Over the last couple of months, Mike Francesa has lamented over his relationship with his CBS Radio bosses. Admitting that he doesn’t talk with WFAN management, Francesa has been hinting that he may retire when his latest contract expires in 2017. Now the Sports Pope still commanders top ratings for his 1-6:30 p.m. show in New York easily beating Mike Lupica and Michael Kay on ESPN Radio.
But he continues to feud with his bosses over his Fox Sports 1 simulcast which is pre-empted for live NASCAR and soccer programming. He also sees Boomer & Carton, WFAN’s morning show which gets better ratings than his show and is also nationally simulcast on CBS Sports Network without any pre-emptions (granted CBSSN doesn’t have live sports that would air between 6-10 a.m.). Plus CBS Sports Network’s simulcast of the Doug Gottlieb Show is rarely taken off the air.
With all os this happening around him, the New York Daily News’ resident Prince of Darkness Bob Raissman reads through all of Francesa’s retirement talk, saying it appears that the head of Mongo Nation is looking to leave WFAN and CBS Radio before his contract ends so he can move to another station.
Now it would take a lot for CBS Radio to acquiesce to Francesa and let him out of his contract before it expires, but with their relationship to the point of no return, could the two sides find some common ground? It would be difficult, but at the same time, Francesa will still honor his contract as long as he’s still employed by WFAN (still quite a long time before it ends) and CBS would be hesitant to let hm out early.
But as the their relationship crumbles to dust, perhaps management will look to cut their losses with the disgruntled Francesa. Raissman writes that he is no longer the darling of WFAN:
“Reading between the lines, and talking with sources at WFAN, there’s also the sense that Francesa does not get the kind of respect he once enjoyed, and still believes he deserves considering the contributions he’s made for close to three decades at the station. Management does not perceive him as its top performer. Everyone wants to be loved, even a contentious Sports Pope. The suits don’t cater to him the way they once did.
“Some of this is due to the success of Norman Esiason/Craig Cartoon’s morning show (it generates more revenue than Francesa’s soiree) and the fact that they are easier to work with when it comes to marketing and promotional situations. It’s not a reach to suggest Francesa doesn’t like Esiason/Cartoon’s brand of sports talk or their mocking of him. Clearly, FAN management has not told them to stop. Ten years ago they would have.”
Here’s Raissman calling out the Francesa retirement talk in his weekly Daily News video segment:
Maybe Raissman is right about Francesa or perhaps he’s full of hot air. Whatever the case, the Saga of the Sports Pope remains quite interesting.
Comments are closed.