YES Retains Mike Francesa’s Radio Simulcast
Via SportsBusiness Daily:
YES Network will continue to simulcast Mike Francesa’s daily radio show, “Mike’D Up: Francesa on the FAN,” opting to match an offer the radio host signed with MSG Network. The multi-year deal also will see YES simulcast Francesa’s NFL pre-game show “The NFL Now,” which airs Sunday mornings during football season, from 9:00am-12:00pm ET. “YES had the right to match, and they matched,” Francesa said. “I always thought that we’d stay with YES. … From day one, YES has been exceedingly committed.” YES has simulcast Francesa’s radio show since the net’s launch in March ’02, signing a series of one-year deals. Francesa split from his long-time partner Chris “Mad Dog” Russo last summer. Francesa and YES verbally agreed to the deal in November and ultimately inked an agreement at the end of the year. He said the show will move into new studios in the coming months, and he plans to use more YES Network talent in his show, specifically mentioning clubhouse reporter Kim Jones as someone who will see more airtime.
Pretty interesting. I thought that the feeling in the industry was that the MSG Network would get Francesa – and that it was pretty much a done deal.
I guess that the YES Network figured there were not enough White Shadow repeats out there to cover the block of time left open if Francesa bolted. (Yeah, I’m kidding. I know that YES finally started to cool it with the Shadow shows.)
Hey, look at the bright-side…it could be worse. YES could have given Michael Kay more air-time, or something, if Francesa’s slot became open. Sometimes a hot poker in the eye is better than a chainsaw to the throat…right?
Call me crazy, but I like those White Shadow re-runs. There was a Jeopardy question (answer?) in which the answer (question?) was “What is White Shadow?” I think it had something to do with the main actor. Either way, I was yelling at the TV in excitement since I knew the answer.
The MSG Network needs a shot in the arm like Miked Up. I’m not a Mike Francesa fan but he gets good guests and he and the Dog pissed off Levine(which was ballsy of them).The show is more boring without Dog and I actually find myself listening to Kay instead. Yeah, it’s funny how Kay couldn’t get the inside track on a radio simulcast on the network where he is the TV voice/face of the network. It would be funny if SNY offered Kay and Co a gig………
How would a Kay simulcast work, business-wise. I can’t imagine ESPN would let him go on any tv station other than their own… unless I’m missing something.
FWIW, I wasn’t thinking that YES would do a Kay simulcast = more so, I was thinking of more shows like CenterStage and YESterdays, etc.
I think we can take the YES digs with a grain of salt since Steve does get paid by SNY. One of their competitors. You want to talk pathetic? Check out SNY’s schedule from noon to 5:30.
Jake1 –
FYI, check out the text at the very bottom of this blog.
Further, check out the announcement of when I joined the SNY Blog Network.
SNY has no input whatsoever on what I write here.