WFAN-AM’s Mike Francesa yesterday "ripped" his local competition, ESPN Radio N.Y. host Michael Kay, who "spent much of last week celebrating a ratings victory over Francesa after beating the WFAN host for the month of June," according to John Healy of the N.Y. DAILY NEWS. Francesa said, “You may have seen some stories that were fabricated, and I mean fabricated, that the other sports station somehow beat me in the ratings. As you know, they never have. They put out some information that they won the ratings. Well, that is a complete fabrication. I care because of this: Because it’s just a lie.” He said that "nobody measures ratings in radio month-to-month, but rather as a 'book,' which covers ratings over a 12-week period." Francesa: "They lost the game 48-20 and won the fourth quarter, 10-9, and declared victory. It doesn't work that way. Tell the truth." However, Francesa did "acknowledge he lost the book this spring” to adult contemporary music station WLTW-FM. Francesa said, "I lost the book in the afternoon. I'm not happy about it. Whenever I lose a book, I'm not happy about it. Whenever I lose a book, I go in and apologize because I didn't finish first. Because that's my job. I didn't do my job last time. My guys did not get a bonus, which I was not happy about” (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 7/18). In N.Y., Hannah Withiam writes what Francesa "seems to believe Kay, or a media outlet, lied about is unclear." Kay certainly “celebrated his one-month victory on Twitter, announcing the battle win and the war loss, but his pronouncements jibed with Francesa’s account of the ratings results" (N.Y. POST, 7/18).
ON DECK CIRCLE: On Long Island, Neil Best writes the "best idea" for replacing Francesa when he exits could be using Craig Carton and Boomer Esiason to "work a split shift, doing both programs around a break for lunch." While perhaps not a "workable solution," the notion that Carton and Esiason may be the best choice right now gets to the "heart of the challenge" facing WFAN-AM VP/Programming Mark Chernoff. Chernoff should "do something different," just as he did a decade ago when he "tabbed Carton and Esiason to succeed Don Imus" (NEWSDAY, 7/18).
TOP OF THE MORNING: In Boston, Chad Finn noted WBZ-FM "remained the top-rated station" locally in the spring Nielsen Audio ratings, but WEEI-FM "made a striking leap forward from a year ago, especially in morning drive." WBZ "earned an 8.7 share overall in the men 25-54 demographic from the period of March 30-June 21 to remain in the top spot," while WEEI "earned an 8.1 to finish second." WBZ "added an additional 1.4 share from its online stream." However, WEEI "collected one enormous and significant victory, with its 'Kirk & Callahan' morning program finishing first" -- one spot ahead of WBZ' "Toucher & Rich" program. It is the "first time" since summer '14 that WEEI topped WBZ in the 6:00-10:00am ET time period (BOSTON GLOBE, 6/17).
