Sixteen years ago, in a move that left sports consumers and industry professionals stunned, Christopher “Mad Dog” Russo decided to leave WFAN to sign a deal headlining a new all-sports talk channel at SiriusXM. Eponymously named SiriusXM Mad Dog Sports Radio, the outlet has served as a national home for subscribers to hear national programs that appeal to their interests.
The deal pinned Russo in afternoon drive for five hours, spanning a portion of the same daypart through which he and longtime co-host Mike Francesa rose to national prominence with their Mike and the Mad Dog program. Russo’s egress from WFAN marked the conclusion of a partnership which had consistent ratings dominance despite ostensible contrasts between both hosts. When Russo was deliberating a move to SiriusXM, he valued the presence of Mel Karmazin and Howard Stern with the company and was cognizant of his rapport with Francesa.
“I had Karmazin there, who gave me a great offer, so I figured, ‘If I’m going to take an opportunity to make it,’ and I was a little younger – I was 49, sort of at the halfway point there, ‘If I was going to make a change, this would be the time to do it,’” Russo recalled. “So again, a lot of life is the right opportunity at the right time – being in the right place at the right time – and Sirius was sort of that kind of spot for me, so that helped considerably.”
Sixteen years later, Russo has signed a new three-year contract extension with SiriusXM that will keep him on for the foreseeable future with additional vacation time as well. As the host of Mad Dog Unleashed, he will continue delivering three hours of compelling, engaging sports talk to listeners from around the country on weekday afternoons. At the same time, he felt that since SiriusXM expressed interest in reaching a deal, it was proper for him to oblige and continue hosting his show. Russo’s deal with SiriusXM comes under the leadership of Eric Spitz, who was promoted to vice president of sports programming after Steve Cohen stepped back from the company.
“I thought that it was the right thing to do, so I’m glad I did it,” Russo said. “It was a relatively – as all contracts with Sirius have been – it was a relatively painless process. We have a very good working relationship with them. They’ve been great to me and they wanted me, so I said, ‘What the hell? I’ll still do it,’ so there you go.”
Over the years, Russo has observed several broadcasters and athletes retire only to later discover that it was premature and found themselves yearning to return. This is a sentiment Russo believes Francesa held upon his retirement from WFAN in 2017, a fleeting decision in his return to the outlet several months later. Russo does not want to have regrets or remorse, and the timeline of Francesa helped educate him to prevent entering this enigmatic domain.
“The grind of radio is different,” Russo said. “You’ve got to do it every day – not every day is going to be [one where] you’re going to have a ton to talk about. You got to maneuver, but I thought at this point it would be the right move to continue, and again, the key to the whole thing is Sirius still wants me.”
When Russo first joined SiriusXM, he agreed to host a five-hour program but came to recognize that the time resembled seven hours on terrestrial radio because of the dearth of commercials. Although Russo would have thought more seriously about the show duration in retrospect, the flexibility and autonomy granted to him, along with the audience he had accrued over the years, facilitated the rise in interest in his program. In fact, he feels it is important for talk show hosts to have a following before joining SiriusXM rather than establishing themselves on the platform, partly due to modes of listener engagement.
“Phone calls are a weapon,” Russo said. “It’s a piece of artillery that you can use to help you get through these shows and do a good job with it because you want to have a conversation with people, and you can’t put 5,000 guests on every show – you just can’t do it – and I think coming to Sirius, being in New York, some people followed Stern, some people – the Stern and Mike and the Mad Dog fanbase was somewhat similar. I think that all worked in my favor.”
Whenever he takes the air, Russo is focused on being fan-friendly and immersed within the community. Talking with listeners rather than at them fosters relatability and appeal, along with discussing a wide array of topics. Growing up the son of a jewelry salesperson and studying history at Rollins College enriched his understanding of rhetoric and contextualization.
“Being a talk show host sometimes is about salesmanship because you got to make sure that what you’re talking about, they take an interest in – take an interest in what you’re having to say – and some of that has to be you got to convince them that this is worth listening to, and that’s about salesmanship,” Russo explained. “That’s about going out there and letting your personality sort of ingratiate the audience a little bit, and I think about that a lot too.”
A preponderance of sports media programming, especially during the autumn months, tends to be focused largely on the gridiron. Russo proclaims an avidity for both football and baseball, cherishing the platforms on which he can circulate his thoughts. Yet since transitioning to satellite radio, there have been alterations in terms of how he approaches the show and the content therein.
“Versatility is important, and the good thing about SiriusXM [is] I don’t have to worry about ratings,” Russo said. “I don’t have to worry about pounding the Mets, making sure I do Mets or Yankees constantly.”
Before Russo started hosting on WFAN in 1988, he worked for various stations in other marketplaces, including WEXI 1280 in Jacksonville and WKIS News Talk 74 AM in Orlando, where he honed his craft and built an audience. Following his time in Florida, Russo returned to the New York area to work on WMCA before moving to the all-sports radio station the next year. These were largely individual endeavors, however, necessitating he and Francesa to deviate from their desires to host alone in afternoon drive and instead work in tandem at WFAN.
“Timing’s very important in life, and Mike and I had very good timing there that first couple of years, which helped, and success,” Russo said, “so if we had some problems with each other or the format or whatever the case might be, [the] role, you get good ratings, and all of a sudden, you don’t worry so much about the problems because the ratings are the most important thing, and we got good ratings, probably pretty quickly [in] the first couple of books.”
