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Lisa Kerney Embraces New Challenges At FanDuel TV

“I just learned early on that it was okay to be me.”

Derek Futterman

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From the time she was young, Lisa Kerney considered herself to be a jock. Growing up in Leawood, Kan. as one of five children, Kerney was raised in a household where sports and competition were relatively quotidian and always in the stream of consciousness. After all, her mother was a marathon runner and her father played college basketball at Rockhurst University in Kansas City, so athletics were entrenched in their DNA.

She and her siblings were captivated by the game of football though and it quickly became a part of their Sunday routine after church and yard work. Once Kerney viewed several live game broadcasts and forms of studio programming including SportsCenter on ESPN, she recognized that she wanted to one day be on the other side of the screen.

“At some point when I was 6 or 7 years old, it kind of clicked for me that I was like: ‘Oh wait, I can actually live out these stories and be the one to share [them] with sports fans around the world’,” Kerney recalled. “I became committed to being a sports broadcaster when I was very little and truly had blinders on; I never came up with a Plan B.”

Kerney frequently used her four siblings, other family members, and friends as mock interview subjects throughout her childhood, immediately trying to hone her craft before she had any real-world experience. At the same time though, Kerney played basketball at Saint Thomas Aquinas High School in Overland Park, Kan., and ultimately chose to attend Lynn University in Boca Raton, Fla. to study broadcast communications and play on the school’s basketball team on a scholarship.

While her primary focus was always to build a career in sports media, playing sports enhanced her abilities as a broadcaster and afforded her perspectives that could have otherwise been left unrealized.

“Being part of a team is such a gift,” she said. “You learn so much not only about yourself but about how to work with others. You learn how to push your limits; you learn how to collaborate; you learn how to communicate. All of these things are critical skills in life.”

Balancing studies and athletic commitments can often be difficult for college students, but Kerney embraced working hard rather than loathing it. By her senior year, she was the team captain of the Lynn University Fighting Knights and was named the school’s scholar-athlete of the year. At the same time, she worked as an intern at Metro Sports, giving her professional exposure to sports media before she graduated with honors.

“I thrived because I really learned how to lean into hard work as well through sports and it became such a part of my fabric,” Kerney expressed. “If I’m not working hard, it doesn’t feel like I’m doing it right.”

Kerney’s first job out of college was at local television station KXLF in Butte, Montana; she started in September 2004 working as a sports reporter and anchor. One year later, she was selected as the best sports reporter and best television personality at the Montana Standard People’s Choice Awards, representing monumental achievements for Kerney as she sought to break into the industry.

Entering that first job in market No. 296, she took the opportunity seriously and tried to be authentic with her audience by being herself on-camera rather than adopting a television persona.

“I just learned early on that it was okay to be me,” Kerney said. “Not only that as I grew that it was okay to be me, but it was the best way for me to grow and succeed to just be the same on-camera as I am off-camera.”

As she experienced success early in her career, Kerney was quick to hire an agent and explored opportunities to continue to report on sports in a larger market. After nearly taking a job in San Diego and interviewing for a role in Austin, she was informed by her agent of a chance to join KING-TV in Seattle, which turned out to be the perfect fit.

Working in a major sports city for the first time in her career, she noticed a stark contrast in the culture and its associated expectations, requiring her to intensify her efforts to progress as a reporter. It was early in her tenure when she conjectured that she had a lot to learn if she wanted to keep her position at the station and responded by making connections with colleagues and being inquisitive, looking to maintain a positive growth trajectory.

“I had no idea how much work I had to do on me because I was just living it up; I was living my dream job even when I was in Montana – and little did I know it was very different in Seattle because the expectations were so high,” she said. “All of a sudden you were so visible. I really took a step back when I got to Seattle…. [but] I just started asking a ton and ton of questions and really invested in making myself better.”

After hosting Northwest Sports Tonight featuring local, collegiate, and professional coverage of sporting events and athletes, along with anchoring weekend sports coverage, Kerney came to the east coast for the first time in her career. She began her time in the New York metropolitan area in Secaucus, N.J. working at MLB Network as a sports contributor and reporter for nearly a year before transitioning to work directly in “The Big Apple,” the number one media market in the world, with CBS 2.

Beginning her shift at 4:30 a.m., Kerney was the sports anchor on CBS 2 News This Morning, recapping the previous day’s action and previewing what was forthcoming in the day ahead. Once that show ended at 7:00 a.m., she walked across the studio to host Live From the Couch – a morning show grounded in entertainment news.

Working alongside John Elliott and Carolina Bermudez, Kerney and the team welcomed actors, authors, and other guests who typically appear on morning programs such as Today and Good Morning America. Moreover, the show would also have lifestyle segments, such as those illustrating beauty secrets and demonstrating cooking tips, for their viewers to enjoy and learn from.

