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John Kincade Enters His Third Act

“Put down your phone and listen instead of constantly trying to get feedback from a bunch of faceless people on social media.”

Derek Futterman

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It is exceedingly rare in sports media to host a radio show that lasts for over two decades, bringing listeners compelling talk and opinion about their favorite teams. John Kincade achieved that feat with his co-host Buck Belue in Atlanta on 680 The Fan and viewed himself as part of a family. The station, owned by Dickie Broadcasting, embraced Kincade and the skillset he brought on to the airwaves – and he viewed himself as a trusted voice in the city’s sports media landscape. Then in December 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the radio station dropped him in a cost-cutting move that suddenly put his livelihood in flux.

“It was one of the greatest shocks of my career, but it also taught me something,” Kincade said. “It taught me to prepare myself because no matter who you are or what you are in this industry, there could be a reason at some point that your employer says, ‘We can’t afford you anymore,’ or, ‘We don’t want you anymore’ and you’ve got to go.”

As a native of Broomall, Penn., Kincade was always captivated by Philadelphia sports media personalities, including Howard Eskin who he would later have a chance to learn from as an intern at WIP 610. After doing sports at the television station at Cardinal O’Hara High School and broadcasting local events on community television, he decided to matriculate at Temple University: one of the top broadcasting schools in the country.

Working in radio was never a given for Kincade, though. Although he always had a passion for sports media, finding a full-time job in the industry was hardly facile and part of the reason why he chased internship opportunities to complement his participation in student media outlets on campus.

As an undergraduate student majoring in radio, television and film, Kincade worked with the Philadelphia Flyers’ coaching staff compiling statistics and video, meaning he was often around the team. As a result, when he was offered a chance to be a Flyers correspondent with Tony Bruno on WCAU, he had to receive permission to work in the role from head coach Mike Keenan. While Keenan granted Kincade’s request, it came with the caveat that if he ever divulged team secrets or sensitive information, he would immediately be fired by the organization.

“I would have strong opinions but I had to be very, very careful not to give away any information and I always had to make sure that I was well-versed in what I was saying,” Kincade explained. “It always had me a little bit on eggshells but it also had me… prepared.”

From there, Kincade worked at WIP where he was afforded the chance to go on the air by then-program director Tom Bigby. Additionally, Kincade contributed to Angelo Cataldi’s program and developed a relationship with the host – little did he know they would become competitors in Philadelphia morning drive years later. Cataldi had a profound influence on Kincade’s career, serving as an example of how to express himself and tirelessly improve at his craft in an industry predicated on sustained success.

“I got to see him and work with him when he was building the brand; not this juggernaut corporation that he’s built that has been this incredibly successful venture,” Kincade said. “I watched him put in the hard work when he was still a young radio guy.”

Working in radio was only a part-time gig for Kincade, as he landed a job in regional sales and marketing for Shared Medical Systems (SMS) [currently “Siemens”] two years out of college. His expertise in the field led to a quick ascension to the point where he was making a six-figure salary in his latter years. On the side, he was a high school hockey coach, maintaining his passion for the sport while still contributing to WIP 610 and, in the process, receiving minimal amounts of sleep each day.

Then in 1995, he was told by SMS of an opportunity to work in Atlanta and relocated, picking up part-time radio work on the weekends at 680 The Fan. Kincade was operating at a pace bereft of considerable time to recuperate and thrived until it all came to a screeching halt.

Less than a year into his time in Atlanta, Kincade was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Fortunately, the cancer was detected early enough to where it could be treated with chemotherapy and radiation, and he was able to continue to work at his unremitting pace. Two years later though, Kincade was told he had testicular cancer, causing him to undergo more treatment and surgery. By this time, he had taken a new job as director of new business development at First Consulting Group, but internally he thought his days on earth were numbered.

“I didn’t have confidence that I was ever going to get to be a guy like I am now with some gray hair,” Kincade said. “I believed my life wasn’t going to be that long.”

Kincade had a powerful realization during his second bout with cancer that he needed to expend his efforts into chasing his passion of sports radio. It catalyzed him to give up his lucrative sales job to work in sports radio in an attempt to fulfill his childhood dream.

