The nation’s first sportsradio station remains on top of the ratings in the nation’s biggest market of New York. WFAN is well ahead of ESPN New York in the most recent ratings period, January 1 through March 25.
In the coveted men’s 25-54 demographic, WFAN’s major dayparts, morning drive, midday and afternoon drive all finished 2nd to New York’s music stations and outpaced ESPN New York by at least a 2-1 margin.
From 6 a.m. to 10 a.m., WFAN’s Boomer & Carton easily beat ESPN’s nationally syndicated Mike & Mike, 7.8 to 3.3.
In middays, Joe Benigno and Evan Roberts had a 6.5 compared to a 2.1 for ESPN which has a combined block of Colin Cowherd and Ryan Ruocco and Dave Rothenberg.
And while he’s not doing well on Fox Sports 1, Mike Francesa remains the outright king of the 1-5:30 p.m. timeslot on WFAN. Getting a 6.9 rating, the Sports Pope almost doubles up ESPN New York which pits Mike Lupica and Michael Kay against Francesa. Head-to-head, Mikey beats Lupie 7.0-2.3, but against Kay, the margin is a bit closer, 6.9-4.2.
ESPN New York has attempted several moves to try to get closer to WFAN including snatching the Knicks and Rangers from WFAN and moving to the FM dial for a better signal, but nothing-to-date has worked.
In addition, Kay’s contract with the station is up in September and whether he remains with the station is anyone’s guess. An offshoot of that is the fact that YES Network picked up Kay’s show to replace Francesa’s simulcast. If Kay leaves ESPN New York, that could leave YES without some afternoon programming. Would that force the network to bring Francesa back and thus end his Fox Sports 1/Fox Sports 2 travails?
Stay tuned.
[Newsday]
