NYC Radio: WFAN's Craig Carton Goes Out On Top

WFAN closed out its second Craig Carton Era this spring with another decisive ratings victory over ESPN New York in afternoon drive time.

According to Neil Best at Newsday, Carton and his partner Evan Roberts ranked second overall in the New York market among men ages 25-54, with an average of 7.0% of those in that group tuning in from 3 to 6:30 p.m. when the show was head-to-head against “The Michael Kay Show” on ESPN.

Kay ranked 14th with 3.1% of the audience, on average.

The data covers the period from March 30 to June 21 and was released by Nielsen Audio on Tuesday. Newsday obtained the figures from an industry source.

Carton left the station on June 30 to concentrate on his morning television show on FS1 and will be replaced alongside Roberts by Tiki Barber on July 24.

Carton returned to WFAN in November 2020 after spending about a year in prison and, with Roberts, soon became a ratings hit.

In the winter book, they ranked third overall at 7.7% of men 25-54, compared to ESPN’s 15th and 2.9%.

The WFAN morning show starring Boomer Esiason and Gregg Giannotti ranked first among all stations in the New York area among men ages 25-54 for the spring quarter, with 11.0% of the key demographic listening on average.

ESPN ranked 14th for the spring with a 3.2% share of the audience.

On Jan. 3, ESPN moved to a more local-centric lineup, starting with Rick DiPietro and Dave Rothenberg going head-to-head with WFAN from 6 to 10 a.m.

From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Barber and Brandon Tierney finished fourth with 5.7% of the audience compared to ESPN’s 15th and 2.4% in Barber’s final midday book.

All data includes both over-the-air and streaming numbers, but not the shows’ TV simulcasts.