Sports Radio News
John Kincade, Steak Shapiro Out Amidst Dickey Broadcasting Cuts
“Kincade, Shapiro and Zinno are out, Michaels is expected to join and talent from 106.3 are likely to move over.”

Published
3 years agoon
By
BSM Staff
Dickey Broadcasting is coping with budget shortfalls like so many other media companies during the Covid-19 pandemic. For Dickey, it means layoffs for a number of major personalities at its Atlanta sports stations.
Barrett Sports Media has learned that two big names in the world of Atlanta sports radio are out.
John Kincade, the longtime host of ‘Buck & Kincade’ which included Buck Belue, had been a staple in The Fan’s lineup since 2000. The show in fact held the distinction of being the longest running sports talk radio show in The South with more than 5,000 broadcasts produced by the two partners. Kincade started his career in Philadelphia with Sports Radio WIP and has since gone on to host national shows for ESPN Radio, and CBS Sports Radio. He also hosts “The BIG Podcast with SHAQ” with Shaquille O’Neal for Podcast One.
The second big name to exit the station is Steak Shapiro, one of the lead voices of The Front Row with Sandra Golden and Brian Finneran in morning drive on 680 the Fan. Shapiro joined the station in January 2014 following a long stint at the now defunct 790 The Zone which he previously served as host and co-owner of. Fortunately for Shapiro, his food company and television show ‘Atlanta Eats‘ has been doing well. The program just celebrated a Southeast Emmy Award as the Best Lifestyle Program Feature/Segment & Program.
Kincade and Shapiro are not the only hosts to be let go as part of the station’s cuts. Mark Zinno, who had hosted A to Z Sports on Xtra 106.3 also had his position eliminated. After our report came out, Zinno took to social media to confirm the news.
Some news … #AtoZ #COVIDsucks pic.twitter.com/7KMnbBNL3N
— Mark Zinno (@MarkZinno) September 18, 2020
According to sources, Zinno’s exit is part of eliminating local programming entirely from Xtra 106.3. Joe Hamilton, Brandon ‘Home Team’ Leak, Hutson Mason, and Tug Cowart are all expected to move over to 680 The Fan soon.
One additional name which will be part of the station’s lineup plans moving forward is Atlanta sports radio veteran John Michaels. Michaels previously worked for 92.9 The Game and 790 The Zone and will replace Shapiro alongside Sandra Golden and Brian Finneran on the morning show. Though he writes a weekly column for BSM, Michaels didn’t respond to texts or calls seeking comment.
The latest lineup changes follow another big change at the station which recently flew under the radar. Veteran Operations Manager Jim Mahanay was let go as part of company cuts. Mahanay’s duties are expected to be assumed by Matt Edgar. Edgar has worked as a producer at the station but has a history in programming, previously occupying that role at 790 the Zone, a station he spent 14 years at.
What comes next for Kincade and Shapiro remains to be seen, but given their credentials, relationships, and talent, local and out of market options should be available. Zinno is also a talented host who should have appeal to other stations.
Sports Radio News
Fred Toucher: ‘ESPN is Now Just 3 People’
“Stephen A. Smith is on in the morning. He’s on the radio. He does a podcast. He’s at all the games. He does the postgames.”

