''Mike's On: Francesa on the FAN'' was a

sports radio Sports radio (or sports talk radio) is a radio format devoted entirely to discussion and broadcasting of sport, sporting events. A widespread programming genre that has a narrow audience appeal, sports radio is characterized by an often-low comed ...

talk show airing on

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

station

WFAN WFAN may refer to: * WFAN (AM) WFAN (660 AM) is a commercial radio station licensed to New York, New York, with a sports radio format, branded "Sports Radio 66 AM and 101.9 FM" or "The Fan". Owned by Audacy, Inc., the station serves the New Y ...

, hosted by

Mike Francesa Michael Patrick Francesa (born March 20, 1954) is an American sports-radio talk-show host. Together with Chris Russo, he launched '' Mike and the Mad Dog'' in 1989 on WFAN in New York City, which ran until 2008 and is one of the most successf ...

. The show debuted on September 3, 2008, as the successor to Francesa's previous program, ''

Mike and the Mad Dog ''Mike and the Mad Dog'' was an American sports radio show hosted by Mike Francesa and Christopher "Mad Dog" Russo that aired in afternoons on WFAN in New York City from September 1989 to August 2008. From 2002 the show was simulcast on telev ...

'', which was broadcast from 1989 to 2008 and made Francesa and his partner

Chris Russo Christopher Michael Russo (born October 18, 1959), also known as "Mad Dog", is an American sports radio personality best known as the former co-host of the '' Mike and the Mad Dog'' sports radio program with Mike Francesa, which was broadcast ...

the first nationally known team in sports radio. When simulcast on television, ''Mike's On'' is broadcast under the title ''The Mike Francesa Show''; it was simulcast on the

YES Network The Yankee Entertainment and Sports Network (YES) is an American pay television regional sports network owned by Yankee Global Enterprises (the largest shareholder with 26%), Main Street Sports Group (which owns 20%), Amazon (which owns 15% ...

from its inception until January 31, 2014. On March 24, 2014, Francesa signed an agreement to occasionally simulcast a portion of the show on

Fox Sports 1 Fox Sports 1 (branded on-air as FS1) is an American pay television television channel, channel owned by the Fox Sports (United States), Fox Sports Media Group, a unit of Fox Corporation. FS1 airs an array of live sporting events, including Majo ...

and

Fox Sports 2 Fox Sports 2 (branded on-air as FS2) is an American sports-oriented pay television channel owned by the Fox Sports Media Group, a unit of Fox Corporation. The channel is based at the Fox Sports division's headquarters on the Fox Studio Lot in ...

. The arrangement with

Fox Sports Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world. The name originates from Fox Broadcasting Company in the United States, which in turn derives its name from Fox Fi ...

ended September 11, 2015 with Mike taking the blame for the project not succeeding. Francesa announced his retirement and the final show aired on December 15, 2017. Mike's On returned to the airwaves on May 1, 2018, after what Francesa described as taking "some time off." On December 6, 2019, Francesa signed off his afternoon drive slot for the final time, transitioning to an expanded role on the Radio.com app and a half-hour daily show on WFAN. On Tuesday, May 26, 2020, Francesa's timeslot was expanded to 6pm-7pm, Weekdays on WFAN. On Thursday, July 23, 2020, Francesa announced that Friday July 24 would be his final show, and he once again retired the following day.

Show format

The format of the show is similar to ''Mike and the Mad Dog'' with Francesa giving his opinions on the major sports stories of the day, as well as answering calls from listeners. Also, Francesa brings on guests from various sports ranging from head coaches/managers and players in the

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The N ...

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

MLB Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

and

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

to broadcasters, and sportswriters from major newspapers across the country. The radio show includes sports updates every twenty minutes formerly provided by John Minko.

Name

The show's previous name is ''Mike'd Up: Francesa on the FAN''. Francesa had a TV show on

WNBC WNBC (channel 4) is a television station in New York City that serves as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship of the NBC network. It is owned and operated by the network's NBC Owned Television Stations division alongside Linden, New Jersey� ...

entitled '' Mike'd Up: The Francesa Sports Final'', and

had to secure permission from WNBC to use the name ''Mike'd Up''. On January 15, 2012, Francesa announced that the show could not reach an agreement with WNBC to continue to license the name ''Mike'd Up'' and changed its name to ''Mike's On: Francesa on the FAN''.

Broadcast times

The program now airs from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. on

Theme Song

''Mike's on.'' ''He's ready to go.'' ''On the FAN, New York Sports Radio.'' ''Mike's on. Mike's on.'' ''He'll get you the sports any way that he can.'' ''It's Mike Francesa on the FAN.'' ''Sports Radio 66, and 101.9 FM. W-F-A-N.''

Awards

In 2012, 2013 and 2014, Francesa was ranked number one among the 100 most important sports talk radio hosts in America by ''

Talkers Magazine ''Talkers Magazine'' is a trade-industry publication related to talk radio in the United States. Its slogan is "The Bible of Talk Radio and the New Talk Media". In addition to radio, it also covers talk shows on broadcast and cable television, a ...

''. Francesa credited colleagues at WFAN for his success with special salute to Russo. Francesa won the 2012

Marconi Award :''"Marconi Award" links here. Note that in the Netherlands, the radio academy awards are also called Marconi Awards.'' The Marconi Radio Awards are presented annually by the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) to the top radio stations and ...

for Major Market Personality of the Year, which is his second since 2000. The announcement was made on September 20 at the 2012

National Association of Broadcasters The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) is a Industry trade group, trade association and lobbying, lobby group representing the interests of commercial and non-commercial over-the-air radio and television broadcasting, broadcasters in th ...

Marconi Radio Awards Dinner and Show in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

References

{{Fox Sports American sports radio programs American live television series YES Network original programming Fox Sports 1 original programming 2008 radio programme debuts 2017 radio programme endings 2018 radio programme debuts 2020 radio programme endings 2008 American television series debuts 2014 American television series endings 2014 American television series debuts 2015 American television series endings Simulcasts