If you grew up in New York/New Jersey area and you aspired to have a career in broadcasting, your dreams had to have included working at WFAN, the world’s first all-sports radio station that launched in 1987. That was certainly the case for Long Island native Shaun Morash, a host on WFAN’s “Evan and Tiki” afternoon drive show.
He has climbed the ladder at Audacy New York and has reached some very valuable radio real estate.
“I have to pinch myself sometimes that I get to live the dream that several people in college told me was completely impossible,” said Morash. “The fact that I get to work in afternoon drive on WFAN, after a successful climbing of the ladder ten years nationally, is every New York/Long Island kid’s dream come true and it doesn’t stop here. I gotta keep grinding to make sure I sustain it.”
Morash began his ascent on the 10th floor of 345 Hudson Street in New York City as a part-time producer and board operator for WFAN. His big break came in 2013 when the company launched CBS Sports Radio, now called the Infinity Sports Network. Morash was hired to be the producer for the national network’s overnight show hosted by Damon Amendolara.
“The DA Show” changed his life.
“I’m not here without working with DA,” said Morash. “There’s no question about it. “Honestly, if he didn’t give me the opportunity to be such a big on-air contributor to the show, I could have gotten stuck with another host in 2013 producing and I don’t even know if I’m in the business anymore.”
Morash, who also hosts “Big Blue Kickoff Live” as well as shows on BetQL, was with “The DA Show” through last summer when now former WFAN Program Director Spike Eskin moved him down the hall from the network to afternoon drive on WFAN. For Morash, it was the realization of a dream that he had while growing up listening to the iconic “Mike and the Mad Dog” show in the back seat of his father’s car.
The fact that he is now an inspiration to other young aspiring broadcasters is a bit overwhelming.
“The idea that I now have put myself back in the car and that there’s some kid who was my age listening to me do stuff with Tiki Barber and Evan Roberts, guys I grew up either watching or listening to, is ridiculously an insane concept to even comprehend that I’m in this position,” said Morash.
The new show was created when Craig Carton departed the “Carton and Roberts” afternoon drive show for an opportunity with Fox Sports One. At the same time, overnight host Sal Licata was shifted to middays with Brandon Tierney, Chris McMonigle took over the overnights and Barber moved from middays to the new afternoon drive show.
Morash is part of the team that includes Evan Roberts, Tiki Barber and Executive Producer Tommy Lugauer and the quartet has amassed a special chemistry in just a year of working together.
“It’s unbelievable,” said Morash. “It’s kind of like picking four random people and putting them in witness protection in a house. I cannot believe the chemistry we have. I’m loving every moment and I’m so very happy.”
During his time with Audacy New York, Morash has worked under three different program directors. He has learned and grown under Mark Chernoff, Spike Eskin and now new WFAN and Infinity Sports Network Brand Manager Ryan Hurley. Each brought something different to the table and each has helped Morash grow into the on-air personality that he is today.
“The beauty of all three of them is that they all have a little different flavor which should be the case,” said Morash. “Mark, very early on, I learned from and worked my way up in every single position. When Spike came in, he was the hand that wanted to get me over to WFAN and depart the DA Show. Ryan has been perfect to bounce a ball off of each other. He’s really amenable to what I want to do on the air and what he’s looking for.”
The big question when Morash moved from national radio to local radio on WFAN in New York was if his persona and his material would play in the Big Apple. What works in other markets may not necessarily be a fit in New York City, so it was certainly something that was a concern, initially for Morash.
“A little bit yes,” admitted Morash. “The style I did was I think suited for morning radio. I’m a guy that likes to make everybody laugh and when everybody in the room is laughing, I enjoy that, and I feed off it. I’m a student of radio.”
When he was at the network, Morash was never shy about expressing his love for his favorite sports teams, the New York Giants, New York Yankees, New York Rangers and Brooklyn Nets and he combined that by frequently antagonizing other teams’ fan bases on the air as well as on social media. Now that he’s on WFAN full-time, he has continued that practice many times taking aim at fans of the Mets, Jets, Knicks, Islanders and Devils.
The response from many of those fans, especially on social media, has not always been positive. In fact, many of them have spewed a lot of venom towards Morash, who does have a sensitive side to him.
“I absolutely crave to be loved,” said Morash. “I don’t like confrontation in real life. I get very uncomfortable when people are upset with me but when it comes to being on the radio or on social media. It does bother me. I’m not going to lie. I know what I’m doing when I rile people up but when people take it so seriously that they’re actually angry with me, I’d be lying if I told you I didn’t get a little upset by it because I consider myself a really good dude that gets along with everybody.”
At first, despite warnings from other people in the business not to, Morash read every single response on social media. But when he moved to afternoon drive on WFAN, he quickly realized that he should probably take a different approach to the negative comments from listeners and just truck through it.
“I read every single comment, and I didn’t let it defeat me at all because I just kept powering on about it and in fact maybe I fed off it,” said Morash. “Now I’ve gotten to the point where I pride myself on interacting as much as I can with the listeners off-air. I still like doing it because that’s who I am. But it’s now impossible to read (all of them) because if I did that, I’d be driven nuts and quite frankly I’d have no time for my own family at this point if I read every single comment.”
Morash has accomplished a lot in a very short period of time with both WFAN and Infinity Sports Network as well as his other side gigs.
So, what’s next for him?
He’d be very content to keep having success with “Evan and Tiki”, but there is a box that he would like to check off at some point.
“I think the only thing, if I we’re being truthful and honest, that’s left on my to-do list at this point is that it would be nice to see Shaun Morash’s name in a show one day down the line.”
When you think about his meteoric rise to afternoon drive on WFAN, there’s no reason to doubt that Shaun Morash can accomplish that objective.
Peter Schwartz writes weekly sports radio features for Barrett Media. He has been involved in New York sports media for over three decades, and has worked for notable brands such as WFAN, CBS Sports Radio, WCBS 880, ESPN New York, and FOX News Radio. Peter has also served as play by play announcer for the New Yok Riptide, New York Dragons, New York Hitmen, Varsity Media and the Long Island Sports Network. You can find him on Twitter @SchwartzSports or email him at DragonsRadio@aol.com.
