There is a lot of pressure to get to the top of your industry. Even more pressure ramps up once you achieve it and try to keep it. That’s why consistency is so key to lasting success in sports radio. It requires building rapport with your team, your station, and your audience through connection and a shared passion for sports. Gregg Giannotti has experienced the full lifecycle of the WFAN consumer, serving in every capacity available: listener, intern, producer, anchor, and now host of the highly successful Boomer & Gio show that has guided New York City sports fans every morning since 2018.
Last month, Giannotti and Esiason were recognized again for their success, keeping their consistent spot at the top of the latest Barrett Media sports radio major market morning show rankings for a third straight year and fifth time overall.
“It’s always great when your peers are the ones who recognize you. The people who have been in the business for a long time. That’s why this list means a lot to the show and me,” said Giannotti.
They finished 72 points ahead of their second-place competition and earned a category-best 15 first-place votes from 36 program directors and executives around the country. The criteria included overall impact, ratings, originality, and industry buzz. It marked a high achievement for a show that has built a national following with a local feel.
Strength Through WFAN Changes
Boomer & Gio have been a steadfast constant on a radio station that has experienced its fair share of change over the past eight years. Despite that change, Giannotti still enjoys the grind of morning drive, a daypart with plenty of benefits that also comes with massive responsibility.
“We’ve been there as pillars of the radio station. The opportunity to have first crack at talking about the games the day before is great. I absolutely love it,” noted Giannotti. “You’re looking at all the people in the cars as you’re driving in. Those are the people that are going to be listening to you to get their day started. I love setting the tone, and couldn’t think about doing anything else in another shift.”
Giannotti joined Esiason in January 2018 after Craig Carton’s exit from the program. Carton announced his resignation from the radio station following his arrest on federal securities fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy charges.
The sudden shock left Esiason with questions about the show’s future and the station’s direction. After several months of Esiason hosting solo, Giannotti was selected to join the program following successful stints hosting mornings on 93.7 The Fan in Pittsburgh and CBS Sports Radio with Brian Jones.
Giannotti admitted the pairing initially felt unsettling, knowing he would have to develop trust among a staff already established with the program.
“I was stepping into their thing after ten years and had to be the point guard. Then the audience who is expecting a certain thing, I have to try and keep them,” said Giannotti. “That part of it was critical for me. I sort of laid back because I trusted Boomer and management, knowing I had to gain their trust. If I just worked my way in and made sure everyone knows their favorite morning show is still going to be great with a change at point guard, that’s the way I wanted to go.”
Instead of trying to take over the daypart, Giannotti relied on his producing background to ease the transition. He interned at WFAN at the start of his career, where his producing acumen and work ethic led to more opportunities to grow within the station.
Those early days at the top New York City sports talk station set the foundation for his eventual role co-hosting morning drive.
“Being behind the scenes, learning how to work with a host. There were so many things that I ended up figuring out that I didn’t understand behind the glass, that when I got behind the microphone I got,” explained Giannotti. “Having those experiences from behind the glass, I learned far quicker [how to host] than I would have without that experience of producing.”
Limitations And Coverage
Boomer & Gio are not just a local morning show for New York City sports fans. The program also airs as the flagship morning show on CBS Sports Network. The opportunity allows the program to reach a nationwide audience, including many native New York sports fans who have relocated across the country.
While the platform presents a massive opportunity, it also comes with drawbacks. Because the video is distributed through CBS Sports Network, the show cannot stream on platforms such as YouTube like other WFAN programming. Additionally, CBS Sports Network must approve clips from the program since it owns the video portions of the show.
“If you know our show and listen, there might be 25% of the program that is traditional sports talk. But if you just consume our show through the clips on social media or YouTube, generally you would think all we do is talk sports,” explained Giannotti. “That’s not the show. I do get a little frustrated by that.”
Giannotti admitted that while the show may miss out on potential streaming audiences on video platforms, he still appreciates the partnership with the network.
“We don’t ever cater to a national audience, and CBS Sports Network doesn’t want us to,” says Giannotti. “They told us to do our show and they’ll broadcast that show. They’ve never told us that they wanted anything different than what we were going to do.”
Sports radio is, by nature, a competitive industry. For every game it covers where there is a winner and a loser, the same can be said for rival stations in the nation’s top market. After Good Karma Brands decided to stop subscribing to traditional Nielsen ratings, the ratings wars that once defined sports radio faded.
