An Unexpected Choice Becomes a Radio Staple

When Don Imus departed sports talk WFAN in NYC (April 2007) , Mark Chernoff, vice president for programming at CBS Radio in New York and operations manager at WFAN, had to find a new show.

According to a story at NYTimes.com, after a series of tryouts by other known personalities, including Geraldo Rivera, Chernoff chose Boomer Esiason, the former National Football League quarterback, who was already a polished football analyst on television and radio, including WFAN (660 AM). In selecting a co-host Mr. Chernoff threw his fan base a bit of a curve by choosing Craig Carton, who had been an intern at the station in 1988 and who was one of the hosts on “Jersey Guys,” an afternoon talk show in Trenton that occasionally provoked controversy. (NYTimes photo)

Chernoff saw potential in the colorful, charismatic and highly opinionated Carton, who had spent the previous 20 years working behind microphones in Buffalo, Cleveland, Philadelphia and Denver, in addition to Trenton. Along the way he became equal parts entertainer and sports broadcaster.

“Craig is a radio guy the way Imus and Howard Stern are radio guys,” Chernoff told The New York Times' Vincent M. Mallozi. “Say what you want about the talent of all those other people who tried out, but Craig knows how to run a radio show, he knows how to speak to an audience and how to push the hot buttons that get people to react.”

The pairing of Mr. Esiason and Mr. Carton has paid handsome dividends. “Boomer & Carton” is now New York’s top-rated morning radio show among men 25 to 54, a ranking that Mr. Imus had not achieved at least since Mr. Chernoff joined the station in 1993.

“I always felt that this was the single greatest job in radio, and other than playing center field for the Mets it’s the greatest job in the world,” said Mr. Carton, 41. “There’s never a day that goes by where I don’t look at myself in the mirror and say: ‘Wow, I’m the morning guy on WFAN. It’s a job I’ve wanted since I was a kid.’ ”

The show has proved so popular in its three years on the air that it is now heading to television. “Boomer & Carton” will be simulcast on the MSG Network beginning Tuesday.

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