The final airing of long-time ESPN radio and television behemoth Mike & Mike is in the rear view mirror and the new era begins in that time slot with well-liked personality Trey Wingo taking the reins from Mike Greenberg. While the end of the Mike & Mike run did not necessarily go swimmingly according to various reports, it is hard to downplay the success of that particular franchise.
This leaves Wingo with big shoes to fill as he transitions away from an already prominent NFL-based role and into a situation where his own brand will be vitally important. As things are getting started for Wingo and his new co-host Mike Golic, the ESPN veteran provided some insight into the format of the show in speaking with Michael McCarthy of the Sporting News this week.
While the full interview is certainly worth a read, Wingo’s insight on the program going back to a more radio-focused format were particularly noteworthy.
“Two things: A.) It’s probably not going to change much. But it’s probably going to change a lot. Really, there’s no way to sort of blow up (the show) and do a lot of different things. There’s going to be two guys. We’re going to be talking about the topics of the day. The one change? “Mike & Mike” morphed into a TV show that was on radio. We’re going to bring it back to a radio show that’s on TV.”
Wingo even went on to detail the differences in what the previous edition looked like (and even its transformation over the course of 17-year stint) and what the “new” setting will feature in something of a throwback sense.
“Instead of playing to the cameras, we’re essentially going to view the cameras like nanny-cams — just to make sure we don’t burn down the house, bring over too many guests and spray-paint the furniture. So we’re not going to be playing to the cameras as much as having real conversations with each other. That’s probably the biggest difference. Again, “Mike & Mike” have been radio gold forever. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. We’re not going to try and reinvent a wheel that doesn’t need a lot of reinventing, or clearly can’t be reinvented. There’s only so many things you can do.”
If there was a widespread criticism of Mike & Mike in its final years, it was that it became something of a promotional factory for ESPN and, by extension, shed a lot of its radio-focused roots. There is, of course, nothing inherently wrong with that if the worldwide leader was willing to shift in that direction but, in Wingo’s own words, it seems fairly clear that he has little interest in doing a pure replica of that product and he likely has some level of management’s backing (along with Golic’s support) in what he wants to accomplish. Still, it does feel as if Wingo understands there is no reason to go away from what works and nothing terribly different seems likely.
Because of the massive success of Mike & Mike, it would be pretty unfair to judge the early days of Golic & Wingo in a one-versus-one way. But that is the nature of the business, and Wingo seems prepared for it.
