Tag: WFAN

James Dolan at War with Maggie Gray and WFAN

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New York Post – James Dolan and Madison Square Garden have gone nuclear in their revenge against WFAN and its parent company, Entercom, The Post has learned.

In retaliation for a summer rant by WFAN host Maggie Gray, Dolan’s MSG has ordered all of its businesses across the country to shut down working with Entercom and banned Knicks and Rangers players, as well as MSG broadcasters and personnel, from appearing on the station, according to officials involved in the decision.

Interesting move by James Dolan and MSG yesterday. Of course by interesting I mean petty and shortsighted, because these types of moves rarely work out well.

Full disclosure, I had not heard or read about Maggie Gray’s August rant until yesterday. I also had no idea that Dolan used to be pals with Harvey Weinstein. That’s the main reason why moves like this are wrongheaded. In attempting to exact revenge against Gray, WFAN and Entercom two months later, Dolan only brings more attention to himself and to the rant that got him so upset in the first place. There’s no way I would have come across Gray’s rant two months later if not for this move by Dolan and MSG. They teach this in literally every Sports Marketing 101 class in the country.

If it’s favorable coverage in the media Dolan wants, this move certainly won’t help. That’s another reason why moves like this don’t often work out well. In reacting poorly to unflattering coverage, Dolan only ensures more unflattering coverage. Most media members don’t respond well to these types of actions.

Did Gray go over the line with some of her word choices? That can be debated. But Dolan is worth $1.5 billion. He owns the New York Knicks and the New York Rangers. Even if Gray made those comments on the most popular sports radio station in the country, it feels like Dolan is punching down.

It’s unlikely many fans will side with Dolan in this squabble, given the well-documented struggles of his franchises over the last 20 years. Rather than go to war with WFAN and the fans of his teams (i.e., paying customers), wouldn’t it be a better business decision to try and reach some of those paying customers who also listen to WFAN?

I know it can be hard to take the high road some times, but it has to be easier to take your guitar and go home when your worth more than the Powerball jackpot.

 

 

Sports Pope Coming Back

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mike-francesa

New York Daily News – Unless there is a last-minute snag in the negotiations, Mike (Sports Pope) Francesa will soon return to WFAN, the Daily News has learned.

Francesa will be back in the 3 p.m.-7 p.m. slot, according to well-embedded Hudson Street (FAN Headquarters) rats…

Sources did not know Francesa’s exact starting date, but said it would be soon.

Francesa “retired” from WFAN four months ago. During his “farewell” tour, he repeatedly said “no more FAN.”

I don’t live in New York, I’m not from New York and I’m not a New York sports fan but this is good news.  This is good news for for anyone who consumes sports radio or sports media in general. There are so few people or programs in the sports media that matter any more. Look at ESPN, they couldn’t get anyone to watch SC6 with Michael and Jemele and Get Up! looks to be on the same path. Mike may have lost a little off his fastball, but at least he still matters. You don’t need to be a New Yorker to recognize that.

Is it a little awkward to go on an 18 month farewell tour, just to come back five months later? You bet, but let’s not pretend like this is unprecedented. Johnny Carson is the gold standard of retirement. He signed off at age 66 in 1992 and was on screen for less than 90 seconds the rest of his life. He’s also the exception. Michael Jordan and Brett Favre each made multiple comebacks. Jay Leno (in)famously returned to The Tonight Show. Francesa will be in a similar situation as Leno. If you didn’t like him before, this will be another thing to jab him about. Otherwise, what’s the big deal?

Underrated in all of this may be the fact that Francesa is coming back almost entirely out of spite. Here’s what he said to the New York Post:

“This is for those who started this campaign in recent days. I didn’t decide to go back to WFAN until I was told I better not go back,” Francesa told the paper. “For those behind it, that was the moment I decided to return.

I love a good grudge. Makes for must-listen radio, too.

As He Awaits Trial, Alleged Ponzi Schemer/WFAN Radio Host Craig Carton is Back On the Air…Sort Of.

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GothamSN – Whether or not you love or hate him for his antics, one thing everyone can agree on about Craig Carton is he’s always been someone who’s craved the spotlight…As his former co-host Boomer Esaison said of Carton after he resigned, he wouldn’t be surprised if “somehow someway” Carton was “in front of a microphone again.” Sure enough, here he is once again with a microphone, a platform — and more importantly for someone like him — the attention. For someone facing a long and grueling legal battle to vouch for their supposed innocence, calling Carton’s decision to proceed with launching his own website and podcast questionable would be a total understatement.

Some people just can’t stop themselves. It would seem former WFAN sports talk radio host Craig Carton is without a doubt one of those guys. As he currently awaits trial for allegedly masterminding a ponzi scheme that screwed investors out of millions of dollars, Carton has (probably) told his legal advisors to piss off and is launching his own podcast.

