Opinions Sought: John Kincaid of ESPN Radio (and ATL radio )

Stews actually trail Buck and Kincade in the ratings. They've had great success in bringing more black listeners to the AM dial and do put up respectable numbers, but they're going against non sports shows that target their audience like Ryan Cameron in afternoon drive which hurt them. B and K is the one good thing 680's got going for it.

 

I actually heard about three minutes of the Lovie Smith/Tony Dungy commentary. I thought "oh boy" and turned the radio off.

 

That was about when I started listening.

I didn't think the guy was a liberal or conservative (frankly, when I listen to sports radio, I don't think about politics). I just thought he was terrible.

 

I have no idea what political party he belongs to, I just know an asshole alert when I hear one. If you want to crab about how nice it is to finally have two black coaches in the Super Bowl, you're an asshole.

 

Amen, particularly in the shrill way he was discussing it. Does the storyline get a little tired? Yes. But he was talking about it like a priest would discuss an abortion clinic or something. Asshattitude.

 

FWIW, I liked Buck & Kincaid. Only heard Kincaid solo once. Unremarkable.

ATL folks, who else does 680 have these days? Is that Christopher Rude moron still on? Or the South Carolina guy, Steve something, who mumbled unintelligibly and then laughed at his own mumblings?

 

Buck and Kincaid are terrible. I've driven through Atlanta at rush hour a few times, minus XM radio, and tuned them in.
I found them shrill and repetitive, a la Jim Rome, and found Buck unremarkable and nasally.
In other words, a pretty typical major-market sports radio call-in show.
As you might be able to tell, I don't listen to sports-talk radio much anymore.

 

Rude in the mornings along with the dim bulb Perry Laurentino and Jamie Dukes is the only other 680 daily local show. They do ESPN Radio midday.

 

Interesting thoughts and commentary all around. It sure seems as if the dissenters listen an awful lot to his work.
I'll weigh in this way. Though I do find many of the same things annoying at times that others do, I find myself compelled to listen to the guy.
I have never found him to be misinformed. I do think that sometimes his takes are out there, but he always explains his reasoning and it is not a "feeling" or a "hunch".
If you look at the national sports radio landscape, the guy is obviously a fast riser. A colleague of mine hired him in the business full time in Atlanta. The guy came from the business world where he was very successful. It was like a Kuselius situation, guy stepping in from out of nowhere to be a sports talk host.
His show has won the battle as the top dog in Atlanta. He has been doing successful afternoon drive for around seven years which is an eternity.
He has his own national radio show and gets the prime fill-in spots on the top sports radio network in the country too.
My guess is that his detractors are going to hear a lot more from him in the coming years. I read recently that he is going to be featured in some national publication as the rising star in the industry or something along those lines.
The guy is doing something right. I know right now that he would help our local product immensely if we could get him. His job is to get people talking and to listen. He seems to accomplish both pretty well.

 

Swell.
He's still a dick.

 

Radio,

A question: Do you, or can you, differentiate between what is "successful" and what's a quality product?

 

Thanks for checking in, John.