Published
8 mins agoon
May 24, 2023By
BSM Staff
How deep is the talent rotation at ESPN? Not very according to Fred Toucher. The 98.5 The Sports Hub morning host has certainly noticed that the network is turning to a small handfull of stars to do the bulk of the work.
“ESPN is now like three people, and Stephen A. Smith is on in the morning. He’s on the radio. He does a podcast. He’s at all the games. He does the postgames,” morning host Fred Toucher said. “Imagine if we had a microphone in front of us 12 hours a day…The guy’s going to snap one time.”
That led to a new segment on Toucher & Rich titled “Stephen A. Smith is horny” with music by R&B artist Barry White playing in the background. Throughout the nearly 20-minute aside, the show played clips from Smith’s Cadence 13-produced podcast recently renamed The Stephen A. Smith Show, and spoke about how he is now giving dating advice to close out episodes of his show.
“My man can’t help getting horny on it every single episode,” Jon Wallach said. “He is trapped with a microphone in front of him 18 hours a day – he really is. He’s on TV and the radio and podcast. It doesn’t stop.”
Because of Smith’s busy schedule across ESPN programming – including First Take, NBA Countdown, NBA in Stephen A’s World and guest appearances on shows such as SportsCenter and Get Up – he seems to be over the airwaves more often than not. On top of that, he hosts new episodes of his podcast at least three times a week. He has said the network did research that found he had reached 1.7 billion people on ESPN’s YouTube page last year, and that the number is expected to hit 2.4 billion at the end of this year.
The Boston morning show surmised that since Smith hardly has moments away from his profession, he cannot help but to talk about topics such as dating advice to vary the content.
“He just loves to drop into that sexy – ‘We’re going to do dating advice because everyone’s reaching out for dating advice from Stephen A. Smith,” Toucher said.
Sports Radio News
Evan Roberts Says WFAN Found Next Star in Audition This Week

Published
2 hours agoon
May 24, 2023By
BSM Staff
Evan Roberts thinks he has heard the future of WFAN. The co-host of Carton & Roberts said Tuesday afternoon that an overnight audition he heard on the station is going to yield big results.
Roberts said he could not sleep on Monday night, so he turned on the station to hear a new voice on the air and he was impressed.
“Alvin was on the air from midnight to two, and I’m going to make your prediction. He will be full-time here in the next three years,” he said. “Very good. He was tremendous.”
The Alvin in question is Alvin Cintron. He is a listener that Carton & Roberts explained would make videos and send them to program director Spike Eskin with a note asking when he would get his shot on WFAN.
“I listened to about 45 minutes of it,” Roberts said. “First radio show ever! I think the story is Spike literally found the guy on social media and said, ‘You know what? I’ll give you a shot.’”
Cintron posted a video on Facebook of himself listening to the segment. He called it “surreal.”
Craig Carton joked that if Evan Roberts thinks Alvin Cintron is going to be part of WFAN’s full-time staff in the next three years, that means he has someone on the staff getting fired and that Alvin is going to jump ahead of the current WFAN part-timers working towards the same goal.
“I didn’t put anybody down,” Roberts answered. “All I said was I thought he was brilliant last night, and I’m making a prediction. I think within the next three years, he’s full time.”
Sports Radio News
Binnie Media Brings VSiN to New Hampshire
“Their programming is best-in-class and the support from the VSiN team goes well beyond the content we air on the station.”

Published
2 hours agoon
May 24, 2023By
BSM Staff
VSiN is going to New England. Content from the sports betting network will be heard on Binnie Media’s 106.3-HD2 in Nashua. The station will be branded VSiN Radio 106.3-FM HD-2.
“We’re thrilled to team up with Binnie Media to deliver the real-time news and insights New Englanders need to inform their wagering decisions,” Brian Musburger, founder and CEO of VSiN, said in a press release. “New Hampshire was one of the first states to embrace legal sports betting and, with Massachusetts recently legalizing, there has never been more interest in the informative and educational sports betting programming VSiN delivers every day. We are excited to bring our team of betting experts to Binnie Media’s passionate sports audience, especially in Massachusetts, the home state of VSiN’s parent company, DraftKings.”
In addition to the long-form content on 106.3-HD2, VSiN will also have a presence on other Binnie Media stations. Brent Musburger’s Action Updates will be heard on eight other stations in the group. They will run twice a day, giving the network a multi-format presence across the state.
Binnie Media is the largest privately owned and locally managed media company in Maine and New Hampshire. It owns fifteen radio stations as well as digital and outdoor marketing brands.
“Sports betting is quickly becoming part of the daily conversation. As we evaluated the options in this space, we landed on VSiN,” added Heath Cole, VP of Programming at Binnie Media. “Their programming is best-in-class and the support from the VSiN team goes well beyond the content we air on the station. From the short-form Action Updates to the digital content the VSiN team creates for our listeners, we think this content is, by far, the best in the space. We’re very excited about the opportunity to bring this programming to our listeners.”