I don’t watch soap operas or wrestling, and my reality TV consumption remains pretty low, but that’s OK, because I get my guilty pleasure fix of drama from WFAN. Once a model of stability, New York’s heritage sports radio station has struggled to find continuity with their lineup recently.
In the last three years, WFAN saw one mainstay host go to jail, their iconic afternoon host retire twice, the replacement afternoon show move to middays and later lose two hosts to ESPN. Their long running midday show was then moved to afternoons, and now it’s likely to change again with the formerly imprisoned host set to make a triumphant return. The longest running weekday spot for WFAN is currently Craig Carton’s former show, hosted by Boomer Esiason and Gregg Giannotti in morning drive.
And if Giannotti has one piece of advice for station management, it’s stick to their next lineup.
On Thursday, Gio shared with listeners the recommendation he made to program director Mark Chernoff regarding more pending changes at The Fan.
“Whatever you guys decide, and don’t tell me anything, I don’t even care anymore,” Gio told Chernoff. “Whatever you guys decide, keep it that way. Unless somebody has had a major illness or something horrible happens, god forbid. But keep it that way”
Carlin, Maggie and Bart had four months in afternoon drive, but they were punted for Mike Francesa who had no plans on staying much longer than a year. Francesa was later replaced with Evan Roberts and Joe Benigno, even though Benigno similarly did not want to stay more than one year. Now afternoon drive is on the verge of changing again.
After reportedly striking out on Barstool’s Willie Colon and ESPN’s Bart Scott, Evan Roberts is becoming a heavy favorite to remain in afternoon drive with the soon to be returning Craig Carton. So whether it’s pairing Carton with Roberts, or finding a former professional athlete for Craig to work with, let this be the move that lasts.
Carton and Roberts seem like an odd pairing. Despite having a background hosting on the old Sirius Maxim Radio channel, Roberts likes to stick to sports, while Carton attempts to take every exit and detour he can possibly find. But despite a recent lineup in flux, and rumors being leaked, WFAN has smart people making its decisions with track records of building successful shows. Similarly, Carton won’t put himself in a situation with a co-host that he doesn’t believe he can win with.
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.
I have said this before, but it bears repeating: while Craig Carton does have some talent, he also has a penchant for buffoonery and cartoonish behavior that seems off-putting to me. I don’t think that he is a good fit for Evan Roberts.
Also, I don’t think that he is as good as Greg Giannotti is. I realize that my opinion is probably a minority opinion on this matter, but it is what it is!
I agree … love Gio !
He is funny, on his game virtually always, a great partner with Boomer who genuinely seems to enjoy him and brings comic relief and great impersonations to the mix as well . He is a keeper and hopefully WFAN brass know this and do it !
It’s not minority I feel the same & if they bring that idiot Carton back I’m done – Moose & Maggie are awful – I like Boomer & Gio & like Evan & Joe but I’m not coming back this time – absolutely terrible WFAN terrible!
Well I agree that everyone is entitled to a second chance I think that the people who stuck with WFAN in the midst of all this drama and are well-liked and well-known are getting shafted if Joe wants to leave that’s one thing but Evan shouldn’t have to be bounced around like a ping-pong ball Craig is fine He’s great He’s what drew me to watch and listen. But you got to take care of the people that are there
Let me get this straight… This station which is supposedly an iconic NYC sports mainstay and could attract any number of actual sports personalities has managed to consistently fill their spots with new hosts that are legitimately clueless and embarrassing. The extent of their expertise being waking up and buying the Post and Daily News so they can discuss sports through nonsense headlines and rumors and trash articles that are written to beat deadlines (by writers who are desperate to find better work online etc). No analysis of games, nor a contextual understanding of what’s happened with local teams… Instead reacting to the new fake story of the day. All of whom make Mike Francesa look like a different breed of sports talk host that actually knows things and avoids riding controversy, instead choosing to try and at least focus on actual stories. Ego and all at least he has a wide knowledge of sports. And at one point this station managed to be rescued from their own pathetic decision making when the worst of all, a criminal fraud was taken off the air because of his own problems. Yet somehow the concept of allowing this buffoon jokester felon back on the air is now actually happening by their CHOICE? And better yet, possibly putting him on during afternoon drive with yet another embarrassing host in Evan Roberts… A host that cries about trades and decisions his teams make and has the same act on a daily basis (going on the air to whine, cry and scream for everyone to be fired. Every single day.)
This is who the people in charge think will draw listeners? If they hire Carton back I personally won’t put that radio station on ever again. Barely listen now.
I completely agree with you about Carton. He’s a talentless buffoon who would have done jack SHIT without Boomer!
Helllloooooooooooooooo La La la
This is a story that just amazes me . We have a known felon and stole millions from people . He goes to jail for less than a year . He gets out and declares bankruptcy. He then gets a documentary like he’s a hero on hbo . He then looks like he’s hired now for the afternoon drive and basically took a sabbatical for a few years . Where in the world can people get this kind of break? And he is all healed from gambling right ? Btw I have a great bridge to sell cheap in nyc .