Veteran sports talk show host John Kincade will join fellow seasoned broadcaster Matt Chernoff on a new afternoon show on Atlanta sports radio station 680/93.7 The Fan starting Aug. 31.
Chuck Oliver, who has been co-hosting the show with Chernoff at the Fan for 18 years, will step aside to focus on his daily two-hour syndicated college football show and podcast, which is heard on dozens of smaller radio stations throughout the Southeast on the Southern Sports Today network. Aug. 18 will be his last day with Chernoff.
Oliver won’t be heard daily anymore on the Fan, but will still provide college football coverage and analysis through exclusive segments and promotions like Win Chuck’s Dinner.
On air Thursday, Oliver said he approached Fan owner David Dickey last November about leaving the daily afternoon show. After 12 years, he was getting burned out doing six hours a day on air on two different shows.
Credit: . 93.7/680 THE FAN
Credit: . 93.7/680 THE FAN
“It’s a silly, insane schedule,” Oliver said. “I can’t do both shows anymore … I’m getting older. It’s getting a little tougher. I don’t want anything to slip. I want to focus on Southern Sports Today.”
Kincade is a familiar voice on the Fan. He worked on air at the station with Buck Belue for 20 years until 2020, when Dickey had to make budget cuts during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I’m honored to come back to 680/The Fan, to be joining the place I called home for so long and never left in my heart,” Kincade said on air Thursday. “My family is thrilled to be back.”
The station announced last month that Kincade was returning but waited until Thursday to say where he’d land.
Dickey said he was happy to bring Kincade back to Atlanta. “He is a great broadcaster and an honorable man,” Dickey told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “He and I have enjoyed a wonderful relationship ever since we first met. The move made all the sense in the world for John and his family and the Dickey Broadcasting family.”
This scheduling change was made two weeks after the Fan announced on social media that it had reupped both Oliver and Chernoff to new multiyear contracts.
Kincade and Chernoff, who began his Atlanta radio career at the now-defunct 790/The Zone in 1998, have a combined 48 years on the Atlanta airwaves. “That’s pedigree and history,” Dickey said on air. “Two generations have grown up listening to both of you.”
Chernoff said on air that the news has not been easy for him to process.
“This has been emotional for me,” Chernoff admitted. “I love this show. This is a partnership. It’s like a marriage. Change will be tough for people. It is tough for me … People will push back. I’m going to ask people to give the new show a chance.”
After losing his job at the Fan in 2020, Kincade moved back to his hometown of Philadelphia and worked for six years hosting mornings at a sports station 97.5/The Fanatic. His final day there was Friday, July 31.
Earlier this year, Kincade told Barrett Media that he had survived three different cancer scares in his lifetime and needed a break from the stress of waking up at 4 a.m. each day for a morning show. The Fanatic is second in the Philadelphia market behind longtime sports market leader SportsRadio 94WIP.
“Just the fact that I’m walking and thriving, I’m celebrating life every day,” Kincade told Barrett. “I’m very fortunate to be alive and survived everything I’ve survived. What I want to do is enjoy my life every day. Part of that is doing things that I want to do on my terms.”
Kincade’s former co-host Belue works weekday evenings with Kelly Crull when the Braves aren’t playing and hosts a Saturday morning show with her at 9 a.m.
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