SUPER SAVER
Francesa ready to talk about bailing out WFAN
So you’re saying there’s a chance?
In the wake of WFAN morning co-host Craig Carton’s arrest and subsequent suspension last week, Mike Francesa, who is set to leave the station after 30 years when his contract expires Dec. 15, has told station management he at least is willing to discuss postponing that move.
“The only thing I said is that … I would not turn my back on the company if I thought it was in trouble,” Francesa told The Post in a phone conversation Tuesday. “That’s something that has to play out in the weeks and months ahead.
“Has this changed things? It has created some conversations. I don’t know that it has changed anything. I would say my gut feeling is no, but I would say that it has at least created conversations that weren’t there before.”
Those conversations, at least formally, have yet to take place, Francesa said, but he said he anticipated them happening soon.
Francesa, 63, had been adamant about leaving the station at the end of his current contract and informed management of his plans two years ago. But Carton’s arrest last week on allegations he was involved in a ticket Ponzi scheme has rocked the station. So much so that Francesa, while stopping well short of committing to staying, addressed the troops in a meeting Monday, telling the station’s sales staff and others he “would never just turn my back on” the station.
“[Staying on] was not something I was even considering,” he said. “They’ve asked me to consider it, and I said I would, but we have not gotten anywhere past that. What I said was, ‘Let’s just see how this unfolds,’ and that’s basically where we are right now. We haven’t had any meetings.
“They had made it very clear to me many times in the last couple of months that they wanted me to stay, and I had convinced them it’s not going to happen. I think I had totally convinced them, and obviously now they want to have more conversations.
“I did say I’m open to conversations because I think I owe them that. If they feel they need to talk to me or they feel they need me to listen to something, I would never just turn my back on them.”
All that said, Francesa said his plan still is to leave Dec. 15.
“A lot of it depends on how things settle down on the station,” he said. “My plan as of right now, 12/15 is still it. That’s what I’m headed toward. I haven’t taken any of the farewell things off the schedule. They’re all still there. Everything is still as planned.”