It doesn’t matter how you add it up. The math was in Michael Kay’s favor, and it looks like he’s bringing more than a pea shooter.

The ESPN Radio New York drive time host beat WFAN’s Mike Francesa in the January ratings to kick off the first ratings period of 2019, according to Newsday. Kay’s show with co-hosts Don LaGreca and Peter Rosenberg scored a 5.8 rating in the crucial men ages 25-54 demographic while Francesa’s solo show scored a 5.0.

And even when you add in Francesa’s streaming rating - WFAN does not fold its streaming audience into its terrestrial radio audience for advertising reasons while ESPN does - Kay still won by a hair, 5.8 to 5.7.

A ratings book is two more months, so Francesa still has time to catch up. But the heat is on now as Kay appears closer than ever to finally beating his nemesis.

Francesa beat Kay in the final book of 2018 despite Kay tying him in November. The final score was 5.9 to 5.8 based on terrestrial ratings, or 6.4 to 5.8 if you include streaming. So this is far from over. But ... it certainly feels like this is trending toward an inevitable outcome at some point, no? And is the world really ready for Francesa to claim the uncounted listeners on his app cost him a ratings win?

Many good things end badly. We might be on the verge of seeing that play out here.

James Kratch may be reached at jkratch@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JamesKratch. Find NJ.com Rutgers Football on Facebook.