Gio, Maggie and Bart? We don’t know for sure what the combination would have been, but WFAN morning host Gregg Giannotti told the story of how he almost ended up in afternoons for the station three years ago.
Following Craig Carton’s arrest in Sept. 2017, WFAN gave Boomer Esiason a few different potential co-hosts to try. Although it was widely believed CBS Sports Radio’s Gregg Giannotti was the best fit, Esiason didn’t want a shotgun marriage.
The former NFL quarterback lost his decade long radio quarterback and Esiason was still getting strong ratings in the aftermath without Carton, so he likely didn’t feel the need to rush into finding a new partner. Meanwhile, WFAN had another big opening to fill with Mike Francesa’s first planned departure from the station set to take place at the end of 2017. Knowing they wanted to move Gio from the network into WFAN’s lineup, they chose to make him part of their new afternoon show instead of waiting for Esiason to decide on his co-host.
According to Gio, the next morning, a more decisive Esiason called him into his office, tossed him a bag of cauliflower crisps and said “let’s do it…you’re going to mornings, call you’re agent.”
Program director Mark Chernoff soon walked by and Esiason reiterated what he told Gio.
“Hey Mark,” Gio remembers Esiason saying. “Get the deal done, we’re doing this.”
“Are you sure? Because you weren’t sure” Chernoff awkwardly asked Esiason with Giannotti still standing there. But despite Esiason choosing Gio as his co-host, some people in the company still wanted him in afternoons.
Chernoff, Esiason, and then EVP of programming Chris Oliviero scheduled an hour-long closed-door meeting to discuss the decision while Gio lurked in the newsroom, which sits just down the hall from the PD’s office. An hour later, out from the mini summit comes Esiason, walking through the newsroom, passing by Gio with a thumbs up and a nod.
In the span of 24 hours, Gio went from mornings, to afternoons and back to mornings where he and Esiason have successfully built a new show for WFAN.
