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Shams Charania Wants to Work With People Who Are As Hungry As He Is

“There’s not really an offseason for the NBA, and I think that’s what makes the league fun…that’s what makes it so exciting and makes you want to get up every day in the morning.”

Derek Futterman

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A photo of Shams Charania

The NBA has year-round appeal with its fans craving coverage of the sport regardless if there are games on the calendar. Once the offseason arrives – specifically the free agent signing period – fans often turn on Twitter notifications for the accounts of select NBA insiders so they find out the news as soon as it is reported. Just how to become one of those insiders, like Shams Charania, who possess a rolodex of sources and the ability to break news is difficult though, as it requires mastering a combination of writing, networking and reporting differentiable from others.

Shams Charania was breaking news in the Association from the time he was a college student at Loyola University in Chicago. Oftentimes, he would be glued to his phone, calling sources or tweeting out new information in the midst of classes or shuttle rides. His college life was eccentric, as he sought to build off of his nascent love for basketball and penchant for writing fostered in his sophomore year at New Trier Township High School.

“I wanted to work and be around the game of basketball and be around the NBA for as long as I possibly could because I loved it,” Charania said, “and at one point, I obviously wished I could play but that’s obviously not the calling for everyone.”

At the age of 17, Charania spoke to Jimmy Greenfield, who operated ChicagoNow, a subsidiary of The Chicago Tribune, as he was looking to start a Chicago Bulls blog. Working unpaid, Charania developed his journalism skills and utilized his intrinsic work ethic to become conspicuously known as an adequate, intelligent reporter – accumulating the repetitions necessary in the industry to develop a portfolio and relevant previous experience.

“I was writing multiple times per day [at] multiple thousands of words – literally religiously a day – so that I could be covering a game; I could be covering an analysis story off of a transaction that happened,” Charania said. “It’s as if I was a beat writer for the Bulls when I was writing on that ChicagoNow blog, and at least I was trying to put in the hours and really the time in my writing which allowed me to find my voice.”

While he was in school though, Charania was working as a nursing unit concierge at Skokie Hospital on the same floor as his mother. Charania’s parents both immigrated to the United States from Pakistan in the 1980s, and originally wanted him to work as a doctor or a lawyer instead of reporting on professional basketball. Through his time at the hospital, Charania developed skills related to interacting with people and staying organized while balancing his duties as a reporter.

As a freshman in college, Charania had moved to writing for RealGM where he primarily wrote stories based on one-on-one interviews or was contextualizing game results. While he was in high school, Charania had shared his work with Chris Reina, the executive editor and chief marketing officer of RealGM, along with other basketball-focused websites.

Through persistent communication and maintaining a professional demeanor, Charania stood out from other aspiring reporters and ran with the opportunity he had been afforded.  Additionally, he continued to reach out to decision makers in the basketball world to build contacts and a network to attain information, intensifying his efforts as he observed that people were willing to talk to him.

“It showed me there are a lot of great people in this industry… because when I think back, I was this teenage kid that was reaching out and cold-calling and cold-texting and cold-emailing people,” Charania said. “There really wasn’t much rhyme or reason for people to reach out to me. In some ways, you’re fortunate; you’re lucky and I’m grateful every day I’m able to do something I love.”

Before Charania started at Loyola University Chicago, he interviewed former Miami Heat shooting guard and three-time NBA champion Dwayne Wade at a charity event. A few months later, he attended his first press conference in Milwaukee when the Bucks introduced new draft selections Doron Lamb and John Henson. This helped Charania develop experience being present around the team, and it inspired him to want to start enterprising stories through original reporting. Moreover, he left his job at the hospital, much to the chagrin of his parents, so he could allocate more time to expanding his journalistic skills.

“It definitely was a balancing act,” Charania said of his college career. “There wasn’t really much time for me to spend socially. I was either going to classes or I was writing or I was trying to travel to Indiana or Milwaukee to go cover games…. I tried to put myself in as many experiences as possible when it came to covering regular season games; playoff games; [and] doing as many interviews as I could.”

Although he attended school in Chicago, Charania had to travel to either Milwaukee or Indianapolis to cover NBA games since the Bulls would not give him a media credential because of his age. In spite of the geographic inconvenience, he realized the importance of being present at professional basketball games to foster genuine relationships with players, coaches, executives and other team personnel – hence why he made frequent trips to both locales.

Networking has been an invaluable aspect of Charania’s professional development and the fact that he was comfortable reaching out to people and garnered professionalism in his approach rendered him a rarity compared to most other young reporters.

“A lot of the communication and the dialogue that I have can span hundreds and hundreds of text messages; emails; phone calls,” Charania expressed. “It’s just that constant back-and-forth – that dialogue – [and] really being there at any moment…. I value the relationships that I’ve made in this industry and I’ve been able to have since I started off.”

