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Harry Teinowitz Needs Your Help

“I’m not going to get a liver on Twitter, but I’ve been trying.”

Derek Futterman

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Harry Teinowitz

On the night of March 4, 2011, ESPN 1000 Chicago personality Harry Teinowitz was behind the wheel on the way back from a Chicago Blackhawks hockey game. The team had defeated the Carolina Hurricanes 5-2, the latest victory en route to a 97-point season and appearance in the NHL Western Conference Quarterfinals, and Teinowitz had thoroughly enjoyed himself at the United Center. He was used to drinking beer at sporting events, oftentimes being tasked by executives at the station to mingle over drinks with sponsors at various Chicago-based venues. Despite enjoying the beverage, he hardly drank too much, usually not finishing two beers on a given night.

Yet when the venues began serving alcoholic beverages, he was unable to control himself. The same went for remote broadcasts, which his show, Mac, Jurko and Harry, would conduct biweekly on Fridays across Chicagoland. Upon concluding the four-hour remote broadcast, he and his co-hosts would converse with the listeners over drinks. Once these events or games ended, Teinowitz was oblivious and took the wheel without waiting to sober up or even bothering to try to find an alternate means of transportation. 

Two blocks away from his home on that March 2011 night, a police officer pulled Teinowitz over after a tow truck driver had seen him and called him in. While Teinowitz is grateful for that driver, he was irate towards him once he was told the only reason he was reported that night was so the driver could make money off of his vehicle once it was impounded. After police found that his blood alcohol content was .131, significantly above legal intoxication, Teinowitz’s driver’s license was immediately revoked. Moreover, he was charged with a count of DUI, along with a count of DUI greater than .08 and two counts of improper lane usage.

“If I don’t get pulled over that night, I’m long gone,” Teinowitz said. “…I should not have been driving and I blamed everybody but me. ‘The bartender served me so much. The second bartender served me so much. The valet shouldn’t have given me my car back.’ It was never my fault. I took full responsibility for what happened.”

Teinowitz was released from police custody and returned to the radio station where he was asked to draft a press release to be disseminated to major media outlets and others in the Chicago area. Furthermore, they requested he join an anonymous rehabilitation program and deliver a public statement about how he would work to correct his actions. Initially, Teinowitz was resistant to comply; however, his mindset quickly changed.

“At the time of my DUI, I said, ‘Guys, right now [and] the way I feel, I don’t think I was drinking that much,’” Teinowitz recalled. “Then I saw the tape of it and it was horrible. I said, ‘I don’t think I’m ever going to drink again.’ I went to rehab and I learned how I had to exist if I wanted to stick around not only at ESPN but with life itself.”

Aside from being an avid fan of Chicago’s various teams from his youth, attending sporting events afforded Teinowitz perspectives he may not have otherwise realized that he could then bring to the air. Despite ESPN 1000 Chicago being exclusively available on its AM frequency at the time, the show made a habit of being No. 1 in afternoon drive, beating out its direct competition from 670 The Score. Nicknamed “The Afternoon Saloon” because of the contentious debate that would take place between Teinowitz and co-host Dan McNeil. Joined by John Jurkovic, the trio cultivated a compelling and entertaining sound, and they tried to make light of Teinowitz’s DUI, which, of course, was a very serious matter. In fact, they recently reunited last month at ESPN 1000’s sold-out 25-year celebration event and reminisced on their time on the air.

When Teinowitz was young, he never foresaw himself working in sports talk radio solely because it did not exist. When The Score launched on AM 820 on Jan. 2, 1992, he took heed to what they were doing and thought he had the passion and skills to be a part of it. After all, he knew how to entertain audiences working as a standup comedian and was a skilled writer from his time as a theater major at the University of Kansas. He also performed baseball play-by-play and followed the local teams, presenting him as an on-air talent with deft versatility and someone who took pride in their work.

