According to Andrew Marchand of the New York Post, Adam Schein declined the chance to replace Mike Francesa, making it the second time in less than two years WFAN failed to convince their former host to return.
Schein currently has a weekday show on SiriusXM’s Mad Dog Radio, followed by his TV gig, Time to Schein on CBS Sports Network every night at 6pm ET. While Schein is in the middle of a contract with CBS, his SiriusXM deal was nearing expiration, which meant Entercom needed to strike now to lure him to WFAN. According to Marchand, Schein instead agreed to a contract extension with SiriusXM, ending any chance of a WFAN return.
Recently, BSM President Jason Barrett released a podcast featuring Adam Schein, where the two spoke extensively about Schein’s start at WFAN and passing on the opportunity to take over their afternoon show last year.
“In terms of turning it down per say, I always refer to it this way, I wasn’t available,” Schein told Barrett. “Under contract at SiriusXM…under contract at CBS…I have too much respect to FAN to ever say I turned it down.”
After beginning as an intern in the mid-90s, later working as a part-time host, Schein left WFAN in 2004 to join Sirius even before Howard Stern made the jump to satellite radio. “FAN is amazing, that spot is amazing, my jobs right now are also amazing, I love SiriusXM, I’m loyal to SiriusXM, I love CBS, I’m loyal to CBS,” Schein said during his interview with Barrett.
Hosting afternoon drive on WFAN was Schein’s childhood dream, but he’s turned the opportunity down twice. The first time, because he wasn’t available while under contract with SiriusXM. The second time, because the show isn’t available as Francesa still controls the timeslot.
If Schein chose to leave his daily show at SiriusXM and return to WFAN, it’s unclear how he would’ve been used while waiting for Mike to retire again. According to Marchand, it’s possible FAN would have locked Schein up just to have him ready for when Francesa leaves. The station also could have paired Schein with Mike for a short period of time as a way of transitioning to a new show.
Although reports from last spring originally stated Francesa was returning to FAN for two years, the New York radio icon stated multiple times that he declined to sign a contract with the company. Entercom and their VP of sports programming, Mark Chernoff has undoubtedly discussed the future with Mike, but no one knows when Francesa will depart for good.
Francesa has already waffled once, retiring for four months, then forcing a shakeup of WFAN’s lineup to make room for his return. In a statement sent to Andrew Marchand, Chernoff says Entercom is “100 percent” behind Mike Francesa.
Don’t expect a second farewell tour for the Sports Pope, but a year of rumored replacements will circle WFAN as Francesa continues the task of fending off Michael Kay in a ratings battle.
Brandon Contes is a freelance writer for BSM. He can be found on Twitter @BrandonContes. To reach him by email click here.