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Written by Mark Healey
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Friday, 15 August 2008 |
.png) First it was Don Imus, now it's Christopher Russo. Once the
largest-revenue producer in the country, it looks like WFAN-AM is
falling precipitously back to the pack.
Frankly, there's a lot of folks who feel the end of the station's
domination may soon be at hand. It's hard not to agree with that
sentiment if you have followed the station's roster and performance
over the last two years. Replacing “Imus in The Morning” with
“Boomer and Carton” is one example. The overnight shows, once a
station staple with Steve Sommers and Joe Benigno, have seen their
audience and crossover appeal shrink, is another.
I work in the media, and as one of the areas I work in is broadcasting, so one could say that I'm a but biased. I would plead guilty to that charge, but perhaps not in the way that you think.
Honestly, I'm a bit saddened at how things are starting to change over in Astoria. Though it's a continuing sign of how the media world is changing and independent shops like Gotham Sports Media are on the rise, I can't help but think of how much WFAN and it's crew have helped to alter the course of my life.
This past winter, I approached Mickey Mantle's Restaurant about taking advantage of an emerging media platform (blogtalkradio.com) and using it to broadcast an internet radio show from the eatery, labeled “Live From Mickey Mantle's”. Thanks to PR guru Marty Appel, manager Bart Alexander and with the blessings of owner Chris Villano, the show was given a thumbs up, and we've been on the air since Feb. 1.
The show's main inspiration was WFAN's “The Bill Mazer Show”, the first radio show to ever emanate from Mantle's (which opened in 1988). Hosted by the legendary Bill Mazer, I would listen to this show all through my time at Queens College, where I was studying Media and Broadcasting. In 1995, I would intern at the 'FAN (which is no easy task) and received tremendous amounts of advice and career direction from the likes of Mike Breen, Bernard McGuirk, Brian Bruder and Mark Finkelstein.
So now I do a show from Mantle's. Even more ironically, I am also a recurring guest on Bill Mazer's show on WVOX (Mon-Fri, 3-6pm). So yes, I owe a lot to WFAN, and am sad to see 20-plus years of being taken apart, piece by piece.
Others are full of glee, it would seem. As pointed out in his agenda-based, prejudiced and back-handed compliment-filled column in today's New York Post, long-time M&MD critic Phil Mushnick did make the correct point that that the 'FAN and Mike & The Mad Dog “benefited from a media market - the world's largest - that could never provide genuine competition.”
Well, Phil, it's not for a lack of trying. ESPN, which has gotten so huge across the country that it's marketing sunglasses in Rite-Aid or goodness sake, has spent millions trying to bleed ratings away from the FAN for years.
Only the 'FAN's own knee-jerk reaction to the the Imus-Rutgers controversy, their inability to create provocative programming that has any kind of journalistic credibility and a maddening lack of vision has allowed ESPN-1050 to gain any kind of ground in the Big Apple. Yet, the ESPN juggernaut is still a very, very small player in the New York ratings game.
So, while it looks like Steve Phillips is running things at 'FAN these days, I think the rumors of their early demise might be just a tad premature.
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Last Updated ( Friday, 15 August 2008 )
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