The bitter ratings war between ESPN New York radio and rivals WFAN has been cranked up, with host Michael Kay hinting that WFAN will go bankrupt in a year.
This follows on the news that ESPN New York will lose their 98.7 FM signal on 31 August 2024.
WFAN seems to have won the battle to broadcast on the likes of the Jets, Knicks, and Rangers but Kay believes that the digital landscape has changed and ESPN has made the right call in moving its focus to digital distribution for programs such as the Michael Kay Show.
ESPN New York will still air on 1050 AM, but many believe WFAN has won the sports talk radio war.
Kay believes WFAN will go bankrupt in one year as the audio entertainment world will move to apps, digital products and video offerings, and considering the huge price tag on renting the FM signal, he believes ESPN New York will be better commercially in the long run.
“Our competition … I don’t even know if I should say this,” Kay says, “but I really believe that within a calendar year … bankruptcy’s on the table.
“So would that be a failure of them of has the industry just changed?” he postulated.
Kay and company will keep backing the AM switch to the hilt, but only time will tell if his financial forecast turns out to be prescient.