Conversely, Russo hosts Mad Dog Unleashed solo and was also responsible for programming at SiriusXM Mad Dog Sports Radio in his early tenure. Since shortening his program to three hours, he has had time for other ventures, including High Heat, a baseball-focused afternoon television show on MLB Network. The league-owned broadcast entity built a studio at SiriusXM so he did not have to travel to Secaucus, N.J. to do it, and he has been given the flexibility and trust to anchor the show.
“I understand it’s a league operative, and that’s a little trickier with when you’re working for a sport because, obviously, they want to sell the sports and there will be times where you have to be critical, but MLB Network allows me to be critical most times – all times, really,” Russo said. “I can’t recall – there’s a couple – but I can’t recall too many times where they say, ‘Chris, not this today – please.’ They do pay the checks; they pay the bills, so you have to understand that, but I’ve always loved baseball.”
Two years ago, Russo made his inaugural appearance on ESPN’s First Take after executive producer and featured commentator Stephen A. Smith asked if he would want to participate in segments about baseball. Shortly thereafter, Russo became a weekly contributor to the debate program, appearing on Wednesday mornings to provide his perspective on a variety of topics. The opportunity, which he has likened to a career renaissance, has broadened his audience and given him exposure to a new generation of consumers amid the digital times.
“They don’t watch the whole show – they see it in clips – and it also helps you with the social media thing because, let’s face it, I’m more of a linear guy,” Russo said. “I come from that age where the consumption is radio and TV and newspaper, and that has changed, and so First Take is part of that where they all pay attention on social media. Everybody communicates with one another, and First Take has helped there too.”
Russo explained that he views the topics on First Take through the lens of a sports fan and that his job is to take pressure off Smith and make the show easier for him. Whether it is engaging in candid repartee or compiling sports-oriented lists, he tries to assist his colleagues and act as a team player. Russo interprets the network tolerating his occasional knocks of its programming and personnel as something it puts up since he “goes above and beyond” and adheres to directives.
“It’s given me a different platform for a different audience,” Russo said. “It’s only once a week, it’s two hours. I can talk all the subjects. Mike and I had debated half these things for years and years…. no difference doing it with Stephen A. and a cast of characters, and for the most part, ESPN lets me do what I want to do.”
Viewers look forward to Russo’s weekly segment detailing what he is mad about where he blends sports news with aspects of his personal life, including betting, golf and the usage of gummies. The segment, he explained, is placed in the second hour of the show since that is usually when ratings tend to decline. Russo thinks about the presentation over the weekend, receives ideas from his radio producer Eddie Erickson and speaks to First Take producers about it on Tuesday afternoons.
“I kind of look at that eight-nine minutes there as my time to make sure that I do a good job,” Russo said. “It’s almost like if I do a good job with the ‘Mad About,’ the rest of the show, no matter what I say, it’s not a big deal as long as I do a good job with those eight minutes, so that’s what I try to do.”
Smith has become synonymous with First Take and ESPN over his time with the network, but his future on its air is not guaranteed as his contract expires in July. With negotiations between both parties currently ongoing, Russo would be shocked if the outcome was a parting of ways. Although he cannot speak for his colleagues on First Take, he would be very surprised if Smith left the show and company as a whole.
“He’s too good,” Russo said of Smith. “They need him, he needs them. Again, I don’t know anything. Nobody’s telling me, and I haven’t really spoken to him about it.”
That being said, if Smith left the program and Russo was to be approached about a larger role, he would most likely decline the prospect. By the time his new SiriusXM contract ends, Russo foresees potentially working less while also acknowledging that radio would be the last thing to go because of his penchant for the medium.
Russo’s son, Colin, recently started co-hosting an afternoon drive program on ESPN West Palm on which he and co-host Mike Rizzo discuss the latest news in local and national sports. Russo acknowledges that his son does not take many calls but speaks with him several times per day to review elements of the program and give him advice. Since Mad Dog Unleashed coincides with the show, he is unable to listen live and reviews occurrences after the fact. In having two sons of sports radio hosts working together, Russo conceded that it is a little weird but something that has gone well thus far.
“I try to tell him that, ‘You got to make sure your partner feels comfortable too. He’s very important. You’re doing a two-man show for the foreseeable future here. You got to make sure you get along,’” Russo said. “I think that’s good advice I can give him based on me and Mike.”
As Russo continues to press forward in sports media, he utilizes the lessons he learned from his past both in and out of New York City and continues to try and sell people to gain shares of attention. Commensurate to technological advances, consumers have augmented accessibility and are able to explore new avenues for content.
Russo continues to drive consumption of content in which he takes part across various domains. Within these endeavors, he exhibits that nothing can get by him as consumers turn on and try new shows, fueling effective cross-promotion and aggregate windfall.
“Let’s not make sports talk too complicated,” Russo said. “Go on there every day and have an audience and do a good job and cover the sports. If you do that every day and you come to work every day with a little enthusiasm, you’re going to be relatively successful.”
Derek Futterman is a contributing editor and sports media reporter for Barrett Media. Additionally, he has worked in a broad array of roles in multimedia production – including on live game broadcasts and audiovisual platforms – and in digital content development and management. He previously interned for Paramount within Showtime Networks, wrote for the Long Island Herald and served as lead sports producer at NY2C. To get in touch, find him on X @derekfutterman.