Teinowitz’s professional career in radio began at WLUP The Loop, a station initially broadcasting in the talk format featuring shows where he would update listeners on the latest news and information in sports. Jonathon Brandmeier and Steve Cochran, two established radio voices in the city of Chicago, hosted shows on the station on which Teinowitz would report on sports. Additionally, he was the co-host of a show with Spike Manton, eponymously titled Harry & Spike, which would later be reborn at ESPN 1000 Chicago in 1998. 

Teinowitz and Manson’s show was broadcast on WLUP The Loop in the midst of the Chicago Bulls championship dynasty featuring superstars Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen, a seminal time period in Chicago sports. While most shows attempted to interview a star player or head coach Phil Jackson, Teinowitz and Manton opted to book Jud Buechler for a recurring Saturday night appearance. Buechler was a reserve who averaged a meager nine-and-a-half minutes per game as a member of the Bulls on approximately 46% shooting, and he brought an unparalleled frame of reference listeners simply could not get anywhere else.

“Spike and I kind of committed to [having fun],” Teinowitz said. “If we’re having fun, the audience is having fun. [We thought], ‘Let’s do different stuff.’”

In order to be distinctive, Teinowitz and Manton adopted an assortment of different segments all around the premise of being able to make fun of oneself and craft a lighthearted atmosphere. When he began hosting with McNeil and Jurkovic on ESPN 1000 Chicago, that mindset remained important to him to carry over, so much so that they spent an hour just talking about the best place to get a burger in the city. While these types of idiosyncratic topics may seem extraneous to a sports talk radio show, including them in the program facilitated listenership and ratings success.

“The big bosses were in town one day, and we were talking about how cold it was in Chicago,” Teinowitz said. “I think we had a meteorologist on from ABC because they were in the same building as us. Eventually, they’re like, ‘Why are you guys talking about how cold it is?’ ‘Well, because in Chicago right now, that’s what everybody’s talking about.’”

Even before his time at ESPN 1000 Chicago, Teinowitz attended events for WLUP The Loop involving beer; however, a van would be sent for him just in case he drank too much. Part of the reason he attended these events was ostensibly because of his ability to connect with an audience, a skill he attained from his time in standup comedy. It provided him the confidence necessary to try new things and humor his audience, even if an idea he conjured proceeded to fail.

“There’s a lot of guys that know sports, and there’s a lot of guys that are funny, but there’s not a lot that are funny and know sports,” Teinowitz said. “To have that opportunity is really something…. I would encourage the powers that be at the different stations across America to give these people a chance.”

Alcoholism, however, remains no laughing matter. Its effects on health and wellbeing cannot be understated. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, over 140,000 people die in the United States annually from excessive alcohol use. It is the country’s leading cause of preventable death.

Teinowitz attended a rehabilitation program following his DUI arrest and found that his sports talk radio experience eased his recovery in that he was able to genuinely make fun of himself. When he entered the facility though, he was unfamiliar with what the intent of the program was, and obtained an education in the dangers and risks associated with alcohol consumption. Two weeks into his enrollment, Teinowitz took a physical examination where doctors discovered complications with his liver, the organ responsible for removing toxins from the bloodstream.

“I went into rehab without knowing what rehab was,” he said. “This is how aware I was; I literally didn’t know rehab meant [to] stop drinking. I thought [it meant] now you were going to drink like a gentleman; like James Bond [saying], ‘May I have a vodka martini, shaken not stirred?’ Not, ‘Hey, give me four shots of Cuervo.’ I drank a lot and I had a real need for rehab.”

Tom, who was Teinowitz’s best friend of 43 years, had passed away after he caught pneumonia following a liver transplant, rendering his weakened immune system unable to stave off the significant complications related to the infection. He and his friend saw the same doctor at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago. and did not realize the severity of the condition they were facing. Once his friend passed away, Teinowitz protested seeing that doctor, as he figured the medical professionals were the cause of his death. When he mentioned this to his primary doctor, he said that the onus is on the individual to take responsibility for their situation and ensure they do everything possible to get better. It compelled Teinowitz to take his impediment seriously and lose 30 pounds, and he continues to actively try to lose more weight.