“It was a great departure for me because I was able to extend myself and really kind of put a toe in the entertainment world,” Kerney expressed. “….As much fun as that was, my heart and soul has always been in sports. It was a short-lived show and a ton of fun but I was ready to move off of that morning shift.”

When she was growing up in Leanwood, Kan., Kerney was mesmerized by the thought of one day working in sports media, specifically at ESPN as a SportsCenter anchor. Whether it was Hannah Storm, Robin Roberts, Linda Cohn, or others, Kerney found herself inspired and motivated to succeed whenever she watched women working in the industry.

“That is such a gift that I took for granted for a really long time because I thought in my world that women were always a part of the sports world,” Kerney expressed. “….Growing up being able to watch them and be such professionals and so well-versed in their craft and be able to go toe-to-toe with men and be able to deliver sports equally. It was something important for me to see as a young girl.”

Before landing her dream job as a SportsCenter anchor at ESPN, Kerney had previously turned the network down two times – largely because the timing did not work out. From the first time she began to consume sports content though, being a part of the ESPN team was something Kerney long desired, even telling adults as a child that she sought to work for the network. Despite not being taken seriously by some of her peers when younger, Kerney focused on achieving that goal from the day her interest was piqued and did so when she officially signed on with the network in February 2014.

“I don’t think we can say enough about SportsCenter because you have every single element of sports television in [each episode],” Kerney said. “You have highlights; you have interviews; you have breaking news and also each SportsCenter [during] each time of the day is completely different. We have our pre-production meetings and we map out the whole show, but at any point, if breaking news comes in, you just throw those scripts away and you’re just basically ad-libbing and moving on the fly and pivoting and taking interviews from across the country.”

Aside from anchoring the network’s signature program, Kerney also penetrated into the podcasting space as the host of ESPN’s first internally-produced podcast called Stay Curious with Lisa Kerney. Once she began working in her hosting role and became a regular voice on the network, she was given the opportunity to host Fantasy Football Now on Sunday mornings throughout the National Football League season.

One of the first subjects taught to students in science classes is Sir Isaac Newton’s first law of motion – the law of inertia – which states that an object will sustain motion at a constant speed unless acted upon by an outside force. As her momentum trended upward at ESPN, Kerney became hesitant to decline any new opportunities presented to her, essentially removing the word ‘No’ from her lexicon.

Yet as she tried to raise a family with four young children and routinely drove 73 miles from her home to work at ESPN’s primary campus in Bristol, Conn., she found that accelerating her career and maintaining her work-life balance was unsustainable.

“As much as I wanted to give to ESPN and wanted to continue – and I had a contract on the table that I walked away from which a lot of people are like, ‘How do you do that?’ – it was a time in my life where I bet on myself and bet on my future,” Kerney said. “Sure enough, I get into an industry where betting is the next thing in sports.”

Kerney interviewed to join FanDuel in 2018, a time when the sportsbook was exploring opportunities to grow within sports media and working to turn its vision of launching its own network and OTT streaming platform into a reality. Following her initial conversation with Executive Producer and Vice President of TV Kevin Grigsby, Kerney was captivated by what was written on the company’s whiteboard and signed on to be a host of the platform’s first sports betting program called More Ways to Win.

Five years later, Kerney’s show is a central part of the recently-launched FanDuel TV, which includes shows featuring Kay Adams, Michelle Beadle, Shams Charania, Pat McAfee, and Bill Simmons.

“We’re so proud at FanDuel because we’ve positioned ourselves in a way to play a significant role in the changing landscape,” Kerney said. “We’ve had our show and we’re the core of a sports betting network in More Ways to Win, and I’m grateful to be able to host our show.”

The linear and digital network evolved out of TVG Network, an affiliate of FanDuel, and is available on multiple dissemination platforms including social media outlets and the FanDuel Sportsbook mobile application. According to Kerney, the network has various pieces of news to share regarding content development in the fourth quarter and into the start of the new year: one of which is the launch of a new NBA show called Run It Back featuring Beadle and Charania, along with Chandler Parsons and Eddie Gonzalez.

“I’ve been here almost five years at FanDuel and it feels like five minutes because of how fast our industry is growing and how quickly we’re changing,” Kerney expressed. “It’s thrilling to be a leader in this space.”

Kerney describes her hosting style as energetic and relatable, supplementing the analysis provided by betting experts and former players with her own commentary and ability to keep each show both dynamic and engaging. She is eagerly anticipating the show’s continued evolution and is cognizant in communicating her authenticity with viewers and aims to evoke genuine interest in sports betting.

