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Audra Martin Continues To Be Shaped By Words From Steve Harvey

“He goes, ‘Exactly, and I will never be somebody’s Plan B. I’ll give you a year but if you’re here next season, I’ll fire you.’”

Derek Futterman

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“Survey says”. Those are the familiar words heard on the hit syndicated game show Family Feud. Audra Martin was responsible for coordinating the survey answers and filling in the audience working in television production as an audience coordinator at the show.

What viewers at home do not see is what goes on during the commercial breaks when host Steve Harvey takes questions from the studio audience. During one taping, he was asked about what advice he would give aspiring industry professionals, and the answer he gave genuinely changed the course of Martin’s career.

“Steve said, ‘A lot of people think it’s a good idea to have Plan B. That, ‘Hey, I have something to fall back on if my dream doesn’t happen’,” Martin recalled. “He said, ‘In my opinion, that’s the worst thing you can do because you’re subconsciously telling yourself [that] it’s okay to settle for something less than your dream.’ And I’m listening to this backstage and I’m just like, ‘Oh no, I feel like he’s directly talking to me.’”

From the moment she was young, Audra Martin always had a penchant for sports, specifically baseball and hockey. Growing up in the Chicago area, she was an ardent fan of the Cubs, tuning in to most of their games throughout the season. When she was in high school, she played softball, volleyball, and was a member of the cheerleading team.

Additionally, she cultivated her skills in music at a young age, learning to play the violin when she was 3 and beginning to sing at 12 years old. Nonetheless, her goal always extended beyond direct performance in music or sports, instead seeking to be in front of the camera as a liaison between fans and their favorite teams.

“I’ve been a big competitor, but my favorite part about [sports broadcasting] is telling the stories outside of what you see on the field,” Martin said. “Don’t get me wrong – I love doing highlights and talking about all the action, but there’s nothing better than being able to tell the story about an athlete or something going on behind the scenes that fans wouldn’t normally get the opportunity to hear about.”

While covering baseball and hockey as a sports broadcaster was always her dream job, she was unsure just how realistic it was. When she was young, she saw some women reporters penetrating boundaries including Pam Oliver and Michele Tafoya but it seemed more like an anomaly rather than being normal. As she got older, more women began to break into the industry, but she instead decided to major in criminal justice upon her enrollment at the University of Central Florida in Orlando, Fla.

She finished her freshman year in college with a 4.0 GPA and shortly thereafter received a letter from the dean’s office featuring restrictive majors, meaning that students had to meet certain qualifications to apply for them. Once she saw radio and television on the list, she decided to apply for it since it represented something of interest in her, deciding to focus on the craft she had been drawn to from a young age.

“When I got into the journalism program, a lot of my focus was on local news,” Martin said. “I had an internship with the local Fox affiliate. Honestly, I was competing against a lot of the guys in our class to do all the sports stories and anchor our sports broadcasts. It was a little difficult and I felt intimidated by it.”

Unlike many industry professionals, Martin did not immediately begin seriously pursuing a career as a reporter after her graduation. She did have the opportunity to report on games and compile feature stories for the NHL’s Atlanta Thrashers for Fox Sports South; however, that was just on a fill-in basis. Sports broadcasting was always in the back of her mind as she worked in the front office for MLB’s Atlanta Braves, connecting with then-field reporter for New York Mets baseball on SNY and now lead play-by-play announcer for Fox Sports’ NFL coverage, Kevin Burkhardt.

“I ended up meeting Kevin and told him [of] my desire to do his job one day and he allowed me to shadow him the next time the Mets and the Braves were playing,” Martin said. “We kept in touch and he always has just kind of been the go-to person, plus I think he did a great job when he was a sideline reporter for the Mets.”

Her foray into sports broadcasting did not occur until after she went home from that taping of Family Feud and immediately wrote Harvey a letter discussing the impact his words had on her.

