Craig Carton, who returned to Audacy sports “The Fan” WFAN/AM-FM New York (660/101.9) in November 2020 after serving time in federal prison on a fraud conviction, is leaving America’s first sports talk station for a lucrative gig at cable TV sports channel FS1. According to the New York Post, Carton will receive a seven-figure salary from Fox to focus solely on “The Carton Show,” which he began last September.
Inside Radio has confirmed Carton’s exit with Audacy, which says WFAN will announce a new lineup next week.
Carton had been juggling both the FS1 morning show and his afternoon show on “The Fan” with Evan Roberts for nearly a year. The Post’s Andrew Marchand, who broke the story, writes “The financial difference between WFAN and FS1 was too great and the previous schedule was too daunting to remain on afternoon radio in New York.”
He is expected to leave WFAN within weeks.
Sources tell Marchand that Audacy Senior VP/Market Manager Chris Oliviero gave Carton his blessing to leave the station to focus on his cable TV program. Oliviero was responsible for bringing Carton back to “The Fan.”
Carton announced his upcoming departure on the air Thursday afternoon (June 15), going on the air one hour early to deliver the news.
“Today is a happy day and a very sad day for me. It’s one of the most difficult days I will ever have on radio. I love Evan, it has nothing to do with Evan Roberts or anybody here. It has everything to do with me and my personal life,” Carton told listeners.
“WFAN is everything to me. WFAN is family to me,” he continued. “I am a 30-plus year radio talk show host, and radio is all I’ve ever done well. Radio has been like family to me since starting in Buffalo… and ultimately being fortunate enough to land here with Boomer back in 2007.
“Making a decision not just to walk away from radio, and very specifically, from WFAN, is not an easy decision…I sadly put myself in a bad place a number of years ago, and three years ago today, I was known as nothing more than a number. I woke up three years ago today in federal prison, a place I was for a year based on bad decisions I made. When I was that number, I dreamed about the possibility, among other things, of one day being able to restart my career. It might have seen silly at the time, but that dream helped me survive prison.”
Carton then spoke about Oliverio, whom he described as “a saint in my corner.”
“He has maintained his support of me as a friend and a brother through all the ups and downs of my radio career. When I got myself in trouble, he came and visited me. He told me if I ever got my life back in order, and figured out why I made the bad decisions I made, he would be there for me. No guarantees of a job, but he would never stop being my friend. Having a guy like that as your friend, I’m the luckiest guy in the world. Not only is he my friend, but he paved the way for me to come back to WFAN.”
Carton will continue to host the Saturday gambling addiction show “Hello, My Name is Craig” on WFAN.
“WFAN has meant the world to me,” Craig said. “If WFAN didn’t give me the opportunity to come back and restart a career, no joke, I’m unemployable…so, walking away from WFAN is not easy. WFAN is my home."
Roberts is expected to move into the lead role of the afternoon show on “The Fan,” with Tiki Barber, who is heard on the station from 10am-2pm, named as a leading internal candidate. Actor Jerry Ferrara, who portrayed the character Turtle on “Entourage” is a possible outside candidate, Marchand reports. Ferrara, a New York City native, hosted a show with Roberts earlier this year.
One name not being considered, Marchand says, is the retired Mike Francesa.
Listen to Carton’s emotional farewell HERE.
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