Is it finally time for a John Kincade and Philadelphia reunion?

Maybe.

The veteran sports radio host and Broomall native was recently let go by 680 the Fan in Atlanta and is considering his next move while enjoying some downtime.

Crossing Broad reached out to Kincade, who told us the following about his plans moving forward:

“Every single option is on the table. I don’t plan on working again until 2021, but would certainly be open to coming home to Philadelphia.”

We’re conditioned to believe that 94 WIP would be John’s destination if he did come home. He’s made regular appearances on the station over the years and enjoys a longstanding relationship with morning show host Angelo Cataldi.

“In 25 years, my relationship with Angelo Cataldi has been much more beneficial to me than it has to him,” Kincade said, with a laugh.

Jokes aside, there are a lot of questions surrounding the future of the morning show. Does Angelo have a say in determining his successor? WIP sources have previously told Crossing Broad that Cataldi would like to hand the show to a person of his choosing. The problem is that Cataldi is not yet ready to retire, and signed a multi-year contract extension last November. If Entercom was interested in bringing Kincade in, they’d have to find a temporary landing spot until Angelo did retire, but there isn’t much wiggle room. WIP has a stable, ratings-winning lineup from 10 a.m. through the evenings with Joe DeCamara, Jon Ritchie, Jon Marks, Ike Reese, and Joe Giglio. If it ain’t broke, it doesn’t need fixing, and WIP continues to be successful with their weekday programming ever since Spike Eskin took over for Andy Bloom and stabilized things following the RADIO WARS drama of five years ago.

Furthermore, we’ve been told that the morning show operates as a self-sustaining machine with little oversight from management. Personnel matters regarding that time slot sometimes (but not always) go higher up the chain of command, to Senior Vice President and Market Manager David Yadgaroff, who took on an elevated role following Marc Rayfield’s 2017 departure.

Across the way, in Bala, could 97.5 be an option? Would Kincade even consider working for WIP’s main competitor?

Recently, there’s been a lot of noise surrounding the Fanatic’s morning show, which is currently manned by Marc Farzetta and Bob Cooney following Tra Thomas’ departure. Recent reports out of the New York Post have linked Craig Carton to that shift, though we have reason to believe that the story is being pushed to increase a possible WFAN contract offer. Carton recently got out of jail and owes significant money in restitution, and working in New York pays more than working in Philly. Plus, Beasley likely would not hand out Carton-level money for another morning show host when they are already committing a large chunk of cash to successful in-market programs like Preston and Steve (WMMR) and The John DeBella Show (WMGK).

The Fanatic seems set with Anthony Gargano on middays and Mike Missanelli on PM drive, though sources tell us management wasn’t enamored with Mike’s recent headphone-throwing incident. “Don’t be surprised if the Fanatic makes some significant changes,” said another source familiar with Beasley’s thinking. Still, it would seem like mornings is the slot that would turn over before 10am-2pm or 2pm to 6pm at WPEN.

It’s worth considering Cataldi’s reaction if Kincade were to go to a competitor. Would it be sacrilegious to finally come home, but go to the “other” station instead? If Cataldi was so upset with Marc Farzetta for going to 97.5, wouldn’t he feel the same way about Kincade doing it?

Something to think about.

John Kincade at the Fanatic would be a nice get for that station, which is historically seen as lesser competition to WIP. They have a couple of radio veterans in Gargano and Missanelli, but most of their budding talent is still relatively young (Andrew Salciunas, Jamie Lynch, etc) while WIP is rounding out their nights and weekends with respected and entrenched hosts like Glen Macnow, Ray Didinger, Jody McDonald, and Rickie Ricardo.

We’ll see what happens, but we’ll probably have to wait until late December.

 

Note: John and I are not related.