“Cancer was the best thing that ever happened to me,” Kincade said. “People will roll their eyes and go, ‘What are you talking about?’ Without it, I wouldn’t have had the guts to change careers and I think I may have missed out on one of the greatest rides of my life.”

Since that moment, Kincade experienced a precipitous rise as a sports media personality and began refining his style to best appeal to the audience. In 1999 following a two-year stint at 790 The Zone, Kincade was signed on as an afternoon host with 680 The Fan (where he worked part-time in 1995) to form a duo with former University of Georgia quarterback Buck Belue. The new program, titled Buck and Kincade, quickly became a staple of sports coverage in Atlanta. The locale was a melting pot – an amalgamation of sports fans and rooting interests – that, at the time, Kincade says was a “fledgling sports radio market.”

The show endured changes in media and a growing sect of sports fans solely invested in the local teams, lasting for over two decades before the station decided to move on in December 2020. Over that stint in Atlanta, though, Kincade had been involved in a variety of other projects, including hosting a nationally-syndicated Sunday morning show on the weekends called The John Kincade Show on ESPN Radio. Nine years later, his show moved to CBS Sports Radio and gave him a chance to connect with a national audience and discuss the world of sports and, of course, the football games that would kick off a few hours later.

“I would always have a show with a bunch of different segments in it and little things that became sort of unique benchmarks of what I did,” Kincade said. “I enjoyed making it my own and getting to do mornings.”

In these roles spanning over 15 years, Kincade not only hosted his own program but also filled in for other radio personalities on their shows as needed. Some of the hosts he sat in for include Colin Cowherd, Dan Patrick, Scott Van Pelt and Mike Greenberg, fortuitous occurrences that engendered him heightened exposure and reach towards their embedded audiences. 

Additionally, Kincade launched The Big Podcast with Hall of Fame center Shaquille O’Neal where they would discuss basketball, sports and the world of pop culture at large. It was a memorable experience for Kincade. The show was produced by Rob Jenners who also worked at 680 The Fan and found creative ways to keep listeners entertained within every episode.

“He was an amazing, amazing partner,” Kincade said. “[We had] so much fun; I had so many laughs…. On my deathbed, I will be remembering some of the fun and stupid things we used to do on the Shaq podcast.”

Kincade joined 97.5 The Fanatic in January 2021 as the host of The John Kincade Show airing weekday mornings from 6 to 10 a.m. Moving back to work in Philadelphia for the first time in over two decades was not an insurmountable task for him since he had been closely following the teams in the area and making biweekly appearances on Cataldi’s show. Today, he likes to think of himself as a collaborator who aims to create original content and a distinct sound consumers will not be able to find anywhere else.

“I don’t like the sort of 1990s/early 2000s of sports talk radio where it’s one person on a mic just taking a bunch of phone calls,” Kincade said. “I enjoy interaction; I enjoy creating unique and compelling segments that don’t require throwing out the phone number and literally just saying to my callers, ‘Here, you provide me the content.’ I like creating content and then being able to deliver that content and having listeners that will interact [with] what I’m talking about.”

The importance of being cognizant of both the marketplace and in what consumers want to hear is paramount to drive ratings and revenue; however, he does not want his show to be solely caller-driven. Instead, he tries to engage the listeners by presenting thought-provoking topics, giving his opinion on them and then opening it up to callers to join the conversation. It is a philosophy many sports radio hosts do not agree with Kincade on – doing anything different though, he says, likens the callers to aspects of show preparation.

“You’re letting the plumber; the electrician; the doctor; the lawyer make the decisions about what the content of your show is,” Kincade said regarding caller-driven programs. “I think that’s crazy because they’re not going to be there to pay your bills someday if the station decides to let someone else do the show. You’ve got to be a strong content creator and you’ve got to run your show first. You can’t just toss someone the keys and say, ‘Yeah, wherever you want to drive me today, you drive me there.’ I think that’s nuts.”

Philadelphia sports have been passed down through the progeny of local residents, requiring a hyperlocal focus to maintain interest. Otherwise, there are plenty of other options out there for consumers to explore more closely related to their niche sports interests.

