NYC Radio: Michael Kay "Our Show Is Just Better"

Michael Kay isn’t just the New York Yankees announcer for the YES Network. He also has a show on WEPN 98.7 FM ESPN Radio and he is tired of all of the “Numbah One” talk.

In a Q&A with Bob Klapisch of NorthJersey.com, Kay compared his show to Mike Francesa’s show and took shots at Francesa. The Yankees announcer even said that his show is definitely better than Francesa’s.

“Our show is quantifiably better than Mike’s,” Kay said. “It’s funny, not one guy bloviating. It’s three guys laughing, having a good time. We don’t dread it and that comes across to our listeners. We’ve made unbelievable inroads. People are noticing."

Kay further stated. "I don’t know Mike personally, I don’t know if it’s possible to know him that way. One thing that’s angered me is the No. 1 stuff (in the ratings) that Mike always talks about. I was told in radio, turnaround is like turning around a cruise ship. It’s never hairpin. Also, ratings are bogus. If you watched Leno and Letterman head to head, Leno always beat him but Letterman had the better show.

"Our show is quantifiably better than Mike’s. It’s funny, not one guy bloviating. It’s three guys laughing, having a good time.  We don’t dread it and that comes across to our listeners. We’ve made unbelievable inroads. People are noticing.

"I used to listen to Mike and Mad Dog all the time. It was innovative and fun; you had to listen. But I defy anyone who listens to our show to say it’s not better.  There’s no way that if Mike started today, he would be No. 1 in the market.

"In June, we beat him two weeks in a row. In the latest ratings book we beat him three times and that's never been done. Mike will win the book, but beating him for at least three weeks shows that something's happening. We've been top ten for years and proud of what we've done against an iconic show. And now, more people are catching on that our show is just better. Period."

According to Jason Barrett at Barrett Sports Media, for the June book (May 25-June 21), the Michael Kay Show on 98.7FM ESPN New York beat Francesa between the hours of 3p-6:30p ET. Kay finished with a 5.2 to 5.1 advantage among Men 25-54. Francesa was not on vacation during this time and WFAN did have the benefit of airing New York Yankees baseball.

Another impressive note worth pointing out, according to Barrett...over the past 12 months, Kay’s show has gained ground in the ratings. The program has added seven tenths of a ratings point and three ratings positions. Francesa’s program during that time has declined by eight tenths while slipping from second to fourth. The separation in daily cume between the two stations was also very minimal for June (6,600). It’s usually 20-30 thousand higher in favor of WFAN.

The June ratings win marks the first head to head victory for the Kay Show since it began airing on 98.7FM ESPN New York in 2002. The show has consistently rated in the top 10 but hadn’t been able to unseat WFAN’s afternoon ratings king.