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Again, Kay & Francesa Both Claim Ratings Victory

“However you want to clarify which show won the quarter, sports radio in New York is thriving.”

Brandon Contes

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Congratulations to Mike Francesa and The Michael Kay Show.  For the second straight ratings book, both New York afternoon drive sports radio shows will claim victory, with headlines for each stating they’re number 1.

According to Nielsen, in the male 25-54 demo that both stations primarily use, Francesa’s show garnered a 6.6 share with his digital stream included and a 6.1 without.  The Michael Kay Show earned a 6.4 share with the digital stream included and does not report their number without.  Because WFAN’s terrestrial and digital ratings are reported separately, whereas ESPN combines the two numbers, Nielsen releases the rating as a 6.4 for The Kay Show and a 6.1 for Francesa, with an additional 0.5 for his digital stream.

Last spring, WFAN out-rated ESPN 6.0 to 5.4 while Francesa was in afternoon drive for only two-thirds of that book, returning to his afternoon drive post on May 1st.  There was not as much mention of a digital audience in the ratings recap stories written a year ago.

However you want to clarify which show won the quarter, sports radio in New York is thriving.  With Francesa garnering a 6.6 rating and The Kay Show a 6.4, it wasn’t that long ago that New York afternoon drive sports radio was bringing in numbers that were two full points lower.  In last year’s winter ratings book, The Michael Kay Show earned a 4.4 share and WFAN’s afternoon show did a 4.3 during Francesa’s short-lived retirement. 

The ratings discussion between The Michael Kay Show and Mike Francesa will be put on hold until December, when the next meaningful quarter is tallied.  The less scrutinized summer ratings book will feature numerous vacations from Francesa and Michael Kay’s recovery from vocal cord surgery.  

Kay is currently forced to remain silent for three weeks following last week’s surgery to correct an issue with his vocal cord.  Hopefully the Yankee announcer and ESPN radio host is back in full force for the start of the fall book when the New York afternoon drive ratings battle heats up again.

Brandon Contes is a freelance writer for BSM. He can be found on Twitter @BrandonContes. To reach him by email click here.

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Sports Radio News

Cowboys Radio Voice Brad Sham on the Mend After Missing Thursday Night Football Due to Medical Scare

Sham said he suffered a medical event while traveling to the game Thursday. Kyle Youmans called the game in his stead.

Jordan Bondurant

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Brad Sham

The Dallas Cowboys picked up a win over the Seattle Seahawks last Thursday, but regular radio play-by-play announcer Brad Sham was noticeably absent from the call.

That’s because Sham suffered a medical issue.

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported that Sham was on his way to AT&T Stadium in Arlington Thursday afternoon when he started experiencing problems.

“Fell ill on my way to the game,” Sham said. “Feel okay but getting a couple things checked out. Really appreciate everyone’s concern.”

Kyle Youmans filled in for Sham on Thursday Night Football. Brad has been the voice of the Cowboys since 1976.

Dallas plays host to the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday night. Sham hasn’t been ruled out to return to the booth for the highly anticipated matchup.

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KNBR’s Brian Murphy Speaks for First Time After Paul McCaffrey Laid Off

“Paulie Mac is my guy, will forever be my guy. The best thing I could ever wish anyone is that you get to work with someone as loyal, energetic, funny, consistent as the guy his Jersey buddies call ‘Smack’.”

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A photo of Paul McCaffrey and Brian Murphy
(Photo: KNBR)

Earlier this week, KNBR underwent a round of layoffs, affecting a pair of programs on the Bay Area sports station, including the departure of longtime morning host Paul McCaffrey. His longtime partner — Brian Murphy — has taken to X to share his thoughts.

In a thread to X, Murphy shared his admiration for McCaffrey, whom he hosted Murph and Mac with for 18 years.

“Paulie Mac is my guy, will forever be my guy. The best thing I could ever wish anyone is that you get to work with someone as loyal, energetic, funny, consistent as the guy his Jersey buddies call ‘Smack’,” wrote Murphy. “So much love.”

He then shared that everything listeners and fans of the program have shared on social media has been read by the duo, and thanked them for the outpouring of love and support.

Finally, Murphy addressed his future. Fill-in host Dieter Kurtenbach shared on Thursday he did not have a definitive answer about Murphy’s future with the Cumulus-owned station.

However, Brian Murphy has shared he will return to the airwaves on Monday morning.

“I’ll be back Monday morning on KNBR with our guy Markus (Waterboy) Boucher,” Murphy wrote. “Come on. It’s Niners-Eagles. Wouldn’t miss it. As Paulie Mac’s board itself would say: The show goes on.”

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Mike Mulligan: Sports Radio is More Difficult Than Other Formats Think

He shared that he has worked with people on morning shows that he has seen come to a station fully hungover who play music and proceed to sit on the couch.

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Mike Mulligan
Courtesy: Illinois Entertainer

On Friday morning’s edition of Mully & Haugh on 670 The Score in Chicago, co-host Mike Mulligan outlined the difference with music radio that hosts are not continuously talking to the audience, instead taking mic breaks and then interspersing commentary with different songs.

Filling in for David Haugh on Friday’s edition of the program was Gabe Ramirez, who used to work in the format with B96 as the host of its morning show. Mulligan’s assertion about the differences between the two formats resulted in a conversation about the differences between the grenres, with Ramirez explaining the difficulties that music radio hosts face on the air.

“The music station’s still creating content,” Ramirez said. “You get to have a guest – since I am going to defend my music stations – you get to have a guest and toss them a softball question and listen to them rant for five minutes.”

Mulligan disagreed with this perspective, conveying that he does not feel their program provides guests with easy questions. Additionally, he shared that he has worked with people on morning shows that he has seen come to a station fully hungover who play music and proceed to sit on the couch.

“As a former sportswriter, we sit around and we talk about sports,” Mulligan said. “We talk about the sports we cover and we talk about other sports.”

“You have to talk about Justin Fields seven days in a row,” Ramirez replied. “As a morning show for music, you have to come up with new content every day.”

Rather than taking umbrage towards the response, Mike Mulligan explained that the key to effectively performing his job is being able to discuss important stories of the day even when they are not the headlines. Furthermore, he expounded on the commitment that it takes to watch the amount of sporting events and to be properly informed on the action so he is able to take the air.

“That I will agree with,” Ramirez said. “I’ve told people this – they ask me, ‘What’s the biggest difference?’ The prep, without question, is way more difficult in sports radio because everyone that’s listening to you already knows the answers and you have to be equally if not more informed in all of those things.”

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