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Craig Carton Joins Sid Rosenberg on WABC

Brandon Contes

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It’s been almost exactly one year since Craig Carton was last heard on a New York radio station, following his September 6th, 2017 arrest.  Now, just two months away from his trial in federal court facing fraud charges amid accusations of running a $5.6 million Ponzi scheme, Carton joined Sid Rosenberg on his WABC morning show, Bernie and Sid to further proclaim his innocence.

Although Carton and Sid have engaged in public radio battles over the years, the two shock-jocks appeared to be in great standing on Thursday, firing nothing but compliments toward each other.

“Where a lot of people dropped me like a bad habit, which was a very eye opening experience over the last year, you actually didn’t,” Carton told Sid.  “We weren’t even close. We weren’t talking actively, but you reached out to me several times, we’ve maintained a relationship and I’m grateful for that because when you go through what I’m going through, you have a lot of very dark moments, a lot of alone moments and something as simple as a text message of ‘hey how you doing?’ And when it comes from an unexpected place it’s even better.”

Carton is scheduled to go to trial in federal court on October 29th and while he sounds like his normal self on-air, the former WFAN morning host remains very aware of the reality of his situation.

“I recognize that it’s an uphill battle, cause they typically win” Carton said referring to the FBI.  “But you hear all the time about how they have a 98% conviction rate.  Well, that includes plea bargains. When you plea, you’re pleading guilty to something that counts as a conviction.  I’m not pleaing to anything because I firmly believe that when the facts come out you’ll see that I was running a legitimate legal business”

Soon after Craig was arrested on September 6th last year, he resigned from his morning show of 10 years on WFAN, Boomer and Carton.  Now the show has shifted to Boomer and Gio, with Gregg Giannotti taking over as Carton’s replacement.  When I asked Craig during an interview earlier this year if he liked the new WFAN morning show, Carton responded with an emphatic “No!” a sentiment he reiterated on Thursday with Sid.

“Take any show on FAN and bring them here [WABC], they’re not gonna beat anyone over there [on WFAN] anyway,” Carton said. “You can put an intern on the air, which it seems like [WFAN] kinda did. While ratings have dropped 40 percent, they’re still going to do reasonably well.”

Carton continued to comment on WFAN’s new morning show, saying “The show is not as good as it was,” to which Sid agreed by adding, “It’s not even close!”

Although Carton did not directly state it, the intern shot appeared to be pointed at his replacement, Gregg Giannotti.

Earlier this week, Giannotti took a hard-hitting shot of his own at Carton.  After co-host Esiason teased Gio for not spending enough time away from the show with him the way Boomer and Carton used to, Giannotti, while beginning a ticket giveaway contest, said “I could sell these tickets if you want me to be more like Craig.”  The comment garnered a fit of laughter out of Boomer and the fill-ins behind the glass.

While on WABC, Craig added that there’s been a void in New York morning radio since he left WFAN.  “No one has grabbed that mantle and said ‘I’m now the dominant morning show in NYC,’ and I hope when I’m exonerated, I’ll have a chance to do that again.”

Carton doesn’t hide from the fact that he plans to get back on terrestrial radio in New York.  While he’s thankful to his current platform FNTSY Sports Network for the opportunity he has today, Carton still has bigger plans for the future.

“Ego-wise I believe I will have multiple people come to me, that’s ego, and I hope they do,” he said. “But when it comes out that I’m exonerated and the jury says not guilty, why wouldn’t you want to bring back the guy that was the most listened to morning show in New York?”

Carton finished up his segment with Sid by thanking his supporters and calling out his detractors, especially those who questioned the legitimacy of his charity, Tic Toc Stop.

Carton closed with, “I will be back on the radio in New York City, hopefully a lot sooner than later, it could be a great Thanksgiving and fingers crossed, you’ll be able to hear me again one day very very soon.”

Brandon Contes is a freelance writer for BSM. He can be found on Twitter @BrandonContes. To reach him by email click here.

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Jason Puckett Launches PuckSports.com

“I am super motivated right now and I can’t wait. I have probably been busier now than I’ve ever been in the last 48 hours.”

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Logo for PuckSports.com

Jason Puckett, who decided to walk away from a contract offer from iHeartMedia’s KJR in Seattle after finding out his partner Jim Moore had been laid off, has launched a new venture – PuckSports.com. ‘Puck’ has a baseball opening day show posted on the Puck Sports YouTube page and also posted an introductory message about his new venture and what led to creating it.

“I wanted to talk to you guys, the listeners out there, the viewers out there, sorry for all of this,” an emotional Puckett said. “Sorry for what has happened and what has taken place. Thank you for all of the comments and the well-wishes and what you have said about myself and Jim.

“It has been a whirlwind of a last few days, for sure and I do want to say that I feel for the people that we used to work with. “I know it’s not easy to go through that, I have been on that side of it many, many times in this industry when someone is let go and you have to sit there and answer all the questions about them and for them…It’s unfortunate and it shouldn’t be that way, but the reality of this business is it’s like that.”

Puckett then told his fans that PuckSports.com and YouTube are where you will be finding his content along with Moore. “I am going to take what I have learned over the years and apply it to a new age of media,” he said and noted this was a direction he had been thinking about for a while.

