Joe & Evan is a sports talk radio show hosted by Joe Benigno and Evan Roberts, originally broadcast on weekday afternoons from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. ET on New York radio stations WFAN-AM and WFAN-FM. Originally the midday hosts, Joe & Evan were promoted to "afternoon drive" replacing longtime host Mike Francesa who semi-retired in December 2019.[1]
| Joe & Evan | |
|---|---|
| Starring | Joe Benigno Evan Roberts |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Production | |
| Running time | 4 hours |
| Original release | |
| Network | WFAN |
| Release | January 2, 2007 – November 9, 2020 |
| Release | September 10, 2022 – present |
| Related | |
| Carton & Roberts | |
On October 29, 2020, after Benigno announced his retirement from WFAN, it was announced that Craig Carton, who is returning to the station after a three-year hiatus, would be succeeding Benigno and the afternoon show would be renamed Carton & Roberts starting November 9.[2]
On August 5, 2022, it was announced that Joe & Evan would be returning as a Saturday morning show on September 10, with Benigno hosting the shows alone or alongside Roberts on a week-by-week basis.[3]
History
editLongtime WFAN overnight host Joe Benigno originally began hosting the midday show on WFAN in 2004 with then co-host Sid Rosenberg.[4] After Rosenberg was let go by the station in September 2005,[5] Benigno would go on to host the midday show solo for a year until Evan Roberts joined him on January 2, 2007 creating the Joe & Evan show.[6]
Joe & Evan became the highest-rated and longest-tenured midday hosts in WFAN history, receiving their first theme song in 2014.[7]
After Mike Francesa’s initial departure on December 15, 2017, the Joe & Evan show was extended to a 4-hour format 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. ET.[8]
On May 1, 2018, the Joe & Evan show was returned to its three-hour format from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. ET to accommodate the return of Mike Francesa to WFAN.[9]
On December 30, 2019, Joe & Evan announced on-air their show will move to "afternoon drive" form 2 pm to 6 pm ET beginning January 2, 2020, replacing longtime host Mike Francesa.[10][11]
On October 28, Benigno announced his retirement from WFAN, which was previously reported several days prior.[12] It was announced the next day that a returning Craig Carton would be succeeding Benigno.[2]
Benigno's final episode aired on November 9, with various guest appearances such as Marv Albert, Rich Eisen, Bobby Valentine, Terry Bradshaw and several WFAN alumni such as Mike Francesa, Chris Russo, Sid Rosenberg and station manager Mark Chernoff.
On August 5, 2022, almost two years after announcing his retirement, Benigno announced he would be returning to WFAN for a Saturday morning show, with Roberts returning as co-host, thus rebooting Joe & Evan. Benigno also confirmed that he would also be the sole host on select Saturdays when Roberts is unavailable (similar to Roberts' solo weekend shows).[13]
Format
editThe program is a regular sports-talk show focused on the analysis of the sports week by the host followed by calls from listeners. The show is characterized also by guests and ticket giveaways for different sports games.
References
edit- ^ Kratch, James (2019-11-05). "Mike Francesa leaving WFAN drive time again". NJ. Retrieved 2019-12-31.
- ^ a b "Craig Carton returning to WFAN as co-host of new 'Carton & Roberts' Show". 29 October 2020.
- ^ @WFAN660 (5 August 2022). "As just announced on @CartonRoberts, Joe Benigno is back!Joe will have a weekly call in with @TikiAndTierney ever…" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ Howell, John. "Benigno Not Losing Sleep Over Midday Casualty Rate". Hartford Courant. Retrieved 2019-12-31.
- ^ Best, Neil (April 13, 2012). "Sid Rosenberg fired after DUI". Newsday. Retrieved 2019-12-31.
- ^ Colon, Mike (2017-08-23). "How Evan Roberts Rose through the Ranks at WFAN". Medium. Retrieved 2019-12-31.
- ^ "WFAN's Benigno, Roberts No. 1 midday show in NY". Newsday. Retrieved 2019-12-31.
- ^ Neil Best, “Joe Benigno says he’s staying with Evan Roberts on WFAN” from Newsday, November 9, 2017.
- ^ "WFAN makes Mike Francesa's return official, announces new 'Mike's On' mobile app". 27 April 2018.
- ^ "WFAN makes afternoon decision to recover from Mike Francesa wreckage". 16 December 2019.
- ^ "Benigno, Roberts officially taking over WFAN afternoon drive". Newsday. Retrieved 2019-12-31.
- ^ "Joe Benigno is officially retiring from WFAN". 27 October 2020.
- ^ "Joe Benigno to return to WFAN airwaves this fall". 5 August 2022.