The effects of a global pandemic on sports radio were on display after Nielsen numbers were provided for New York’s spring ratings book. As expected, WFAN and 98.7 ESPN New York experienced significant audience declines. The spring ratings period from March 26 through June 17 felt like the longest quarter in recent memory, with professional leagues on hiatus and stay-at-home orders enforced, curtailing industries everywhere. Without games to discuss and with less people traveling to and from work each day, sports radio suffered.
For their target demo of men 25-54, the strongest performers were WFAN’s morning duo of Boomer and Gio and ESPN’s afternoon show with Michael Kay, Don La Greca and Peter Rosenberg. As first reported by Newsday’s Neil Best, ESPN finished fourth overall from 2 – 6pm earning a 5 share, while WFAN’s afternoon drive pairing of Joe Benigno and Evan Roberts were tenth with a 3.6.
During the hours of 3 – 6pm, when The Michael Kay Show competes directly with Benigno and Roberts, TMKS finished fourth with a 5.2 and WFAN did a 3.2, good for 13th in the demo. It was a historically low ranking for WFAN’s afternoon show in what is widely considered to be some of the most prime real estate in sports radio. To compare, TMKS was first overall with a strong 7.3 in the winter book, while Benigno and Roberts were still significantly behind with a 5.7. Benigno and Roberts traditionally dominated in middays before making the move to replace Mike Francesa earlier this year.
WFAN’s midday show with Marc Malusis and Maggie Gray finished eighth with a 3.4 share, a dip of almost two points compared to their winter rating of 5.1. Competing with Moose and Maggie from 10am – 2pm, ESPN was tenth with a 3.1. ESPN New York features Humpty, Canty and Rothenberg from 10am – 1pm, followed by Bart Scott and Alan Hahn from 1 – 3pm.
WFAN’s usually strong performing morning show with Boomer Esiason and Gregg Giannotti finished fourth overall, with a 5.5 from 6 – 10am. ESPN New York struggled to compete in morning drive as their nationally syndicated broadcast of Golic and Wingo was 20th with a 1.4.
ESPN Radio’s national lineup recently announced a revamped schedule, including a morning show featuring Keyshawn Johnson, Jay Williams and Zubin Mehenti. While ESPN New York will inherently receive a new morning show beginning Aug. 17, they also could look to fill the void with local programming.
The New York Post’s Andrew Marchand previously mentioned evening host Chris Carlin as a candidate to move into morning drive for ESPN New York. Meanwhile, the recently released from prison Craig Carton looms with the ability to spark WFAN’s lineup. But the quickest change that will hopefully give both stations a ratings boost will be the return of sports.
Brandon Contes is a former reporter for BSM, now working for Awful Announcing. You can find him on Twitter @BrandonContes or reach him by email at Brandon.Contes@gmail.com.
