Craig Carton says emotional goodbye to WFAN: ‘One of the most difficult days I’ll ever do in radio.’

Craig Carton is leaving his dream job as a drive time radio host on WFAN for the second time in his career. But this time, it’s on his own terms.

Thursday morning, Andrew Marchand of the New York Post reported that Carton was departing WFAN to focus on his FS1 morning show. Shortly after the news broke, Carton signed on to WFAN an hour earlier than his usual start time with co-host Evan Roberts to confirm the report.

“It’s a happy day and a very sad day for me,” Carton admitted. “And it’s one of the most difficult days I’ll ever do in radio because I am leaving WFAN.”

Since last September, Carton’s weekdays have been double-booked, hosting a morning show on FS1 and afternoons with Roberts on WFAN. After enduring the grueling schedule for nine months, Carton has decided to sign an exclusive contract with Fox.

“I’m a radio guy at heart, always have been, always will be,” Carton said. “And yet the challenge of trying to do a successful national morning show on Fox Sports 1 is something that appeals to me. It’s a challenge that I want to conquer. And at this stage of my career, I feel like I’m up for that challenge.”

“The end of this is pretty simple, I’m leaving. I’m leaving on June 30th. If you want to hear what I have to say or see what I have to say, you’ll obviously be able to do that exclusively at Fox Sports 1 in the morning starting in mid-July,” Carton continued. “I’m grateful to the Fox family for giving me this great opportunity. But they would acknowledge as well, they would never have given me that opportunity if I didn’t come back to Fan first. So without WFAN, I honestly don’t know where I would be.”

WFAN gave Carton a second chance in 2020 after he spent one year in prison following a conviction for fraud. Carton’s arrest forced him to resign from his highly-rated morning show with Boomer Esiason in 2017. Since being released from prison, Carton said he has worked to rebuild relationships with his wife and children. Subsequently, waking up at 2:30am for his FS1 show and returning home from WFAN after 8pm every night is not conducive to prioritizing family life.

According to Marchand, FS1 was willing to pay Carton more if he worked exclusively for Fox Sports. The opportunity to make what is being reported as seven figures while working a much less daunting schedule was too difficult for Carton to pass up, even though hosting drive time on WFAN has long been his dream job.

“I’m very much looking forward to the next challenge, which is turning The Carton Show on Fox Sports 1 into a major national success. I do it recognizing that I’m leaving in my rearview mirror, my home. Because that’s what WFAN is, it’s my home,” Carton said. “I want people to know more than anything else, how special WFAN is to me, how the listeners are to me, all the people in this building. And I recognize how fortunate and lucky I am that I have WFAN in my life. WFAN allowed me to change my life for the better.”

Carton is leaving WFAN on good terms and expects to maintain a presence by continuing to host his weekly Saturday show on gambling addiction, which is taped in-studio every Thursday. A replacement for Carton in afternoon drive has not been announced, although Roberts jokingly opened his recruitment of Stephen A. Smith after the ESPN host came to his defense earlier this week.

[WFAN]; photo of Carton in 2022 from Seth Harrison/The (Westchester County) Journal News, via USA Today Sports]