Want to be a WFAN host up to a year? You probably have heard the commercial while listening to 660. Does anyone really believe this is a tool used for anything more than cheap weekend filler? Do you really this is anything more than a gimmick to charge advertising to desperate companies? Have you heard last year’s winner Greg Sussman? I haven’t. When yours truly- who has a site WFAN states no one reads- has a bigger following than the “Phenom Winner” you know that V/P Sports Programming, CBS Radio/V/P Programming CBS Radio New York/WFAN, Operations Manager Mark Chernoff, is using cheap labor to fill zombie weekend hours. Poor Sussman never really was incorporated into the on air culture of FAN, which is what any good organization will do to prepare for the future. Unless, of course, we assume Mike Francesa is going to work forever. Who knows, maybe he and Mariano Rivera have some “special gene.” If I didn’t know any better I would question if Sussman really exists, or is he a figment of the imagination of WFAN management.

Last year, I wrote about what a sham the Fantasy Phenom Contest is. Of course, the acolytes came out in full force demanding how I could ever suggest such a trick would be played by CBS and WFAN. Enter Kevin Canessa and his experience at Menlo Park Mall this year. We chatted on Twitter the other night, but Kevin was kind enough to send me this via email:

I arrived at Menlo at 6:40 AM for 10 AM screening. No coffee, nothing, for the line of people waiting. Francesa encouraged people to get there early so as not to be disappointed if we didn’t get to “audition.” Oddly, as you know, I’d be shocked if 100 people ultimately showed up. I was #14 — someone else I know who went was #54 — and he arrived at 10:10 AM!

So, after three-plus hours on the stupid line, and mind you, at this point, my legs felt like rubber from just standing there for so long, the yada yada yada interview of why you want to do this — and the obligatory trivia questions happened.

At 10:30, I was standing on line with 2 ahead of me to “audition.” At this point, I realized it was Chernoff (aforementioned Operations Manager), Spitz (Program Director), and the two interns. I almost walked away.

Finally, 10:33 hits — and I’m on stage. I thought I was at St. Patrick’s Cathedral the acoustics and feedback were so bad I seriously needed earplugs like an anthem singer needs at Citi Field. Admittedly, because of the acoustics — and because I’d never stood to deliver a monologue, I was at a disadvantage immediately. Like I said in one tweet, would you make a hockey player try out on concrete instead of ice? Why not provide a faux studio — a table, a table mic, etc.

But that wasn’t how it went. So, in mid-sentence of my monologue, which was critical of the Wilpons for not having yet retired Gary Carter’s #8, suddenly, there was no more echo. They had cut me off.

“Thanks Kevin,” Sptiz said.

Then I left and my blood pressure was through the roof.

What got me even more sick was two others who “auditioned” before me couldn’t even rant for a MINUTE! A MINUTE!

Seriously, this was one of the most horrendous experiences of my life.

So I ask the college students who are paying big money to get a degree in communications, is this fair? What’s the point of 50k a year tuition if your future comes down to participating in a “dancing bear contest” in front of two radio executives (one who failed miserably in rock radio) who have proven to have no plan for the future of the station. Better yet, you feel good about a couple of interns chiming in on your future?

I ask the parents who are probably helped pay for that tuition. How does it feel when your kids come home from college in the next week and have no job? How will it feel when in five years, while still working for Mark Chernoff’s WFAN, he or she is living in your basement, while the “next Gregg Sussman” gets an on air shot (if that is what you call it) making less than unemployment wages?

Kevin Canessa did a courageous thing telling the world what a sham this contest and station is. He will pay for it, as media has a huge black list. No worries. Independent media will continue to grow, while places like WFAN will continue to decline. The under 25 crowd doesn’t buy into this gimmick. They have facts about their sports that a Mike Francesa doesn’t even know how to find (even though there is a computer in front of him). They don’t value useless trivia that can be looked up on the computer that’s stationed in front of any on air host.

It appears many smartened up, as Kevin estimates that only a quarter of the participants that were trying out a year ago, showed up this year.

Kevin talks about this on his radio program on Shovio (see below); a forward thinking network that, along with other new media venues, will make WFAN yesterday’s news.

In some time slots that’s already the case. Just look at last year’s Fantasy Phenom winner.

Mike Silva is a freelance writer and radio host since March of 2007. This website is his own personal "digest" of New York Baseball He's also hosts NYBD Radio on Blog Talk Radio and 1240 AM WGBB. Check out his sports media commentary at www.sportsmediawatchdog.com. Check out his official website, www.mikesilvamedia.com

Mike Silva

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Tags: CBS, Eric Spitz, Fantasy Phenom Contest, Gregg Sussman, Kevin Canessa, Mark Chernoff, WFAN