Teinowitz was eventually ousted from ESPN 1000, amidst a stretch of losses in the ratings to Dan Bernstein and Terry Boers on 670 The Score. Although he eventually landed at The Athletic as a writer and WGN Radio AM 720 where he filled in for various personalities and co-hosted both White Sox Weekly and The Beat, he remained aware of the changing landscape of sports media and how he nearly jeopardized his career.

His time rehabilitating, combined with struggling to find work, led him to revitalize his aspirations to become a playwright and begin compiling a play titled When Harry Met Rehab. The production, which originally started as a movie, evolved into a one-man play complete with maudlin retrospection on his journey and struggles with alcohol. The premise of the show was changed once his former co-host Manton read the script and offered to help Teinowitz complete it, pointing out how the concept revolved around the importance of collaboration and group therapy. Since the program he participated in was anonymous, the parts of the show pertaining to other members are fabricated to protect their identities and uphold standards.

“Spike is just a brilliant writer and we added stuff and took stuff out,” Harry Teinowitz says. “He said [that] my story was more of a manifesto than a play at some points. We wrote it, and the whole concept is it’s going to get real heavy at the end so it has to be real funny at the beginning.”

Teinowitz and Manton presented the script to Don Clark, Tom’s brother and an accomplished trial attorney who also produced plays. He offered to fund the scriptwriting and create a production that ran at the greenhouse Theater Center. Some of the show’s cast included Dan Butler, who famously played “Bulldog” on Frasier; Melissa Gilbert, who portrayed “Laura Ingalls” in Little House on the Prairie; and Elizabeth Laidlaw, who played “Vic Renna” on The Red Line. The tagline of the play is, “A comedy that takes sobriety seriously,” and has given Teinowitz a sense of closure on this chapter of his life while trying to honor and support those in recovery. The play opened to rave reviews in Chicago, aligning with Teinowitz’s success as a sports talk radio host, but had to close upon the spread of COVID-19. The show will be making an off-Broadway return next autumn in New York, and the show is in the midst of revamping its cast with hopes of reaching a large audience. 

Clark offered Teinowitz the ability to depict himself in the production; however, he declined, stating that he had already done it and nearly died as a result. Nonetheless, he is excited for the play to make its return to the stage and hopes to receive more opportunities to re-immerse himself in the industry. It is a dream scenario – simultaneously working in sports media and the theater. It may not be possible though without a liver transplant, and fast. 

Teinowitz is in desperate search for a donor and is urging people to email [email protected] if someone or someone they may know could potentially be a fit.

“If you wanted to give me a liver right now, you would need to be blood-type A or O, and be 55 or younger,” Teinowitz said. “You could not be obese and there’s a day of testing – an MRI is a big thing – they want to check your history. When you have a living donor, you’re able to spend time testing specifically on what you want, and you can ask questions and interact; as opposed to when you get an organ from someone who had too much to drink coming home, and now we’ve got to get their liver inside of someone soon.”

Since he shared his urgent need for a liver donor over Twitter, Teinowitz has received support from those across the industry, including WFAN morning host Gregg Giannotti. At the conclusion of Boomer and Gio this past Friday, Giannotti, who had never heard of Teinowitz before reading an article on Barrett Sports Media outlining the situation’s exigency, displayed disappointment in the lack of engagement with the message. The way he phrased it in particular caught the attention of Giannotti, who retweeted the plea for help on his Twitter account. Although the message has been viewed over 200,000 times, he is aware of the uphill climb he faces in order to receive this life-saving procedure and receive a chance to reemerge in sports media.

“I’m not going to get a liver on Twitter, but I’ve been trying – on that last tweet specifically – on just getting it [in] front of people’s eyes,” Teinowitz said. “I’ve had friends come up to me [who] said, ‘What do [I] do to be [your] donor?’”

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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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