ESPN New York’s “The Michael Kay Show” will now face its incipient sports radio battle in the afternoon with WFAN’s “Carton & Roberts.”
On 98.7 FM, the low-profile “Max Kellerman Show” comes out at 2-3 in the afternoon, giving way to Kay to face the WFAN with more equality. The schedule of torture that ESPN New York has had has been softened a bit more in this deal.
Starting Monday, the Kay Show, previously held from 3 to 7 p.m., will go from 2 to 6:30 pm Chris Carlin will start half an hour earlier on 98.7 FM when ESPN has no pre-match programming.
During the first two months of the winter rating book, “Carton & Roberts” had an advantage in the 25- to 54-year-old male demographic group when the sequences from both programs were included. Both parties discuss how to look at Nielsen Audio ratings. The way ESPN NY looks at it, it’s winning.
While the ratings were a major factor, the impetus for the move was the Yankees ’schedule, which has a lot of season starts at 6:30 p.m. Kay, the television voice of the YES Yankees, would be forced to leave the show at 5:45 p.m. In this new setup, Kay will be in the program that bears her name basically during these days.
Kay’s show has been hampered by Kellerman’s fearsome numbers in the fight with WFAN. The introduction will now offer much less excuse, as Bart Scott and Alan Hahn will host a local / national hybrid show from noon to 2 p.m.