As the Boomer & Gio morning show was in the midst of a break on WFAN and CBS Sports Network, Giannotti walked out of the studio to the newsroom and looked at a bulletin board where the station’s schedule is posted. While reading what was posted, he noticed an article cut out from a recent edition of Newsday featuring Chris Oliviero, Audacy New York market president, who is responsible for overseeing the company’s cluster of New York City radio stations. Giannotti recognized that he had participated in a Q&A with Newsday reporter Neil Best and read the response to a question he was asked about his morning program.
After Best asked about the new midday and afternoon programs within the station lineup, he followed up by confirming if “the top-rated morning show is mostly a given,” referring to its consistent success in the marketplace. In the most recent Nielsen XTrends quarterly ratings book, Boomer & Gio attained a 12.1 share on the quarter among Men 25-54, a 2.4-point year-over-year improvement. In response, Oliviero levied a comparison between the station’s morning show and NBC when it had The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson.
“They had the franchise. They had the institution,” Oliviero said in the article. “You didn’t have to worry about 11:30 at night. I don’t have to worry about 6 o’clock in the morning.”
From that answer, Best asked if that will remain the case until co-host and former NFL quarterback Boomer Esiason retires from the role. Oliviero then affirmed that Esiason is not going to retire from WFAN, stating that he will not allow it. While he understands that Esiason is busy, he believes that the WFAN job is “foundational for him” and something that he genuinely loves.
Giannotti led the next segment with a discussion about the article after he discovered that the show had not discussed it while he was on vacation last week. Esiason did not realize the station had a bulletin board in the newsroom with a schedule on it, leading Giannotti to explain where it is located before sharing what Oliviero said in the Newsday article.
“Apparently – what a great piece of leverage that you have here – apparently he’s not going to let you retire,” Giannotti said, “so if that is the case…” The station then played a soundbite of Esiason demanding to be paid, leading to laughter in the studio.
“I’ve always had a great relationship with him,” Esiason replied. “It goes all the way back to him and Mark [Chernoff] selecting me and Craig, and I’ll never forget that and I do owe him a debt of gratitude without question.”