As for what took place that led to his decision to not sign his contract and talk away, he said, “I just want to take you briefly back to last week. I don’t want to get too much in the weeds, I’m not here to lay any blame or point any fingers at anybody…there’s too many good people that I have worked with that I don’t want to drag into this. It was a process that was at times handled fine, handled perfectly, and at other times it got to a point where it just went on too long. But that’s corporate media and that’s what happens.”

Continuing on Puckett said, “…I had been without a contract since about January…when I was away from the station that was something that we and the station agreed upon…to see if we could get something done and we were all hopeful that we would…I was only supposed to be gone a couple of days…unfortunately as these things sometimes happen, it just went a little bit longer…We received the deal and it was what we wanted, but unfortunately with that news a few hours later came the news from corporate that Jim had lost his job. Obviously there was a mix of emotions with that from me.

“I wrestled with that and the decision and what I would do. It was hard for me to move forward…I couldn’t fight the perception more than anything that I had received a new deal while at the same time, my partner and good friend, guy I love to death, who I grew up reading…it was a hard reality…The loyalty I have, I couldn’t live with myself even though Jim knew what the truth was.”

Puckett said he was aware Moore was planning to step away from the radio show at the end of the year and was looking forward to the nine months they would have left to work with one another. Then, when iHeartMedia made the decision to make Moore a casualty of their latest round of layoffs, Puckett knew he needed to revisit the idea of starting his own venture.

He said, “It has kind of changed my timeline as far as what I wanted to do and where I felt I was at…I am super motivated right now and I can’t wait. I have probably been busier now than I’ve ever been in the last 48 hours.”

Puckett said several of the show’s regular guests would stay with the show and he thanked several sponsors who he said would remain supporters of the show with the new venture. ‘Puck’ noted that starting next week, “…We get underway in full force…I’m going to continue to try and make people laugh and entertain you and talk about sports…and all of the other things you have become accustomed to with this show.”

As he started to wrap up, Puckett said, “I’m jumping into the deep end of the pool and I am going to see if I can swim or sink.”

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Kirk Minihane: WEEI is “Going to be Andy Gresh and Rich Shertenlieb in Afternoons”

“It’s going to be Andy Gresh and Rich Shertenlieb in the afternoons, which is going to be so awful.”

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Photos of Kirk Minihane and Rich Shertenlieb

As the speculation continues on where Boston sports talker Rich Shertenlieb will end up, one former WEEI host said he has the scoop on what is going to happen. Kirk Minihane, now with Barstool Sports, said, “What I heard was, initially, was they were moving Rich Keefe from nights to middays, moving Adam Jones from afternoons to middays and keeping Fauria there, and moving Andy Gresh to afternoons…But now it appears Rich Shertenlieb is going to do afternoons with Andy Gresh.”

On Wednesday, Boston Globe sports and sports media columnist Chad Finn put out a post on X, saying, “Didn’t think Rich Shertenlieb would end up at WEEI after leaving Sports Hub. I do now, most likely in afternoon drive. Audacy management has been telling people to expect changes.”

Minihane continued commenting on the matter, saying, “It’s going to be Andy Gresh and Rich Shertenlieb in the afternoons, which is going to be so awful. Maybe the two most sensitive c***s in the history of radio. That’s a show we are going to ruin…we haven’t done that in a while, we are going to take that show down…Once that show starts, we are just going to blitz them with phone calls because Gresh can’t handle that.

“What they don’t understand, because they are so dumb, is that…Rich Shertenlieb has no fan base…no fan of [Toucher and Hardy] in the morning is going to be like ‘I’m not going to listen to Felger in the afternoons, I’ll now listen to Andy Gresh and Rich Shertenlieb.’ It’s going to be dreadful.”

Recapping what he has heard the rest of the WEEI lineup will be, Minihane said, “…And then in middays you have Adam Jones, failed afternoons. Rich Keefe who has now failed middays, drivetime, nights and is now going to fail again in middays… and Christian Fauria who has never drawn a rating in his life.”

WEEI has not commented on any of the speculation. BSM will have more as the story unfolds.

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Former 670 The Score Host Tommy Williams Has Died

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Photo of Tommy Williams
Courtesy: Lakeshore Public Media

Tommy Williams, who was heard for a decade on 670 The Score, died on Wednesday at the age of 66.

Williams began his broadcasting career in his hometown of Gary, Indiana in 1982 at WLTH before moving on to The Score. In 2003, Williams became the PA Announcer for the Gary Southshore RailCats of the American Association where he had his signature call to get the attention of the fans, “People, People, People.”

A story in The Times of Northwest Indiana said, “The longtime RailCats public address announcer and Lakeshore Public Media sports journalist was known for broadcasting countless games, interviewing countless athletes and covering Region sports at all levels. The Gary native and co-host of “Prep Sports Report,” “Prep Football Report,” and “Lakeshore PBS Scoreboard” often signed off shows saying, “Gary, Indiana, you know I love you.”

“The cadence he had in his voice echoed across the Region in a way we may never see again. He was widely known and widely loved,” Tom Maloney, vice president of radio operations at Lakeshore Public Media told the paper.

“He’d want to be remembered as the voice of Lakeshore sports,” his Regionally Speaking co-host and producer Dee Dotson told The Times. “Most people will remember him for covering prep sports all the way up to semi-pros. He’ll be remembered for treating each of his subjects like they were world champions. His depth of knowledge of sports at all levels is commendable. He was a walking encyclopedia of stats.” 

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