“I’m just a sports fan that gets to talk about sports for a living,” Kerney said. “I’m grateful for every opportunity that I’m at the desk and am a point guard of our show. I don’t give out specific bets but I have really smart analysts and experts that are on the show with me.”

The show seeks to appeal to all audiences whether or not viewers have partaken in any form of sports betting. In essence, it serves a dual purpose of assimilating new customers to sports betting and the FanDuel Sportsbook while enriching the expertise of existing sports bettors and keeping them interested.

“We want to bring you along with the game; we want to bring you along with the terminology; we want to help you understand while giving you information to help you place your bets and what bets we think are going to play out in a certain way,” Kerney said. “A lot of times our experts and our analysts don’t agree and they explain why and that’s the fun part…. At the same time for seasoned bettors, you get really insightful information and statistics and really deep research that you wouldn’t get on other shows.”

Following a decision made by the U.S. Supreme Court in May 2018 in the court case Murphy v. NCAA that struck down the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act – which prohibited sports betting in all states except Nevada – it has been delegated to states to adopt legislation officially legalizing it if they so choose. At the moment, more than 30 states have legalized some form of sports betting and many others are considering the measure including California, whose voters will decide the fate of two propositions this coming November regarding the practice.

“They’re coming fast; we see them falling so quickly,” Kerney said of states legalizing sports betting. “The regulation is so important not only for the safety of all of our players, but obviously the positives that come with each state legalizing and the taxing and where those tax dollars can go to help improve schools and roads and all those things.”

Nearly 20% of American adults say they have bet on sports sometime in the last year according to a recent study conducted by the Pew Research Center. The National Football League, its teams, and its players encompass an ideal property for bettors to follow and gamble on, Kerney says, largely because of the existing popularity and wide variety of bets that can be made on any given play. From props to teasers to parlays, sportsbooks like FanDuel continue to pitch to fans the ability to go beyond the game and have a stake in the action – a sort of metadrama instilled within the manifestation of competition in live sports.

“Back in 2018, the way I described sports betting to people is [that] it’s truly like playing a game within a game within a game,” Kerney expressed. “It keeps you interested beyond the score; it keeps you interested beyond… who won, who lost and what [a team’s] record [is]… Our slogan is ‘Make Every Moment More’ because literally in every moment, you could have a bet riding which is really exciting to turn up your Sunday a notch.”

Social media is a new content avenue that has augmented the power of viewer choice, leaving it in the hands of the consumer pertaining to just when or where to immerse themselves in multimedia – and nearly all distribution platforms have adapted themselves to be accessible in this way. It was a change facilitated by evolving technologies and shifting psychographics within the marketplace, combined with meeting an immediate and symbiotic need to continue to connect with sports fans through a global pandemic amid the cessation of game competition.

More Ways to Win was initially distributed through local regional sports networks – usually in states that had legalized sports betting. The problem came in finding the show as since it was distributed on a wide array of networks, consumers sometimes ran into trouble locating where it was in their market. With content offerings on multiple platforms, consumers may opt to watch or listen to programming that they can more easily find; therefore, new and innovative platforms are emphasizing enhancing their ability to be found.

“When we started our show back in 2018, we had a great product but our challenge for a long time was distribution,” Kerney said. “….I would be putting out through the magic of social media; I kept posting like, ‘Hey, catch our show here,’ and then it would be a rundown of 30 different states and local markets and times. We were all over the place and it was not a streamlined process of how best to find our show and at the time our show, More Ways to Win, was the only forward-facing content FanDuel had from a linear perspective.”

While she was unable to comment on any specific future opportunities, Kerney alluded to chances to continue to hone her craft and try new things down the road. Having worked in sports media for nearly two decades, she remains curious and ambitious in her own career pursuits, along with helping to grow the reach and actualization of the full potential of FanDuel TV.

“I’m competitive as hell, and not only with people around me but with myself to just get better and better every day,” Kerney said. “Now having FanDuel TV, a new challenge for us at FanDuel, this has really been the highlight of my career – getting to step out of my comfort zone and expand in ways that I haven’t yet. The best is yet to come for sure.”

Being able to step outside one’s comfort zone can often be difficult to embark upon and subsequently achieve for aspiring professionals. Coping with feelings of discomfort though is usually essential in finding one’s niche and effectuating vertical movement in the industry. One of those sources of uneasiness is small-market television and the thought of moving away to a great unknown. Young journalists, sometimes oblivious of the value starting in a small market garners, can feel crestfallen and apprehensive towards opportunities in those locales – which is why Kerney tries to disseminate a positive message to those she encounters.

