WFAN Announces New Afternoon, Morning Hosts

NEW YORK (WFAN) -- The No. 1 sports talk radio station in the country, New York's legendary WFAN Sports Radio 101.9 FM and Sports Radio 66 AM, announced Wednesday a fresh new lineup and distinctive new voices to coincide with the launch of the new year.

Gregg Giannotti, currently co-host of "Gio & Jones" on CBS Sports Radio, has been named co-host of the newly renamed WFAN morning show, "Boomer & Gio," alongside Boomer Esiason. Later in the day, SportsRadio 94WIP's Chris Carlin, former New York Jets linebacker Bart Scott and Maggie Gray of CBS Sports Radio and Sports Illustrated will host a long-awaited new afternoon program, "The Afternoon Drive with Carlin, Bart and Maggie." Further bolstering The Fan's weekday lineup, longtime audience favorites Joe Benigno and Evan Roberts will now host a fourth hour.

PHOTOS: WFAN Introduces New Hosts

The new shows and programming updates take effect Jan. 2. "Boomer & Gio" airs weekdays from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. and is simulcast on CBS Sports Network. Now with a refreshed three-anchor format and a diversity of voices, "The Afternoon Drive with Carlin, Bart and Maggie" will air weekdays from 2 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. "Joe & Evan" airs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Steve Somers, an original WFAN host who is heard before and after evening games, picks up at 6:30 p.m. and runs till 1 a.m. Overnight hosts Tony Paige and Marc Malusis are on-air from 1 a.m. to 5:40 a.m., and then Al Dukes and Jerry Recco host "The Warmup Show" from 5:40 a.m. to 6 a.m. to help busy New Yorkers start their day.

Beginning Jan. 2, the new WFAN Sports Radio 101.9 FM and Sports Radio 66 AM weekday lineup will be as follows:

1:00 – 5:40 AM -- Tony Paige & Marc Malusis
5:40 – 6:00 AM -- "The Warmup Show" with Al Dukes & Jerry Recco
6:00 – 10:00 AM -- "Boomer & Gio"
10:00 AM – 2:00 PM -- "Joe & Evan"
2:00 – 6:30 PM -- "The Afternoon Drive with Carlin, Bart and Maggie"
6:30 PM – 1:00 AM -- Steve Somers

"Today's announcement helps solidify WFAN's rank as the No. 1 sports talk radio station in the U.S. for years to come," said Marc Rayfield, senior vice president/market manager for CBS Radio New York. "The mix of distinctive new voices and lineup changes alongside perennial on-air favorites ensures a continuously remarkable listening experience for the passionate New York sports fans we proudly serve."

Added Mark Chernoff, vice president of programming for WFAN and CBS Radio New York, "With the addition of Gregg to the WFAN morning show alongside Boomer, and with Chris, Bart and Maggie joining us in the afternoon, we've assembled a stellar line-up that we're proud to showcase on WFAN. New York sports fans are about to be entertained, challenged and engaged like never before."

Gregg Giannotti

Giannotti currently co-hosts CBS Sports Radio's morning show with former NFL linebacker Brian Jones weekdays from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. Giannotti began his sports broadcasting career in 2005 as an intern at WFAN. He worked part-time for the station following the completion of his internship and joined WFAN full-time in 2007. He first served as a board operator and took on producing responsibilities a short time after that. In 2008, he hosted his first show for the legendary station.

When CBS RADIO was launching a new all-sports radio station in Pittsburgh in 2010, Giannotti was named as Sportsradio 93.7 The Fan's night host. Just six months later, he was promoted to host of the station's morning show – a program that has perennially been the No. 1-rated sports talk show in the market.

While in Pittsburgh, Giannotti also served as the sideline reporter and pregame host for Pittsburgh football during the 2012 and 2013 seasons. In addition to his duties at The Fan, he also hosted a weekend show on CBS Sports Radio.

"It's the moment of all moments for me," Giannotti said on the WFAN morning show Wednesday. "There's some people who grow up in this business or have an idea of what their top-level thing is, and this is it. And I couldn't be happier to work with you guys being what I think is the best crew in radio. This is going to be an exciting time, and I have all the emotions running through me now, and they're all good."

Chris Carlin

Carlin joins WFAN with nearly 20 years of experience in radio and television, currently as the co-host of "Carlin & Reese" alongside Ike Reese on CBS Radio's Sportsradio 94WIP in Philadelphia.  He first broke into the business at WFAN, where he became the producer of the legendary "Mike & the Mad Dog" program, a role he held for seven years while gaining experience as an on-air host.

