Andrew Marchand of The New York Post led off his weekly “Media Mailbag” column with a question about New York’s heritage sports talk radio brand.
Reader Vincent asked why WFAN would broadcast Yankee games and spend so little time talking about the team during its shows. “Most hosts are Met fans and don’t hide it. I believe the ratings have fallen because people are tired of it,” he wrote.
Marchand noted that there is no evidence that the number of Mets fans on the air at WFAN has effected the station’s ratings, though he did add that plenty of people have shared Vincent’s observation about the makeup of the WFAN lineup’s baseball allegiances.
“Yankees officials have also felt for a long time that FAN’s hosts have skewed too much toward Mets fans, according to sources,” Marchand wrote.
He went on to clarify that it is not so much the lack of die hard fans on the air that has disappointed the Yankees. Maggie Gray, Boomer Esiason, and Gregg Giannotti all support the Mets, but they are able to present their coverage of both teams as neutral. Gray’s partner Marc Malusis is a Yankee fan, which probably makes it possible for that show to please fans of both teams.
Mike Francessa’s exit from afternoon drive has really changed the sound of that day part. WFAN replaced the Sports Pope with Joe Benigno and Evan Roberts, who are outspoken Mets fans. Marchand says the duo sounds “as if they are doing a chore talking about the Yankees.” He says that WFAN is never going to hire or fire someone based on their favorite baseball team, but “it does not make the Yankees happy.”
