Gregg Giannotti grew up listening
to WFAN in New York. When he
would make the long ride from
Long Island to Shea Stadium to see
the New York Mets, he would listen
to Mike & The Mad Dog. On the
ride home, he’d listen to the Mets
wrap-up show and more WFAN.
He loved the station, as so many
people do who live in that area of
the country and follow sports.
In the back of his mind Giannotti
always thought about how cool
it would be to work for such an
iconic station. However, like most
people, he understood that was
likely impossible. So many people
in the radio business, and so few
seats available behind the WFAN
microphone. So it was off to Ithaca
College.
But when Giannotti went
upstate to study to become a
music teacher, he found out quickly
it wasn’t for him. He just didn’t
have the passion. What he did have
a passion for was getting inside
that building in Astoria, Queens,
that housed WFAN Sports Radio.
He just needed a foot in the door.
He was convinced that once he was
there, no matter what job he was
doing, he would never leave.
With the help of Chris Carlin,
who was working a WFAN remote
Giannotti attended, he worked
his way into an internship, getting
that foot in the door. Giannotti did
every job that was asked of
him, which is exactly what you
need to do if you ever expect to
advance in radio — on the air or
in management. And the fact that
he was talented certainly didn’t
hurt. His impressions of WFAN
hosts like Mike Francesa and Joe
Benigno are extremely accurate —
and hilariously funny.
Following the internship,
Giannotti stuck around and
continued to do whatever was
needed inside the walls of WFAN.
After filling in here and there, he
was offered a part-time board op/
producer job, and then more hours.
Finally, the sports brains (Mark
Chernoff and Eric Spitz) decided it
was time to give him a shot with a
full-time show. But that meant
paying his dues in another market.
Giannotti took the night shift at a
recently flipped FM Sports station
in Pittsburgh. It didn’t take long for
the PD to recognize his talent, and
he was quickly moved to mornings.
Then, back in New York, Craig
Carton (who ironically is being
sentenced the day we are writing
this article) was arrested over a
Ponzi scheme. You never know
how or when your opportunity to
shine will come. All you can do is
work hard to put yourself in the
best possible position when the
opportunity does come. And that’s
exactly what Gregg Giannotti did.