NYC Radio: Francesa, Kay Ratings War Heats Up

Mike Francesa is not admitting defeat, but he seems to be acknowledging it is possible, according to nj.com.

The WFAN 660 AM / 101.9 FM host, down big early to WEPN 98.7 FM ESPN Radio New York’s “The Michael Kay Show” in the Autumn 2019 ratings book, fired a shot across his arch-nemesis’ bow on Twitter early Wednesday morning.

I have been in afternoon drive since 1989 and have never finished behind another sports program. Never. The other station celebrating a success now would be the same as spiking the football after finally scoring a TD in a game that is 77-0!

— Mike Francesa (@MikeFrancesa) October 30, 2019

Francesa’s afternoon drive domination may be in its death throes. Kay has a 7.4 to 6.0 lead in the coveted men ages 25-54 demographic after the first month of the book.

The truly scary part for Francesa: That is a real 1.4-point deficit, not one engineered the selective ESPN math the station has used to claim dubious ratings wins in the last two competitive books. The 7.4-6.0 spread includes all WFAN streaming numbers. ESPN has previously tried to claim Kay should be considered the winner with a higher terrestrial radio rating, even though Francesa’s streaming number has pushed him past Kay on aggregate.

The issue: Entercom, WFAN’s parent company, sells ads separately on its terrestrial and streaming broadcasts, so it has two ratings figures. ESPN sells the same ads on both platforms and has one number.