Tiki Barber wants to be the biggest thing in New York sports radio. WFAN has the same goal for him and is even resorting to artificial intelligence to try to make it happen.
Last week, WFAN’s new afternoon drive show premiered a segment called “Bad Tiki.” Evan Roberts, the Evan in “Evan & Tiki,” announced the feature.
“Thanks for the introduction, you stupid Chucky doll,” said Bad Tiki, who was created using AI technology. “Good Tiki, finally we meet. I’ve been living in your goody-two-shoes shadow for far too long.”
Bad Tiki called Roberts a “red-headed little Muppet,” and Joe Beningo an “old grumpy bag of bones.” It was funny stuff as modern sports radio goes.
At one point, the real Tiki chimed in and asked Bad Tiki a question, “Where in the world did you get the idea that I ever would have this type of personality inside of me?”
And that is the exact question WFAN and Barber are trying to figure out in afternoons. Does he have the personality for FAN primetime?
In the vaunted chairs once occupied by “Mike & the Mad Dog,” Barber wants to have as big of a voice as Mike Francesa and Chris Russo had. After a decade with Brandon Tierney on CBS Sports Radio and one year in middays on the FAN, Spike Eskin, the station’s program director, offered Barber Craig Carton’s old afternoon chair.
“I told Spike when he asked me about taking this job, I said, ‘I want to be one of the most important voices in New York sports media,” the real Barber told The Post. “It’s going to take time to get there, but that’s what I want to do.”
Carton left FAN to host a morning TV show on FS1, which forced FAN to play musical chairs. For decades, Francesa and Russo offered stability at FAN, but since Francesa’s initial retirement at the end of 2017, FAN has had four teams — Chris Carlin, Maggie Gray and Bart Scott; Francesa; Benigno and Roberts; Carton and Roberts and now the latest trio, Roberts, Barber and sidekick Shaun Morash.
While Roberts moved to the top of the marquee and into the show’s driver’s seat, it is Barber whom FAN is counting on to build around and woo sponsors.
The initial ratings were pretty good the first month, as from 3-6:30 p.m., “Evan & Tiki” were tied for third in the market with a 6.2 share among the station’s target demographic, males 25-54, while “The Michael Kay Show” continues to struggle at 12th (3.6 share), according to Nielsen Audio.
The sports ratings war in New York may be entering its final year, as ESPN New York plans to relinquish its 98.7 FM signal by the end of next summer, relying on digital platforms and 1050 AM. ESPN New York may very well ditch Nielsen and, even if somehow they don’t, the fight will not be a fair one.
For Barber, 48, the rebuilding of his media career has hit a zenith. Barber was supposed to be what Michael Strahan has become. In 2007, Barber joined NBC’s “Today Show” and its Sunday night NFL coverage.
It was all too fast. Coupled with a well-publicized extramarital affair, Barber had to start over.
He spent a decade at CBS Sports Radio, learning the game from Tierney, before the duo got called to the bigs to start 2022, taking over FAN’s midday slot.
As Barber improved on radio, he also called some games on CBS, which led to the network giving him a full-time NFL assignment this season with Matt Ryan and play-by-player Andrew Catalon. Barber has shown skills in the booth, but still needs to be more concise, which a three-man team demands.
But it is FAN where Barber has a chance to have the largest voice. He’s following the Boomer Esiason model, as a former great player turned talk show host. FAN has designed the program to make him succeed.
Roberts is now in charge of the show with Carton gone. Morash is the third man and, since he enjoys playing up his eating prowess, he comes across as sort of like the show’s Peter Rosenberg, just non-political, more knowledgeable and with a Slurpee in hand. Roberts and Morash are the fans’ voices. Barber is the expert, bringing gravitas to the proceedings. He’s the opposite of a Benigno.
Barber said on Monday night he turned off the Giants game at halftime because he was too “pissed off.” Instead, he watched it in the morning. He wanted to take the emotion out of it.
On Tuesday, to begin the afternoon show, Barber’s take was different than anyone else’s as he said the Giants aren’t as bad as everyone was making them out to be. Morash and Roberts jumped on him for that.
Barber’s opinions need to be a little more forceful, if they want them to matter more. Sports radio isn’t AI, it’s a lot about human emotion. It’s why we care.
Still, Barber’s players’ point of view on the Giants showed the ability that he displayed so many times on the field – to zig when others are zagging. Agree or disagree, you want to hear different and Barber has to find the holes.
Ultimately, you can build around Barber with Roberts, Morash and AI, but Barber’s standing in New York sports media will be determined when he has the mic.
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