“You have to be much more focused because honestly – I’m not using myopic in a bad way – but in Philadelphia, if you’re not talking about what Philadelphians want to talk about, they’re turning the dial,” Kincade said. “They’re not going to pay attention to you.”

SportsRadio 94WIP host Angelo Cataldi is set to retire either the week after the Philadelphia Eagles are eliminated from the playoffs or following the parade if they win the Super Bowl. Over the years, there have been morning drive ratings battles between Cataldi on SportsRadio 94WIP and Kincade on 97.5 The Fanatic, a challenge Kincade described as “like going 15 rounds in a prize fight.” The impending shift from Cataldi to the duo of Joe DeCamara and Jon Ritchie gives Kincade and his team a chance to expand their audience and appeal to new segments of the marketplace.

“The younger listeners in Philadelphia have been finding us and have been paying a lot of attention to our show since the day we took to the airwaves because we sound different; we’re a different show,” Kincade said. “We’ll expand on that; we’ll continue to work with that…. Angelo may have a departure week and a goodbye week, but we have our own things planned to have our own sort of welcome party to the people who may be looking to say, ‘Hey, I’d like to try something different in the mornings in Philadelphia.’”

In addition to his radio show, Kincade is teaching a talk radio course as an adjunct professor at Temple University,  his alma mater.. He is developing an original curriculum to help foster the next generation of broadcasters, giving them expertise and advice on how to build a career in the uber-competitive industry. The new job is indicative of his “third act,” something he was asked about from his former agent Norman Schrutt.

Schrutt, a renowned radio executive known as the “Radio Rabbi,” was a tactician when it came to negotiating favorable terms of employment, according to Kincade, and would tell his clients upon signing a contract to “just shut up and go to work.” He always challenged Kincade to pursue another act in his career, though, and Kincade has found his chance in teaching the craft for which he gave up a steady career to pursue.

“He was the perfect mentor to sort of guide me and I enjoyed getting a chance to learn from him,” Kincade said of Schrutt. “….When I [went] into my classroom last week for the first time, I thought to myself, ‘Well Norm, I’m following through. This is going to be my third act.’”

Some of the advice he plans to share with his students focuses on how to stay original and generate content conducive to success, focusing on being versatile in your abilities and being yourself on the air. 

“If you’re thin-skinned, get out now because you will never survive,” Kincade stated. “Put down your phone and listen instead of constantly trying to get feedback from a bunch of faceless people on social media. The people on social media, whether they’re real or not; they’re not giving you feedback that’s going to help you be more successful. Stay less driven by trying to pander to Twitter or Instagram and be more focused on the radio content that you create each day.”

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How to Help Your Clients with Low Website Conversions

Don’t assume there isn’t enough traffic; focus on optimizing user engagement once visitors arrive on the site.

Jeff Caves

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Graphic for how to increase website conversions
Credit: WPDesigner.Biz

Are your clients dealing with low website conversions? Whenever a marketing campaign is run, and the goal is to convert website visitors into leads, the temptation is to blame low traffic, amongst other issues, for low form fills or appointments being generated.  Just spend more money, you may think! Sometimes, you must look at at least four other potential issues to tackle poor conversion rates. Here are some actionable steps using the IT services industry to increase website conversions.

IT Solutions specializes in providing products, services, or solutions related to technology, particularly in areas such as software development, hardware sales, IT consulting, cybersecurity, cloud computing, networking, and digital transformations. They faced challenges with their website conversions. Despite driving substantial traffic through Google Ads and other SEO tactics, they struggled to convert website visitors into form fills for appointment requests. A 2% to 5% conversion rate could be considered reasonable. Of course, conversion rates can vary based on various factors, such as the competitiveness of the local market, the quality of the website (and radio stations help most to fix that) and its user experience, the effectiveness of marketing campaigns, and the reputation and offerings of the IT solutions business. Focusing on improving the quality of leads and providing exceptional customer service can be just as crucial as achieving high conversion rates. Don’t blame EVERYTHING on the marketing tactics! 

