Craig Carton predicts success with WFAN return to afternoon drive

For Craig Carton, there is no stage like that of a daily show on WFAN radio, a professional high that he has experienced in two prior stints at the station.

Soon, he will feel it again.

“There’s nothing quite like a New York City platform on the greatest sports talk station to ever be in existence,” he told Newsday on Wednesday in his first interview since his return was announced.

“On Jan. 5, the first word I utter brings me back to that level of relevance. And I’m blessed to have that opportunity and for people to think that way of me.”

Jan. 5 is the day WFAN will unveil its revamped lineup, with Carton in afternoon drive time alongside Chris McMonigle. The current afternoon group of Evan Roberts, Tiki Barber and Shaun Morash will move to middays, replacing Sal Licata and Brandon Tierney.

Carton’s return was widely anticipated from the day his FS1 TV program was cancelled in July. But he said it was several months before serious talks about him coming back began, in part because he still was under contract to Fox.

In September, Carton launched a daily podcast with Red Seat Ventures, a platform owned by Fox, and he will continue doing that show. Fox gave Carton the go-ahead to pursue other opportunities when the TV show ended, opening the door to his WFAN return.

His return has generated widespread attention, which always has been a Carton specialty.

“I think it’s awesome,” he said. “I’m thrilled that people do still care and want to hear me on the radio.”

Carton predicted immediate success.

“I think I’m really good at doing it,” he said. “My ratings always have borne that out, whether it be mornings with Boomer (Esiason from 2007-17) or afternoons with Evan (from 2020-23).

“I feel very confident and comfortable the show with Chris McMonigle will have the same level of success that those shows had . . . And for the people that have never met me that think a certain way of me that is more in the negative light, they're welcome to think that way. And I hope they listen, too, and if history has proven anything, they will listen and they always have listened.”

The on-air people affected most by Carton’s return are Licata and Tierney.

“It’s the only part of this story that I've lost sleep over,” Carton said. “Because on a personal level, I like and respect both guys personally. I like and respect them professionally, and I've been big fans of theirs from the minute they were put together to do the midday show.”

Carton praised them for how they have handled the changes at the station. They continued to do their show together through Friday, a rarity in radio under such circumstances.

“All you need to know about Sal Licata and Brandon Tierney is the fact that they were allowed to stay on the air doing this,” Carton said. “That says a lot about them, and the class that they have, the professionalism they bring to the table . . . I was very moved by that.”

Tierney posted on “X” last week, “Been a ride, an honor.”

Carton’s first stay at WFAN was interrupted when he was arrested on federal conspiracy and fraud charges and eventually spent about a year in prison. His second ended when he left to focus on television.

He said the podcast “relit the fire” for him about his love of radio. “It was an instant reminder of how much I love doing WFAN-style broadcasting,” he said. “I do miss it.”

He said he does not expect Carton III to be any different on the air from Carton I and Carton II.

“It’s going to be uber-successful, like it always has been,” he said. “There's no doubt in my mind at all. This show and this iteration of it will be very successful and very quickly rise in the ratings to Number One.”

McMonigle will move from the overnight shift.

“When his name came up, very quickly and all of us in unison felt that they could hear how that sounds without hearing it,” Carton said of the new pairing.

Carton said he is “in a really good place” personally and no longer gambles, an addiction that led to his legal problems.

“Knock on wood, I won't gamble today or ever again,” he said. “I take great pride in that, in my recovery.”

He called “Hello, My Name is Craig,” his weekly WFAN show on gambling addiction, “the most important content I've ever done.”

He said counseling others with similar problems is “a reminder of the bad decisions I made, but because of it, I can tell you today that I'm in a very, very good place personally, and the fact that I get to add the greatest job of all to that is very humbling. I count my blessings every day.”