Replacing the Pope
Mike Francesa gave WFAN his 23-month notice Tuesday, revealing that he’ll bring the curtain down on his wildly popular drivetime show at the end of 2017. Whoever takes over for him will have “enawmus” shoes to fill, but there certainly we be no shortage of candidates vying for the 1-to-6:30 p.m. slot on FAN. “It is an honor to sit here,” he said Wednesday. “Someone else is going to sit here and I wish them nothing but the best.” Let the speculation begin.
CHRIS RUSSO
The obvious choice. He hosted with Francesa for years before breaking out on his own following the breakup of Mike and the Mad Dog. He’s hinted at a reunion with his old partner — beyond their one-night shot at Radio City — and while that appears unlikely now, maybe he could succeed him. Russo’s contract with SiriusXM could be an issue, but contracts were made to be broken.
BOOMER ESIASON, CRAIG CARTON or BOTH?
Would WFAN break up their morning show team to put one of them in the drive-time slot? Or would they consider moving both to the afternoons? It would be quite the contrast in styles if one, or both, of them took over for Francesa. Esiason said Wednesday morning that his contract stipulates that he only work with Carton, but that may be schtick.
JOE BENINGO, EVAN ROBERTS or BOTH?
They already fill in when Francesa’s on vacation and seem like the natural choice to slide into the afternoon drive slot. They’re closer to Francesa, format-wise, than the morning hosts, who Francesa has chided for doing what he calls “guy talk.” They're both Mets-Jets fans, so you’re not going to get many Francesa-Russo-like blowups with these two.
GREGG GIANNOTTI
Currently co-hosting the Gio and Jones morning show on CBS Sports Radio, Giannotti has WFAN ties — he produced the midday show hosted by Joe Beningo and Evan Roberts — and occasionally fills in on FAN. Does a pretty good Francesa impression.
MARC MALUSIS
A former Francesa producer, Malusis is held in high regard by some decision-makers at FAN and works overnight gigs for the station when he’s not on SNY or co-hosting on CBS Sports Radio.
SID ROSENBERG
The elephant in South Florida, so to speak, Rosenberg has deep ties to WFAN and Francesa. He was let go from his show on 640-AM at the end of 2015 and has done some work with WABC in recent weeks. Rosenberg often took deep dives into political talk on his show in Florida, which probably wouldn’t play with FAN listeners (been there, done that).
JOHN STERLING and SUZYN WALDMAN
Don’t spit out your Diet Coke. Waldman was WFAN’s first female personality and Sterling has the gift of gab. Maybe the pair, together since 2005, are growing tired of hitting the road with the Yankees and would welcome a change.