ESPN Radio 98.7 N.Y.'s "Michael Kay Show" held off WFAN's new afternoon program in the "first full month of the stations' renewed drive time ratings battle," but the return of Craig Carton helped WFAN "significantly cut into Kay's margin," according to Neil Best of NEWSDAY. From Nov. 5-Dec. 2, ESPN "ranked second overall in the market with 6.5% of the listening audience" among men ages 25-54 from 3:00-7:00pm ET, while WFAN "was fifth at 5.4." That is a "smaller gap than in the prior month from Oct. 8 to Nov. 4, during which ESPN had a winning margin of 7.2 to 4.7 against WFAN’s Evan Roberts and Joe Benigno." Over the totality of Carton and Roberts' 2:00-7:00pm shift, WFAN "averaged 5.8% of the audience, third-best in the market," compared to 5.7 for ESPN, which "ranked fourth." For the full autumn ratings book, which covers Sept. 10-Dec. 2, WFAN "maintained its longtime dominance" over ESPN from 6:00-10:00am (NEWSDAY, 12/22).
DOOMED TO FAIL? In N.Y., Andrew Marchand wrote Kay's show is "more polished" at this point. Like Carton & Roberts, who "won't do a full segment just on sports, Kay's program is not strictly a sports talk show." The "difference is in this schticky approach, the chemistry has to work." While Carton and Roberts are "figuring it out," Kay and partners Don La Greca and Peter Rosenberg "know where each other is going." Marchand: "Nearly every sports conversation can't devolve into Carton's theories on life or Carton somehow needling -- degrading? -- Roberts. The idea of Carton picking on the sports nerdy Roberts does not work." WFAN "probably needs to add another voice or two because Carton requires an ensemble to orchestrate" (N.Y. POST, 12/22).
