WFAN: Christie's appearances an audition for new job

For two days next week, Gov. Chris Christie is scheduled to sit in as a guest host on sports-talk radio station WFAN 660-AM New York, an appearance a station spokeswoman called an audition. 

Christie is slated to be heard on Monday and Tuesday instead of afternoon host Mike Francesa, the radio station posted on its website. The two days will be audition days, Jaime Saberito, a station spokesperson, said Friday, as Francesa is set to leave the station once his contract ends later this year. 

Christie will host the 2 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. show along with Evan Roberts, a WFAN host. He isn't the only one slotted to audition next week. Mike Valenti from WXYT-FM 97.1 in Detroit, former National Football League quarterback Chris Simms, SNY's Brian Custer and NFL Network and WFAN contributor Kim Jones will also audition next week, the station said. Roberts and his midmorning co-host, Joe Benigno, are also scheduled to audition in the afternoon slot, the station said. 

Mark Chernoff, the station's program director and vice president of its parent company, CBS Radio New York, previously told The Record he would consider the governor, whose term ends in January 2018.

"If he's interested and we're interested, it's worth pursuing," Chernoff said in February.

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Chernoff has reportedly said he would like to have a plan in place for Francesa's replacement by Labor Day.

Christie has previously said he has an interest in sports broadcasting. But the governor is prohibited from seriously seeking or considering job prospects while in office. 

Mike DuHaime, Christie's longtime strategist, said Friday that the governor has not precluded any job opportunities that may come his way, but that he is still focused on finishing his remaining six months in office. 

"He's going to have a ton of opportunities before him. Only time will tell on that front," DuHaime said. "He is much more patient about that than everybody else who's watching it." 

Christie regularly fills in as a co-host on the station’s morning program “Boomer and Carton.” Chernoff told The Record earlier in the year that he had planned to rotate Christie into the afternoon slot during the summer if the governor was willing.

Christie often faced criticism for spending so much time out of state when he was running for president, but he responded by saying that he could juggle duties, or “walk and chew gum at the same time.” And he is often with aides and his cellphone if anything should arise in New Jersey that needs his attention.

"The governor enjoys the opportunity to talk about sports on WFAN and is happy to have the chance to do that with Evan Roberts for eight hours next week over two shows. Despite those eight hours, as always, he will be on the job as governor," Christie spokesman Brian Murray said in a statement. "As for the governor's future, he appreciates the interest and concern about his next employment from his friends in the media, but he is not concerned at all about it."