Mike Francesa to be inducted into NYSBA Hall of Fame

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mike-francesaCBS Radio’s Sports Radio WFAN-AM/FM, announced that afternoon driver Mike Francesa has been selected for induction into New York State Broadcasters Association’s Hall of Fame.  The ceremony will take place at a special luncheon during the Association’s summer conference at the Waldorf Astoria 6/13 and will also celebrate five other deserving broadcasting legends who will be inducted into the Hall of Fame alongside Francesa.


Francesa, whose name is synonymous with New York sports, can be heard on his program, Mike’s On, weekdays on WFAN (660 AM and 101.9 FM) from 1:00 – 6:30 p.m. on-air, streaming online at www.wfan.com, through the Radio.com app for mobile devices, as well as simulcast on Fox Sports 1/2.  In addition, Francesa hosts the nationally syndicated Mike Francesa’s Football Sunday radio program, which will enter its 28th season next fall.

“I’m humbled and excited to be recognized by the New York State Broadcasters Association,” said Francesa.  “It is a great honor, and anything with New York attached to it means all the more to me.

As part of its 50th anniversary celebration in 2005, New York State Broadcasters Association created a Hall of Fame to honor the elite radio and television hosts of New York.  Other local broadcasting icons who are in the Hall of Fame include television host Regis Philbin, newscaster Walter Cronkite, Mike Wallace of 60 Minutes, sportscaster Len Berman, journalist and television personality Barbara Walters and radio hosts Scott Shannon, Scott Muni, Don Imus, Funk Flex and Curtis Sliwa, among others.

Francesa has for more than 25 years been the on-air cornerstone of WFAN, the nation’s first all-sports talk radio station launched in July 1987.  Since 2008, Francesa has hosted his own afternoon show, Mike’s On, on WFAN.  From 1989 to 2008, he had a critically acclaimed on-air partnership with Chris “Mad Dog” Russo, who together co-hosted the Mike and the Mad Dog Show.  In 2000, the Francesa/Russo duo became the first sports-talk hosts ever to win the Marconi Award for Major Market Personality of the Year, an award Francesa received again in 2012.  He was the first sportscaster to ever earn radio’s biggest honor more than once.  Both Talkers Magazine and Radio Ink have named Francesa as the No. 1 sports talk host in the country the past two years.