SiriusXM announced on Wednesday that Stephen A. Smith will be making his return to the company with a daily show on Mad Dog Sports Radio and weekly current events, pop culture and social commentary-focused show. The news did not sit well with host Michelle Beadle, who publicly excoriated Smith on her radio program with Cody Decker and in a subsequent interview with Front Office Sports. Beadle expressed that all she asks is to be treated with respect and acknowledged that the entire ordeal did not feel good, especially considering that The Hollywood Reporter ended up publishing details.
Christopher “Mad Dog” Russo, who has appeared on the station since its launch in 2009 and works with Smith once per week on First Take, discussed the situation on the Wednesday edition of his show. Russo mentioned that he did not want to spend the entire show on the topic, but clarified that he was not involved in the idea of SiriusXM working with Smith once again. The decision, he contended, was made at levels above their paygrades and his level of interest. With that being said, he did know about what was taking place over the last six weeks.
“I didn’t know where they were in the negotiations, but I certainly knew that there was conversation,” Russo said. “I’d heard a few weeks ago that it wasn’t going to happen because there was no video component, and I can tell you all sorts of things because I see Stephen A.. I don’t see him every Wednesday because he’s not always there – he’s at other locations – but I talk to him a lot, we text occasionally, so I kind of knew what was going on, and I knew most likely it would be in that mid-afternoon timeslot.”
Russo did not know until recently that Smith had officially signed his contract and would be hosting from 1 to 3 p.m. EST on Mad Dog Sports Radio. On top of that, he mentioned how the station finds itself in a difficult spot because of how the news came down and recalled that he ended up leaving WFAN on his own volition but had been let go by other radio stations before that time.
“It’s a very, very tricky day,” Russo said. “Michelle and Cody did nothing wrong based on what I heard today with their enthusiastic replies from their audience. They got a lot more fans than probably anybody thought of, including Sirius, but changes happen, and this is the industry we live in.”
Russo admitted that the way the situation was handled was not ideal.
“I have come to the conclusion after seeing all of these departures over the last 43 years in radio that the best way to do it is when you decide to make a change, just make the change,” shared Russo. “Don’t give the folks who you are changing from the opportunity to say goodbye because it never works. I didn’t get a chance to say goodbye. If it wasn’t for Mike, I’d have never been on that last day at WFAN back in 2008. The company didn’t want me anywhere near the microphone.”
Russo mentioned how Beadle and Decker are not receiving $30 million for not doing any work at SiriusXM, drawing a comparison to former New York Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau, who was recently relieved of his duties after five years on the job. Later in the segment, he addressed his contention as to why adding Smith to the station, despite the fact that he acceded he is polarizing and is virtually everywhere, is a good decision by SiriusXM.
“What you cannot say is from a company perspective and from a Mad Dog Radio perspective, what you cannot say is that he won’t give us buzz,” Russo explained. “If you are one who says that, whether you’re a caller, whether you’re a writer, whether whoever you are, that is ridiculous, okay, especially at SiriusXM that loves buzz. Especially the idea that you need to be a magnet to be on these radio shows to draw interest and have people pay attention to you. The guy’s got 1.2 million subscribers on YouTube.”
Although Russo acknowledged that there are some topics Smith may not be able to effectively address, such as breaking down the pitching staff for the Seattle Mariners, he conveyed that the same can be said about Beadle, him and Steve Torre. In creating a palpable buzz with the station though, he argued that it is incontrovertible that this will not be the case. Russo can understand if people want to argue that he got him on the station despite knowing that this was not the case, and expressed confidence in his forthcoming venture.
“He will be on top of his game, and I’m going to tell you the reason why,” Russo said. “He’s on our channel and he’s before me, and Stephen A. has got a lot of pride, and he is not going to allow me to sit there and take phone calls about how poor he is. He will be as sharp as you can possibly be between the hours of 1 and 3 Monday through Friday.”
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