WFAN Q&A: Audacy boss Chris Oliviero talks all things radio station

Chris Oliviero, 47, is market president for Audacy New York, whose roster features several iconic station brands, including WFAN, plus CBS Sports Radio.

That makes him one of the area’s most powerful media executives. But he also is a radio lifer with deep local roots, starting as a production assistant for Howard Stern in 1996 and as an associate producer at WFAN in ’98.

Newsday recently sat down with him in his Manhattan office for a wide-ranging interview. Some answers were lightly edited for length and clarity.

Where does the search for a program director to succeed Spike Eskin stand?

“It’s going well. The good news is because Spike’s staying in the company (at WIP in Philadelphia), he's here until he's not here, meaning there's no artificial deadline. He's here until we find the appropriate person.”

How do you view the trend toward more non-sports talk, or “guy talk,” at WFAN and elsewhere?

“How about (calling it) ‘entertaining talk’? That’s been our strategy and that will continue to be our strategy . . . The simple fact is, it's a winning strategy if you look at the station's performance.

“Despite the people that might send us hate mail that says, ‘You’re not debating the Yankees’ third reliever in the bullpen as much as you used to,’ the ratings are high, the revenue is strong.

“If you look at all the sports media across all platforms, it has evolved into this because that's what the audience demanded.”

Why do you think that is?

“I think it is fundamentally a byproduct of there are more choices now for people in their entertainment time and audio time. If you go back to the beginning of the radio station, in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, pre-internet, pre-digital, it was very limited in terms of where you were going to spend your ear time.”

Isn’t “guy talk” done badly really, really bad?

“Correct . . . Kudos to the talent that we have here that could pull it off. Because trust me, when I do get the hate mail a lot of the paragraphs begin with, ‘I can do their job.’ No, you can’t. Their job is hard.”

How, if at all, will Audacy’s bankruptcy, announced in January, affect WFAN?

“The day-to-day operations have had no impact on them at all . . . This was really a financial corporate restructuring that many companies in many industries, including our peers in the radio industry, have also gone through.

“The expectation is when we come out of the official filing, which will be later this spring, we’ll be a much healthier company . . . This was a very specific, pre-packaged reorganization.”

What do you think of the new midday and afternoon shows launched last year?

“Ratings are strong, but more importantly, what I hear come through the speakers for both shows, I like a lot, and that to me is always the first sign.

“As someone who grew up here as a huge fan of the radio station, even before I started working here, do I like what I hear? I do, from both shows, from (Brandon Tierney) and Sal (Licata), and obviously from Evan (Roberts) and Tiki (Barber).”

I assume the top-rated morning show is mostly a given at this point?

“I feel like probably how NBC felt back in the glory days when they had Johnny Carson and ‘The Tonight Show.’ They had the franchise. They had the institution. You didn't have to worry about 11:30 at night. I don't have to worry about 6 o'clock in the morning.”

At least until Boomer Esiason, who is 62, retires, right?

“He’s not retiring. I'm going to go on the record here in Newsday and say, ‘Boomer is not retiring from WFAN.’ I’m not going to allow it.”

Ever?

“As someone who has been lucky enough to be part of Boomer’s FAN ride since Day One going back in 2007, I know how much the job means to him. I know how much he loves it.

“Now, he's a busy guy. He does 1,000 different things. Will he start to decide where he wants to spend his time and maybe pull back on certain things? I'm sure.

“But I think out of all the things he does, the FAN thing is foundational for him. I think he loves it.”

You oversee many stations. Does WFAN take up the most of your time?

“I feel like a parent who has more than one child and I only get asked about the one child, in this case WFAN . . . But I have a lot of children. They're all very different. I guess FAN is the most rambunctious child that I have and requires the most attention.

“The joke I always used to make is the quote-unquote records you play on music stations don't talk back to you. Your talent here, our records, they talk back to me all the time. So they require a lot more human interaction.”

What does it say about your staff that the station has been able to overcome so much turmoil, including Mike Francesa and Craig Carton each leaving twice, and going back to Don Imus' firing in 2007?

“I think it actually says more about the audience and the brand than it does about us as individuals, either management or talent . . . A weaker brand probably couldn't withstand one of those major events. But guess what? FAN survived all of them and didn't miss a beat.

“To me, it's because the audience loves the brand, loves the radio station, that after almost 40 years, there's this tight bond that even though, unfortunately, for various circumstances, some of the names might change, they still love the uniform.”

You are close to Carton; what do you think of how he is doing on TV at FS1?

“I’m proud of what Craig’s doing on TV . . . When I do get a chance to watch, it’s got that energy that is his trademark, which stands out at 7 o’clock in the morning, especially on television.

“But I would say, and what probably Craig would say if he was here, is that he’s a radio guy at heart and he does miss day-to-day radio, I would guess.”

You have been nicknamed “The Architect” on the air and your actual name rarely is spoken. Why is that?

“’The Architect’ name came from Boomer and Carton many, many years ago, because I did not prefer to be a character on the program. If I wanted to be, I'd be a talent and I'd be in front of the microphone. So that was their cute way of kind of navigating around that.

“I don't have any issue being discussed if it's in a manner that's important to the audience in terms of context for what's going on in the radio station . . . Do I have an issue with it? No. I guess you could be called worse things.”

How long do you plan to do this job?

“I love this place. I love radio. I love the city of New York. So it marries all those things together. If I wasn't doing this, what would I do?”

By Neil Best

neil.best@newsday.com@sportswatch

Neil Best first worked at Newsday in 1982, returned in 1985 after a detour to Alaska and has been here since, specializing in high schools, college basketball, the NFL and most recently sports media and business.