NYC Radio: Carton Returns To WFAN November 9

Entercom welcomes the return of on-air host Craig Carton as afternoon show co-host for WFAN 101.9 FM / 660 AM. Carton will rejoin the station November 9 and be heard alongside co-host Evan Roberts, weekdays from 2:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. ET.

“Craig Carton was part of the fabric of WFAN for a decade, both on and off the air, engaging and entertaining audiences with his one of a kind personality and talent,” said Chris Oliviero, Senior Vice President and Market Manager, Entercom New York. “We all hope that this next step on his road back will not only be beneficial to Craig, but also for his audience as he shares his story and looks to make an impact through the power of his voice. WFAN welcomes him back and is excited to have him join Evan Roberts in afternoon drive.”

“I am grateful to Entercom for the chance to return home to WFAN,” said Carton. “I have dreamt about this moment every minute of every day for the last three years. I know I have work to do to regain the trust of my colleagues, listeners and advertisers and am committed to doing just that. I can't wait to get started with Evan Roberts on November 9th.”

Carton rejoins WFAN after previously serving as co-host of the station’s morning show “Boomer & Carton” from 2007 to 2017. Carton began his broadcasting career in 1991 with a brief tenure at WGR Radio in Buffalo, NY, before moving to WWWE in Cleveland in 1992, and later to Philadelphia’s Sports Radio 94WIP (then WIP-AM, now Entercom sister station) in 1993. Carton’s program soared in the ratings during his four-plus years at WIP, earning him a place on Philadelphia Magazine’s Top 30 Under 30 list. He also served as a reporter covering the Philadelphia Eagles. In 1997, Carton was heard nationally on 40 stations throughout the country as he hosted a syndicated sports talk show on the Sports Fan Network. He later joined KKFN-FM in Denver as morning show host, where in his first year his show became the highest rated show in KKFN’s history. His success continued for cross-town rival KBPI-FM, and within one ratings period had the highest rated local morning show in Denver. Following a stint at WNEW-FM (now Entercom sister station New 102.7 FM) in New York, Carton joined WKXW-FM to host “The Jersey Guys” afternoon show.

Career accolades include: nominated and finalist for multiple Marconi Awards; multiple Cynopsis Sports Media Award winner; ranked as the second most important and influential sports talk show hosts in the country by Talkers Magazine’s “Top 100 Most Important and Influential Talk Show Hosts in the Country” multiple times; 9th most politically influential personality in New Jersey by PoliticsNJ.com (2007); and Radio and Records’ “Talk Show Host of The Year” nominee (2006). A strong advocate for children, Carton founded the TicTocStop Foundation, which donated hundreds of thousands of dollars towards research and the funding of a camp for children with Tourette syndrome. 

Carton succeeds longtime WFAN host Joe Benigno, who announced his retirement Wednesday.

The move did not come as a surprise, reports Newsday. Carton, 51, is personally and professionally close to Chris Oliviero, who is the New York market manager for Entercom and oversees WFAN.

In June, shortly before Carton was released after serving about 12 months of a 42-month sentence, Oliviero told Newsday, "If a time in the future came where Craig had gotten his life back on track, fulfilled all that was asked of him and was in a position to resume his career, of course we’d talk and discuss."

Evan Roberts

By pairing Carton with Roberts, 37, the station is counting on him bringing out another side of Roberts, who with Benigno mostly stuck to sports and showed relatively little range outside the area. That proved to be a particular problem in the spring, when the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the sports world, writes Neil Best at Newsday.

Carton, too, presumably will seek to adapt to the different vibe of afternoons, which tend to be less freewheeling than morning.

He also will have to navigate a world in which some listeners and callers will be skeptical that they can trust him – and in which gambling ads are a critical driver of sports radio revenues.

It was Carton’s admitted addiction to gambling that led him down the path to personal and professional ruin in 2017, when he was arrested for misusing funds intended for a ticket brokerage to repay gambling debts.