Spike Eskin outrage shows how strong WFAN still is

The role of a WFAN program director in New York is akin to being the manager of the Yankees or Mets. The person’s day-to-day decisions on who to put on air and what to talk about are for public debate as if they were filling out a lineup card and making double-switches.

That is why when someone like Spike Eskin leaves the program director job after just two-plus years, there is a visceral reaction on social media that echoes the station’s callers.

“He was terrible. Thank God!”

“His work at destroying WFAN is complete!“

“Greatest news I’ve heard in a while. It is a disgrace what he has done to this station. Pay whatever it takes to bring back Chernoff.”

It is a testament to the power of WFAN as it moves into its late 30s as a station that the tweeters are pining for the days of the aforementioned Mark Chernoff as if he were Billy Martin.

Meanwhile, the station continues as a ratings monster and, with ESPN New York currently scheduled to exit its FM signal late this summer, Eskin leaves FAN in a strong position. The lineup is settled, starting with the behemoth in the morning, “Boomer & Gio,” extending to “Brandon Tierney & Sal Licata” and “Evan & Tiki.”

Eskin, a Philadelphia native, is exiting by choice to join Ike Reese as the lead duo on WIP’s afternoon program. Eskin will be in the same spot as his dad, Howard, who, in his prime, was the Mike Francesa of Philadelphia.

Today’s FAN is not Chernoff’s FAN. Chernoff’s secret sauce was not doing too much. That is made easier when you have “Imus in the Morning” and “Mike & the Mad Dog” in the afternoon for decades. But Chernoff also surrounded the stars with some characters, like Steve Somers, and easy listens, like Richard Neer, that gave the station a natural rhythm, year after year. Chernoff was as stingy with making lineup changes as he famously was spending the FAN’s money.

Eskin’s FAN had to be different because the media world has changed. Eskin — along with Audacy New York president Chris Oliviero, who is akin to the Yankees or Mets GM in my analogy — are evolving the station to the times. At night, they replaced Somers with Keith McPherson, a black host on a station that has had a paucity of them.

In late 2017, FAN first tried to evolve. Chris Carlin, Maggie Gray and Bart Scott replaced Francesa. After one ratings book, Francesa stomped back onto the airwaves for an uninspiring comeback that allowed ESPN New York — the perpetual Mets to FAN’s Yankees — to feel the thrill of being the ratings champions as “The Michael Kay Show” bested Francesa. Francesa left again.

Craig Carton returned, won some ratings books then left for national cable TV riches, but — in a strange but perhaps not unexpected twist — more obscurity without the bullhorn of FAN.

In his place, the next incarnation of the afternoons features Evan Roberts and Tiki Barber, along with sidekick Shaun Morash. They are doing fine in the numbers but are still trying to find their way as a complete, must-listen show.

In middays, Eskin leaves Brandon Tierney and Sal Licata to be lightning rods that bring passion to the station. They could add a little more nuance to their show, but radio is the attention game, and Tierney’s “We’re unkillable!” September rant about the Jets, though ultimately wrong, was memorable radio.

It is a different, more transient time in media. Eskin’s move is a perfect example. He has really made his on-air chops by co-hosting a 76ers podcast called, “The Rights to Rickey Sanchez.” Now, he will return home to try to see if he can do what his dad did. FAN will find a new leader, who will become a household name for its listeners.

It is actually incredible when you think about what the place still is, all these years after Suzyn Waldman uttered the first words on the station on July 1, 1987. There may be social media and podcasts, but FAN still matters a lot.

It is why it means something when someone like Eskin leaves FAN after just 2 ¹/₂ years. It is part of the core of New York sports. It is a place for opinions, so the fact that so many have one about this move of a program director is a testament that, while certainly different, FAN is in a strong place after Eskin.