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When Houston Froze, Armen Williams & Sports Radio 610 Didn’t

“We built a clear mission statement as to who we are and what we want to be every single segment and every single minute and every single second.”

Brian Noe

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There is a reason we don’t associate the city of Houston, Texas with freezing temperatures and winter storm conditions. It typically doesn’t come close to resembling Antarctica in H-Town.

Well, things changed in a dramatic way last week as the city was ravaged by a storm that left millions of people without power or water for days. The focus shifted from the future of quarterback Deshaun Watson to simply finding ways to stay warm and eat.

Two Freezing Nights Before a Warm Up | Houston Press

SportsRadio 610 program director Armen Williams describes the week in specific detail. He tells some remarkable stories about how his staff worked through the storm. They basically double as the SWAT team of sports radio. I think Sean Pendergast might be on the 2022 US Olympic Cross Country Team and my money is on John Lopez continuing to broadcast through the Apocalypse.

Armen also talks about how the community rallied together — even during a pandemic — to help each other out. SportsRadio 610 provided some much-needed support for Kids’ Meals Houston. It isn’t a surprise that Entercom Houston was able to assist considering its Community Impact Report states they helped raise over $18 million dollars for the area in 2020. The tales of one wild week are below. Enjoy.

Brian Noe: Did your station lose power or go off the air at all?

Armen Williams: No, our engineering team at Entercom Houston is incredible. They always rise to the occasion during crisis and this one was no different. All of our stations were on the air the entire time during the storm. We have a backup generator and we never lost power at the radio station.

BN: Was that rare in the area?

AW: You know, I don’t know. I was so focused on my own station. I heard of other stations going off the air for a couple of days, but I haven’t confirmed it. We were just so focused on trying to stay on and take care of our own staff that I’m not really sure honestly what the radio landscape across the board looked like during those few days.

BN: For anybody that doesn’t live in that area, how would you describe what the weather crisis was like for Houston?

AW: They’re calling it the worst winter storm this area has seen since ’89, maybe ‘82. It’s the coldest, iciest winter storm we’ve had in over 30 years. The city and this area just aren’t made for that. Our houses aren’t built for that. We’re just not equipped to withstand that. As a program director, my number one goal during these times is to make sure that we’re on the air and putting together a good product. But in a rare time like this — there was a moment maybe Monday afternoon into Tuesday morning — I flipped the script. I thought to myself for one of the first times in my career, the on-air content today is not my top priority. I’ve got to make sure that all of my employees are staying warm, have a roof over their head, have food to eat, and if they don’t, how do I get somebody to them?

Probably by Tuesday afternoon, we had the majority of our employees without power, most of them without water. Only one person on our SportsRadio 610 staff had electricity throughout. Everyone including myself lost it at some point whether it was for one day or four days. We got to a point where it was just more important to make sure that everyone was in a spot that was safe and sustainable for the week.

One of our guys has three young kids — six and under — and they didn’t have power or water for four days. Our focus is turning to people like that. I’ve got to tell you that the listener behavior reflected that too. Monday was Presidents’ Day and on a national holiday you always have minimal listening. Tuesday, according to streaming numbers, was comparable if not lower than Monday and it kept going down until late in the week. That tells you too that the entire city wasn’t worried about whether or not their local sports station had a signal. The entire city was all in survival mode trying to take care of their families just like we were.

You’re taking your family and you’re all sleeping in your bed together just to help each other stay warm. You’re all going downstairs to the fireplace and everyone is just sitting around the fireplace for hours and hours, for days and days, until the power comes back on. You’re trying to find whatever non-perishable goods you might have in your pantry because at that time we couldn’t go anywhere. We couldn’t even pull out of our driveways, most of us, because they were iced all the way down.

BN: Who were some of the people from your station that were in a bad spot due to the weather?