“Small market TV is such a gift when you’re just starting out,” Kerney said. “Go to the small markets; be in markets that are barely visible. You can mess up; you can ask questions; it’s not going to stay with you. You can really get reps that are so valuable before you move on and really build your confidence.”

Working in smaller markets though should not preclude journalists from taking the job any less seriously than they would if they were in larger markets. Usually, the experience and connections made in smaller markets prove to be valuable as time goes on; therefore, it is imperative the job is viewed in the same light and executed as such.

“Hard work and sacrifice are non-negotiable in this business,” Kerney said. “We work holidays; we work crazy nights and mornings… constantly running on very little sleep. It’s hard work; it’s sacrifice.”

While Kerney has had the opportunity to interview athletes widely regarded as elite including Aaron Judge and LeBron James, she affirms that it is the broadcast teams with whom she has worked that have made her career invaluable. She looks forward to what the future holds both at FanDuel TV and in other opportunities not yet divulged, along with continuing to raise her four children with her husband and former two-time NFL Pro Bowl defensive end Patrick Kerney.

“We’re just getting started and that’s very true,” Kerney said. “Now that I’ve been in the industry for almost two decades, I have perspectives and a voice that is valued and respected. It is allowing me other opportunities that I can’t share right this second, but you’re going to see me outside [of] the TV box very soon.”

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Kim Mulkey Now Has Everyone Anticipating Washington Post Story

I can’t imagine what headline, under normal circumstances, the Washington Post would have to put on a Kim Mulkey story to make me want to read it.

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photo of LSU women's college basketball coach Kim Mulkey
Credit: Dailymail.co.uk

The Washington Post, you might’ve heard, has a story coming out about controversial LSU women’s basketball coach Kim Mulkey. The reason you might’ve heard is because Kim Mulkey told you. The Tigers coach read a fiery prepared statement just before her team started the Women’s NCAA Tournament. In the statement, Mulkey threatened to sue The Post for defamation before the first word was even published.

Now, I’ve never run a public relations firm but that did not seem like a good idea. The Washington Post story on Mulkey is one of the bigger stories in sports right now and nobody even knows what’s in it. The reason the story, apparently unflattering to Mulkey, is even on anyone’s radar screen is Mulkey herself.

It all started with an innocuous social media post by Sports Illustrated’s Pat Forde right in the middle of the most anticipated two days in sports, the NCAA Tournament Round of 64. On his X account, Forde posted: “Hearing some buzz about a big Washington Post story in the works on LSU women’s hoops coach Kim Mulkey, potentially next week. Wagons being circled, etc.”

You know what generally will go unnoticed at 4:00 on the first Friday of the NCAA Tournament? A post on X about a women’s basketball coach. But don’t tell Mulkey, she saw Forde’s post and decided to fight fire with nuclear weaponry. The result: the average person like me now is really interested in what has Mulkey so incensed. By “average person like me” I mean that I can’t imagine what headline, under normal circumstances, the Washington Post would have to put on a Kim Mulkey story to make me want to read it. Maybe:

“LSU Women’s Coach Discovers Ark of the Covenant”

Or:

“Mulkey Reveals True JFK Assassin(s)”

Perhaps:

“Famed Women’s Basketball Coach Reveals the Mystery Behind Slow Drivers in the Left Lane”

Literally any of those catch my attention more than whatever will likely be the Washington Post headline about Mulkey. But now Mulkey is “Mad as Hell and is not going to take this anymore” so I now have an interest I would never before have had in this story. It has been fascinating to watch the online speculation about the subject of the article and all we really know, as of now, is that it will be written by Kent Babb. This is a dream come true for Babb; he writes an article that is, presumably, not flattering about Kim Mulkey and, before it is even published, she gives the article the greatest commercial anyone could give it. Babb couldn’t have entered into a business agreement with Mulkey and had this turn out better for him.

For those who don’t follow Babb, he is a former NFL reporter who now is an award-winning writer for the Washington Post. In his 14 years with The Post, he has written sports features and authored a couple of books. One of those sports features stories was a deep dive into what he viewed as a large inequity in the level of pay for LSU head football coach Brian Kelly and his LSU players. It is this piece Mulkey described as a “hit piece” and, based on that piece, referred to Babb as a “sleazy reporter.” Babb, and many others, resented the fact his story was labeled as a hit piece. In fact, Babb essentially confirmed he was the author Mulkey was referencing when he shared the original article on X with the comment: “Hit piece?”

Whether a printed piece or a recorded interview, I can’t imagine a better promotion for it than the subject of the interview threatening a libel/slander lawsuit, especially before it is even released. That simply screams “This piece is salacious!!” Also, libel and slander suits get settled all the time, right? Of course they don’t, they seem to never even get filed. That little thing called discovery is a scary thing for most public figures.