In 2004, Carlin transitioned to a permanent on-air role, as host of the daily morning preshow from 5 a.m. to 6 a.m. at the FAN before joining "Imus in the Morning" as the show's sportscaster in 2005. In 2007, he joined the "Boomer & Carton" morning program in a similar role, while hosting "The Morning Warmup."

In March 2008, Sportsnet New York launched "Loudmouths," a New York sports debate show featuring Carlin and co-host Adam Schein. At the end of 2008, Carlin left WFAN and joined SNY full-time, where in addition to "Loudmouths," he hosted the Mets pregame and postgame shows for five years alongside former Mets pitcher Bob Ojeda. In 2013, Carlin left the network's Mets coverage to host "Geico Sportsnite," a nightly sports highlight show.

Now in his 13th season, Carlin has served as the play-by-play announcer for Rutgers University football and previously called Rutgers basketball games. He joined the football coverage in 2001, first as a sideline reporter, where he worked with Phillies play-by-play announcer Tom McCarthy along with future Rutgers athletic director Tim Pernetti. When McCarthy departed in 2004, Rutgers named Carlin his successor. In 2008, he added men's basketball to his duties, which he called for eight seasons prior to joining WIP in 2016.

"I went to Philly last year with the thought that I was going to do this for 20 years down there," Carlin said. "I was completely thrown off by it. I learned a lot. That was incredible experience and such an underrated town, but this is the only thing I'd ever leave there for. I can't believe. I used to drive around delivering for Hassler's pharmacy in New Jersey listening to 'Mike & the Mad Dog' and now I get a chance to be in that slot."

Maggie Gray

Gray is the lead anchor for all Sports Illustrated digital video productions and the co-host of the "Moose & Maggie" show on CBS Sports Radio, which is distributed to more than 200 stations across the country. After becoming SI's first digital sports anchor in 2010, she has become a pioneer in digital sports broadcasting and sports social media.

Gray has covered every major sports event, including the Super Bowl, Final Four, NBA, MLB, college football, NHL, horse racing, NASCAR, UFC and boxing. She has interviewed multiple transcendent sports figures of the past decade: Mike Tyson, Muhammad Ali, Mario Andretti, Russell Westbrook, Ernie Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Alex Rodriguez. Gray has also shown a dynamic ability to interact with the world outside of sports, covering Academy Award-winning actors and directors as well as comedians and musicians.

She also worked as a producer for Westwood One's coverage of the Athens and Turin Olympics.

Prior to joining SI.com, Gray was a host, reporter and play-by-play announcer for the MSG Network, ESPN-U and MLB.com.

"To say that I thought I would ever get an opportunity to take this new step, I would be completely lying to you," Gray said. "This is totally shocking to me, and it's all sinking in now.

"I can only bring my point of view, and I'm really happy the people at WFAN realized that it's kind of a different time now. Women are having a seat at the table -- literal, figurative, all that stuff. I'm going to do the best I can and try not to take it as too much pressure to talk for every woman in New York City ... but I will do my best."

Bart Scott

Scott most recently served as a host and guest on ESPN New York 98.7 FM, where he appeared four times a week on "New York's Game Day," "The Michael Kay Show," "Humpty & Canty" and "Inside the Jets."

Prior to joining ESPN, Scott was a studio analyst for the CBS television network's NFL pregame show, "The NFL Today" from 2014-16.  He elevated his role from 2013, when he was a studio analyst on CBS Sports Network's weekly Sunday pregame show, "That Other Pregame Show."

In addition to "The NFL Today," Scott contributed to "Inside the NFL" on Showtime and appeared in weekly segments on "That Other Pregame Show."

Scott joined CBS Sports Network as a studio analyst during the 2013 NFL season on "That Other Pregame Show." Before joining CBS Sports, Scott's NFL career spanned 11 years playing with the Baltimore Ravens (2002-08) and New York Jets (2009-12).

In 2006, he was a Pro Bowl selection and earned All-Pro honors. Scott graduated from Southern Illinois University and was named to the All-Gateway Conference (now Missouri Valley Conference) first team during his senior year. He is now a member of the school's Hall of Fame.

"(Sports) is the greatest form of reality TV," Scott said. "And I'm always prepared, and I'll do my homework. And I'll lean on these guys and they'll lean on me, and we'll have a fun time."