Longtime host Joe Benigno bemoans the state of WFAN

Joe Benigno made a bold claim about the current state of WFAN.

During an appearance on “The Jake Asman Show” on Friday, Benigno, who still works part-time at the station, was quick to say WFAN is on the decline.

“The Fan will never be what it once was,” Benigno said. “I know I work part-time there, the days of Imus, the days of ’Mike and the Mad Dog,’ the days of Steve Somers and myself overnight, all of that, Eddie Coleman and Dave Sims — those days — we’ll never see anything like that again…

“The heyday, we’ve all seen the heyday of the Fan and sports talk radio in general.”

Benigno still hosts a weekly Saturday morning show but insists that he does not at all miss being at the network full-time.

“I don’t miss it at all,” Benigno said to host Jake Asman. “I’m happy I do my little show on Saturday, I do my little podcast, I do not miss my commute into the city, thank God I’m not going into the city these days, that’s for sure.

“No. I did it for 25 years, it was a great run, I was fortunate to be able to do what I did, but I really don’t miss it, to be very honest with you. It ran its course for me as far as an everyday thing.”

Benigno’s comments come a short time after WFAN mainstays Erica Herskowitz and Rich Ackerman departed from the network in December.

Both Herskowitz and Ackerman were at the network for nearly three decades, working as 20/20 “sports flash” update anchors.

“After 29 years, this is my final update on WFAN. I just want to thank the listeners for always being so nice to me, especially when I first started as a 20-year-old. I was terrible and I knew it. Probably not much better right now. Happy holidays to everybody. It’s been a good run,” Herskowitz said as she signed off.

During his sign off, Ackerman said that emotions got the best of him and that he “shed a lot of tears.”

“It’s very emotional. It’s been a very tough day, and I’m like Dick [Vermeil] — I cry a lot. And I’ve shed a lot of tears today,” Ackerman said.