The NCAA Tournament has been very entertaining, and I think the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight will be terrific. For only the fifth time ever, the top two seeds have advanced to the third round which sets up for a remarkable weekend. For me, I guess it will now include a Washington Post article, not a sentence I’d normally say.

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Ian Eagle Crushing It for CBS As Replacement for Jim Nantz

Eagle continues to be a shining example of what a network play-by-play announcer should be.

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Photo of Ian Eagle and the CBS Sports logo

I’ll admit, it’s been a little strange not hearing Jim Nantz during this year’s NCAA Tournament. Nantz stepped aside to concentrate on golf and the NFL after a long run covering the Final Four. Change is sometimes hard to accept, we are all creatures of habit, and I’m sure it’s a little weird for Nantz himself this time of year. But change doesn’t always have to be a bad thing. When it comes to Ian Eagle, not that I’m surprised, so far, so good.

Eagle is no stranger to CBS viewers. He’s been with the network since 1998 calling college basketball games and the NFL through the years. That certainly made the transition a little easier for everyone involved. CBS, the viewers and Eagle himself. Familiarity in these cases doesn’t breed content, it breeds a more comfortable broadcast and an easier handle on the change itself.

For Eagle, one of the other benefits for him was working with familiar folks, Bill Raftery, Grant Hill and Tracy Wolfson. Eagle estimates that he and Raftery have called 600 basketball games together, because they were longtime partners on the NBA’s Nets broadcasts. Eagle has also previously worked with Hill in college basketball, the same for Wolfson.

“To do this with Bill, Grant, and Tracy, it really is going to feel very seamless. In many ways, it will feel like we’ve been doing it together for many years,” says Eagle on a conference call before the Big Dance.

It sounds seamless too. It’s not underrated to have a good rapport with the folks that you’re working with. Everyone is trying to get used to a new voice and the idiosyncrasies of a new announcer. It’s much less of a chore, when you know and have worked with your co-workers and partners before.  You know what to expect from them, and they know what to expect from you. That’s good.

I think Eagle is killing it in his new role. You could even tell during the Big Ten Tournament that led up to the “Big Dance” that he was not only ready, he was ready to roll. It’s easy to hear how much he loves doing what he’s doing. That’s the case in all of the sports he calls.

Eagle continues to be a shining example of what a network play-by-play announcer should be. He has the ability to combine his talent with some personality, but never at the expense of the action he’s calling. His broadcasts always hit the mark, as he rises to the occasion when the moment calls for it.

What do I mean by personality? He manages to make us laugh, even in some tense moments of a game. He also manages to articulate our thoughts in some situations, like this example from the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament. 

Sideline reporter Tracy Wolfson had a report during the UConn/Northwestern game about the superstitions of Huskies’ coach Dan Hurley. He wears the same red dragon underwear and suit as he did last year. Wolfson said Hurley’s wife travels with a portable washing machine to make sure his clothes stay clean. Leading Eagle to ask the question on all our minds:

“Who has a portable washing machine?! I didn’t even know that existed!”

Also in that game, Eagle had a couple of other great moments. UConn big man Donovan Clingan had a couple of swats on one play.

“Denied! Clingan! Denied! Two for the price of one!” Quick thinking and entertaining at the same time. Later when a ball got pinned between the basket and the backboard, Eagle said, “Oooh! A Brooklyn wedgie!”

Great stuff. None of his ‘ad-libs’ sound like they are forced. It’s within the flow of the action and just seem to come to him. It’s pretty amazing to be that quick on your feet, when you’re trying to make sure to get the call correct above all else. I’m sure we’re all in for many more treats like that along the way from Eagle.

In general, when fans are watching a tournament game, they probably aren’t thinking about the preparation that goes into a broadcast. Especially for a play-by-play announcer. The first weekend network announcers calling a couple of games in the same day. There’s also only a day in between the first and second rounds to prep for teams that you may or may not have seen during the college season.  The turnaround is quick and demanding.  

“It feels like an information avalanche in many ways,” Eagle said recently on 670 The Score. “The fact that I’ve done it for so long would make you think, ‘oh, he’s got it down, he has the system, he found the secret sauce.’ No, it feels the same way every year.”

Eagle says even veteran announcers like himself have to manage stress levels and work efficiently once they know which games they’ll call. “The two or three days leading up to the tournament, I must admit, are probably the most angst-riddled of the year because it’s a little bit out of your control.” Eagle told 670 The Score.

