"Mike and Chris pioneered the genre more than 18 years ago and have shaped the sports talk format into what it is today," WFAN operations director Mark Chernoff said in a statement. "We wish Chris nothing but the best and look forward to all that Mike will do in a role in which he has excelled at for years."
Mike and the Mad Dog started broadcasting in September 1989. According to winter 2008 data from Arbitron, the show had more than 659,000 cumulative listeners over the course of a week.
Francesa has been with WFAN since 1987. He will host the show alone in the short term.
Russo is rumored to be headed to Sirius XM Radio, but reports said he has not signed agreement with the satellite company.
Earlier this summer, he said that his contract, including a no-compete clause, ran through October of 2009.
Russo will not make a final appearance on WFAN.
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