NYC Radio: WFAN Back On Top In Sports Talk Battle

After losing the fall quarter to WEPN ESPN’s “The Michael Kay Show” with Kay, Peter Rosenberg and Don La Greca, WFAN’s “Carton & Roberts” with Craig Carton and Evan Roberts has won the winter book of the January to March quarter, reports The NY Post.

From 3:00 to 6:30 p.m., the time period when both shows overlap, ESPN got a 4.5 percent audience share and WFAN 5.7 percent among men 25-54, the demographic for which sports talk radio advertisers target.

ESPN finished seventh in the market in this time slot, while WFAN finished with a tie for second.

These numbers include both terrestrial radio and streaming.

This result is not altogether surprising, as WFAN won the battle for the first two months of the book. For the rest of the day, WFAN beat ESPN by an even bigger margin.

Most notably, “Boomer and Gio” with Boomer Esiason and Gregg Giannotti finished first in the market with a 10.8 percent share.

During that 6:00-10:00 p.m. time slot, ESPN New York airs “DiPietro & Rothenberg” with Rick DiPietro and Dave Rothenberg for the first two hours and “Keyshawn, JWill & Max” with Keyshawn Johnson, Jay Williams and Max Kellerman for the final two. ESPN got a 2.1-percent share and is tied for 17th in the market during that period.

From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., WFAN’s new midday show of Tiki Barber and Brandon Tierney finished fifth with 4.1% of the audience compared to ESPN’s 16th and 2.1 during that time.

NY Newsday Graphic 

WFAN is owned by Audacy and ESPN New York by Good Karma Brands.