Audacy appoints DC Ops Director Chris Kinard to succeed Eskin

Audacy has named Washington DC cluster operations manager Chris Kinard as its new vice president of sports formats. Kinard succeeds Spike Eskin, who recently left his position to return to Philadelphia to co-host the afternoon show at SportsRadio 94WIP.

After joining 106.7 The Fan (WJFK) as an intern in 1998, Kinard worked his way up to producer in 2007 and later became the station’s brand manager and DC operations manager in 2019. In 2020, he expanded his responsibilities to include the role of brand manager for Classic Hits 94.7 The Drive (WIAD), The Team 980 (WTEM-AM) and Connecting Vets.

Kinard will continue to perform these responsibilities while overseeing brand and format strategy for Audacy’s sports channels.

Jeff Sottolano, Audacy’s executive vice president and chief programming officer, said, “Chris has distinguished himself over many years leading WFJK-FM and WTEM-AM in DC. I am excited to have Chris take on this new role and work with our local and central leadership to further strengthen our unrivaled position in sports.”

Kinard said, “I am thrilled to have the opportunity to lead our best local sports radio stations. Audacy is home to the most listened to brands and most influential local voices in sports, and we have an exciting future ahead of us. I am grateful to Jeff Sottolano, Dave Richards and Danny Freisinger for this opportunity.”