chris russo to appear on michael kay's show on 1050 AM @ 5:10PM Wed. 9/3/08

[pjc1961]

Interesting to see what the "Mad Dog" will say on his former long time competitor's station. Also, the show is simulcast on XM Channel 141, getting the word out across the country on what will be the first show/channel to be simulcast on both services: XM (channel 144) & Sirius (channel 123).

 

[pjc1961]

From the interview:

There will be 2 "preview" shows on the satellite services (Sirius Channel 123 & XM Channel 144 simultaneously): Thursday 9/4/08 from 2-7PM, broadcast live from the ESPN Zone Restaurant in Times Square (NFL Opening Night); Sunday 9/14/08 (specific time not announced) from the Meadowlands/Giants Stadium before the New England Patriots-New York Jets game at 4:15PM.

 

[nycpete]

Did either of you hear the interview? I was wondering if Russo was asked about his former co-host. The promos on Sirius sound pretty good, yet they rely a bit too much on a wound-up, excited, almost squealing Russo. Maybe Sirius wants to show the rest of the country why he is Mad Dog and the channel is called MadDog unleashed

Francesca sounds terrible on his own now. Francesca solo was never great, but not terrible either. If I was interested in the sports topic Mike was discussing, I could listen to Francesca solo on occasion in the past. The daily marathon solo program drags, and Mike sounds listless. It hurts Mikes that the Yankees are not in the post season for the first time in 12 seasons, too. Unless you really enjoy football, Mike sounds like a one-note searching for something or someone. He needs a co-host pronto. There are many competent hosts out there. Is Mike such an ego-maniac that he does not want a co-host for a ridiculously long show. Is it WFAN's management that wants him to be solo to prove something?

The jingle is more than terrible. It is cheesy, grating and poorly conceived. Mike, without the Mad Dog-Miked UP! Man.

 

[pjc1961]

Did either of you hear the interview? I was wondering if Russo was asked about his former co-host. The promos on Sirius sound pretty good, yet they rely a bit too much on a wound-up, excited, almost squealing Russo. Maybe Sirius wants to show the rest of the country why he is Mad Dog and the channel is called MadDog unleashed.

Francesca sounds terrible on his own now. Francesca solo was never great, but not terrible either. If I was interested in the sports topic Mike was discussing, I could listen to Francesca solo on occasion in the past. The daily marathon solo program drags, and Mike sounds listless. It hurts Mikes that the Yankees are not in the post season for the first time in 12 seasons, too. Unless you really enjoy football, Mike sounds like a one-note searching for something or someone. He needs a co-host pronto. There are many competent hosts out there. Is Mike such an ego-maniac that he does not want a co-host for a ridiculously long show. Is it WFAN's management that wants him to be solo to prove something?

The jingle is more than terrible. It is cheesy, grating and poorly conceived. Mike, without the Mad Dog-Miked UP! Man.

Since our posts here, Chris Russo has appeared on Letterman (Tue. 9/9/08) & on Howard Stern (Wed. 9/10/08). Russo's pretty much taken the high road vis-a-vis Francesa...just saying after 19 years that it was time for a change, great opportunity @ Sirius, yadda, yadda, yadda. There was a tongue-in-cheek exchange with Letterman on Tue. nite 9/9/08: back in the Spring of '08, Dog appeared on Letterman's show, where Dave had told Dog (in fun) that his partner was "bringing him down", & Dog didn't fight that off too vigorously (some folks interpreted this as Mike & Chris having problems, which turned out to be true, based on info learned later on). On Tue. nite, Dog brought up Letterman's previous comments (paraphrasing, in fun): "you told me he was holding me back; you said I should have my own show...that's why I left, now I have my own channel to program at Sirius!" Later on, Chris reverted to pretty much the same script from above ("good for both of us").

On Stern, the interview was about an hour & 3 minutes long (started originally around 8AM ET on Wed. 9/10); should repeat on Wed. 9/10 at about 2PM ET, 8PM ET, & 2AM ET (Thu. 9/11) on Sirius Channel "Howard 100" and about 11AM ET on Wed. 9/10 on Sirius Channel "Howard 101". (Also over the upcoming weekend on a repeat broadcast of the Wed. 9/10 show.) This was a more freewheeling interview dealing mostly with Dog's early family history & beginning as a talk show host in Jacksonville/Orlando, FL & WMCA New York in 1987 (hired by Rick Sklar who was consulting WMCA...Sklar formerly programmed WABC during its Top 40 heyday from 1961-1977). Chris had to negotiate with WFAN to take the "Mad Dog" moniker with him to Sirius; it cost him $1! Dog mentioned that he hasn't listened to (or spoken with) Mike since Aug. 15 ("The Breakup Show")...mentioned that he'd be open to having Mike as a guest on his show way in the future...no earlier than 6 months from now (wonder if WFAN would allow Mike to do it, or if Mike would even want to). Dog also announced that Lee "Hacksaw" Hamilton will be a late night host (Eastern Time) on his Sirius/XM channels, broadcasting from the West Coast (probably L.A.). Lee has been a sports talk host in the L.A./San Diego area for 15+ years & has been a guest on Mike & The Mad Dog Super Bowl week shows whenever the game has been played in San Diego. And of course (because it's Howard, after all) got into Dog's life off the microphone (wife & kids, sex life, etc.); got him to utter the "F" word as part of a ficticious Dog rant (Sirius "bad language initiation"); interaction with Artie Lange regarding Springsteen & Football Friday NFL/College picks.

As for the Francesa show, Mike addressed (on Tue. 9/9/08 during opening monologue) the jingles: that they need to be redone & are actually accepting "audition" tapes from musical types in the audience that might want to produce a jingle for the show. And while they'll never be another "partner", as such, he's still in the process of coming up with talent for the show & asking for patience (apparently according to Neil Best's Watchdog Blog in Newsday, Bob Huessler has the inside track on being the regular update person-sorry, Mink!). Mike's probably looking for a situation similar to Imus with Charles McCord (770 WABC) or Michael Kay with Don LaGreca (1050 WEPN)...while not equal billing, still a major player on the show.

Also, according to Best, Steve Torre (of 1010 WINS Sports) has been added as Russo's update person & program director for "Mad Dod Unleashed".