Put his mic on! Mike Francesa announced an end to the ban on sharing his video and audio. Less than a month after threatening legal action for anyone who shares clips from his show without consent, Francesa reversed course Thursday afternoon.
“Starting immediately, Entercom and radio.com have lifted the restrictions on my audio and video,” Francesa wrote on Twitter.
The restrictions seemed like a direct attack on Funhouse (@backaftathis), the Twitter handle known for highlighting Mike Francesa’s on-air miscues.
“We’ve been planning this for a long time,” Francesa said of the instituted ban on April 2. “This copyrighted broadcast and telecast is presented by the authority of Entercom, RADIO.COM and WFAN and may not – remember – may not be reproduced or retransmitted without the express written consent of Entercom Communications Corporation and RADIO.COM. And that means anybody.”
The reaffirmation of rules against sharing content without consent came after Francesa gave a fiery rant featuring his dissatisfaction with President Trump’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. Funhouse clipped and shared the rant, which came during the RADIO.COM portion of Francesa’s daily show. But 2.6 million views later, Francesa announced restrictions on his content which Entercom owns.
Funhouse obliged, and no longer posts videos of Francesa, but even now that the restrictions are lifted, the Twitter account says it won’t go back to serving as a source of content sharing for Mike. At least not without “a significant annual salary,” they told the Daily News.
Funhouse certainly shared many clips that poke fun at the iconic radio host, but the unidentified social media account also did a lot of the brunt work in presenting Francesa’s content to a younger audience.
Without Funhouse, RADIO.COM and WFAN were left to share Francesa’s show content, but they typically haven’t had the same luck in helping The Sports Pope go viral. Still, Francesa told Newsday he “didn’t do it for [Funhouse]. I’ve never given him a thought in my life.”
While Funhouse has moved on from sharing Francesa clips, there are seemingly no restrictions preventing someone else from stepping in to do it.
Brandon Contes is a former reporter for BSM, now working for Awful Announcing. You can find him on Twitter @BrandonContes or reach him by email at Brandon.Contes@gmail.com.
