The WFAN makeover took on a whole new level on Thursday as the NY Post’s Andrew Marchand reported that Tiki Barber and Brandon Tierney will be replacing Maggie Gray and Marc Malusis as the NY sports talk station’s new midday team in 2022.
Tiki & Tierney, who are already based in New York, have been holding down the afternoon drive timeslot for CBS Sports Radio Network for the last eight years. That nationally syndicated afternoon show will end this month.
You just heard it made official on @CartonRoberts: @TikiandTierney will be taking over WFAN Middays from 10a-2p starting in January!
Tiki and BT may join Craig & Evan later today when their show ends, you can listen live here: https://t.co/mq3It1PnQV pic.twitter.com/0jeb4jHzEu
— WFAN Sports Radio (@WFAN660) December 2, 2021
Both hosts are very familiar to New York sports fans, though for different reasons.
Barber spent ten seasons with the New York Giants and retired in 2006 as the franchise’s all-time rushing and reception leader. He has since tried to carve out a career in the media and entertainment worlds, leaving a decidedly bad taste in the mouth of many viewers. He’s rehabbed his public image mostly by staying out of the public eye and focusing on his broadcasting career.
Tierney, a radio veteran who hails from Brooklyn, worked for years at ESPN New York and has hosted various New York Knicks pre-game, half-time, and post-game shows.
The two will take over the coveted 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. timeslot that leads into the Carton & Roberts afternoon drive time show. An inability to maintain enough of a rating liftoff is reportedly behind WFAN’s interest in bringing in Tiki & Tierney to replace the current midday show hosted by Maggie Gray and Marc “Moose” Malusis.
The writing appears to have been on the wall for some time for Maggie & Moose and Thursday’s show was in fact the last one for Gray. Gray did take to Twitter after the news broke to say “the next chapter is about to begin,” implying there’s a new opportunity coming soon. According to Marchand, she is expected to have “another role with FAN or its parent company, Audacy, while Malusis could go back to part-time hosting.”
https://twitter.com/maggiegray/status/1466503767021568011?s=21
One person happy to hear about the situation may be James Dolan. The owner of the Knicks had a very public spat with WFAN over a rant by Gray in 2018 when she referred to him as “a vile piece of trash,” amongst other things.
Barber and Tierney are the latest hires in a revamped lineup that WFAN hopes can help keep them ahead of ESPN New York and other competitors. The station recently hired Keith McPherson as their replacement for longtime evening host Steve Somers and gave Sal Licata the overnight slot.
[NY Post]