Charania joined Twitter in August 2010 and worked at fostering professional working relationships with sources in the world of basketball, setting him up to start breaking transactional-related news. In March 2013, Charania reported that forward Shavlik Randolph was returning to the NBA to sign a 10-day contract with the Boston Celtics – indicative of his first news break on the medium.

From there, he broke other contracts, including another 10-day deal for Malcolm Thomas with the Chicago Bulls, along with trades, most notably a blockbuster deal that sent forward Luol Deng from the Bulls to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

“That was a rush of excitement and that rush of excitement still exists which lets me know that I still really, really love what I do,” Charania said. “I think it was definitely fun at that point.”

The Deng trade was a scoop many veteran NBA journalists were looking to get first and engendered even more of an augmentation in his credibility and stature in the reporting landscape. It caught the attention of Wojnarowski, who at the time was working for Yahoo Sports, and proceeded to tweet that Charania was “the best young reporter in the business.”

From his formative days as a reporter though, Charania recognized the threat of sources fabricating information to supplement their own agendas or those of their employers, hence why he has always triangulated his external reporting to ensure accuracy and precision.

“It’s something, even now, where you have a strong, strong pit in your stomach,” Charania said. “….I would rather miss a story than put something out and be even 99.9% about it. I always want to be 100% with everything that I put out.”

Charania tries to focus on the parts of his job in which he has oversight, such as his interactions, accountability and communications with sources. While he competes with other writers, he is equally competing with himself to try to expand his potential to be a multi-faceted journalist and trying to attain his goals on a daily basis.

“I’ve always felt like I’ve had tunnel vision and I kind of have blinders on in the sense of I just try to focus [on] what I can control because there’s a lot that’s out of my control,” Charania said. “….I think just like in any field whether it’s the players; whether it’s the executives; whether it’s the training staffs – in any field you go to in life in business or the workforce, there’s going to be some level of competition even when it is within yourself.”

One year after he broke the Deng trade, Charania joined Wojnarowski at Yahoo Sports – while he was still a junior earning his undergraduate degree in communications. Charania had the opportunity to work alongside many accomplished reporters in the world of basketball with the launch of the company’s basketball platform The Vertical, including Wojnarowski, Bobby Marks, Chris Mannix, and Michael Lee.

“That group was super, super, super talented,” Charania said. “Just think about the collection of people that were there. You look now – it’s second to none…. It was definitely just a moment that I’ll always remember and cherish and definitely that was my first moment being on camera.”

The platform implemented on-camera appearances by talent, giving Charania the chance to gain exposure to transitioning his reporting skills to being on screen, and as a result bolstered his versatility. It also helped him realize the genuine year-round appeal of the NBA as compared to other sports leagues and his role in helping to facilitate interest in the sport itself.

“There’s not really an offseason for the NBA, and I think that’s what makes the league fun and also my job and my task and my goal on a daily basis to inform and share and shed light to the audience,” Charania said. “That’s what makes it so exciting and makes you want to get up every day in the morning.”

Through his time with Yahoo Sports, Charania broke several stories, including DeMar DeRozan inking a new contract to remain with the Toronto Raptors, Dwight Howard signing with the Atlanta Hawks and Luol Deng joining the Los Angeles Lakers. In the process, he gained a robust social media following and further cemented himself as an adequate sports reporter.

Now as Twitter transitions under new owner Elon Musk, Charania recognizes the role of social media platforms as a whole and their role in expediting the promulgation of news.

“I don’t know if someone at my age when I was first starting off would have been able to get the eyes and ears of the audience without social media,” Charania posited. “Whether that’s Twitter or Instagram, those definitely played roles in that.”

For many years, Adrian Wojnarowski had been the de facto NBA insider with fans declaring his news breaks as “Woj Bombs” due to the impact the announcements garnered. Yet over the last decade, Wojnarowski has had more visible competition on the platform, including with younger journalists such as Charania. Today, many basketball fans keep track of which one of them gets the news first and while there is evidently competition between all insiders, being first is something Charania will always sacrifice in terms of ensuring accuracy.

“It’s 100% more important and most important to be correct,” Charania said. “The goal is, for sure, to be correct and first. It would be great to have both all the time, but more than anything, it’s definitely much, much more important to be accurate.”

Charania left Yahoo Sports in 2018 to join Paul Fichtenbaum at The Athletic, a job that came to him because of a previously-established relationship. Prior to working as the chief content officer at the sports journalism outlet, Fichtenbaum was the editor-in-chief of Sports Illustrated and was cognizant of Charania’s potential not just in journalism, but in sports media as a whole.

After meeting with Fichtenbaum both in-person and over the phone, an agreement was reached – and Charania was officially a senior NBA insider and writer with The Athletic.

