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Relationships Matter to Jessamyn McIntyre

“For me, I want to see everyone walk out of that place feeling like they did a good job today. That makes me feel like I did a good job.”

Brian Noe

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Sometimes, it’s difficult to focus on the present rather than the past. Some people reminisce about yesteryear too much. It might be easy to think about a previous partner rather than focus on your current relationship. I wonder how many times Tom Brady randomly thought about his former New England Patriots team and Bill Belichick during his first year with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He might have outstanding avocado mind control, but the point is that it’s easy to look back instead of looking forward.

This isn’t the case for Jessamyn McIntyre. The new assistant program director at KJR in Seattle isn’t thinking about her previous employer, she’s looking ahead. Although Jessamyn worked in the Pacific Northwest for an upstart ESPN Radio affiliate back in 2009, she isn’t hung up on her current Seattle crosstown rival. Her focus is on KJR, the here and now, and the station’s future. Jessamyn also talks about not having a list, growing up on the East Coast and what’s most important to her. Enjoy!

Brian Noe: What’s the backstory of your first name? Is there one?

Jessamyn McIntyre: It’s not really all that crazy. My mom read an author in college named Jessamyn West. She just liked the name and kept it in her head until she had a baby. It’s funny, she’s like “I don’t know her. She was fine to read, but I just liked the name.”

BN: I like it. How are things going for you right now as the new APD at KJR?

JM: I’m only in my third week, and two of them have had holidays so far. I’m really not too far along in my onboarding there, except that getting back into sports talk radio just shows me how much I love it. I wasn’t sure if that was definitely going to be the rest of my life, and all of a sudden, I’m back doing exactly what I love doing every day and connecting with listeners. It’s something that I didn’t realize how much I missed, and it’s amazing.

I love producing. I love working with the people who are in that business. Now all of a sudden, I’m working with some people who were interns for me back when I was at my previous station. I’m like, wow, look at how far you’ve come. This is amazing. I’m so excited for you. There’s a lot of familiar faces around. I’ve been out here for almost 14 years now. Having been in the sports business for the majority of that time, I am just really glad to be back in it.

BN: Even though it’s very early on for you, what’s a typical day like for you from when you arrive in the morning, to when you go home?

JM: Well, obviously I’m paying attention to everything that’s going on. I like to look for highlights. I like to look for good sound. I like to look for good stories and I like to create good stories. My first week was learning the lay of the land and a new space. Now, I’m up and running and producing and a part of our midday show from 1-3 with Ian Furness. We’re coming up with new angles to talk about things. 

There’s a lot of retread in the business and what I try to do is think of how not to re-say the same thing over and over and not let a conversation get stale. I’m always looking for new voices to add to the station who can contribute to that. Looking at how we can be a little more interconnected between our shows as well, and just bringing everyone together. That was my favorite part of my previous role in sports talk was bringing everyone in the building together. That’s something that is still early for me, but I feel like I’m developing good relationships so far.

BN: Where did you live before moving to Seattle?

JM: I grew up in New York. I went to Springfield College to study sports journalism. I double majored in English as well. I played volleyball, which is one of the bigger reasons that I went there because I could start. [Laughs] Then shortly after graduating I got hired at ESPN in Bristol. That’s where I started my career. I got hired at ESPN Radio. 

I was more of a writer in college. But I really liked the people in radio, and I really liked the medium for connecting and distributing information because you can be so much faster. You don’t need B-roll. You don’t need pictures. You don’t need any of that. You can just go with news and the voices that you have there. Going all the way back to learning at the age of 23, to now realizing that radio really is something special.

BN: What was it like for you to come from the East Coast to Seattle? And not just radio, how different was the vibe and just fitting in there for you?

JM: Well, the East Coast — and I’m sure you know this — is a little bit harsher of a sports media environment. It was a lot more relaxed here. I’m a little bit of a tenacious person, so learning how to relate to people having come from the opposite coasts — and by the way, I moved out here sight unseen — so I didn’t know anything about it. I just knew good market, good teams that I kind of watched from afar, but don’t know as much about immersing myself in the sports environment here was really wonderful. People are more interested in a conversation rather than ragging on teams and talking down about everything. Not everyone on the East Coast does that, but you just hear more of a negative tone. I think it was a smoother transition that you can make going East to West than what I would imagine West to East would be.