AW: I am just so proud of the effort that the guys put into wanting to keep the radio station on for the community of Houston for those that were able to listen. Sean Pendergast in the mornings walked over two miles each way in weather below 20 degrees. He busted out his old ski jacket. He was walking in starting around four in the morning. The power is out, so it’s pitch-dark outside. The sidewalks are iced over so he’s literally walking in the middle of the road to get in. Landry Locker in middays did the same thing; walking in and out both ways for two or three days.

John Lopez on In The Loop — our midday show — this guy is incredible. He set up a generator at his house. During his show instead of powering his house, he used it to power his comrex so that he could stay on the air from his home. Literally during the show the upstairs pipe in his bathroom exploded. You could hear it in the background and the water busted through the ceiling and was flowing into his living room. He put his comrex on mute, told his wife where to go turn off the main water valve, unmuted himself and stayed on the air until the show was over. He didn’t go fix the pipe until after the show.

BN: [Laughs]

AW: If you want to talk about a professional radio savant, I don’t know how he did that. That was absolutely incredible to witness. I’m texting him going, ‘Dude get off the air.’ And he kept telling me, ‘No, I’m doing the rest of the show.’ I’ve just never seen the type of professionalism from these guys that they showed last week. Ron “The Show” Hughley, he didn’t have power for four days. He has three kids under the age of six. He’s been in the state of Texas for about a year now and they had the same story that many people had where they showed up at the hotel they had booked — the only one they could find — and their power went out as soon as they got there.

One of our producers, Tyler, didn’t have power for three or four days. One of our producers, Figgy, lived at the radio station during the week. He brought his wife up and his dog and lived at the radio station just so that he could keep us on the air. He worked through the majority of those days just to keep us on the air, producing multiple shows every single day during the week. There were definitely some unsung heroes, man, that did some pretty powerful things and have some great stories to tell.

When you asked the best way to put it in perspective for you, our country station put a poll up on Twitter and asked which was worse for you, Hurricane Harvey or this winter storm? Sixty-five percent of the people said this winter storm was worse than Hurricane Harvey. That puts it in perspective just how devastating it was during that time to not have power and water for the majority of Houston. 

BN: Wow, man. That’s wild. Are things pretty much back to normal now?

AW: Yeah. Friday was the first day that we had the full staff back. The majority of people who didn’t have water were starting to be able to take showers again on Friday. Then today you’re seeing listenership not quite be back to 100 percent, but for the first time in over a week, it’s almost there and it’s dramatically on the up. There’s no more ice on the ground. I would say nearly, if not 100 percent, of Houston has power. Most everyone has water back. There are some people just depending on availability of plumbers and where you’re located that are still working on getting their water back. But as far as our staff, it appears that we’re 100 percent back in working order.

BN: In terms of how the station sounded during that time, what direction did you give the staff as far as what to talk about?

AW: We built a clear mission statement as to who we are and what we want to be every single segment and every single minute and every single second. These guys in moments like this when it’s very fluid, they can still lean back on their mission statement and they know the direction of the content that we should project. But we did have conversations before each show during the week where I just reminded them, listen, your power and your water is out. It was a struggle for you just to find the microphone today, and you should tell that story because the majority of your audience is feeling the same way. Don’t ignore it, lean into it. Lean into the community. Let them know that we’re here for them. Let them know that if we can be an escape just for a little bit today, we want to do that. If there’s any way that we can help, shoot us a text to let us know what’s going on in your area, in your community. We definitely designated a large part of the content to that last week because everyone was going through it and it’s so rare where a phenomenon like this happened, but one of them definitely happened last week.

BN: To go from real life stuff to, “Hey, so JJ Watt and Deshaun Watson.” Was it awkward at all to turn the conversation back to sports during that time?

AW: No, because they’re so good at what they do, right? These guys, they are members of the community and so they have such a great feel of how much sports talk, how much Texans, Rockets, Astros talk Houston could handle, want to handle, or listen to during a time where everyone’s struggling. They did a really fantastic job of transitioning back and forth. It didn’t feel off because it’s just who we are.