Yes, the stress level is great on the broadcasters, but how about what Clark Kellogg continues to do at the NCAA Tournament and the Final Four? For the 8th year, he’ll join Kevin Kugler and Jim Jackson on Westwood One’s broadcast of the Final Four and Championship Game on radio. At the same time, Kellogg will be a studio analyst for the television coverage. How does he pull it off? Following the pregame show broadcast on TV, Kellogg will make his way courtside to the radio broadcast position to join Kugler and Jackson. Then, he will rejoin TV for halftime before repeating the process in the second half and postgame. 

Working this tournament isn’t easy for these broadcasters. It’s a big stage for sure, but as you’ve read, there’s big pressure that goes along with it. The audience is usually huge, and announcers are constantly put under the microscope. Fans want to make sure that you know their team, pronunciations and all. Stories. Bios. All of it. Cut these folks a little slack, information gathering with little time to do it, isn’t exactly simple. They do a damn good job.

Eagle himself, is doing a tremendous job. The 3-man booth works so well because of his ability to keep it all together. He can set up either Raftery or Hill with a serious basketball question, or deliver a great ‘straight line’ to bring out their personalities. It’s a gift. Eagle has that knack for knowing when to go ‘rogue’ and go for that entertaining line, that seems to fit in perfectly. Speaking of fitting fine, those rather large shoes he had to fill, they’re becoming the perfect size.

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Andrew Salciunas Aims to Thrive in Morning Drive on 97.5 The Fanatic

“We are two radio guys that kind of know what we’re doing.”

Derek Futterman

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Andrew Salciunas
Courtesy: Beasley Media Group

When 97.5 The Fanatic midday host Anthony Gargano agreed to a deal to contribute to PHLY Sports, a local digital venture within ALLCITY Network, he was promptly suspended by Beasley Media Group and subsequently sued for breach of contract. Although the two sides eventually reached a settlement and officially parted ways, the future of the daypart was still in question. In the interim time period, the station granted Andrew Salciunas the opportunity to lead a four-hour solo program with producer Ray Dunne. Salciunas had served as Gargano’s producer in the midday slot and still has a strong relationship with the sports media personality today despite no longer working together.

The onerous aspect of the situation, however, was in recognizing that Salciunas was being afforded a chance to prove himself as a host in the marketplace. In the past, he had filled in when Gargano took vacations, but it was not for an extended period of time. Although he was familiar with the flow of a midday program, achieving a successful, yet sudden assimilation into a regular timeslot without a partner was an invigorating circumstance.

“I knew that it was going to be a learning experience because it’s one thing to host a show on Saturday or it’s one thing to host a weekly podcast and you have a week’s worth of content at your disposal,” Salciunas said. “It’s another thing to [be] hosting every single day and needing to come up with new ideas and new angles and new twists on things, so it was a challenge knowing that I was going to have to do that for however long the process was going to be.”

Salciunas received help from program director Scott Masteller, a sports radio veteran who has helped elevate brands and nurture budding talent. Several months later, Masteller asked Salciunas how he would feel about working with morning program host John Kincade. Salciunas replied by saying that it was something he would be interested in doing, and he later added that he already wakes up early and could easily work in morning drive. Salciunas was somewhat nonplussed when he discovered that Masteller’s intention was to have him anchor the program rather than Kincade, who has been hosting in the daypart since January 2021.

In the weeks and months ensuing, Salciunas and Kincade were involved in meetings to plan the new program, which officially made its debut on 97.5 The Fanatic last week and is titled Kincade & Salciunas. Both hosts knew about the program for roughly two months, and Salciunas is surprised that it was kept a secret for as long as it was. Outside of their scheduled meetings, Salciunas was able to speak with Kincade between their shows since they occurred after the other as well. From the onset, he wanted to make his thoughts about the program clear to ensure a smooth transition amid a quest to inform and entertain the audience.

“The first thing I told John when they told us that this was the plan moving forward was that, ‘This is going to be our show,’” Salciunas recalled. “Yes, I might be the guy running the ins and outs out of commercial breaks. I’m the guy that brings on the guests; I’m the guy that brings on the callers, but this is our show. We both have ideas, we’re both passionate about Philadelphia sports teams, we’re both high-energy people, we’re both opinionated and we’re also respectful of each other.”

While there is natural disagreement between Salciunas and Kincade on a variety of sports topics, they make sure not to fabricate their discussions and engender debate for the sake of the show. Instead of feigning their contrarian discourse, there is a legitimate willingness to be genuine with their audience while continuing to put radio first. Salciunas, Kincade and show producer Connor Thomas all contribute ideas for the program to appeal to the audience and continue building the show as a whole. Thomas also had familiarity in working with Kincade since he served as an associate producer on his previous morning program.

