Keith McPherson always ‘grateful’ for having Steve Somers as a supporter

As sports radio legends have recently criticized the state of legacy stations WFAN and WIP, Keith McPherson says he never experienced any sort of old guard vs new animosity.

McPherson joined this week’s episode of the Awful Announcing Podcast, where he discussed the challenge of replacing an iconic host like Steve Somers, the decision to leave WFAN full-time, and what’s next for his media career.

Last week, another WFAN legend, Joe Benigno, made headlines for claiming the station isn’t what it used to be. Angelo Cataldi and Howard Eskin also shared similar sentiments about WIP in Philadelphia, criticizing the product for being different from what it was during their tenures. Despite being a content creator who prioritizes social media and joining WFAN without much radio experience, McPherson said he never felt any of that bitterness from older hosts at the station, certainly not from Somers, who became an instant supporter of his.

“I love that guy, because I would hear him years ago and I would say he’s one of one,” McPherson said of Somers. “Nobody sounds like him, nobody puts together a show like him. He’s iconic.”

McPherson recalled doing his first show on WFAN as a guest host and not knowing he was essentially auditioning to be Somers’ successor.

“I came in oblivious, green as ever,” McPherson said, having been offered the opportunity to do a fill-in show on WFAN by Spike Eskin while working for Jomboy Media. “I thought I sucked. That was August 25th. 2021, and almost two months goes by until I heard, ‘Hey, we’d like to move forward, you’ll be taking Steve Somers’ spot in the overnight.’

“Honestly, it seemed too big. It seemed like a big jump from doing social media and podcasts to WFAN… the biggest thing I’ll say is Steve has been amazing, so gracious, he could have been way different about it. He gave me his phone number; I can’t tell you how many times I’ve called that landline and he’s picked up. It could be advice, it could be, ‘Hey, man, I made a mistake.'”

McPherson said he never tried to replicate what Somers did on-air. Instead, he wanted to build his own show by carving his niche, which he did, and he did it with Somers’ support.

“Steve was gracious and kind and extended a way for me to call him, and just paid me so many compliments, even on air. I never felt any of that (hostility). I’m so grateful that a legend like that brought me in and didn’t feel any type of way. He moved aside, he bowed out, he retired and said, ‘Rumble, young man, rumble. You got it.’ He paid it back.”

It’s natural for previous hosts to believe their way or era was better than the product sports radio is producing today. And in an industry where you need to voice an opinion on everything, it’s not surprising to hear those hosts air their grievances publicly. But that doesn’t mean all iconic radio hosts have to foster any sort of old guard vs new guard rivalry. Steve Somers didn’t, and for that, Keith McPherson remains grateful.