy's never funny. The girl's only there to laugh at the guy who's not funny. Or it's just one guy ranting and raving for four hours straight about whatever he's dealing with. It's boring! Been there, done that!"

Fantone said, "It's me, surprise! Matt Fantone."

He told the audience that he felt the local listening community had embraced him at 94.1 and during his time at 106.9 (WRQK-FM), where he worked prior to hosting the Mix lunchtime program.

"I don't know if I'm good enough. I don't know if I'm talented enough. So I'm going to rely on you. I'm going to need you to help me carry some of this weight. ... I want this to be an entertaining show. I want this to be an empowering show. I want this to be a positive show."

Related: Who will be the new 94.1 local morning show host in Canton? Mystery to be revealed

Related: Radio personality Matt Fantone moving to Mix 94.1

Breaking out of a formula common in radio, Fantone won't have a co-host or sidekick to banter with. He'll instead be talking about the issues on people's minds that day as he chats with callers and interviews special guests between musical blocks.

Fantone said instead of focusing on discussing, for example, a celebrity's divorce, he'll invite listeners to call in and share stories about their divorces, aiming to find out what national news stories mean to the listeners in Canton.

Fantone was on vacation in early September when the station learned that the agreement to syndicate the Columbus-based "Dave and Jimmy" show, the station's longtime morning show, was not going to be renewed.

Murphy said he, the station's general manager and market manager Larry Gawthrop, and the station's operations manager Clayton Church chose to tap Fantone to host the station's first live morning show in five years.

When Fantone returned from vacation, he and the others had only a few weeks to plan out the new show.

This is Fantone's second stint at Alpha Media-owned Mix 94.1. The native of Twinsburg had worked for radio stations in Cleveland; Fresno, California; Flint, Michigan; and Detroit before moving to Canton in 2013 for a sidekick role on the Mix 94.1 morning show hosted by Pat Deluca and Kathy Vogel.

By June 2015, he had moved onto Rock 106.9, owned by iHeartMedia, to be a co-host in the "Stansbury Show" with fellow Twinsburg High School alumnus Dan Stansbury. A Repository writer described the show as "two dudes hanging out in their studio man cave."

Fantone is also known for helping rescue a family who somehow ended up in a cheetah exhibit at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo in 2015.

In 2020, he was among hundreds laid off by iHeartMedia. A fan started a petition to try to get him rehired, and he returned to Mix 94.1 in 2022.

Fantone also worked as a part-time on-court host for the Canton Charge basketball team.

Related: Mix 94.1 wiseguy Matt Fantone takes the Ticket Pop Quiz

Shortly before 5 p.m. Wednesday, Fantone was standing in the Mix 94.1 studio drinking water out of a large mug with a cat on it. His wife, Megan, and his two kids, Amelia, 3, and Calvin, 1, were on the other side of the glass watching proudly as he was announced the new morning host. Megan snapped several pictures.

Reach Robert at robert.wang@cantonrep.com. Twitter: @rwangREP.

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Fantone will be host of Mix 94.1's live morning radio show