The Diagnosis

Upon thorough analysis, several critical issues were identified with IT Solutions’ website:

1. High Bounce Rate: Nobody was checking out the business. If 70% or more of website visitors only visit the landing page, that is an issue.  It could be slow loading times, irrelevant content, poor user experience, or unclear calls-to-action that prevent them from wanting to know more about IT Solutions. You can check the bounce rate on the Google Analytics page for the website in the left-hand sidebar, click on “Behavior” to expand the menu, then click on “Site Content,” and finally, click on “Landing Pages.” You’ll see a list of landing pages and their respective bounce rates.

2. Complex Navigation: It was hard to move around the website to find relevant information about IT services, and it was unclear who they were initiating contact with and for what purpose.

3. Unclear Calls-to-Action (CTAs): The website lacked clear and compelling CTAs guiding visitors toward requesting an appointment. Simply stating “click here for an appointment” is like asking for a meeting whenever or without establishing value. Here are 28 CTAs for free.

4. Lengthy Forms: The appointment forms were long, without qualifying information, and requested excessive information upfront, deterring potential leads from completing them.

Action Plan

1. Optimize Landing Pages:

   – Redo high-traffic landing pages with clear messaging and compelling CTAs.

   – Showcase IT Solutions’ services as benefits, making it easier for users to request appointments, thereby increasing user engagement and conversions.

2. Simplify Navigation:

   – Reorganize the menu and add more action-oriented links.

   – Provide additional options for users to access relevant information, such as “Get a free IT Solutions 15-point checkup NOW” and “Take this 5-question survey to diagnose your IT issues,” motivating them to book appointments.

3. Enhance CTAs:

   – Utilize concise and persuasive messaging throughout the website.

   – Encourage visitors to take action, whether requesting a free download about “5 things you can do to solve your IT issues on your own” or “get a free pizza for booking an appointment.”

4. Improve the Form Fill:

   – Add a further line about the number of employees who qualify for incoming leads.

   – Highlight the value of leads based on company size, prioritizing forms with higher potential impact.

Review landing pages, navigation, CTAs, and form experience to address website conversion issues. Don’t assume there isn’t enough traffic; focus on optimizing user engagement once visitors arrive on the site.

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‘NHL on TNT’ Gives Hockey Fans the ‘NBA on TNT’ Treatment

Watching Albert and Olczyk call a hockey game is like watching Picasso paint and da Vinci sculpt. They are masters of their respective crafts.

John Molori

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NHL on TNT studio

Let’s play a little word association, sports media style. If I say TNT, what is your response? Chances are it will be a three-letter abbreviation of your own, namely, NBA. Over the years, TNT has built a reputation as arguably the premiere network to telecast the National Basketball Association.

The NBA on TNT pregame and halftime shows have become the gold standard with stars like Ernie Johnson, Jr., Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley, and Shaquille O’Neal. Still, it’s not just this quartet of roundball royalty that has fortified TNT’s hoops coverage.

The rep was also built on tremendous play-by-play announcers like Bob Neal and Kevin Harlan, color analysts like Doug Collins and Reggie Miller, and courtside reporters like the late Craig Sager and current sideline star Allie LaForce.

Indeed, TNT and the NBA have become synonymous, but I have some news for you. This network is not just about professional basketball. This past week I went off the grid with TNT looking at their in-game and studio coverage of the NHL.

On March 24, the NHL on TNT provided coverage of the Pittsburgh Penguins at Colorado Avalanche matchup. Kenny Albert did play-by-play with Eddie Olczyk on color. Albert is not as noted as his legendary broadcasting father Marv Albert, but he has certainly staked his claim as one of the best in the business – able to cross over to multiple sports with equal aplomb.

Hockey is a strong suit for Albert. His rat-tat-tat, drama-building style draws viewers in and keeps us on the edge of our seats. Similarly, Olczyk is one of the top four or five NHL game analysts in the business. His style is understated, providing calm and clear analysis of key plays. They work really well together.

Albert eschews any kind of hackneyed and trite catch phrases for his goal calls. An emphatic, “He shoots and scores!” is plenty enough.

Hockey is a different beast when it comes to play-by-play. Unlike basketball, baseball, football, or even soccer and tennis, there is a minimum of breaks in the action. With hockey, a play-by-play announcer has to know the names of the players like he or she knows her kids’ names.

