NYC Radio: WEPN's Michael Kay Eyes Fall Ratings Win

WEPN 98.7 FM ESPN New York’s "The Michael Kay Show" out-rated WFAN 101.9 FM / 660 AM’s Craig Carton and Evan Roberts for a second consecutive month in the autumn ratings period, but the gap between the shows narrowed, reports Neil Best at Newsday.

Among men ages 25-54, the demographic by which both stations traditionally judge themselves, Kay ranked second overall in the market from 3 to 6:30 p.m., averaging 6.3% of the audience. Carton and Roberts were fifth at 5.1%.

The Nielsen Audio data covered the period Oct. 14 to Nov. 10.

In the prior month, Kay averaged 5.8% of the audience in the key demo compared with 3.7 for WFAN.

While the ratings represent only two-thirds of the full quarterly ratings book, it is now highly likely that Kay will win the fall race after having lost to Roberts and Carton in the spring, 5.7-4.1.

From 2 to 6:30 p.m., Carton and Roberts out-rated ESPN New York, 5.8-5.7, by handily winning the hour before the Kay show begins.

The data includes both over-the-air and streaming audiences, but not the shows’ TV simulcast audiences.

From 6 to 10 a.m. for the second month of the fall book, WFAN’s Boomer Esiason and Gregg Giannotti ranked first in the market at 7.2% of the audience, and ESPN was ninth at 4.1%.

From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., WFAN’s Marc Malusis and Maggie Gray were fifth at 4.9% and ESPN was 13th at 3.2%.