Mike Francesa's latest ratings dominant in Men 25-54

• Neil Best reports Francesa's fall 2008 ratings via new Arbitron People Meter system:

"In his first full seasonal period without Chris Russo, Francesa finished second to Q104.3FM in the men ages 25-54 demographic the station targets, averaging 5.4 percent of the audience.

• That was for the traditional 3-7 p.m. afternoon slot. For the 1-6:30 period Francesa actually is on the air, he was third behind Q104.3 and WSKQ-FM, a Spanish station, with a 5.5 rating....

Arbitron's switch from the old diary system to people meters makes it difficult to compare numbers from year to year. The meters were not official in 2007, but in figures distributed internally, Francesa and Russo ranked fifth in their time period.

• (Ratings are not measured for satellite radio, so it is difficult to say exactly how Russo is doing in attracting an audience at Sirius XM.)...

"This is wonderful news," (WFAN Operations Director Mark) Chernoff said. "It was hard to say what was going to happen [when Russo left in August]. All I know is the numbers have held up. I'm obviously pleased by that."..."

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