Sports talk legend Mike Francesa returned to New York's WFAN on Tuesday, four months after leaving the station after 30 years.
"It's nice to be back," Francesa said at the beginning of his show, Mike's On, on Tuesday. "A little surprising to be back. In case you might have seen a little notice about it in the last couple of days, I am back. We'll get into all that. I'm sure some of you, as you call and go through the day, might have a couple of questions. If you do, we'll answer them then. I'm not going to sit here and give you a litany of what happened because some of it is none of your business, and the rest of it, well, I'll tell you it as we go along. But I want to thank everyone for all the kind thoughts and wishes that came from every corner. It was overwhelming, all the nice messages and warm greetings that were sent my way."
Speaking to Radio.com and WFAN before his comeback show, Francesa said he "never expected to be back" and called his return "a very weird turn of events." WFAN and Radio.com's parent company, Entercom Communications, officially announced Francesa's return late last week after days of speculation. Francesa will broadcast his show weekdays from 3:00 p.m. ET to 6:30 p.m. ET on WFAN (101.9 FM and 660 AM in New York) as well as online at Radio.com and WFAN.com and via the Radio.com app.
"I missed the audience a lot. I missed sitting here in front of a microphone a lot," he said to Radio.com and WFAN of coming back.
Of his fans, Francesa said nobody has ever had a more loyal group of supporters ever "in any medium."
He added, "This is home for me, this is what I do, this is what I'm best at. I don't have a lot of talent in the professional world so this one I do have, fortunately."
In addition to his daily radio show, Francesa will also debut the Mike's On app and website, which will be the exclusive home of the Mike's Football Sunday show, beginning with the start of the 2018-19 football season. The app will also provide exclusive audio and video archival content of Francesa dating back through his storied career at WFAN, in addition to a live audio stream of Francesa's WFAN show. The app will be free to download this summer and will offer a subscription option for fans who want to hear and view additional content. WFAN and Mike's On will be hosting live events across formats and venues, including live broadcasts, one-on-one interviews, and a speaker series. For more information, visit www.mikesonnetwork.com.
"We're developing a lot of stuff on there. There will be a place for other voices on there, not just mine," Francesa said of the app. "That's my goal. It's something I want to have many years from now. Who knows who's going to work on it? I want to find some aspiring new broadcasters. Who knows? Maybe someday my kids will work on it."
