Sal Licata opens up about WFAN exit: ‘There was nothing that I could’ve done’

For Sal Licata, the writing was always on the wall.

In a candid appearance on Stugotz and Co., the veteran New York sports radio host peeled back the curtain on his departure from WFAN, offering a raw and remarkably self-aware take on how Craig Carton’s return torpedoed his afternoons dream, and why, despite doing everything right, it simply didn’t matter.

“I knew that he was coming back,” Licata said of Carton, whose return to WFAN’s afternoon drive slot effectively ended Licata and Brandon Tierney’s run. “Anyone who didn’t know Craig was coming back the second that he left was just not paying attention… We all knew what was going to happen, so my plan was never ‘Oh, I hope he doesn’t come back.’ It was always ‘I gotta do the best job that I could do with the opportunity I’ve been given, and I plan on doing that.’ And I felt like I did do that.”

By most accounts, Licata maximized his opportunity, grinding through overnights, then finally landing in the midday slot alongside Tierney. He played the game the way you’re supposed to play it. He did everything you’re told to do in this industry. And when the moment arrived, when the choice came down to rewarding loyalty versus chasing the bigger name with the more checkered past, WFAN chose Carton without blinking.

“So that’s where, while I factored in Craig coming back, I did not factor in that no matter how well I performed, how much I put into this thing, how good we did as a show or I did as an individual, it didn’t matter,” Licata admitted. “There was nothing that I could’ve done. Maybe I was naive and foolish about it, but yeah, obviously it hurts because I gave so much of my life to that place, whether it be my first stint with them, whether it be coming back, starting part-time again on the overnights, then getting the full-time overnights, working my way to midday.”

Stugotz, who had his own brush with WFAN’s decision-making apparatus, revealed that he turned down the program director position at the FAN in part because he wouldn’t have had final say over moves like this one — that power would’ve ultimately rested with Chris Oliviero. In other words, even if Stugotz had taken the job, he likely wouldn’t have been able to prevent the very decision that sent Licata packing.

That said, Licata doesn’t blame Carton at all for coming back, and truth be told, Licata said, he probably would’ve brought Carton back too, just not at his own expense.

“The way I look at it is this: that part of my life and that part of my dream is over,” Licata later added. “And now I’ve got to focus on a different dream, a different path. I love the FAN; I’ll always love the FAN, but my future, definitively now, is no longer WFAN.”