The next day, Martin gave the letter to Harvey’s manager who passed it along to him. Moments later, she found herself being called backstage to meet with Harvey, presumably about the note regarding what he had said the day before.

“I go backstage and I’m waiting outside Steve’s dressing room and he comes out and he has the letter and he asked me, ‘So what is it that you want to do?,’” Martin recalled. “I said, ‘I want to be a sports broadcaster.’ He was like, ‘Wow, okay. Why do you work here?’”

Once Harvey posed that question, Martin waxed poetic about how she was enamored with working at Family Feud and helping in the coordination of the show. Yet that was not the question Harvey asked her; instead, she inherently avoided directly answering his question, something the longtime comedian and game show host immediately picked up on. Again, he posed the question to her regarding why she was working at Family Feud.

“And I said, ‘I guess because you’re my Plan B,’” Martin told Harvey. “He goes, ‘Exactly, and I will never be somebody’s Plan B. I’ll give you a year but if you’re here next season, I’ll fire you.’”

Harvey had given Martin the necessary motivation and a vote of confidence to pursue her dream to become a sports broadcaster and that night, she immediately updated her résumé and went on to apply to every open television job in the country. She ended up hearing back from WAAY-TV, a news station in Huntsville, Alabama looking for someone to cover sports in the area as a reporter and also anchor studio coverage.

Once she accepted the job, she officially gave Harvey notice that she would not be returning next season to begin building her career in sports media.

Moving from a metropolitan area to a small market was an immense transition for Martin; after all, she had always been used to the environment of cities and only knew one person living in the area. The benefits to working in a small market though were that she had the flexibility to make mistakes and gain the repetitions essential for advancement in this competitive industry. She began in September in the midst of prime football season both at the high school and college levels but quickly faced significant adversity.

“My sports director actually ended up leaving a couple weeks after I started so I became a one-person sports department for months,” Martin said. “I think there was a stretch where I worked 40-something days straight because this is what you had to do, especially in Alabama…. It was exhausting and very challenging but I look back on it now and it was the best learning experience.”

One year later, Martin found an opening to return to a city – Nashville – to work at another news network, WKRN-TV, as a sports anchor and reporter. The sports department in Nashville, unlike Huntsville’s, had four people and more resources to efficiently and effectively tell stories.

Additionally, the city has two professional teams – the Nashville Predators and Tennessee Titans – along with college sports at Vanderbilt University and the University of Tennessee. Nonetheless, working in local news was never Martin’s true “Plan A” and while she loved her job and colleagues in Nashville, looked for opportunities for career advancement.

“I knew when I got into the business that my ultimate goal was to work at a regional sports network,” Martin said. “There’s always been something about being part of a community and feeling like you’re part of the fanbase…. That just always had such appeal to me and it was always my dream.”

When working in Nashville, Martin received a phone call from her agent about an opening to host On The Fly at NHL Network, a highlights show recapping the day’s action in the National Hockey League. The chance to audition for the role coincided with her negotiation of a new contract, and following much deliberation, Martin decided to bet on herself by opting not to renew her deal in “The Music City.”

“I knew it was a big risk, but I felt like it was a risk I had to take,” Martin said. “Ultimately, I didn’t end up getting the job and I was devastated because now my future was so in flux.”

The job had been given to Jamie Hersch, who was previously reporting on baseball and hosting hockey coverage on Fox Sports North, now Bally Sports North. Hersch was beloved by fans in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area and she now needed to be replaced since she would be moving to work at NHL Network. Martin was apprehensive about her future but had the realization of Hersch’s job opening and was recommended by those at NHL Network to be considered for an audition.

A few days later, Martin auditioned and subsequently landed the job and after one day of shadowing veteran play-by-play announcer Tom Hanneman at a game, began fulfilling her dream job covering both baseball and hockey.

“My roles are different; that’s why I love my job so much because I get to host in the winter and then switch over to sideline reporting in the summer,” Martin said. “Both have the opportunity to be really in-touch with the fanbase. You feel invested; you can’t help but feel invested with the team. When they’re doing well, it’s fun to be a part of it; it’s fun to cover it every single day; it’s fun to be able to tell those stories and call those highlights.”

