16 RADIOINK•COM MAY 6, 2019
Radio Ink: Why and how did you get
into radio?
Giannotti: I was always a huge fan of
WFAN. I would listen constantly, driv-
ing to Mets games, to Mike & The Mad
Dog, to Steve Summers. I always had a
fascination with Sports Talk radio and
the WFAN personalities. It was always in
my head that it was something I wanted
to do, but I didn’t think it was realistic. I
just thought that it was a miracle for the
people who got to do that.
I was playing music in high school, get-
ting ready for college. I was good at it,
and colleges were interested in my being
a part of their music program. I figured,
“Hey, let me take advantage of this, it’s a
talent I have, and I can make a career out
of it somehow.” My mom was a teacher,
and I said, “Maybe I could be a music
teacher. That would be cool.”
I went to Ithaca College to be a music
teacher. I hated it. It was the wrong thing
for me. I needed a change. I said, “I need
to do something I’m passionate about.”
Radio was always in the back of my
mind. At that time Mike & The Mad Dog
became simulcast on TV, and I would
cut classes and watch them — I vividly
remember sitting in my dorm room
watching them. I said, “I wanna try that. I
wanna give that a shot.”
So I started taking communication
classes. I finished out my degree and got
an internship at WFAN. That was the only
thing I wanted to do, get into that build-
ing, get into WFAN. I was thinking, “Once
I get in the door with an internship, I’m
never gonna leave.” It sort of worked
out that way. I had to leave to go to
Pittsburgh, but it was with the company
[CBS at the time]. That was the fall of- That’s how the story began.
Radio Ink: So you just walked into the
station and said, “I’m applying for an
internship”?
Giannotti: Well, you know what’s funny,
there is another piece of this story that
I left out. My best friend, who I grew up
with, was interning in the WFAN promo-
tions department, and he was doing an
event at Dave and Buster’s in Nassau
County with Chris Carlin. He said to me,
“Why don’t you come down and meet
Chris Carlin, and you can talk to him.”
So I did; I went down to Dave andBuster’s and I met him and I said, “I’m
really interested in an internship. How
do I get it?” He gave me Eddie Scozzare’s
e-mail and said to tell him that we spoke.
So Carlin actually helped me, all the way
back then, to get that internship.
I remember walking in to get an inter-
view and walking through the newsroom,
and the old Astoria studio was dank and
dirty and gross, but something about it
was really, really cool and really special to
all of us. I’m looking around, and I know
the update anchors’ names, and there
were other people whose names I had
heard, and I got to meet them.
I remember sitting down with Eddie
Scozzare at a place called Studio C, which
was rarely used. We sat down and talked
about why I was there and what I wanted
to do. It was just perfect. I said, “Listen,
I’m more than willing to work here for
free and do whatever you need and get
the college credit and be a part of this
thing.”
I remember feeling really good about
the interview, and then when I got the
internship, it was one of the coolest
things. I knew it wouldn’t stop there. I
really had a good feeling that once I got
in there as an intern, I would keep it
going somehow.Radio Ink: And you went from intern to
board op to an on-air shift, correct?
Giannotti: Yes, I was an intern for one
semester and then I got hired as a part-
time board op/producer, which I did for
13 months. My first full-time job was
February 2007, when I got hired to do
the Wednesday-to-Sunday 4-to-midnight
board op shift. I did that for a little while
and then got promoted to a producer job.
I think the real break for me behind the
scenes was when Ray Martell, who was
producing Joe & Evan [Joe Benigni and
Evan Roberts] at the time, left to go work
for an insurance company. That left the
midday show producer job open. That was
the coveted producer’s job because it was
the best hours; it was Monday through
Friday, 8 to 4.
I’d been doing the midnight stuff and
working weekends, so Monday through
Friday was great, and the show was only
three hours long. It was the perfect place
to be. I remember saying to myself, “If I
can get that job, I can get myself in front
of the important people every day.” When
you’re working nights and weekends,
you’ve got to hide. I got myself in front of
important people, got to know Eric Spitz
and Mark Chernoff a lot better. That’s how
I developed from just a name that wasBoomer Esiason and Gregg Giannotti with former NBA player and Duke University
basketball legend Christian Laettner