BN: Yeah, definitely. What have you been able to either learn the most or figure out that has made the biggest difference when you are producing a show?

JM: I would say that relationships matter quite a bit. I’ve always been a relationship person, but the relationships that you build can truly have an impact on the product that you’re putting out. It’s important to remember that, and that no relationship is worth ruining just because you want to have a hot take one day. Just being understanding, but it’s okay to have an opinion that someone might not like.

Those are things that through the years I have learned that, okay, the first time I made someone mad because of something that one of my hosts said, I felt really awful about it. Then you realize, okay, well, that’s okay as long as you were fair. It’s all right. But now it’s easier to brush off even though I still feel bad sometimes. I think that when you’re working in any environment in any medium, the relationships you have with the people that you work with are at the top of the list. That’s how you build a successful environment and a cohesive environment and that will never change throughout the rest of my career.

BN: What have you been able to take from doing national stuff, that you now apply to a local scene?

JM: That’s actually an interesting question. When I was in a national environment, it was national headlines, right? It didn’t matter what the market was. The transition going local, it was a bit of a challenge for me to be honest because I’m still so in tune with looking at the biggest story of the day, which I viewed as the national story of the day. Then I realized that the people in your market, which has been Seattle for me for this long, they don’t care that much about the national story. They care about the big ones, for sure, but they want to know about their teams.

It’s not so much what translates from national to local, it’s more what the headlines are for this specific city. This was the first time I had worked at any local market. I think that made me more in tune to listening to people, whether you’re sitting at a restaurant or at a party and listening to what they care about, and then really getting in touch with your listeners. That is an immersive experience that you have to take seriously. Like I said, I’m a tenacious person, and I’m like, well, yeah, but LeBron is going to Miami. But that might not be the headline for the people who are actually listening to us.

BN: Is there anything else that you’ve done over the years to fully understand what the listeners in your area value?

JM: Well, you can dig into the ratings any day. You can look at your quarter hours, and you can see what people actually tune into. But I think the biggest thing is connecting with the people who are in the media, who have been here already. I talked to the writers at the time; Seahawks, Mariners were the biggest thing. This was back in 2009 when I came out here, and kind of picking their brains about it.

But then also, really listening to listeners. Whether it be through their communication through social media, and that can always be taken with a grain of salt, but also, when you’re just out and about and you’re listening to people and hearing what they say. You go to a local establishment, what games are on TV? It’s not easy, and it takes a long time. But through communication, through calls, and then you always go back to the ratings. What were people really interested in hearing this day? Previously, ESPN was the big four letters that you would always tune into, but who do you want to hear talk about the stories that you care about?

That’s really what I care about, is what people want to hear. Tapping into that is not that easy because there’s so many mediums that you could pay attention to, and you can’t focus on one tweet, one text, one email, you have to really see what the majority of people care about. But also not forget about that one person that might care about this one high school championship game that’s going on. I really like that KJR focuses on not just one team, they focus on everything that’s going on in the state in the sports world.

BN: What’s the biggest battle you’ve had to fight in your career?

JM: I think that honestly, the pandemic presented the biggest challenge without sports going on. We’ve got to be on air every single day. What do you talk about? What I did not like to bring up were things that were controversial related to the pandemic. People do not tune in to us for that, there’s plenty of other stations that they could listen to if that’s what they wanted. I don’t mean to always call sports an escape. I don’t believe that that’s what they technically are at all times, but sometimes they are. Especially when it got scary, when sports shut down, that was frightening for a lot of people.

It was a challenge for me to come up — I was the producer at the time — come up with things that we could talk about, while we had nothing to talk about. That was the biggest one. It was a personal struggle with me to put my hosts in the best position that they could be in. That was definitely my biggest challenge during that time. I came up with creative ways to at least let us have fun and hopefully our audience did too.

BN: You started at a competing station. Being in that same market, does that have any impact on how you view the entire market now?

