WFAN host Craig Carton reflected on his time at FS1 during a Monday appearance on Boomer & Gio, revisiting the highs and lows of his television career while hinting at possible future radio projects.
Carton, who helmed The Craig Carton Show and Breakfast Ball on FS1, joked about the show’s decline in ratings after his name was taken off the programming he hosted and his eventual departure, poking fun at co-host Boomer Esiason’s occasional memory lapse. During the appearance designed to cross promote Carton’s return to the station on Monday afternoon, Esiason joked that he couldn’t remember the name of the programs Carton hosted on FS1. This led to an response by Carton reflecting on the success story of his time with FS1.
“My show on FOX? The highest rated quarter hours in the history of FS1. The one that dropped 40% when they took my name off the wall. The one that dropped another 60% when they kicked me out of the building altogether? The show was called Breakfast Ball,” Carton quipped.
Carton left WFAN in 2022 to join FOX Sports, but his exit from the network’s daytime programming came just three years later. During his appearance Monday, he offered a more reflective assessment of his FS1 experience, noting both the opportunities and the challenges of transitioning from radio to television.
“The animal is different, obviously, TV versus radio, and the companies are different. There are rules about what you can do, what you can’t do. It was a great experience. I’d never done it before. Obviously. I wish it had gone better, but the story has not been written accurately,” Carton said. “Was it the highest rated show of all time? No. Was it the highest rated quarter hours they’ve ever had in that time slot? Yes. Did the show lose ratings when my name came off of it? Yes. All tangible. But FOX was also very, very good to me, continues to be very good to me.”
Last month WFAN announced that Craig Carton is back with the station making a third return to the brand. This time he’ll be paired alongside Chris McMonigle, his third full time co-host on the station. During this morning’s appearance, Carton discussed the potential co-hosts he had conversations about working alongside. He hinted that the conversations with station management led him to the end result being paired with his former producer in McMonigle.
“We talked about everything. We talked about Boomer and Carton and Carton and Roberts. About me and Chris [McMonigle], obviously, which turned out to be, yeah, I think there’s a conversation about everything. All I know is that only one guy makes decisions around here, and it’s not me, it’s not Boomer, it’s not Evan, it’s not Tiki, it’s the architect, and that’s what he did,” he said.
The former sports radio powerhouse maintained a candid tone throughout the conversation, acknowledging both his successes and the missteps along the way. Carton’s time at FS1, while brief, left a mark on the network’s morning lineup, illustrating the differences between radio and television formats.
Craig Carton makes his official return to WFAN later today.
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