The overnight show originating from 77 WABC — The Other Side of Midnight with Frank Morano — is one of the fastest-growing syndicated programs in the country. Frank Morano is deeply in love with the overnight airwaves. It’s a passion that defies the usual radio conventions, where prestigious dayparts like mornings and afternoons steal the spotlight.
The show hosted by Frank Morano stands out from the rest by covering stories and topics that many other hosts neglect. He carves a different path from the usual route and gives his loyal audience a fresh perspective. As a result, every moment of listening to his show is truly special and one-of-a-kind.
Just three years ago, 77 WABC was struggling with low ratings and had been forgotten by many. However, under the leadership of John Catsimatidis, the station has been brought to new heights. One of the notable decisions made by John was to hire Frank Morano to host overnights. Many industry professionals believe that the lifelong passion of Catsmiatidis for radio has allowed him to transform 77 WABC into a hub for engaging and locally focused discussions featuring a wide range of perspectives and fascinating individuals.
From Morano’s perspective, John Catsimatidis has not only saved a radio station, but he has also rekindled the magic of radio for an entire city.
During an interview with Barrett News Media, Frank Morano shared his intense passion for overnight radio, discussed how recent changes in New York City have given him a fresh perspective on his listening audience, and expressed his admiration for John Catsimatidis, the owner of WABC and Red Apple Audio Networks.
Ryan Hedrick: Tell me about your unique overnight timeslot and why it appeals to you.
Frank Morano: The listenership is incredibly diverse. The early part of the show tends to be dominated by people who stay up late. The later part of the show tends to be dominated by people who get up early and start their day a little early.
Throughout the show, you’re really treated to being listened to by people who can’t sleep, suffering from insomnia, doing an unexpected airport run, they’re working, and a lot of Uber drivers, truck drivers, and security guards.
People frequently tell me that they try to stay up and listen to the show even though they don’t have a reason to be up. I wouldn’t trade this for anything in the world. I’ve worked a lot of other dayparts in radio, as both a host and producer, and overnight radio to me is special because you have the opportunity to delve deep into a subject.
RH: What do you think of John Catsimatidis’ job as owner of WABC Radio and turning the station around?
FM: Whole books can be written about the job John and the Catsimatidis family have done bringing back WABC. In New York, they call WABC “Lazarus” because it is the station that has returned from the dead. Three years ago, this station was nowhere in the ratings. And now, it’s routinely beating almost every AM station in the market.
I think John is so good at this, not because he necessarily has a lifetime of working in radio, but because he’s been a radio fan his whole life. He’s programmed his station to do the kinds of things that fans want to hear, which is compelling, primarily live and local talk from a variety of different perspectives with a whole bunch of interesting people bringing it to you.
Many of the folks on our station, like Rudy Giuliani, Anthony Weiner, and Bill O’Reilly, are not necessarily folks that would have the opportunity at just a standard, corporate-owned radio station. John’s philosophy is that if it’s good radio, he’ll allow people to be heard and build an audience.
RH: Tell me more about yourself. I’m interested to know about your background, where you came from, and your professional experience.
Frank Morano: I’ve worked in radio for the better part of 20 years. A lot of that time has been spent as a producer. I was a producer for Curtis & Kuby, then for Curtis Sliwa’s solo show, Joe Piscopo, John Gambling; I worked with a lot of other hosts along the way.
Maybe about 11 years ago, while I was still producing the morning show at AM 970 (The Answer in New York), I had always been filling in for a lot of different hosts, including several of the ones I just mentioned, while I was still producing the morning show on 970, I started hosting a weekly show. I was doing mornings from 2:00-4:00 AM. I did that for a year and a half, and then I was doing Friday night into Saturday night, and then I was doing Sunday mornings. I did that for about three years until I came to WABC to do the overnight show.
About a year ago, they started syndicating the overnight show. Now, we are on a couple of great dozen radio stations across the country. The show continues to grow, and I am grateful for that.
RH: When you started as a producer, did you envision your growth as a talk show host?