JM: No, I have dear friends. I mean, at this point, having been in this market for this long, it doesn’t matter if you’re a writer, a talk show host on my station, a talk show host on another station, if you’re a television host, I pretty much know everyone and you’re going to have a hard time getting me not to make you my friend. I think we are all working for the same thing. I am more focused on what we do where I am, than I am on anything else anyone else is doing.

When I came out here, I was very competitive. But instead it shifted for me to focus on my team and what we’re doing. And that’s really what I care about. I’ll never say a bad thing about the people that you might consider competition. I just think that we’re all trying to do the same thing and entertain people with talking about sports.

BN: You covered Mike Leach at Washington State. What are your thoughts about him passing away recently?

JM: Well, I was heartbroken. I was very close to him. I had talked to him throughout the football season. We texted quite frequently. I think that people who were close to him and the entire sports world lost someone very special.

BN: Yeah, absolutely. As an APD, is there a particular area of the radio operation that you focus on the most, or that you would like to focus on more going forward?

JM: I think that we need to be more cohesive between shows. That’s not saying that it doesn’t exist already. I just think that we can completely work as a whole team together. We have a lot of remote shows. Shows are all over the place all the time. Not everyone’s in the building at the same time and things like that. That’s one focus. I want us all to be a team. I think the team that we have is so strong, and we all do work for each other right now. But being new in the building, I want to be the glue between everyone during all of that. I’m taking that all upon myself because they’re all doing such a great job of it already. I would just like to be the connection point that I don’t know is always there, but it’s a great thing when we’re on site doing things. That’s just a first look.

I will say that everyone there is so kind, and always treats each other with respect, so it’s not a problem. I just want to make sure that we’re all touching points at all times. That’s difficult when you have a morning show that starts at six and an afternoon drive show that starts at three. As an APD, I try to be there in the building to touch points with every show throughout the day, so that I’m at least there seeing all four shows. I would also like to make a point to be present for our newest partner, which happened last year before I was there, but the Seattle Kraken, who are having a fantastic season right now. That is something that I need to focus on as well because they are brand new, and I haven’t worked with them that closely before. That is another thing that I’m going to work on.

BN: It sounds like such a simple thing, just crossing over or acknowledging other shows. What do you think helps put hosts in the habit of doing that?

JM: Honestly, I think producers are the biggest part of that. I think they do such a good job. Let’s think about something that the morning show did. Well, that was a great thing that they did, let’s talk about it in the next show. And, hey, we have this great audio from a guest we had, or let’s say breaking news happens in the middle of a show where the producer is running the board. The hosts are focused on what they’re talking about. Someone else can come in and let them know, hey, just making sure you saw this. 

Like you said, it does sound so simple. But having each other all rushing towards this one thing that is a big thing that happened or multiple things that happened. I’ve done simple things like starting to communicate more via email, hey, this is what happened on our show. Here’s some great audio if you want to use it. It’s just the little, simple things that can go a long way. It really is all about communication. It’s not like I’m seeing a lack of that at all. I just want to make sure that I’m infusing myself in it.

BN: What’s important to you? When your workday is done, what gives you a sense of, hey, today was a good day, I did a good job, I provided some value. What is it that gives you that feeling?

JM: For me, I want to see everyone walk out of that place feeling like they did a good job today. That makes me feel like I did a good job. If I see everyone’s happy with their show, this was great, and I try to communicate what I heard that was great on their shows as well. When I see people walk out of that place like, yeah, that was a great show. That’s what I want to see every single day. That’s honestly more of what my focus is, it’s making sure that everyone feels that way when they walk out.

BN: As far as your future goes, what’s something that would personally make you happy, or something that you want to check off your list if there is such a thing?

JM: You know what, I don’t have that kind of list. I always wanted to be a sideline reporter and 11 years later, I’m still sideline reporting for Washington State. I have done that and I absolutely love it. I never had management goals before. I get goals when I get into a place. That’s when I make them, but I’m not a five-year-plan person. I would be really thrilled to watch this place flourish even more than it has after I got there. I want to see people who are happy to work there. As far as I know and can see, everyone really is. I want to help them reach their goals, and that would make me satisfied.

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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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