Culture
‘The Michael Kay Show’ will move off afternoons, ending an era in New York radio: Sources
The end of a New York sports radio era will conclude as “The Michael Kay Show” will soon broadcast its last program in the afternoon time slot on ESPN New York, sources briefed on the decision told The Athletic.
While Kay will remain on the air in mid-days, the battle between Kay and his ESPN New York cohorts against their nemeses on WFAN that have included Mike Francesa, Chris Russo, Evan Roberts and Craig Carton is now over, signifying the conclusion of what was one of the most entertaining and contentious periods in the history of the medium in New York. The afternoon Kay Show has been on for 22 years.
Nearly two years ago, Kay flirted with leaving afternoons, but ESPN made a big financial push to keep him. This time around, with the ESPN and the radio business evolving, Kay’s desire to work a more manageable schedule earlier in the day and the lack of an overwhelming offer for him to remain in the afternoons were considered decisive factors, according to sources briefed on the discussions.
The final afternoon show is expected to be next Friday, Dec. 13.
Kay, the star of the program that also featured Don La Greca and Peter Rosenberg in its most successful recent stage, is not leaving the airwaves entirely; Kay will become a solo act from 1-3 p.m. ET on ESPN New York, which is streamed on its own app and can be found on 880 AM in New York.
In the afternoons, La Greca and Rosenberg are expected to stay and be joined by former newspaperman turned longtime TV and radio personality, Alan Hahn, though no deals are yet signed.
All the new programs will begin on Jan. 6th.
Hahn has been on locally with former NFL Pro Bowl linebacker Bart Scott from 1-3 p.m. ET. The proposed show with La Graca, Rosenberg and Hahn will be from 3-7 p.m. ET.
The YES simulcast for Kay’s new time slot and afternoons are still to be determined. YES and ESPN have had some preliminary discussions but could not work out a deal until the radio station had its lineup settled. Those discussions should pick up after the agreements are finalized.
ESPN declined to comment.
In the new format, Scott is expected to shift to 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. ET with Dan Graca. This would knock Mike Greenberg’s national show from 880 AM. This is not as big of a factor as it was when ESPN’s Radio local signal was on the more desirable 98.7 FM.
In New York, ESPN still provides the on-air hosts for the local programs, while Good Karma Brands runs the marketing and advertising departments.
In the morning on ESPN New York, Rick DiPietro and Dave Rothenberg will continue where they have made inroads and gained popularity, though WFAN’s Boomer Esiason and Gregg Giannotti are still the top sports morning show and often are No. 1 rated in all of New York radio.
The fight between the stations, which reached its peak when Kay and Francesa had a war of words that heightened the anticipation of who would win the Nielsen Audio Radio ratings, had already dissipated as, under Good Karma, ESPN New York had discontinued using Neilsen’s tabulations as it focused more on digital growth.
Kay, 63, will continue as the TV voice of the Yankees on YES, but now will be a solo act in mid-days, moving down in the order as a sports radio era in New York ends.
Required reading
(Photo: Andrew Mordzynski/Icon Sportswire)
Welcome to Lit Trivia, the Book Review’s regular quiz about books, authors and literary culture. This week’s challenge tests your memory of books that made huge impacts on society after they were published — some of them even spurring changes to American laws. In the five multiple-choice questions below, tap or click on the answer you think is correct. After the last question, you’ll find links to the books if you’d like to do further reading.
Where do you turn when you need advice? A chatbot? A life coach? A wise and trusted friend?
How about a poet? Poets may not be famous for making the best life choices, but because they subject the mess of human existence to the discipline of language, they can be as helpful as any therapist or mentor.
Good poets know the rules and when to break them, which is something they can teach the rest of us.
To wit:
Giving advice is a peculiar literary undertaking. It flourishes in certain popular genres — graduation speeches, newspaper columns, country and western songs and poems like this one — but what, in these contexts, is it really for?
I’m thinking of situations when you don’t urgently need help but nonetheless enjoy reading answers to questions you may not have thought to ask. What interests you isn’t the content of the advice — you could get all the life hacks you want from A.I. — so much as the voice of the person dispensing it.
Wendy Cope is an English poet, born in 1945, who has been a fixture of her country’s literary scene since the 1980s. More recently, her short, buoyant poem “The Orange” has been widely memed online, bringing her to the attention of new readers beyond Britain.
Cope favors rhyme, meter, brisk jokes and tart aperçus. She addresses romance, friendship and the petty absurdities of modern life with disarming good humor. The last line of “The Orange” is “I love you. I’m glad I exist.” Somehow she makes it the opposite of cringe.
This isn’t the kind of poetry you would describe as “confessional.” And yet …
Question 1/7
Stop, if the car is going “clunk”
Or if the sun has made you blind.
Don’t answer e–mails when you’re drunk.
Tap a word above to fill in the highlighted blank.Want to learn this poem by heart? We’ll help.
Fill in the missing words below. You can always refer to the reading by A.O. Scott and full
text above.Let’s start with the first stanza.
A strong sense of place can deeply influence a story, and in some cases, the setting can even feel like a character itself. This week’s literary geography quiz highlights places where authors were born (or lived) that later became locations in their books. To play, just make your selection in the multiple-choice list and the correct answer will be revealed. At the end of the quiz, you’ll find links to the works if you’d like to do further reading.
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Virginia2 minutes agoCrews put out house fire in Bristol, Virginia
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Washington9 minutes agoDeputies use drone to catch man wanted for damaging car in Washington County
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West Virginia17 minutes agoTop Bike Adventures in West Virginia’s Mountain Playground
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Wyoming24 minutes agoWyoming Town Rivalries – Feuds & Hate
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Crypto27 minutes agoCryptocurrency is money, rules South African court – African Law & Business
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Finance32 minutes agoHow can I illustrate our financial position to a spouse who shows little interest?
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Fitness39 minutes agoFitness coach debunks 8 ‘crazy’ exercise myths women still believe: From periods and workouts to weightlifting
