By WFAN.com
Saying he never thought he'd be back but is glad he is, Mike Francesa made his return to WFAN on Tuesday.
The sports talk icon ended his 30-year run with the station in December, but last week WFAN's parent company, Entercom Communications, struck a deal to bring Francesa back as part of a partnership with him and the agency CAA Sports. The agreement includes the radio show, a mobile app and live events.
Francesa opened his show by speaking briefly about his return before delving right into the latest in local sports.
"It's nice to be back," Francesa said. "A little surprising to be back.
"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."
The driving force behind his return, he said, was his mobile app, which he said needed a radio component to help promote it.
The "Mike's On" app and website will be the exclusive home of the "Mike's Football Sunday" show, beginning this football season. It 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 going to do some new stuff on it," Francesa said Tuesday. "We're going to really, I think, break some ground with it. And that's what I really wanted to do. I wanted to do something different, something new.
"We're developing a lot of stuff on there. There will be a place for other voices on there, not just mine. 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."
Before going on the air, Francesa told WFAN.com that he found himself thinking back to what, at the time, was believed to be his final WFAN show in December.
"The last time I left, it was a very emotional show," he said. "Those last couple of shows, we planned them for a long time. They were very emotional shows, especially the last one in here. So I was thinking about that today. I never expected to be back. It's just been a very weird turn of events, a lot of things that have fallen into a lot of places for it to happen. If you had asked me a month ago, I never even thought it would've been a possibility. We were moving in a very different direction, and then some things changed with a lot of people, but especially (President and CEO) David Field at Entercom, who came very much into the picture, and then it just kind of happened.
"I've missed the audience a lot. I've missed sitting here in a front of a microphone a lot. So I'm looking forward to the program."
"Mike's On" airs Mondays through Fridays from 3 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. on 101.9 FM and 660 AM. It can also be streamed on WFAN.com, Radio.com and the Radio.com app.
