Mike Francesa has taken aim at reporter Andrew Marchand in defense of his app.
Francesa, a popular host at WFAN over the past three decades, returned to the air on WFAN earlier this year. He has also launched a premium app that costs $8.99 per month that is separate from his WFAN job. His app has been under scrutiny this week after Marchand wrote a story in the New York Post on Monday discussing Francesa’s contract status. Marchand had previously reported in April that Francesa was desperate to return to the air in New York.
Marchand reports that Francesa took a pay cut to return to WFAN in May and that he has not signed a contract yet. Francesa has said that his app is not going anywhere, and there is an implication that the app — and its potential conflict of interest with his paid work at WFAN — is a sticking point in the negotiations.
Both on air and on Twitter Wednesday, Francesa took aim at Marchand. Francesa called Marchand a “little weasel” and challenged him over the amount of app subscribers he has. Francesa seems to think Marchand said the app only has 300 subscribers, while Francesa is insisting he has over 1,000.
The little weasel said I didn't have 300 subs. Said last night he only knew of one subscriber. But when challenged at 1,000
(One thousand) subs. He would get 10,000 dollars in cash for every sub under 1,000. He ran.
FRAUD and LIAR.— Mike Francesa (@MikeFrancesa) October 25, 2018
Here’s the audio of his challenge:
October 24, 2018- Francesa issues challenge to Andrew Marchand pic.twitter.com/IA31eYdlVN
— windathrowa (@windathrowa) October 24, 2018
October 24, 2018- Francesa issues challenge to Andrew Marchand Part 2 pic.twitter.com/VRy2Pa6UFk
— windathrowa (@windathrowa) October 24, 2018
Marchand explained on Twitter that his comment about Francesa’s app came during an interview on Jimmy Traina’s SI Media Podcast. Marchand said Francesa would have a hard time getting guests on the app if he only has 300 downloads.
While Marchand said he would not agree to terms of Francesa’s financial challenge, he said he was open to speaking with Francesa about the app to sort through matters.
I left you a voicemail to come down to the station tomorrow. Chernoff told me you wanted $500K in escrow to do an interview. We don't pay for interviews, but I'd love to help clear up how the app is doing. Let's set it up. Call me back. Thanks. https://t.co/pJ9kA7oOvQ
— Andrew Marchand (@AndrewMarchand) October 25, 2018
The entire exchange has generated publicity for Francesa — and therefore his app — but no word on whether the buzz has helped him break the 300 download mark (we kid, Mike, we kid).
