Afternoon ratings gap widens between WFAN's Carton and Roberts and ESPN NY's Michael Kay
Craig Carton, left, and Evan Roberts sit in the newly redesigned studio for WFAN's "Carton and Roberts" simulcast on SNY on May 24, 2021. Credit: Corey Sipkin
WFAN significantly widened its lead over ESPN New York Radio in afternoon drive time during the spring ratings book.
Craig Carton and Evan Roberts finished second overall in the New York market with an average of 6.3% of the audience among men ages 25-54 from 3 to 6:30 p.m., the time during which their show overlaps with ESPN’s “The Michael Kay Show.”
Kay ranked 11th with 3.3%, based on data from Nielsen Audio that was released on Tuesday and obtained from an industry source. The spring book covers the period March 31 to June 22.
Carton and Roberts won their first two full quarters against Kay in 2021, lost that autumn and now have won both books in 2022.
And the gap is growing. In the winter, WFAN led more modestly, 5.7% to 4.5%.
It has been a long time since Kay’s show has fared this poorly relative to WFAN, dating well into Mike Francesa’s era in that time slot.
WFAN’s Boomer Esiason and Gregg Giannotti won handily from 6 to 10 a.m., finishing second overall at 9.2% of the audience to ESPN’s 14th and 2.6%.
Both WFAN drive-time shows finished behind only the Spanish-language music station WSKQ-FM.
From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., WFAN’s Tiki Barber and Brandon Tierney finished sixth with 4.6% of the audience compared to ESPN’s 17th and 1.8% during that time.
All data includes both over-the-air and streaming numbers but not the shows’ TV simulcasts.
Both stations traditionally judge themselves by the men 25-54 demographic, but if one includes all listeners, WFAN’s lead over ESPN New York is even larger.
Neil Best first worked at Newsday in 1982, returned in 1985 after a detour to Alaska and has been here since, specializing in high schools, college basketball, the NFL and most recently sports media and business.
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