Kay’s ratings catch up to Mike’s at last
GET YOUR popcorn!
The New York sports radio ratings war heads into its final month with ESPN New York’s Michael Kay closing in on his nemesis, WFAN’s Mike Francesa. Kay tied Francesa atop all of New York afternoon radio ratings with the exact same 6.26 share in their coveted 25-54 male demographic for the latest month.
The Kay show has beaten Francesa for a month only once in the history of the two programs — in June 2017, when Francesa was in the midst of his “retirement tour.” This is the first time Kay’s show ever has finished first in a month, while Francesa has done it often over his nearly three decades on the air.
The two programs combined for more than 12 percent of the listening audience, which is an astounding number, especially considering how poorly New York sports teams have performed of late.
For this fall book, Francesa still is the favorite as the two shows enter what is the equivalent of the final three innings. In the first month, Francesa (6.3) finished second overall to Kay’s fourth (5.5). So Francesa has the numbers edge to eke out the neck-andneck battle.
Besides the numbers, Francesa has the advantage of being heard on two signals (660 AM and 101.9 FM) and a better lead-in with Carlin, Maggie and Bart, compared to Kay with Stephen A. Smith’s national show on ESPN.
Kay’s show is helped by the promotion of its simulcast on the YES network, but that could hurt radio ratings. Francesa has an $8.99 per month app he has said may have more than 800 or 1,000 subscribers, but it is unknown if that has any impact on his ratings.
For the past month, Kay’s show was more consistent, beating Francesa three of the four weeks. However, the one week Francesa won, he won big, with a monstrous 7.8 to Kay’s second of 5.96. It stands to reason Kay’s program owes some of its jump to Peter Rosenberg, the third man on the show. Rosenberg, who also has a Hot 97 morning show, joined Kay and his longtime partner, Don LaGreca, in 2015. Rosenberg’s ENN at 6 p.m. — in which he delivers the sports news and the trio comment on it — is regularly the show’s most listened-to segment.
While the Kay show has tried to lighten it up over recent years, Francesa’s program has turned into something of a spectacle, with his false statements and denials often becoming viral sensations on the internet. He has threatened to quit the show — perceived as a contract negotiation ploy — and even hinted at it again when he was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame this month.
During this ratings period, Francesa sent out an on-air challenge to a sports media columnist over the number of subscribers he has, but then failed to show for it.
He went after morning show host Gregg Giannotti, complaining about Gio’s impersonation of him. Giannotti fired back, labeling Francesa a “narcissist” and an “insecure bully,” among other things. It is unclear if these verbal fights have hurt or helped Francesa’s ratings, because radio numbers are difficult to predict.
What ultimately may save Francesa from losing to Kay is CMB, the program Francesa replaced when he unretired. With no substantial offers and reluctant to start his app without the megaphone of FAN, Francesa showed ill-regard for Chris Carlin, Maggie Gray and Bart Scott by taking his old spot back. Entercom executives brought Francesa back at a substantial pay cut.
If Francesa is going to pull out this ratings book, it might be on the backs of CMB. While Kay must jump-start his show, even beginning it daily at 2:55 as he tries to overcome Smith’s 3.7 rating (11th for the month), Francesa has CMB’s strong lead-in, which finished second in its time slot for the month. Its rating of a 6.3 was better than Francesa’s.