New ESPN New York afternoon show’s soft launch not on YES Network

After simulcasting The Michael Kay Show for more than a decade, YES Network isn’t airing ESPN New York’s new afternoon show. At least not yet.

Kay said goodbye to afternoon drive time radio last Friday, ending a more than 22-year partnership with co-host Don La Greca. Nearly 20 of those years were spent in afternoon drive and the last 10 were simulcast by YES Network. But the days of Kay, La Greca and Peter Rosenberg working as a trio are over. Beginning Jan. 6, Kay will host a solo show from 1 – 3pm. And beginning this week, La Greca and Rosenberg are now joined by Alan Hahn in afternoon drive.

Don, Hahn and Rosenberg were on-air for ESPN New York Monday afternoon, although their new show won’t formally launch until Jan. 6. But among the immediate changes for their soft opening Monday afternoon, is the fact that the show wasn’t being simulcast by YES.

When the lineup changes were announced earlier this month, there was uncertainty surrounding ESPN New York’s partnership with YES moving forward. Would the network continue a partnership with the Kay-less afternoon show? YES could carry both shows, but a TV network simulcasting six hours of radio seems unlikely.

It’s also possible that YES will opt to simulcast the new iteration of The Michael Kay Show when it launches in its new timeslot next month. Kay obviously has a personal relationship with YES as the longtime play-by-play voice of the New York Yankees. The only thing certain, is YES currently not simulcasting ESPN New York’s afternoon radio show.

YES has simulcasted an afternoon drive sports radio show since March 2002, when they began airing WFAN’s Mike and the Mad Dog. From there, YES carried WFAN’s afternoon show until Feb. 2014, when Kay and La Greca took over by famously throwing a bottle of Diet Coke in the trash can to signal the end of the Mike Francesa era. And while last Friday was the end of the Kay-La Greca era on ESPN Radio, it also marked the end of an era on YES.

[Photo credit: “Don, Hahn & Rosenberg” on X]