ESPN New York’s “The Michael Kay Show” will now face off in its battle for the ranking of sports radio of the afternoon with WFAN’s “Carton & Roberts”.
At 98.7 FM, the modest “Max Kellerman Show” will be released from 2 pm to 2 pm, paving the way for Kay to face the WFAN on an equal footing. The tortuous programming that ESPN New York had is softened a little more in this arrangement.
Starting on Monday, the Kay Show, which previously operated from 3 pm to 7 pm, will take place from 2 pm to 6:30 pm. Chris Carlin will start half an hour earlier on 98.7 FM, when ESPN has no pre-match programs.
In the first two months of the winter ranking book, “Carton & Roberts” had a 25-54 male demographic lead when both programs were included. The two sides are fighting over how to analyze Nielsen Audio’s assessments. As ESPN NY sees it, it is winning.
Although the ratings were a factor, the impetus for the change was the Yankees’ schedule, which features many matches at 6:30 pm at the start of the season. Kay, the Yankees’ voice on TV at YES, would be forced to leave the show at 5:45 pm. In this new configuration, Kay will be in the program that bears his name basically all these days.
Kay’s show was hampered by Kellerman’s terrible numbers in the fight against WFAN. The introduction will now offer much less excuse, as Bart Scott and Alan Hahn present a local / national hybrid program from noon to 2pm. Kellerman will still be at the often-diffuse 10.50 am sign in New York.