We’ve had our ratings successes over the last two years because we have defined ourselves to the listener of what they can expect every time they come in regardless of the situation. They stuck true to that and for that reason I don’t think the listener found it odd at all. Ideally they found it welcoming, warming, and it was an escape in those moments. Again, the guys balanced it really well with talking about their own situations. Also giving some public service announcements of the local facilities that had opened themselves up if people were struggling to find a warm place to stay. They did a great job of balancing those things out.

BN: Do you guys have any charity efforts going on?

AW: Yeah, our market manager is Sarah Frazier. She’s one of the most tied in leaders to the community that I’ve ever seen. She already had her finger on the pulse and even by Thursday night when Houston was still mostly without electricity, she had targeted a nonprofit called Kids’ Meals Houston. They lost their entire food pantry with the electricity being out. They feed thousands of kids — six years old and under — every single day of the week. Without having any of their food, losing all of it last week, they’re in desperate need because kids in our Houston community were instantly going hungry.

Houston's Youth is having a “Hunger Free Summer” Thanks to Kids' Meals -  d-mars.com

Starting Friday morning we got together and all of our radio stations were running promos and digital advertisements letting everyone know how they can help make sure that we don’t have young kids in our community go hungry during this time.

BN: Did you, or have you ever, worked with local teams to get a charity event going?

AW: I have before. In this case it was really hard to communicate with people, Noe. When the power went out, cell phone coverage also went out and towers were down the majority of the time. I think there was a feeling of how can we as a team, with our eight to nine stations in the building, impact Houston in the quickest way possible, because it’s all about immediacy. These kids don’t have anything to eat right now. In this case it made the most sense to use our resources in house, not waste any time trying to get ahold of people to coordinate, and we just did our thing.

To your point, so did the local teams as well. They did their own advocacies as well. A lot of them actually mimicked and did things similar to Kids’ Meals and helped out Kids’ Meals as well. I think it’s also pretty neat when everybody does their own movements and then we can impact Houston in a wider and greater way as well.

BN: Coming from Albany and Denver, what’s the closest thing you can compare the storm to in terms of some wild scenario that was on your hands?

AW: I personally have never experienced anything like this. Everyone here compared it to Hurricane Harvey, but they said that this is even more different than a hurricane because more people were out of power and water longer than you normally are during a hurricane. Everyone here just talked about how they knew how to handle hurricanes, but they didn’t know how to handle this. I guess there’s been some winter storms in Albany and Denver that’s impacted the commute. I’ve spent the night at some radio stations when that happened, but the vast amount of houses that lost power and water in the city, I’ve never seen or experienced anything like that anywhere I’ve been. Pretty bizarre.

BN: Maybe the winter storm is a little like COVID where overall the situation sucks, but there’s some good that comes from it. What are some of the good things that came from the storm for your station?

AW: It’s another reminder even during the pandemic of our lifetime that we can come together as a community and we can help others. There are countless stories across Houston, across the state, across the country, of people helping complete strangers. You saw that in my neighborhood. I had neighbors knocking on doors of people they didn’t know and making sure that there weren’t any elderly, kids, or pets that needed warmth or comfort or food for that night.

It just brings us together as a society and maybe even more so during a time where we’ve had a year where we’ve been forced to separate. To see people mask up and operate without fear and go help other people; we feel it in the city of Houston. Today we are mentioning three to four times an hour asking for people to help us with Kids’ Meals Houston and the response has been incredible. We’ve had listeners put together hundreds of sack lunches for these kids at their house.

Armen Williams Named PD of Sports Radio 610 in Houston | Barrett Sports  Media

One of my hosts went to the grocery store and ran into listeners on the same aisle buying food for these kids. They bonded, they hugged, they took a picture together. It’s this moment that brought us all together. You’re right; we have to be better for it, or we’re going to drive ourselves insane. We’ve gotten closer. Also for the dozen people who spent several nights together at the radio station, they’re going to have stories to tell for the rest of their lives and memories of how they kept our radio stations on the air for all of Houston during that time. They should be prideful of that. The stories of individuals who did the same things during Hurricane Harvey, those stories still live today, and the stories that we have from last week will do the same thing.

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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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