The current camaraderie within WFAN’s new weekday lineup is unprecedented for the New York sports radio station.
Since Craig Carton slid into WFAN’s afternoon show last week, his colleagues have been exceedingly welcoming. The morning and midday shows are openly rooting for him, they share laughs and jokes and poke fun at each other in jest.
But two weeks ago, when Boomer Esiason expressed envy over Carton’s big desk, I predicted it was only a matter of time before the morning and afternoon shows good-natured ribbing turns serious. And on Friday, Carton admitted the obvious. There will eventually be a radio war between his new afternoon show and his former partners in mornings.
“Here’s the reality, there’s going to be a war,” Carton told his afternoon co-host Evan Roberts. “There’s going to be a war, I just don’t know when it’s gonna happen.”
“They’re going to say something,” Carton said of WFAN’s morning show hosted by Esiason and Gregg Giannotti. “They’re not going to mean anything by it, but something will be said that I will overreact to. And I will then respond the way I respond to things – with a blow torch.”
Carton added that he doesn’t expect the attack to be personal, instead the firestarter will more likely feature a snide comment about credibility or performance.
During his ten years as the point guard of WFAN’s morning show, Carton regularly clashed with station icon and afternoon host Mike Francesa. That uneasiness between WFAN’s morning and afternoon shows continued even after Carton left, thanks to Gio’s tendency to make fun of the Sports Pope.
Carton uses radio wars as fuel for content, he always has and everyone at WFAN knows it, with many of them previously getting a front row seat to watch it. For now, Peter Rosenberg and the rest of ESPN New York’s The Michael Kay Show might be enough of a battle for Carton. But it’s only a matter of time before Carton goes after one of his own.
