In the fall of 2014, Stephen A. Smith hosting his show on Sirius/XM Radio’s Mad Dog Radio.
Smith was contacted by Sirius after a controversial rant by shock-jock Chris ‘Mad Dog’ Russo, where he stated that there were no black sports radio hosts on Mad Dog Radio.
“I have a national voice in television and I have a national voice in digital,” Smith said recently.
“Why not have a national voice in radio?”
Smith’s show airs weekdays from 1-3 p.m. eastern time. ESPN had never given anybody employed by the network the green light to do Sirius/XM radio.
Smith changed the game!
A hot commodity, Sirius is paying ESPN a licensing fee for Stephen A’s show. “It’s a trailblazing move because ESPN has a channel on Sirius/XM,” said Smith.
“But I’m not on the ESPN channel; I’m on the Mad Dog Channel.”
The ESPN personality sees his platform as a good opportunity to prove that African American’s can do their thing too!
“I’m not just able to help myself but various African Americans within the radio industry that are looking for opportunities,” Smith told Scoop B Radio host, Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson. “I’ve got to be a trendsetter and make it happen because if I drop the ball, I not only drop the ball for me but I drop the ball for us.” Check it out here.
