Report: Craig Carton Closing In On Deal To Return To WFAN.

Craig Carton is firming up a deal to return to afternoon drive on Audacy sports “The Fan” WFAN/AM-FM New York (660/101.9) starting next year, according to a report published in The Athletic on Tuesday.

It would mark the high-profile sports talker’s third stint with the station and second as lead PM drive host.

Carton reportedly will have a new partner with WFAN overnight personality, Chris McMonigle said to be the leading candidate.

Current PM drivers Evan Roberts and Tiki Barber, would move to the 10am-2pm midday slot, writes The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand, citing unnamed sources briefed on the discussions. The future of middayers Brandon Tierney and Sal Licata is unclear. With night host Keith McPherson planning to leave WFAN, Licata “could still have a landing spot at the station,” per Marchand’s report. But Tierney, a New York sports radio mainstay, “may be left without a chair.”

When contacted by The Athletic, WFAN declined to comment. An Audacy spokesperson didn’t immediately respond to Inside Radio’s request to comment on the report.

Carton will reportedly continue his mid-morning podcast with Fox’s Red Seat Ventures.

The outspoken, ratings-validated personality has a long history with Chris Oliviero, Audacy’s Chief Business Officer and New York Market President. Oliviero has orchestrated all three of Carton’s hirings by the station.

Marchand sees “The Fan” lineup shaping up like this in January: “Boomer & Gio” (Boomer Esiason and Gregg Giannotti) in morning drive, followed by “Evan & Tiki” in middays and Carton in afternoon drive.

Speculation about Carton returning to radio began in July after Fox Sports 1 cancelled “Breakfast Ball,” the show he hosted with Danny Parkins. Carton had vacated his afternoon drive hosting gig on WFAN in 2023 for a seven-figure deal with FS1 to focus on “The Carton Show” — later rebranded as “Breakfast Ball” — which he began hosting in mornings for Fox in 2022, after juggling both that and the WFAN afternoon show, co-hosted by Evan Roberts, for nearly a year.

Since leaving the weekday show, Carton has remained a part of WFAN by way of his Saturday morning show, “Hello, My Name is Craig,” focused on gambling addiction and recovery, a subject Carton knows well having served a three-year prison sentence for securities and wire fraud.

FS1’s cancellation of “Breakfast Ball,” which Carton and Parkins hosted along with former NFL offensive lineman Mark Schlereth, came as a result of the show’s inability to find a significant audience, according to various sources.