It’s been almost exactly one year since Craig Carton was last heard on a New York radio station, following his September 6th, 2017 arrest. Now, just two months away from his trial in federal court facing fraud charges amid accusations of running a $5.6 million Ponzi scheme, Carton joined Sid Rosenberg on his WABC morning show, Bernie and Sid to further proclaim his innocence.
Although Carton and Sid have engaged in public radio battles over the years, the two shock-jocks appeared to be in great standing on Thursday, firing nothing but compliments toward each other.
“Where a lot of people dropped me like a bad habit, which was a very eye opening experience over the last year, you actually didn’t,” Carton told Sid. “We weren’t even close. We weren’t talking actively, but you reached out to me several times, we’ve maintained a relationship and I’m grateful for that because when you go through what I’m going through, you have a lot of very dark moments, a lot of alone moments and something as simple as a text message of ‘hey how you doing?’ And when it comes from an unexpected place it’s even better.”
Carton is scheduled to go to trial in federal court on October 29th and while he sounds like his normal self on-air, the former WFAN morning host remains very aware of the reality of his situation.
“I recognize that it’s an uphill battle, cause they typically win” Carton said referring to the FBI. “But you hear all the time about how they have a 98% conviction rate. Well, that includes plea bargains. When you plea, you’re pleading guilty to something that counts as a conviction. I’m not pleaing to anything because I firmly believe that when the facts come out you’ll see that I was running a legitimate legal business”
Soon after Craig was arrested on September 6th last year, he resigned from his morning show of 10 years on WFAN, Boomer and Carton. Now the show has shifted to Boomer and Gio, with Gregg Giannotti taking over as Carton’s replacement. When I asked Craig during an interview earlier this year if he liked the new WFAN morning show, Carton responded with an emphatic “No!” a sentiment he reiterated on Thursday with Sid.
“Take any show on FAN and bring them here [WABC], they’re not gonna beat anyone over there [on WFAN] anyway,” Carton said. “You can put an intern on the air, which it seems like [WFAN] kinda did. While ratings have dropped 40 percent, they’re still going to do reasonably well.”
Carton continued to comment on WFAN’s new morning show, saying “The show is not as good as it was,” to which Sid agreed by adding, “It’s not even close!”
Although Carton did not directly state it, the intern shot appeared to be pointed at his replacement, Gregg Giannotti.
Earlier this week, Giannotti took a hard-hitting shot of his own at Carton. After co-host Esiason teased Gio for not spending enough time away from the show with him the way Boomer and Carton used to, Giannotti, while beginning a ticket giveaway contest, said “I could sell these tickets if you want me to be more like Craig.” The comment garnered a fit of laughter out of Boomer and the fill-ins behind the glass.
While on WABC, Craig added that there’s been a void in New York morning radio since he left WFAN. “No one has grabbed that mantle and said ‘I’m now the dominant morning show in NYC,’ and I hope when I’m exonerated, I’ll have a chance to do that again.”
Carton doesn’t hide from the fact that he plans to get back on terrestrial radio in New York. While he’s thankful to his current platform FNTSY Sports Network for the opportunity he has today, Carton still has bigger plans for the future.
“Ego-wise I believe I will have multiple people come to me, that’s ego, and I hope they do,” he said. “But when it comes out that I’m exonerated and the jury says not guilty, why wouldn’t you want to bring back the guy that was the most listened to morning show in New York?”
Carton finished up his segment with Sid by thanking his supporters and calling out his detractors, especially those who questioned the legitimacy of his charity, Tic Toc Stop.
Carton closed with, “I will be back on the radio in New York City, hopefully a lot sooner than later, it could be a great Thanksgiving and fingers crossed, you’ll be able to hear me again one day very very soon.”
Brandon Contes is a freelance writer for BSM. He can be found on Twitter @BrandonContes. To reach him by email click here.
