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It has been pretty clear for some time now that WFAN has regained its stranglehold on afternoon drive dominance. But the second month of the fall ratings book was a catastrophe for ESPN Radio New York.

Craig Carton and Evan Roberts are not just beating “The Michael Kay Show.” They are hammering them. WFAN posted an 8.3 to 2.8 win in the all-important men ages 25-54 demographic, according to The Post’s Andrew Marchand. In other words, Carton and Roberts tripled the audience of Kay and sidekicks Don La Greca and Peter Rosenberg.

Carton and Roberts won the first month by a 6.8-to-3.5 margin. So their audience has grown significantly while Kay’s has dwindled by a considerable margin. Which is incredible when you consider he beat Carton and Roberts in the fall just a year ago. And at this point, WFAN could probably become a mariachi station overnight and still have enough of a lead built up to win the book.

These results will generate even more speculation about Kay’s radio future. It’s not that he is losing to WFAN — he’s done that with a handful of exceptions for 20 years. But these numbers are ghastly. His program is in freefall now. And the YES Network simulcast talking point has lost impact given the rise of cord cutting and the inability to get YES on most streaming services. Couple the ratings with Kay’s extended summer sabbatical and a contract expiring next year and it is fair to wonder if he might soon bag it. And if and when that happens, what does ESPN do?

The dream move, of course, would be for station owner Mel Karmazin to drive a Brinks truck to New Canaan and land Christopher “Mad Dog” Russo, whose contract is also believed to be up in 2023. That would be a seismic event that would change sports talk in this town forever. And Russo would probably eventually post these ratings in reverse if they did make the move. But it is likely exactly that, a dream, for myriad reasons.

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James Kratch can be reached at [email protected]

James Kratch is the managing editor of ESNY. He previously worked as a Rutgers and Giants (and Mike Francesa) beat reporter for NJ Advance Media.