Giannotti admits he misses the ratings battles between WFAN and its direct competition, but not because of the tension.
“It’s not about missing the anxiety you get if things aren’t going the way you want them to go. What I miss is the coverage of the radio station, because now we don’t get as much coverage as we used to,” said Giannotti. “I just like that the radio station and the business as a whole was being covered like a sports team in the city.”
Carton’s Return To WFAN
WFAN has made a number of headlines over the past six months, not for ratings gains or losses but for another seismic lineup shift as Craig Carton returned for a second time in the past six years. With Carton’s return, the station paired him with Chris McMonigle while shifting Evan Roberts and Tiki Barber to middays.
Giannotti said that when rumors began to spread about another Carton return late last summer, management offered no assurances about Carton reuniting with Esiason. Giannotti had signed a multi-year contract extension in 2025 and felt secure in his role on the morning show.
However, when Carton returned to WFAN in 2020, the situation felt different.
“The first time [Carton returned], I was curious and nervous how it would go. Craig said it himself. He thought the band would get back together, and maybe I would go to a different daypart. That first time I was nervous,” explained Giannotti. “This time, it never was a single thought. We had success and Boomer didn’t want anything different.”
Industry Concerns
Now in his eighth year co-hosting alongside Esiason, Giannotti appreciates the focus and direction that shaped his career. From interning to becoming a leading voice on arguably the nation’s most recognized sports radio brand, his path reflects steady growth.
He admits that journey is less likely in today’s sports radio ecosystem. Although he does not doubt radio’s future, he questions how the next generation will view its appeal amid limited opportunity.
“It’s more unlikely now. It just is. I don’t even know what sports talk radio is going to be in 15 years,” says Giannotti. “If you’re projecting all these years ahead. Leaving your home market to go to another and come back to host mornings in your home market. It just doesn’t feel like an available path any longer.”
Giannotti says he cannot imagine reaching this point any other way or working with different teammates. He believes the show continues to demonstrate why many around the country rank it among the nation’s best. Esiason told Barrett Media he intends to continue hosting until he is “at least 68 years old.” Despite that projection, Giannotti says Esiason remains as focused as ever and has never broached the idea of stepping away.
That perspective continues to drive Giannotti. He no longer feels defined solely by his accomplishments. Instead, he leans into the blessings the job provides for him, his family, and the audience.
“This job is part of a greater thing. One of the things that Craig [Carton] said when he left the first time was that he regretted that the show wasn’t enough for him. He was chasing feelings about things elsewhere,” explained Giannotti. “That struck me. I want the show to be enough for me. So I’m really focused on the foundational things in my life which includes the job. If I started slipping or not caring as much, the amount of people that affects outside of me. That’s the motivation when the alarm goes off.”
That perspective comes from having seen every angle of the building.
Giannotti has been the kid listening in his car, the intern running errands, the producer behind the glass, and now the voice setting the agenda in the country’s biggest sports media market. He understands its fragility because he has lived the climb. In an era where platforms change, metrics fluctuate, and career paths feel less certain than ever, that understanding may be his greatest asset.
At WFAN, the morning show is not just another shift. It sets the tone and drives culture. Through scandal, competition, lineup shakeups, and evolving distribution models, Boomer & Gio has remained steady — not by accident, but by intention. Preparation. Trust. Patience. An understanding of when to push and when to facilitate.
Giannotti once eased into the chair to protect something that already existed. Now, eight years in, he helps protect something bigger — the idea that sports radio, at its best, still relies on chemistry, consistency, and connection.
Do the work. Value the people. Make the show enough.
For Gregg Giannotti, that is not just a philosophy. It is the reason the alarm clock still rings — and why, when it does, he is ready.
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John Mamola is Barrett Media’s sports editor and daily sports columnist. He brings over two decades of experience (Chicago, Tampa/St Petersburg) in the broadcast industry with expertise in brand management, sales, promotions, producing, imaging, hosting, talent coaching, talent development, web development, social media strategy and design, video production, creative writing, partnership building, communication/networking with a long track record of growth and success. He is a five-time recognized top 20 program director in a major market via Barrett Medi’s Top 20 series and has been honored internally multiple times as station/brand of the year (Tampa, FL) and employee of the month (Tampa, FL) by iHeartMedia. Connect with John by email at John@BarrettMedia.com.
