Dennis Malloy is coming back to NJ 101.5. Here’s what I want you to know

There is something I need to tell you.

Starting July 13, Dennis Malloy is coming back to New Jersey 101.5. He and Judi Franco will be reuniting in middays, right where they spent almost 30 years together before Dennis stepped away last summer. And I am moving into a new role — Operations Manager for Townsquare New Jersey, putting my experience to work helping with programming for stations in Atlantic City, the Jersey Shore, and the Princeton/Trenton market, along with weekend music shifts and fill-in talk hosting.

I wanted you to hear it from me directly, and I wanted to tell you what this past year has meant.

Last August, I came back to this station to work alongside Judi Franco in middays. I had been away since 2017 — eight years that took me through Beasley Media Group in Philadelphia and on-air stops along the way. Coming back to New Jersey 101.5 felt like coming home. It still does.

Judi made it easy. She always does. There is a reason Dennis spent almost 30 years sitting next to her. She is a professional in the truest sense of the word — prepared, present, bold and funny. (And perhaps a little sloppy and unfocused at times!) Judi and I have been close off-air friends since 1999, and her faith in me to step in for Dennis last year will never be forgotten. I had a blast working with her and Kyle on “The Judi and EJ Show.” It was a great experience I will never forget. What I did not expect was how quickly the audience took me in. You did not have to. You had every right to protect what you and Judi and Dennis had built over nearly three decades. Instead you welcomed me, called the show, sent the emails, brought the pizza to Asbury Park. I will not forget that either.

SEE ALSO: Inside our Asbury Park boardwalk broadcast    

Jersey Fresh Dennis in his natural habitat | photo by EJ

Dennis is coming home

My relationship with Dennis Malloy goes back further than most people know. He started at WRDR in Hammonton, New Jersey, in 1976. I was a 14-year-old kid calling in and making requests from Mays Landing. We later worked together at WSNI in Philadelphia in 1984, and again at Kiss 100 in Philadelphia in 1991. Then yet again at New Jersey 101.5 starting in 1999, where I can honestly say I was his boss — and have always been his fan.

Dennis and Judi have that rare, special chemistry that is almost impossible to find, not just in radio but anywhere. "Dennis and Judi" is as much a part of Jersey culture as pork roll, egg and cheese. What they built together over almost 30 years is not a show. It is an institution.

He stepped away last July. Eleven months later he is stepping back. I think New Jersey is ready for that. I think Judi is ready for that. I think Dennis is ready for that.

I am genuinely happy for all three of them.

What comes next for me

I started in radio in 1978. This August will mark 48 years. I programmed New Jersey 101.5 from 1999 to 2017 — eighteen years building what this station became. Now I am back in the programming chair, this time as Operations Manager across multiple New Jersey markets, putting my experience to work helping with programming for stations that reach listeners from High Point to Cape May…and beyond! 

I will also be on the air. Friday nights, Saturday and Sunday. And I will fill in on talk when the schedule calls for it.

The writing is not going anywhere. The nj1015.com content operation we have built together over the past year — the essays, the guides, the reaction pieces, the South Jersey stories — none of that changes. This is work I love, and the numbers show it is work that matters to you.

So here is where we are. Dennis and Judi are back together on July 13. I am moving into a role that lets me put 48 years of experience to work shaping what New Jersey radio sounds like across three markets. And I will still be here, writing about this state I have loved my whole life, and showing up on the air when you need a familiar voice.

Forty-eight years in. Still going.