With Craig Carton set to rejoin WFAN’s weekday lineup next week, the decision to pair him with incumbent afternoon host Evan Roberts means Marc Malusis and Maggie Gray will remain in their midday timeslot.
Even though Moose and Maggie won’t be disrupted by the addition of Carton, questions remained about their future in WFAN’s revamped lineup. But according to Andrew Marchand of The New York Post, WFAN is ready to keep the show going into 2021. New contracts have not been signed by the two hosts, but offers will be made by The Fan and parent company Entercom.
Up until Carton and Roberts was announced by WFAN last week, there were reports of attempts to reacquire Bart Scott from ESPN New York, with plans of putting him alongside Carton from 2 – 7pm. If that happened, Roberts would have likely returned to middays, with Gray considered the favorite to be his co-host. Pairing Roberts and Gray from 10am – 2pm would have left Malusis on the outside looking in at WFAN’s lineup.
Instead, not only are Gray and Malusis both in middays when Carton returns next week, but they’re expected to get an opportunity to control the timeslot into the New Year. Gray has added value to WFAN which features a white-male dominated lineup unrepresentative of New York, but she’s also on her third co-host pairing since joining the station full-time in 2018.
Gray was hired with Chris Carlin and Bart Scott to replace Mike Francesa the first time he left afternoon drive nearly three years ago. The trio was then relegated to the 1 – 3pm hours when Francesa returned, with Gray and Scott pinned as a duo after Carlin was let go. When Scott spurned WFAN for ESPN New York this past January, Gray was paired with Malusis to take over the 10am – 2pm timeslot.
If Moose and Maggie can’t put a lock on WFAN’s midday show, the narrative might unjustifiably point to Gray and whether or not she deserves a fourth co-host pairing in three years.
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.
