SiriusXM Radio's Chris Russo has signed a new three-year contract with the company that will see him continue to host his daily show "Mad Dog Unleashed" from 3:00-6:00pm ET on Mad Dog Sports Radio (SiriusXM). On Long Island, Neil Best notes Russo's new deal is his third at SiriusXM since '08 and seemingly puts to rest "any notion he might succeed his old partner," Mike Francesa, at WFAN-AM. Francesa "plans to leave" WFAN at the end of '17 (NEWSDAY, 9/28). Russo discussed his new deal with Howard Stern yesterday, with Stern noting Russo in his last negotiation "did horribly.” Stern: “You lost money on the last deal.” Russo said he “got pounded” in the negotiations, but in the latest negotiation, he gave them “all the credit.” Russo said he told his agent, WME-IMG’s Sandy Montag, if SiriusXM “can get to this figure, I’ll sign in 20 minutes.” Russo: “I was fair. I always believe you’ve got to leave a little something on the table so both sides leave relatively happy. I don’t want to be greedy.” Russo noted SiriusXM President & Chief Content Officer Scott Greenstein told Montag during the talks to “take a little more money in the third year, so when you negotiate the next time you’ll have a higher number to negotiate from.” Russo: “That’s a tremendous thing” (“The Howard Stern Show,” SiriusXM, 9/27).
LONGING FOR THE GLORY DAYS: Russo said that it is "highly unlikely Francesa would join him at the satellite radio station, though both hosts have kept up a 'never-say-never' mantra." In N.Y., Justin Terranova writes the odds were "always long that the two would agree to a long-term reunion, given the high salaries they demand and the logistics of finding a neutral home for the radio legends" (N.Y. POST, 9/28).