To me, it is the hardest sport for play-by-play and equally difficult for a color analyst. In basketball, after a team scores, the play-by-play announcer will keep silent and give the color analyst time to talk until the play crosses center court. In baseball and football, there is ample room for commentary.

Hockey does not offer such space, but Olczyk gets the most out of the minimal amount of time. Watching Albert and Olczyk call a hockey game is like watching Picasso paint and da Vinci sculpt. They are masters of their respective crafts.

Coming back from a break in the game, Albert and Olczyk provided on air commentary and then tossed to ice level reporter Brian Boucher who has grown into a tremendous asset to the TNT broadcasts. Boucher provided real talk about Colorado’s objectives of staying on top of their division and vying for the top seed in the Western Conference.

The Penguins, squarely in a rebuilding year having dumped talent at the NHL trade deadline, surprisingly jumped out to a 2–0 lead in this game, and the TNT between periods studio crew was all over it. The excellent Liam McHugh hosted alongside Colby Armstrong, Anson Carter, and Keith Yandle.

Armstrong was especially entertaining. With Pittsburgh outshooting the Avs 16-4, Armstrong noted that it’s the best he’s seen Pittsburgh play in a long time. His reasoning was that teams get geared up for playing Colorado even if it’s out of fear. Great stuff.

Both teams tallied two goals in the second period giving Pittsburgh a 4-2 lead heading into the final frame. When Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon set up Jonathan Drouin for a goal to make it 4-3, Albert and Olczyk showed their strengths.

Albert called the pass from MacKinnon and one-timer goal from Drouin, and immediately noted that MacKinnon now had a point in all 34 of Colorado’s home games this season. On the goal replay, Olczyk showed how the play developed pointing out how McKinnon allowed Pittsburgh’s Evgenii Malkin to come in close before making the past to Drouin.

The TNT production team then showed a graphic displaying that McKinnon is now second all-time in longest home points streaks trailing only Wayne Gretzky. This was a sublime sequence of symmetry between talent and technicians like a songwriter, musician, and singer creating beautiful music.

What was supposed to be a blowout win for Colorado had now become a hockey barn burner, and the TNT crew was up to the task. Every goal and key play was followed up with replays from multiple angles showing the genesis of the action.

TNT has certainly taken to the velocity of the hockey broadcast with movement that challenges directors, graphics professionals, and videographers.

When there were breaks in this non-stop action, Olczyk was at his best. No hockey analyst draws on his experience as a player and explains that experience better to viewers. The TNT broadcast also lets Boucher freewheel and join in the flow of discussion without having to be introduced.

TNT does not merely rely on the traditional wide shot of the entire rink. We see close-up shots of each goaltender after a great save and the sweat of players on the bench or in the penalty box.

When McKinnon tied the game at 4-4 with 4:38 left in the third period, we got a series of tremendous crowd shots showing the Colorado fans going absolutely berserk. The sage Albert and Olczyk wisely remained quiet for several seconds, letting the cheers do the talking.

When Drouin scored the game winner at 4:06 of overtime, Albert exercised controlled enthusiasm, raising his voice on the call of the goal, but not becoming the show and overshadowing the play itself. He is definitely in the mold of Dan Kelly, Gary Thorne, and Sean McDonough, announcers who enhance but do not supersede the game.

Putting a cherry on top of this hockey Sunday, TNT showed a graphic that the Avalanche now led the NHL in comeback wins this season with 25 and that they were riding a 9-game winning streak. In analyzing the goal, Olczyk opined that the altitude of playing in Colorado was prevalent as the Penguins seemed to tire as the game progressed – really interesting insight.

In the postgame show, Anson Carter made a great point that the chemistry between Drouin and MacKinnon stems from the fact that they have been playing together going back to junior hockey. McKinnon joined in from the arena for a postgame interview. The analysts asked solid questions and even did a funny MVP chant together as the interview ended.

The NHL on TNT takes no back seat to its elder NBA sister. The broadcast provides viewers with flash, dash, and serious hockey talk from every angle – in studio, from the broadcast booth, and on the ice.

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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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