The immediate issue for Martin was two-fold in that the Twins posted a 103-loss season in her first season covering the team and that she put immense pressure on herself to replicate the hosting style of Hersch in an effort to be accepted and embraced by fans in the area. As a result, she struggled to find her own style and enjoy working in her “dream job.” Three years in, she had a realization that she needed to change her approach and recognize how fortunate she was to have landed in a major market working in sports media.

“Once I started showing my personality and once I got that confidence to just be who I am and do the show my way and have fun with it, I think things really started turning around,” Martin said. “That’s been my mantra I guess over the last few years – just to have fun with it.”

Although the Twins missed the playoffs this past season, Martin looks back on working more than 100 baseball games for the first time because Marney Gellner, the reporter with whom she split sideline reporting duties, was calling games for the WNBA’s Minnesota Lynx. In spite of working more though, Martin feels she was able to keep up with the team and tell stories that would typically go unnoticed by those outside of the clubhouse.

“It was a bigger commitment this year which was great because I never felt like I was having to catch up,” Martin said. “I was around the team so much that even if I had a few days off, it was only a couple of days off at a time and I never felt like I missed a huge chunk. I really got to get in a good rhythm; I got to know the players well. This season was tough at the end but in the beginning, there was a lot of great baseball and a lot of fun stories to tell.”

As the summer months begin to dwindle away with plummeting temperatures and the appearance of snow on local weather forecasts, Martin transitions to hosting Wild Live, the studio coverage for Minnesota Wild hockey live game broadcasts. She recognizes the difference between hosting and sideline reporting, specifically the differences each role presents in how to tell stories.

“[With] hosting, I know it’s not my job to tell the stories,” she said. “I’m not the analyst. It’s my job to set up the analysts. I try to make sure whether I’m asking them a legitimate question or if I’m just setting them up for a conversation to begin, I try to make sure it’s not the same thing every day.”

The future of studio coverage is somewhat in flux as emerging technologies and changes in consumption patterns have given fans more control than ever before over their viewing and listening experiences. Local pregame and postgame coverage is evolving with the changing media landscape as it fights to remain a mainstay in sports media and avoid extinction, finding new ways to appeal to younger demographics and viewers at large.

“To me as a fan – and this was even before I got into hosting and even before I was in television – I liked watching the pre and postgame shows because it is centered [around] the team that I am rooting for or watching,” Martin expressed.

“It’s everything that I need to know in one condensed 30-minute format and I’m not necessarily having to listen to information about games that are being played on the other side of the country that I’m not really invested in.”

As her career continues to advance, Martin aims to stay in Minneapolis-St. Paul working in sports media and will work to continue establishing her own identity.. She does not rule out one day working with a national network but genuinely feels a sense of elation and pride towards what she is doing now and is remaining focused on finding new ways to tell stories and hone her craft.

“This industry is changing every single day and there’s going to be something new that might not make sense at the time or takes a while to get used to – but we can only get better if we embrace the new resources [and] embrace new technology,” Martin said. “….Be open-minded and don’t be afraid to try something new. It might not work perfectly every time but sometimes the best ideas are when you just think outside the box and you take a chance.”

The impact of advice and others’ belief in one’s ability to succeed in sports media or another competitive industry can be paramount in fostering a successful career. Martin recognizes how Steve Harvey changed her life in one afternoon and returned to Family Feud after she had been featured in a magazine that did a story about the women’s Final Four and how she was, at the time, the only woman sports reporter in Nashville.

With a copy of the magazine in hand, Martin found Harvey’s manager – and what happened next was memorable and a full-circle moment.

“Steve brought me backstage and he came out and he had tears in his eyes,” Martin said. “He made me sign the magazine and he kept the magazine. I don’t know what it was about needing to hear that from Steve but I just needed that kick in the butt I guess.”

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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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