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Brandon Tierney Says Spike Eskin Mandated a “Strong Statement, Here’s the Debate” Within 10-15 Seconds of Beginning a Radio Show
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Brandon Tierney recently lost his WFAN job with Sal Licata when Craig Carton was brought back for what feels like the 47th time. That guy can go to jail, get sued by the Flyers, fail in television, etc. and still have a comfy landing spot in New York sports talk radio. It’s incredible.
Anyway, Tierney recently took to YouTube for almost two hours and had some interesting things to say about Spike Eskin’s time as WFAN program director:
“I think one of the mistakes, and I was guilty of it a little bit – Sal and I talked about this. We had to work through it. There were times we were getting on the air, and, not that we ever said anything we didn’t believe. Neither one of us would ever do that. There’s no chance that was ever happening. But there were, early on, especially when Spike, who I’ve got massive love for because he brought me to WFAN, Spike did, but one of Spike’s things, just like a managerial style – imagine a coach playing a certain style of basketball, or a manager utilizing the bullpen a certain way. This was Spike’s style, alright? Spike wanted within 10 to 15 – and he’s so good at this business, but I did not fully fundamentally agree with this, it was very foreign to me, and I struggled with it, with myself, and I think also our show early on, Sal and I. Within the first 10 to 15 seconds, he wants the audience to know here’s what we’re hitting, here’s the strong statement, and here’s the debate, and let’s go. And I get it, I get it, because if you don’t do that, (if you) bullshit for a bit, ‘hey here’s the phone number, what’s going on, what are you doing (etc),’ that’s boring and people are going to tune out. And unlike Mike (Francesa) and Chris (Mad Dog Russo), who are the best, you could do that back then, because there was nowhere else to go. Now, if you don’t like what we were saying, you go to the other radio station. If you don’t like whatever one of us is saying, you go to your favorite podcast. You go to First Take.. You can bounce around.“
“I understood fundamentally, for sure, what Spike’s mission was. I think where it hurt us a little bit, as a new show with two very strong personalities, alpha personalities on the air, we weren’t able to present ourselves in a very human way. One of the strengths of our show when we got going, and one of my individual strengths, is that I am relatable, I do come across hopefully as likeable, somebody you’d want to hang out with… But if you’re not given that window to do it, maybe you get a little bit off on the wrong foot.”
Yeah look, he’s saying that they had to grab the audience immediately with some ridiculous statement or hot take. “Is Jalen Hurts an ELITE quarterback? 215-592-9494.” Some shit that you’d hear in the first segment listening to Philadelphia radio. It’s the WIP playbook and it works very well in this market.
In fact, when Andy Bloom was fired by CBS Radio back in 2015, 97.5 the Fanatic was competitive in the ratings. WIP didn’t begin to pull away and then establish this monumental gap until Spike came in as program director to install his hot take style. That’s the truth of the matter, so no matter how unlistenable the afternoon show is now, and no matter what asinine nonsense is spewed on the other shows, the bottom line is that it works very well.
I don’t know WFAN as well as other people do, but that station historically has not peddled in rage bait radio. They didn’t have Angelo Cataldi and Howard Eskin. Tierney alludes to this, and he’s careful and complimentary of Spike in that quote, but it doesn’t take an expert in reading between the lines to understand that a lot of people up there were hesitant to do WIP radio. When Tierney talks about not being able to “present ourselves in a very human way,” that’s code suggesting people were against the idea of selling out in order to broadcast shameless, manufactured horseshit. He talks about never saying “anything we didn’t believe,” but you can find people to do that. People like the slovenly Shaun Morash, who is the perfect personality for Spike Eskin radio. You need someone completely shameless, who will go on the radio and social media and say the dumbest things ever, while (presumably) telling everyone privately that it’s just a bit. It’s not that big of a deal.
Kevin has been writing about Philadelphia sports since 2009. He spent seven years in the CBS 3 sports department and started with the Union during the team's 2010 inaugural season. He went to the academic powerhouses of Boyertown High School and West Virginia University. email - k.kinkead@sportradar.com