As a longtime listener to Joe & Evan, WFAN’s afternoon show immediately struck me as one that might struggle when sports were abruptly stopped in March. But behind some creativity from the 36-year old Evan Roberts and a willingness to buy in from 66-year old Joe Benigno, the show has produced strong content as of late.
Benigno and Roberts portray the sound of being sports fans first, radio hosts second. And for 14 years, it’s worked, especially when the Jets and Mets are in action. After the two officially partnered as WFAN’s new midday duo in Jan. 2007, they quickly became a must listen anytime the Mets or Jets made headlines. But without sports, hosts need to find other ways of entertaining listeners, as the ability to emotionally react to a game is erased.
I remember Sept. 14, 2018, (yes, I actually remember the date) Joe and Evan did a simulcast spot with Shan Shariff and RJ Choppy from their sister station in Dallas, 105.3 The Fan, to preview the upcoming Giants-Cowboys game. The two shows have very different styles, which caused some uncomfortable moments during the segment and had Benigno later asking, “is this what sports talk radio is not in New York…bells and whistles?”
Sports radio is different in other parts of the country, it’s even different right next door on 98.7 ESPN Radio where they include more of those “bells and whistles.” No longer does the sports radio format feature just turn the mic on, take calls, offer some opinion, and go home.
Benigno, specifically, is at his best when reacting to something that involves his teams. A bad Jets loss, Adam Gase, a blown save by the Mets, the Wilpons refusing to sign a high-priced free agent. That ability was mostly stripped away when sports stopped, so how do you keep the 66-year old engaged and fired up?
The term “bracket” in radio sounds repetitive because so many shows used it, especially to compensate for having no NCAA Tournament this spring. When Roberts announced the “Benigno Bracket of Pain,” I had a similar, ‘this is repetitive’ sentiment. But the bracket ended up being a fantastic idea for someone like Benigno, who can relive the moment and offer specific details. Credit Roberts for organizing 64 of the worst sports moments in his radio partner’s life, and credit Benigno for buying into the bit which became a popular 5 o’clock segment on the show.
Benigno offered his insight, memories and intricate details to 64 events including the Mets trading Tom Seaver, the ’82 AFC Title Mud Bowl in Miami and the ultimate bracket winner, Charles Smith missing four consecutive layups against the Chicago Bulls in the ’93 Eastern Conference Finals. These are moments that make Benigno cringe, they make him yell, but best of all, they promote passion. Hearing him react to the painful memories is exactly why he’s beloved by New York area sports fans and exactly why they tune to Joe & Evan when the Mets or Jets are in the news.
As much as they’re passionate about their teams, Joe and Evan have been criticized for sometimes tuning out the Yankees and Giants. Being a Mets fan, Benigno’s Bracket of Pain naturally didn’t include Yankees moments to discuss, except for a few Subway Series games. Introducing the “Sterling 5” was a fun way to create unique Yankees content, featuring radio play-by-play voice John Sterling, an icon, who’s unique style is unmatched.
Joe and Evan went through approximately five Sterling home run calls each day, totaling 112, most of which are very entertaining. The Yankees centric segment includes trivia, nostalgia and comedy thanks to Sterling’s charm and character.
Both the Benigno Bracket of Pain and the Sterling 5 provided strong direction for callers. There are varying opinions regarding the benefit of a sports radio show taking calls, but WFAN was built on that model and their afternoon show takes a lot of them. New York fans expect to be heard and listeners expect to hear callers on WFAN.
Still, their call segments are generally better when topics are limited. They’re easier to screen and organize, helping to avoid having a listener shout out three outfielders and mindlessly ask the hosts to rank ‘em.
One negative of Benigno and Roberts is despite their 30-year age difference, they have similar mindsets as fans. Their opinions rarely build separately and lead to passionate debates or arguments. And when they do fall on opposite sides of the spectrum, Benigno is unlikely to dive deeply into discussion even when pressed by Roberts for insight and examples.
Segments will feed off each other’s rooting misery, more than they will a disagreement, which is where taking calls benefits them. If Joe and Evan agree on a topic, callers can play the role of devil’s advocate. The following is an example of an annoying call, but they weren’t monotonous, they played devil’s advocate and also highlighted one of Roberts’ strengths as an opinionated sports encyclopedia.
Over the course of 14 years, Joe and Evan drew attention from a community of Mets and Jets fans who relate to “oh the pain,” more than they built their own community of listeners as a radio show. Continued efforts in creating unique segments, even when sports return, can help develop a communal feeling with listeners. Let the listener learn more about behind-the-scenes occurrences, opinions and interests outside of sports. Bring in additional voices, part-time producer Tommy Lugauer’s enthusiasm and energy sounded great when he chimed in recently.
Roberts has a background that includes the old Maxim Radio channel on SiriusXM and can revert to that style of show, but a lot of his inventive ideas have been featured off WFAN’s airwaves. Not that listeners want to hear Twitter baseball or a narration of Roberts playing H-O-R-S-E on WFAN, but he’s proven fully capable of creating unique content.
One relationship Joe and Evan are better at building than most shows, is with their weekly guests. Welcoming a reporter who just tweeted all the information they’re going to rehash on-air can be “filler radio.” But Joe and Evan are able to build strong connections with players and beat reporters. Guests seem to find their rooting passion amusing – Michael Irvin, Ty Montgomery and Terry Bradshaw are examples of paid weekly spots who genuinely sounded like they enjoy joining the show. MLB Insider Jon Heyman is a guest on many shows nationwide, but he has a tendency to discuss more non-baseball topics with Joe and Evan. When Heyman is on with Benigno and Roberts, he’s not rehashing his last hour of tweets, the trio are able to entertain on a variety of topics.
As a listener, I’ve enjoyed hearing hosts conduct long-form interviews. With COVID-19 leading to less commercials, it’s not uncommon for shows to take up two segments and offer a deeper conversation. Scott Boras, John Heyman, Ian Eagle, Xavier McDaniel all topped the 30-minute mark with Joe and Evan last month, with a multitude of others going longer than 25 minutes.
While I thought Benigno and Roberts would be hit hard without live sports, one area they’ve had no trouble adjusting to was hosting from separate locations. Benigno, having gone through two hip replacements in recent years, had the duo well-versed in hosting remotely. The 66-year old regularly talks about retiring to Florida, (probably too much), but based on how they sound apart, there’s little reason why they couldn’t continue the show from different states.
Joe and Evan went from being untouchable in middays, to underdogs in the afternoon with a tough hill to climb, challenging the timeslot’s incumbent No. 1 sports program, The Michael Kay Show. Normally when hosts come in as the underdog, you expect competition and a willingness to try new things. But for 14 years, we already knew what Joe and Evan were. Maybe the sports stoppage is what Benigno and Roberts needed to experiment, and once game action returns on a nightly basis, hopefully they’ll continue in the same direction.
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.