“I’m not a former journalist; he’s not a former professional athlete,” Salciunas said. “We are two radio guys that kind of know what we’re doing. Even though our opinions might differ on sports-related stuff, we see doing radio in a similar way.”

Upon Kincade officially joining 97.5 The Fanatic, he demonstrated his magnanimity and commitment to his colleagues by offering to take all of them out to lunch individually to learn more about them. It was a gesture that surprised Salciunas and something that stuck with him, ultimately helping familiarize themselves with one another and subsequently creating a viable on-air product.

“He’s one of those guys who likes getting to know people, and I think that’s helped a lot,” Salciunas said. “We already had that sort of knowledge of one another [and] we already had that relationship, and because we’re just both so bought in and both so hungry, that’s made it so much easier that we’re willing to do whatever it takes to make the show work.”

Before arriving at 97.5 The Fanatic, Kincade had worked at sports radio both at the local and national levels while also hosting a podcast with Hall of Fame center and Inside the NBA studio analyst Shaquille O’Neal. Bringing him back to his home marketplace and realizing success in the morning daypart was valuable as the sports media ecosystem underwent stretches of change. Transitioning to the new morning show iteration without colleagues Bob Cooney and Pat Egan presented its challenges, but Salciunas has had no qualms that Kincade was invested to win. As a result, the transition has been relatively simple in terms of building palpable chemistry among the on-air team.

“He believes in anybody that he works with,” Salciunas said of Kincade, “and knowing that somebody has worked that long as long as he has in sports radio that he values the young person’s opinion, not just in sports but in terms of radio, that goes a long way.”

There is constant communication between the morning show team leading up to a program outside of typical pre-show meetings and twice-weekly conversations with their boss. Salciunas arrives at the station well before the start of the program and compiles ideas from the previous day into a document, along with ideas from others that come during their commutes. Additionally, they continuously monitor the news cycle and determine what to address on the air while also interviewing special guests throughout the week.

Effectuating a fully prepared show rundown by 6 a.m. EST has been marginally difficult, along with the fact that it can be difficult to book guests on short notice before sunrise. Because of this, the program frequently outlines its guests early in the week and makes adjustments as necessary while maintaining fealty towards conveying their true, authentic personalities.

“I’m a little bit more energetic on the radio because I understand the entertainment portion of doing what we do and having to properly express myself,” Salciunas said. “I’m probably not going to scream at a bar, but when I converse with callers; when I converse with John [or] producers… that’s who I am as a person. There’s just a microphone in front of me.”

When he first started working at 97.5 The Fanatic as an intern, Salciunas did not have a goal of eventually becoming an on-air talent. He was content with his role as a producer, which was borne out of an internship where he worked with Jon Marks and Steve Vassalotti. Both station members served as mentors that he utilized to gain information and advice, a fortuitous outcome after Salciunas impetuously applied for the opening.

While Salciunas was matriculating at Temple University, he needed at least three internship credits in order to qualify for graduation. Reflecting back on his education days, he does not regard himself as the best student and recognized that he needed to intern with the radio station to set himself apart. Honing his focus in sports media took time since he had varied interests in areas such as reporting, podcasting and play-by-play announcing, but he ultimately gravitated towards the sports radio format during his time in Philadelphia.

Salciunas made a favorable impression on those with 97.5 The Fanatic and ended up being hired as an associate producer where he learned more about the format and its programming. Eric Camille, a former executive producer at the station, is someone Salciunas regards as seminal to his professional development.

“He was the guy that hired me out of my internship, and then once I started working, he really helped me,” Salciunas said. “He kind of took me under his wing and helped me out a lot.”

Once Salciunas was hired as a full-time producer, he began to work with Mike Missanelli on his midday program, providing an invaluable learning experience to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the sports media industry. As a veteran host who has captivated Philadelphia sports fans and media consumers at large, Salciunas noticed that collaborating on Missanelli’s program was a different experience than the other shows he had done. Whereas a morning drive show is oftentimes one of the first points of reaction on a given day, Missanelli knew that he would need to approach his daypart differently and adopted a paradigmatic style implementing second-level topics.

“It’s not just going on the air and reacting to an Eagles loss,” Salciunas explained. “It’s reacting to a storyline within an Eagles loss or reacting to a storyline within an Eagles win that may generate conversation. Trying to figure out topics that generate conversation but are not just the, ‘Oh wow, I’m angry they lost today,’ and give out the phone number. It’s [trying] to find topics that make people think and make yourself think and make the audience think.”

