NYC Radio: Entercom Expresses Support for Mike Francesa

WFAN's Mike Francesa

It has been eight months since Mike Francesa publicly questioned his near future at WFAN 660 AM / 101.9 FM, saying his dual role on the air and on his app had “become overly complicated” and that he might leave the former to focus on the latter.

He has not had much to say on that subject of late, but, according to Newsday,  Susan Larkin, regional president for Entercom, WFAN’s parent company, has a clear preference.

“Are you kidding? I would love to see him be here forever,” she said last Thursday in her Manhattan office, from which she oversees Entercom’s seven New York-area stations.

Susan Larkin

Larkin joined the company in the spring of 2018, just as Francesa was returning after a much-chronicled departure from WFAN that lasted only 4 ½ months.

She and David Field, Entercom’s CEO, quickly established a strong relationship with Francesa, who had feuded with their predecessors at CBS Radio. They have been pleased with the ratings and ad billings since his return.

“He’s very highly talented and has a strong personality and our listeners love him and our advertisers do and our team here does,” she said. “And he’s highly engaged. He cares very much about WFAN winning.”

Larkin said she “absolutely” hopes Francesa stays beyond this year. But will he? He turned 65 in March, and come Labor Day, it will be 30 years since the debut of the “Mike and the Mad Dog” show.

Larkin said she does not know what Francesa will do. Reminded that he said in October he might not be long for the station, she said: “He says a lot of things. Look, I don’t know. I can’t answer the question because I can’t predict how he’ll feel about things six months, a year, two years from now.

In other WFAN news, the latest edition of "The Evan Roberts Podcast" is Part 3 in a series about longtime WFAN update anchor John Minko. In this episode, Minko breaks some news about his future with WFAN.

In the final 10 minutes of the episode, Minko says he is leaning toward retiring within the next year.