DRIVE TIME ROYALE

Mike (Sports Pope) Francesa’s farewell tour (if he actually does leave WFAN in December) has been rudely interrupted by ESPN-98.7’s “The Michael Kay Show,” which for the first time since it debuted in 2002 beat His Holiness in the ratings.

The June (May 25-June 21) ratings book showed “TMKS” with a 5.2 share in the key men 25-54 demographic while Francesa notched a 5.1 share.

Near the end of ESPN’s sweet “30 for 30” documentary on FranDog, Chris (Mad Dog) Russo said: “We did this (their show) for 19 years. There is nothing else for me and Mike to prove.” This is true. Yet for Francesa, there now is major unfinished business.

With a few months (depending on how much more vacation he takes) left until his alleged departure, does Francesa go out on top, besting Kay, Don La Greca, and Peter Rosenberg in remaining ratings books? Or does he stumble-bum it out the door, being beaten by ESPN-98.7 again and again and again in the ratings? Beaten by a trio he has often dissed.

Can Kay and his crew close the deal? Can they figuratively kick Francesa’s tuchis as he makes his grand, and much publicized, exit? Or are they just one shot stiffs, “The Oneders” of sportstalk who can’t sustain their ratings success?

Ratings trends before the June book showed “TMKS” could be headed in a positive direction. Losing, even once, to Kay, who has been smelling the Pontiff’s exhaust fumes for 15 years, must be driving Francesa nuts, especially when Kay rubbed it in with a series of tweets. This amounted to a wild end-zone celebration on Twitter. Kay did not act like he had been there before because he hasn’t.

All this stuff, along with other shots Kay took at Francesa’s show, on the eve of the “30 for 30,” should provide enough motivation down the stretch for the Pope to make Kay’s victory a oneand-done kind of thing. But if Francesa can’t turn the tables and show Kay’s win is a stone fluke, his WFAN ending won’t be happy.

He will walk out the door a loser.

CLAY NAY

Months before he was fired, FS1 boss Jamie Horowitz attempted to make Fox Sports radio’s Clay Travis, the next “star” of the network by giving him his own television show.

There was a catch: All Travis had to do to land the gig was ditch his principles.

According to two sources inside Fox Sports, Horowitz contacted Travis in March and offered him the show “if he abandoned all discussion of politics.” The sources said Horowitz told Travis he could “never” tweet about politics, talk about politics, never “touch it at all.” Travis, who has often defined himself as a “radical moderate” discusses politics on multiple platforms, including his early morning radio show.

When we contacted him via telephone, Travis declined comment.

The sources said Horowitz tried closing the deal by promising Travis major moolah. He waved dollar signs in Travis’ eyes telling him he took Skip (Undisputed) Bayless from making $180,000 per year to now earning $6 million per. He said Bayless had the perfect sports perspective because he only deals in sports opinions. Horowitz told Travis he would make him “filthy rich” if he would JUST talk about sports. Travis, the sources said, waited a day to think about the offer.

Travis called Horowitz and said “no.” “Not many people tell Jamie Horowitz ‘no.’ So, when Clay did it, he probably shocked Jamie,” one source said.

Horowitz was recently fired by Fox amidst a sexual harassment investigation. Through an attorney, Horowitz has said he was fired unjustly.

YES FACTOR

If ESPN-98.7 can continue winning in afternoon drive, a key seed was planted in 2013 when Francesa was blind-sided and booted by the Yankees Entertainment & Sports Network in favor of the Kay show. This was a slick move by the suits running 98.7 at the time because their deal with YES provided the afternoon drive product with a major marketing platform. YES wound up getting higher ratings in the afternoon on the TV side with “TMKS.”

Francesa landed in Siberia, er, FS1 and his show was often pre-empted by live soccer and NASCAR telecasts. So, not only was his simulcast hard to find, it didn’t have the continuity a Gasbag can get — only on YES.

LUV GUV? HMMMM...

There were no shortage of opinions in the wake of Chris Christie’s WFAN audition last week.

Those who screamed back at Christie, those who were so offended, were proof positive Governor Gasbag can generate big-time buzz. For Christie, that’s a positive if he is seriously pursuing FAN’s afternoon drive gig — or is it?

There is one segment of the audience, the most important segment, that might not be enamored with Christie’s style. That would be the advertisers. Are they going to want someone pitching their products who labels a town full of potential customers “communists?” There’s also the distinct possibility some companies would not advertise on a Christie show because the CEO of said company doesn’t like the Guv’s politics or bullying style.

Christie, more than most, knows money changes everything. Listening to FAN auditions leaves hardly a clue of the kind of team they are looking for. For example, teaming Evan Roberts with Motown Mike Valenti doesn’t make sense, unless you are looking for two accomplished hosts who both deserve to sit in the power chair. These two cats are radio pros who were a solid listen but provoked few sparks. So, does that mean FAN needs one powerchair host paired with an outsidethe-box guy who comes with an edge and little radio experience, like a Christie or Chris Simms? Stay tuned.