FM: Yes, absolutely. It’s the only thing that I envisioned. I certainly enjoyed working with many of the hosts I did over the years, but really, the thing that sustained me was the goal of doing what I do now. As far as I am concerned, if this is my last job for the rest of my life, that would be fine with me.
RH: There are numerous late-night listening options in New York City. How have you managed to grow your audience despite the competition?
Frank Morano: I get such a buzz out of being able to do this that I’m really energized every time I come to the microphone at 1:00 AM. On the one hand, it is a new challenge to be interesting and do something different than what I did the day before, but also to do something different from all the other radio talk shows.
Really, one of the things that I strive to do is if all the other talk shows are talking about one topic, I try to do the opposite. If I’m going to do that same topic, I try to find a different perspective or a different way of approaching it than everybody else. I’m sure it will frustrate listeners who will tune in to me expecting to hear you more commentary about the migrants or Hunter Biden, and I’m talking about something completely light years removed from that. But people have responded to the show. They say that they really welcome that.
They welcome a break from the things that everybody else is doing. Because, you know, overnight radio, you are often in a different frame of mind than you are throughout the rest of the day. A lot of times, you have already heard all the news that everybody is talking about. People have already formed opinions about it, and you’re up for something different.
RH: Who are the people who have influenced and inspired your journey as a WABC host?
FM: The obvious answer is John Catsimatidis. He’s given me every opportunity and is largely the person standing between me and homelessness right now (laughs). But beyond John, you know, Curtis Sliwa has certainly been a mentor to me. I worked with Curtis not only in radio but in the political sphere when we were in the leadership of a political party together for, you know, on, on and off for about 19 or 20 years.
RH: New York has undergone significant changes since the pandemic, and the migrant crisis has only added to the city’s negative portrayal in the media. How has this affected the topics discussed on your show?
FM: In some respects, New York is changing. A lot of the people who used to listen to me because they lived in Staten Island, Brooklyn, and Queens now, listen to me online as they’ve relocated to North Carolina, Florida, Arizona, and Pennsylvania. New York is still a place where everyone’s always angry at the mayor.
Whoever the mayor is, they’re always passionate about whatever the big local news of the day is. Everyone’s always concerned about crime. Everyone’s always concerned about their streets being dirty. Everyone’s always concerned about why there are so many rats around. And even though the population has shifted, not only are there more foreign-born New Yorkers, but there are younger New Yorkers that are from places like Kansas and Nebraska.
So, the population has changed to some extent. But I’ve learned from many of these transplanted New Yorkers who have moved to places like Florida that you know the adage is true: you could take the New Yorker out of the city, but you can’t take the city out of the New Yorker.
RH: Your show continues to attract new affiliates for syndicator Red Apple Audio. What do you attribute this growth to?
Frank Morano: I think the growth is due in part to the fact that even though I sound like a New Yorker and tell a lot of New York stories, the fact that there are so many New Yorkers elsewhere, in some respects, we’re kind of like being a Jewish deli. In that, there are a lot of folks who want a slice of home wherever they happen to be.
We’re on WCBM in Maryland, for instance, in Baltimore, and we get calls from there all the time from folks that grew up in New York or New Jersey and say they really enjoy hearing about some of the different personalities and hearing many of these different accents. I think also it’s that we’re kind of doing old-fashioned overnight talk radio.
My sense in listening to the radio, which I still do all the time, is that many people on the radio almost do this because they can’t be on television or they can’t be social media influencers.
I’m interested in doing theater of the mind, creating pictures with words, making sound effects, and using my hands and mouth at the microphone. There are fewer and fewer of those options on the radio these days. As far as how the show has evolved, it’s similar to where it was three years ago.
Maybe we do a bit less local content now that we’re syndicated, but honestly, so many of the stories that New Yorkers deal with and the issues they care about are the same issues that the whole country is dealing with. Even if people listen in Nevada, Michigan, or Alaska, a lot of times, they’re still just as interested in hearing about which place has better pizza in New York.
