Tuesday, May 14, 2019

NYC Radio: Yankees Help WFAN Win Men 25-54

WFAN's Mike Francesa finished first overall in Nielsen's April 2019 PPM for NYC among men ages 25-54.  April covers the period March 28 to April 24.

Francesa averaged 7.5 percent of the listening audience in that demographic from 3 to 6:30 p.m. Of that total, 0.5 percent came from live streaming. Even without using the streaming figure, Francesa’s 7.0 percent over the air was No. 1 overall.

WEPN ESPN New York’s “The Michael Kay Show” ranked second overall with an average of 6.1 percent of the audience for that time period, a figure that includes both over-the-air and streaming data. Unlike WFAN, ESPN uses the same advertisements on both, so Nielsen reports its ratings as one number.

The two shows have been engaged in a close ratings battle in recent months. The April results should be viewed as akin to the first intermission of a hockey game, not a complete picture. Both stations traditionally measure themselves by full, quarterly ratings “books,” and there are two months left in the spring period.

The winter book ended with WFAN declaring victory because Francesa beat Kay with streaming data included and ESPN claiming victory because Kay won without WFAN’s streaming included.

According to Newsday, Francesa’s strong April reflected a good overall month for WFAN’s shows. With streaming data included, the station finished second overall from 6 to 10 a.m. with a 6.1, first overall from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 7.5 and second overall from 1 to 3 p.m. at 6.8.

The NYPost notes Francesa and FAN have an advantage over Kay and ESPN in the spring because of the Yankees. In the first month, there were three Yankees day games on FAN, which gave Francesa’s share a slight boost. The ratings are calculated by the time period, not by what is actually on the air.

In the imperfect world of radio ratings, these Yankees numbers are fair to count toward Francesa’s numbers because FAN pays millions for the rights of the games. The Yankees games represent only three out of 22 days, or 14 percent.

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