The New York City sports radio scene has had an interesting couple of days to start the week leading into another MLB season beginning today. What began with a simple gesture of entertainment has blossomed into a viral and heated back-and-forth between WFAN talent and former WFAN personalities.
I’ve written many times on this site that sports radio needs moments like what we’ve been seeing from WFAN’s Gregg Giannotti and former WFAN host Brandon Tierney. Sports radio beef always spikes interest. Controversy sells better than ice cream on a hot summer day. Eyeballs and ears await the next jab, right cross, or uppercut, pushing forward the storyline of a battle between two talents.
For the silence others choose to live by, there is plenty to learn from the past two days of back-and-forth involving WFAN. When opportunity presented itself, every party dove in, and everyone struck gold.
Let’s start at the beginning with Giannotti pranking Brandon Tierney over a year ago by acting as a caller into his show. Is this the first time a fellow talent has called into a teammate’s program to pull a fast one? Of course not. However, in watching Tierney’s response to the question asked by Evan Roberts last Friday, you can tell he had been harboring feelings about it for some time.
The question is why? If the rapport between the talent was as tight as everyone was led to believe, why not address it between the two of you? Sure, WFAN is built around a Howard Stern model where everything becomes content. That doesn’t mean it can’t be addressed off-air and squashed.
That answer by Tierney this past Friday, as a former WFAN talent, created an opportunity for Giannotti and WFAN. Needless to say, everything that has transpired since has been gold.
It’s not often that sports radio stations or talent trend online. Usually, it happens when events like the past two days involving WFAN and Tierney occur, or when breaking news hits. Yet, if you look at Google Trends, which tracks search history in real time, you’ll see spikes in searches for “Gregg Giannotti,” “WFAN,” and “Brandon Tierney.”
If the goal in the attention economy is to capture as much attention as possible, then credit goes to WFAN, Giannotti, and Tierney. Sex sells, and controversy always wins.
Last week, when a very similar situation arose involving Sportsradio 94 WIP, I wrote that silence from those being criticized missed an opportunity to tell their story and rebut their critics. It’s not rocket science. It’s about controlling the narrative and using the moment to lift all boats, including your own.
Instead, I received feedback from many asking why they should give oxygen to those on smaller platforms who no longer matter to the greater good of the listener.
Sports radio is a passion-fueled format where listeners connect with personalities more than in any other format. That connection, whether the personality is currently on the station or not, never wavers. I can’t tell you how many times, even after his death, listeners of WDAE in Tampa Bay have asked me about Steve “Big Dog” Duemig.
Personalities leave lasting impressions and connect in ways few others can.
But silence on the matter persists. In contrast, did WFAN benefit from the past couple of days? Absolutely, especially when you consider how many people sought out content involving the parties.
Did Gregg Giannotti benefit? If I were in Ryan Hurley’s shoes, I’d be looking forward to reviewing Media Monitors on Sunday afternoon, likely with a cigar and a glass of my favorite cocktail. If Giannotti’s rant drove added listening from people waiting for his next words, that’s a win for WFAN. They didn’t need to embrace the controversy on social media because they didn’t have to.
Did Brandon Tierney benefit? If you trust data from Social Blade, which tracks YouTube performance for individual channels. Tierney gained more than 200 subscribers in the past two days alone. On Tuesday, he generated over 42,000 views on his channel—his best day in weeks—which also led to some nice “earnings,” according to the tracking site.
Will this back-and-forth continue through the end of the week? Probably not. But what better way to ramp up listening and interest in the light days leading up to Opening Day for Major League Baseball in a hot MLB market?
And that’s really the point.
Moments like this aren’t accidents—they’re opportunities. In a media landscape where attention is fragmented, loyalty is fleeting, and competition extends far beyond the station across town. You don’t win by playing it safe.
You win by being heard, by being felt, and sometimes by being uncomfortable.
Silence might protect you in the short term, but it rarely builds an audience in the long term.
What WFAN and the personalities involved showed over the past few days is that controversy, when rooted in authenticity, doesn’t damage the product—it energizes it. It gives listeners a reason to tune in, pick a side, and become part of the conversation.
That’s the currency of sports radio. Not perfection. Not politeness. Connection.
And connection isn’t built in the quiet.
For every programmer or host who believes ignoring criticism is the high road, it’s worth asking: high road to where? Because while you’re staying above the fray, someone else is owning the moment—and the audience that comes with it.
Sports radio has always thrived at the intersection of opinion, personality, and tension. That hasn’t changed. If anything, it matters more now than ever.
So the next time controversy knocks, don’t turn the lights off and pretend you’re not home.
Open the door.
Because in this business, the stations and talent willing to lean into the noise are usually the ones heard the loudest. Job well done.
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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.