Now is it smart for a guy currently under investigation by the F-B-I

to be all over the internet spewing his thoughts about anything and everything? Probablyyy not. My legal advice would probably be to just shut the fuck up and hope by some miracle you avoid doing jail time. Just pray for a white collar criminal slap on the wrist. I think pretending nothing is wrong and jumping back into the game, which will undoubtedly have your name making headlines (like this one!) at a time when you want to be off the radar is bad for business. I don’t know, kinda seems like a fucking terrible idea.

Maybe he’s just taking a play out of the Lil Wayne playbook: just get so much pre-recorded material in the can, then slowly release it throughout your time in prison so by the time you’re out, its like you were never gone. GENIUS. I changed my mind, Craig Carton is two steps ahead of all of us. I’m all in on Carton’s podcast now. Final answer.

Craig Carton Just Resigned from WFAN

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So after last week’s wild story of Craig Carton getting a visit from the FBI for allegedly running a multi-million dollar ticket scam, he resigned from WFAN today. What a wild situation to find yourself in. As a guy who appreciates a good contrarian in my local sports talk radio, its unfortunate to see a dude submarine his own dream job. Looks like Boomer Esiason is going to need a new co-host for one of the most popular sports talk shows in the country. Gary Tanguay was on WEEI this AM throwing out rumors that Fred Toucher could be Carton’s replacement. Gonna be an interesting story to follow, thats for sure. Carton’s full statement below:

“For 10 years I’ve had the great privilege of showing up to work every day at my dream job. I have nothing but love and respect for my co-host, the show and the entire CBS Radio family and I’ve always tried to represent them in the best possible light.

Unfortunately, the unfounded legal issues currently plaguing me will only be a distraction to everyone at WFAN and the show I helped build. With that in mind, I have submitted my resignation to the station and they accepted. I am sad to see this chapter of my life close but know that it will allow me to focus on my family, my well-being and clearing my name, while giving the show the best opportunity to succeed without further disruption.

I’ve always felt a personal connection to our listeners and want to thank them for making me a part of their daily routine. I hope they can respect the fact that as much as I want to talk about the allegations against me I can’t at this time. There will come a time when I will be able to speak directly about the case and I hope our listeners will be there.

From the bottom of my heart, I’d like to thank my family, friends, listeners and especially the executives at WFAN and CBS Radio for their continued understanding and for giving me the most amazing platform to do what I love to do the most, besides being with my family.”

 

Craig

What Does Sports Pope Have To Say About Craig Carton?

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Being from Boston, I don’t regularly listen to Francesa. But on a day when Craig Carton got hauled into the pokey? I figured the Sports Pope would be must-listen radio. The guy is done in three months, why hold back? If I had his platform, all I would do is kick my enemies when they were down.

But I was wrong. Just another reason to tip the cap to Kirk Minihane. When his buddy and coworker got bagged for a DUI, he did what we all would do in his position.

He busted his friend’s balls live on the air.

WFAN Host Craig Carton Arrested by the FBI for Fake Ticket Broker Scheme

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NY Daily News – FBI agents arrested sports radio host Craig Carton early Wednesday at his Manhattan home, officials said. Carton, one half of WFAN’s “Boomer and Carton Show,” was arrested on investment fraud-related charges, the FBI confirmed. WPIX reported he’d been arrested for involvement in a $2 million fake tickets scam.

WOW. When I heard on the radio this morning that Craig Carton had gotten arrested, I figured it was for like a DUI or something. Nope, the fucking FBI came to Carton’s door in the middle of the night and arrested the WFAN talk show host for allegedly running a multi-million dollar fake ticket broker operation.

Carton, allegedly, was taking investors money for a company that promised to sell blocks of tickets to games and events…except there were no tickets. So I don’t really know what the long term play was here. Doesn’t seem like Craig really thought this one out. Reminds me of the Underpants Gnomes from South Park.

Step 1: Take money from investors.
Step 2: ???
Step 3: Profit

For anyone that isn’t a sports radio junkie, Boomer and Carton are basically the Felger and Mazz of NYC. So obviously a very successful show, both probably making oodles of money. And this fucking dummy figures thats not enough so let me set up a ponzi scheme and swindle people out of millions of dollars. This isn’t like neglecting to tell the cashier that you actually got bacon on your sandwich to save a couple bucks, this is defrauding people out of yuuge sums of money.

So this guy is fucked. Good luck getting another job in New York, let alone getting on the radio again. But what this does do is open the gates wide for the next star of sports talk radio…Chris Christie. Make it happen WFAN, sack up. Your loudmouth fans need this. I need this. It would be like a modern day Ronald Reagan, except in reverse. A popular politician leaving it all to go to Hollywood (i.e. glamorous talk radio).