Just call him Steamin’ A.
Peeved over new platform
T HE Stephen A. Smith radio show will soon be simulcast on TV, but Stephen A., quite frankly, is not thrilled about it.
Beginning next month, Smith’s show is scheduled to be on ESPNews. Smith was hoping for a bigger platform, such as ESPN or ESPN2, sources told The Post.
When Smith’s radio show airs weekdays from 1-3 p.m., ESPN has “Outside The Lines” and “NFL Live” on, while ESPN2 replays Smith’s morning TV program, “First Take.”
ESPN executives apparently prefer to have Smith on replay — with his verbal sparring mate Max Kellerman and host Molly Qerim — than live from the radio studio. ESPNews is not in as many homes, and it is not a go-to channel, like ESPN is, in bars and airports around the country.
With Smith going to ESPNews, now it is basically ESPN Radio on TV during the day, as it features “Golic & Wingo” in the morning, followed by “The Dan Le Batard Show,” soon Stephen A. and then Will Cain.
Even though Smith, 50, is not enthralled with the channel, it further cements him as one of, if not the, face of ESPN with his TV program, his radio talk show, his simulcast and his many other appearances. He is one at ESPN who earns his millions. If WFAN ends up eventually sidelining Joe Benigno after the sexualharassment allegations, you have to think that it
might break up CMB ( Chris Carlin, Maggie
Gray and Bart Scott) and put one of them with Evan
Roberts on mid-mornings. Currently, FAN is paying CMB to do just two hours of radio from 1-3 p.m., so shifting one of them to team with Roberts would make sense. The other internal possibility would be John Jas
tremski, who currently does overnights.
The plan for now is for Benigno to return to the air Monday after a vacation, a spokeswoman for Entercom, WFAN’s parent company, said.
The Athletic has emerged as the leading candidate to sign NBA insider Shams Charania, while there is a strong possibility he eventually will have a TV component as well, sources have told The Post.
Charania, 24, has developed into one of the top transaction news-breakers in basketball, competing with ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. The Ath- letic is a two-plus-year-old subscription-based sports site. Charania and Yahoo Sports broke up this week after they could not agree on financial terms. ESPN announced that
Beth Mowins and Brian Griese will work the JetsLions game on the opening evening of “Monday Night Football.”
Last year, Rex Ryan was Mowins’ partner on the broadcast. Ryan was put in a tough spot for his first game and did not excel.
It might have been interesting to hear him on a Jets game, or it might have been a disaster, so we can see why ESPN went with the respected Griese.
The new MNF regular crew, Joe Tessitore, Jason Witten and Booger McFarland, will call the late game on opening night featuring former MNF analyst Jon Gruden’s return as the coach of the Oakland Raiders against the Los Angeles Rams.