John DeBella

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John DeBella is a radio DJ in Philadelphia. He became famous in Philadelphia as part of WMMR's Morning Zoo along with "Mark the Shark.". He was number one in the morning ratings through most of the 1980s and was a popular figure in the city of Philadelphia. Every year he would host the "DeBella DeBall" and was very popular with rock music fans. DeBella's favorite musician was Peter Gabriel and he enjoyed discussing Gabriel's many hits on the air. During the late 1980s, when Howard Stern was attempting to achieve dominance in the Philadelphia market, Stern heaped much scorn on DeBella, calling him "the ZooKeeper" and "Baldy". For the last several years, DeBella has worked with WMGK. His show runs from 5:30am to 9:00am. The show features news and traffic by his co-hort Jen Posner and the goofy antics of the two are accompanied by producer Giant Brian (Carothers). The show is not only a talk format but also plays a number of classic rock songs throughout the morning including a 'Breakfast with the Beatles' segment from 7:10 until 7:20am. Additional appearances by Bill Henly, local NBC affiliate meteorologist at 7:05am and comedian Grover Silcox from appr. 8:00-8:45am every Thursday. The show almost always closes with the song "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" by Eric Idle of Monty Python fame. John Debella then closes out his broadcast with "Have a great day Philadelphia. Don't take any crap from anybody."

John DeBella frequently gives back to his Philadelphia community by offering a number of events throughout the year.^{[citation needed]} Every spring he sponsors an annual Dog-Walk in Fairmount Park, the largest park within city limits in the country. He also heads the annual "MGK Turkey Drop," held every year two days before Thanksgiving, where listeners are encouraged to drop off turkeys or cash donations to a number of pre-advertised drop-off points. In 2006 alone, the event collected over 6,000 turkeys. Every December 7, a 'date which will live in infamy,' John DeBella hosted his annual DeBella DeBall, a black-tie event that is reportedly the longest tradition in Philadelphia radio history. On December 7, 2006, the event celebrated its 25th anniversary.

At the end of June, 2007, Giant Brian left The John DeBella show to host his own morning show in Atlanta. He was replaced in late 2007 by Rob Calvert.