MIke And The Mad Dog Off New York Radio
Drive Time Show Ends 19-Year Run on WFAN
Sports talk has been a part of the American radio scene for as long as the medium has been in existence.
But it’s only been 20 years since sports talk radio went to a 24.hour/7 day a week format.
At least that’s how long it’s been in New York City when in 1988; legendary radio station WNBC-AM became WFAN, the first all-sports station in the market, and perhaps the country.
The FAN, as its called, had the number one drive time show in the market with “Mike and the Mad Dog”, which was on between 1 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Most of the time, the two talked about New York's two baseball teams, the Yankees and Mets.
Mike Francesa and Chris “Mad Dog” Russo were the hosts and would banter away on the sports topics of the day, take calls from fans, and interview the players, managers, general managers and officials of professional and college sports teams.
Mad Dog leaves the FAN ending a 19-year run
“Mike and the Mad Dog” is no more as of Friday, Aug. 15.
Francesa came on the air that day to announce that his long-time partner has left WFAN and is pursuing other opportunities.
“Dog” later announced that he accepted a job with Sirius Satellite Radio where he will host a national show.
Francesa said that he will stay with WFAN in the same time slot and he will be a solo host. He also commented that he wanted to retire from the station and that he will probably never work with another partner again.
Russo called Francesa soon after and was put on the air after the announcement was made. Both men said that though they had their differences, they enjoyed the time they had together on the ground-breaking show and there are no bitter feelings.
Mike and the Mad Dog on internet and YES Network
Mike and the Mad Dog were not just limited to New York sports fan. The broadcast was simulcast on the YES Network, the cable and satellite TV station that carries New York Yankees and New Jersey Nets games.
WFAN also has an internet link where all of its programming can be heard live around the world.
It was not uncommon for the two to get calls from Florida, California or even Europe.
Dog had a solo gig on Saturday mornings while Francesa did a similar one on Sunday mornings, mostly to preview that day’s NFL games.
Russo and Boomer Esiason also have a weekly NFL preview show that runs on the Westwood One Radio Network each Friday.
WFAN has Steve Somers and Joe Benigno
Each major city in the country has at least one all-sports radio station. They have local hosts who do the drive time gigs who are a lot like Mike and the Mad Dog.
On WFAN, the station has hosts like Steve Somers and Joe Benigno who worked around Mike and the Mad Dog.
ESPN now has an extensive radio network and features the Mike and Mike show in the morning with Mike Golic and Mike Greenberg. The Sporting News and Fox Sports also have radio network stations in place.
The Mike and the Mad Dog show, though not an original concept, helped launch sports talk radio. Their influence will be felt for years to come.
Latest Articles