At the same time, Charania sought to continue crafting his on-camera skills, specifically those related to interviewing, prompting him to explore an opportunity with Stadium, a digital sports network under the auspices of Sinclair Broadcast Group.

A deal to join the outlet was reached after several meetings with CEO Jason Coyle and current Senior Vice President and General Manager Adam Anshell thanks to a provision that allowed writers with The Athletic to appear on other media platforms.

“I wanted to align myself with people who were equally as hungry [and] as driven to be the best versions of themselves as possible and I saw that from the jump,” Charania said of both media outlets. “I think that natural attraction was there from the beginning.”

While Charania breaks news for both outlets, he is primarily writing with The Athletic and doing on-camera work with Stadium. In both roles, he seeks to be accurate in his reporting rather than being first to a story.

An example of a situation Charania looks to avoid occurred earlier this week at the Baseball Winter Meetings when baseball columnist at The New York Post and insider at MLB Network Jon Heyman publicized that Aaron Judge was close to reaching a deal with the San Francisco Giants. Minutes later, Heyman deleted his gaffe from Twitter, which contained Judge’s name misspelled as “Arson,” and proceeded to apologize for “jumping the gun;” however, he had already drawn the ire of baseball fans for the false report.

“I think I’ve built a level of comfort and I’ve built a foundation of… sources and contacts from the people that I feel very comfortable trying to get to the truth at the end of the day,” Charania said. “I think what we do, especially what I do and what my colleagues do at The Athletic and what we do at Stadium [is] about being accurate and first for sure, but also understanding that we’re here for the audience; we’re here for the fans; we’re here for the people that want to know what’s going on in the league from every vantage point.”

Throughout his time with The Athletic and Stadium, Charania has reported on a countless number of blockbuster transactions, injuries and other league news. Some of his most recent news breaks include forward Zion Williamson’s contract extension with the New Orleans Pelicans; a physical altercation at a practice involving Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green; and the return of Brooklyn Nets guard Kyrie Irving from his team suspension.

No reports, however, compared to the moment he broke the news that Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert had tested positive for COVID-19 in March 2020, leading to the indefinite suspension of the NBA season minutes later.

“I never thought that I would be reporting in a year and a time when we’re not only talking about on-court basketball news, but you’re talking about health in a pandemic; you’re talking about social justice,” Charania reflected. “Everything that happened in 2020; it was such a learning experience [and]… I was fortunate to have the group that I had around me at The Athletic and Stadium.”

Charania, 28, recently signed multi-year contract extensions to remain with both media outlets and also joined FanDuel TV to provide viewers with the latest NBA-related news and information on Run it Back. The show is hosted by former ESPN host Michelle Beadle and former NBA forward Chandler Parsons and brings viewers the latest happenings from around the NBA, along with discussion of sports betting trends.

“I’m in a position where I have a partnership with FanDuel and I think [with] them, similarly to when I first signed with The Athletic and Stadium, there’s a level of passion, hunger and desire; eyes wide openness to FanDuel TV to grow in this industry,” Charania said. “I think that’s what definitely drew me to them and made them appealing for me to partner with.”

Being able to determine the best means of dissemination for news and other content is the challenge for Charania in working with three different media outlets at once. Today, many writers are appearing on broadcast communication outlets, including television, radio and podcasts, requiring them to alter content presentation to appeal to different types of audiences. Through it all, the predilection for basketball is strong and a driving force for interest and consumption.

“There are times when I tweet news out in the moment and we’re able to get a headline up on The Athletic, and on Stadium and FanDuel I’m able to speak on it from a video perspective,” Charania explained. “Those are some of the different avenues and decision-makings that go in on a daily basis to figure out when and where makes the most sense. I think, for the most part, I’ve been able to manage it and handle it well.”

As his career continues to progress, Charania looks to improve his on-air presence and work to sustain his growth in numerous areas of the industry. While he knows nothing will ever be completely perfect, he hopes to attain as close of a level to it as possible and heavily critiques his writing and television work.

“I think everything I just need to do at a higher level,” he said. “I feel like I have a long way to go on everything and that keeps me motivated. Other than that, I just stay day-to-day… and just try to do the best that I can on a daily basis.”

Charania also looks to inspire the next generation of aspiring sports media professionals to discover their interests and subsequently pursue them. His determination and relentless pursuit in building a career has led him to become one of the most eminent and versatile sports reporters in the world at a young age, always staying ready for his next story whatever that may turn out to be. It would never have happened without his infatuation towards the game of basketball and the thousands of words he wrote per day from the time he was in high school.

“I think all those moments [and] those years of repetitions… definitely allowed me to find a voice,” Charania said. “Whether that’s through articles, video, on camera, podcasts, radio; just finding a voice [is essential] because that’s what will help and allow you to really see what it is your passion is.”

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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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