Courtesy Dallas News

(May 24, 2010) April was a relatively good month for ESPN-FM (103.3), which was buoyed by the Mavericks' all-too-brief playoff run, and 105.3 The Fan, ignited by Rangers baseball. The Ticket, however, remained king of the sports talk hill by a healthy margin, although it was smaller than in recent months.

In the only demographic that cashes in sports talk – men 25-54 – The Ticket averaged a 5.3 share for the month. That was good for third place in the market behind a couple of Spanish-language stations – KLNO-FM (94.1) and KBOC-FM (98.3). ESPN finished 11th with a 3.1 share, and The Fan finished 20th with a 1.9 share.

Mondays through Fridays from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m., the heart of local sports talk programming, it was The Ticket (6.9), ESPN (3.3) and The Fan (2.2). The Ticket won every hour.

As usual, The Ticket's Dunham & Miller show produced the biggest numbers. On weekdays from 7 to 8 a.m., the Musers averaged an 8.3 percent share of their target audience, which was good for a smidge more than 100,000 listeners in the hour.

In their new 9 a.m. to noon time slot, ESPN's Ben & Skin dramatically improved over Colin Cowherd's ratings from the previous month and vaulted into second place ahead of The Fan. Cowherd's show, a monthly doormat, ran third from noon to 2 p.m.

In yet another spin of the wheel, The Fan is expected to announce Monday that Greg Williams will return to a regular gig in the market after his crash and burn at The Ticket and his brief stay at ESPN. Williams will work an 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. shift with Richie Whitt. Newy Scruggs will host a two-hour show beginning at 9 a.m. Wasn't it just a few months ago that Fan boss Tom Bigby was pooh-poohing the need for local talent on his radio station?

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