Christopher “Mad Dog” Russo’s second career after WFAN is undoubtedly a successful one, but there were still times he had regrets about the move.
Michael Kay began his venture as a solo host this week. After more than two decades with Don La Greca, and nine years alongside Peter Rosenberg in afternoon drive on ESPN New York, The Michael Kay Show is now a solo act from 1 – 3 p.m. Replacing Kay in afternoon drive is Alan Hahn, who co-hosts alongside La Greca and Rosenberg.
As Kay adjusts to hosting on his own, he welcomed Russo to the show this week, who parted ways with WFAN and Mike Francesa to become a solo act on SiriusXM more than 16 years ago. And during the conversation, Kay asked Russo if he had any regrets about leaving WFAN and Francesa at any point in his first year with SiriusXM.
“Yes,” Russo admitted without hesitation. “I don’t know so much about the first year, I would say probably a little later. The first year was sort of a honeymoon period. I was getting to know everybody, the company and everything else. The new experience, going to all the games…I was all over the place, so I enjoyed that. A little later in that five years I realized, ‘Boy, 2-7, Monday through Friday, SiriusXM, solo, this is hard.’
“And I didn’t probably realize that until a little later on in that first five-year contract…I didn’t realize how long five hours was on Sirius, based on the fact there’s no commercials. I didn’t quite realize that. I learned how to deal with it and I’ll tell you this… I’m a much better talk show host now than I was 20 years ago. Now, I’m different. Because with Mike we had to work together, we had to figure out how to move the show along and everything else.
“But as far as doing a show, figuring out how to get the audience involved, putting guests in the right spot, doing a monologue, making sure each hour is a different hour, doing college football…I learned how to do that and manage the show better.”
In the 11 years after his first SiriusXM contract, Russo’s weekday shows were reduced to either three or four hours to combat the challenge of hosting a solo, five-hour show with no commercials. Russo has been a solo act for 16 years, and while his legacy will always start with his 19 years as part of Mike and the Mad Dog on WFAN, his time away from the heritage New York station has undoubtedly boosted his platform. Especially his last three years with ESPN and First Take.