When Missanelli left the station, Salciunas began his stint working with Anthony Gargano where he began occasionally hosting select programs. The rationale behind his decision to go behind the microphone was that when the Eagles won a Super Bowl championship, the station needed someone to host from 2 to 5 a.m. Salciunas decided to volunteer for the program, presuming that it sounded fun. From that shift on, he continued his work as a producer while also refining his craft behind the microphone in a major market. It deviated from a philosophy perpetuated by former program director Matt Nahigian of limiting the amount of time producers were on the air, assuming that consumers listened to hear the hosts.

“Now you have to be a producer,” Salciunas affirmed. “You look at both radio stations in Philadelphia – a lot of the hosts now were former producers, and so you learn so much of the craft and then you figure out your own role. You figure out how you handle yourself as a host, so I think producing first before becoming a talk show host should be the way to go moving forward.”

Beasley Media Group’s 97.5 The Fanatic shares the Philadelphia marketplace with Audacy-owned SportsRadio 94WIP, and both stations have had intense battles in the ratings over the years. Salciunas shared that most people between the two stations have worked with their competitors at some point in their careers, and there is an evident respect that exists between the two entities. With both outlets introducing new morning shows within the last two years though, Salciunas understands there is a chance to gain ground on the WIP Morning Show, which finished ahead in the four Nielsen XTrends quarterly ratings books last year.

“Clearly if somebody’s behind a microphone in Philadelphia, everybody’s talented, and we’re going to do whatever we can to try to bridge that gap a little bit, and we’re seeing some good strides already,” Salciunas said. “I think having a new show is a big part of that trying to grab that initial audience, but then it’s holding on to that initial audience.”

Being able to achieve this outcome, however, requires a commitment to showcasing talent and different personalities. Salciunas referenced how there was a point in John Kincade’s stint hosting mornings in the daypart’s previous iteration where he gained ground on his crosstown competitor Angelo Cataldi with WIP. Kincade, of course, used to work with Cataldi’s show as a contributor and received a chance to take the air while with the outlet.

“I’ve seen the turn of tides of ratings over the years for every show [and] every time slot, so there’s always an opportunity, but that means we always have to be on our game; that means we always have to be doing the best show possible,” Salciunas said. “We can’t go in the next day and say, ‘Wow, that show was really good yesterday. Let’s have some fun today; let’s make this a lighthearted show.’ No, we always have to be thinking about, ‘Alright, what can we do next to put on another great entertaining four-hour radio show?’”

Over the last several years, there have been several leadership changes at 97.5 The Fanatic responsible for overseeing the slate of programming and station operations. Scott Masteller currently leads the outlet, someone in whom Salciunas has confidence that he can continue to elevate the standing of the station. In his earlier years working with 97.5 The Fanatic, Salciunas had an innovative spirit but was discouraged from taking steps to align with the multimedia evolution. For example, when he offered to do a podcast several years ago, someone at the station questioned his judgment and the reasoning behind the idea.

“I was told by someone, ‘What’s the point in doing that? We’re a radio station,’ and I knew back then that that was a mistake to say,” Salciunas explained. “You shouldn’t say, ‘We’re a radio station;’ that was years ago, so seeing that bosses and market managers and hosts and producers all realizing, ‘Alright, we have to adapt,’ that excites me.”

Possessing the background as a producer lends shrewd and calculated judgment on how to include members of the audience into the program. While there are still open phone lines for callers to chime in, the program has introduced a text line and also engages with the audience through the live chat functionality of YouTube. Having Thomas as a producer of the show has helped in this area as well, with Salciunas sharing that he has a strong understanding of how to create and optimize content for various platforms of dissemination.

“We have a great YouTube audience where they basically have their own community all of a sudden,” Salciunas said. “They’re constantly talking about the show, and sometimes we grab what they’re saying on that YouTube feed because that’s another area of today’s new media where you have another avenue to communicate with people.”

As Salciunas grows accustomed to the early start on 97.5 The Fanatic and his new colleagues in morning drive, he is filled with enthusiasm and the prospect of possibility. The radio station has been the only outlet by which he has been employed since the start of his media career, and he hopes to work there for as long as possible. National radio and television intrigue him going forward, but his priority centers on thriving in the new role.

“I want to try to get 97.5 The Fanatic – because it starts in the morning – back up in the map; back in the top five of the ratings books – and that’s going to take some time,” Salciunas said. “We’re a new show – we’re going to have to figure each other out.”

Salciunas expressed that the last year-and-a-half has been “hectic” in the midday daypart, but there has also been excitement surrounding the ephemerality as well. Taking the microphone in a major market with a dedicated sports fanbase such as Philadelphia is a privilege he does not take for granted, and he aspires to continue excelling in the marketplace for years to come.

“I just started, so I’m not thinking about the next step just yet,” Salciunas said. “I want this to last for a long time – for a very long time. If I never have to leave, that would be great.”

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