Kirk Minihane Biography, Wife, Family, Father, Salary

Kirk Minihane Biography, Wife, Family, Father, Salary

A lot of the time, many are told that the way to become successful is by sticking to the conventional, walking the well-trodden path. But that was not for Kirk Minihane, the American radio personality and presenter from Massachusetts. Kirk’s outspoken and controversial personality has earned him success as a broadcaster and columnist.

Kirk Minihane Biography

Kirk Minihane was born on 31st October 1974 in Winchester, Massachusetts to Patricia Doucet and Peter Minihane. Kirk is one of three boys born to the couple. They all grew up together in Massachusetts.

On the 22nd of June, 2017, he lost his mother to cancer. She had been sick with pancreatic cancer for over a year. In her memory, donations were made to the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network.

This radio personality attended Winchester High School and played high school basketball. In 1998, he graduated from Fordham University. Over the years, Kirk has worked in radio and made his mark as an outspoken and regular controversial figure. In 2009, he joined Entercom Sports’ WEEI team as a fill-in for a variety of their programs and a host for their weekend shows. After working with the station for a few years and seemingly being impressed by his work, he began working as a weekly columnist for their website.

In February 2013, with dwindling ratings due to the launch of the CBS Radio Sports talk affiliate in 2009, Dennis & Callahan, one of the biggest sports show on the radio started losing its dominance. It became apparent that it had to do something to return to its place at the summit of sports radio. Then entered Kirk Minihane.

Kirk Minihane joined Dennis & Callahan and became the third host, and shortly after, it became apparent that Kirk was the boost they needed. In his first few periods on the show came the Kirk Signature moment. Kirk and Callahan were interviewing a Boston Globe writer who had just written a takedown of their publication, WEEI. The two hosts bludgeoned the reporter for 20 minutes, lambasted him for poor sources, and failed to disclose that he was once an intern at the station. It was breaking the fourth wall moment that made Minihane famous.

Minihane speaks of this encounter as the moment he became a lot more confident and got comfortable challenging things. It is this personality and brashness that has earned him a couple of suspensions over the course of his career including a famous incident where he called Fox sportscaster, Erin Andrews a ‘gutless b****’ in July 2014. It was a moment that sparked outrage across the country, with Fox going as far as to pull advertising from the radio’s parent company, Entercom.

Kirk’s personality, however, had the desired effect on Dennis & Callahan, the show’s ratings got boosted, narrowly edging its closest rival. During Minihane’s three years on the program, the show’s numbers nearly doubled.

Minihane strongly believes in the responsibility of entertaining his listeners and often defers gossiping during his shows. While most sports talk radio hosts would spend their time breaking down the previous night’s game, Minihane prefers to rail against his colleagues in the Boston Sports media, calling writers ‘sycophants’ and mocking other hosts. The popularity of his shows so far suggests he’s offering something unique to listeners.

Kirk Minihane Biography, Wife, Family, Father, Salary
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Salary 

Kirk’s salary at WEEI is not of public knowledge at the moment but it is understood that he signed a multi-year deal with the radio in 2014. He’s also gotten his own show and podcast since then so it wouldn’t be a surprise if he got a jerk in his contract.

His Wife, Father, and Family

When he’s not being an intentional a**hole on the radio, Kirk goes home to his wife, Christine and their two children – a daughter named Cate and a son named Harrison.

Kirk Minihane has lost both of his parents. His father died shortly before his mother on May 4, 2017. It was a loss that took a toll on Kirk’s mental health. He recently left his popular radio show, Kirk and Callahan to deal with his mental health problems.

Other Facts about Kirk Minihane

1. He used to want to be a screenwriter before making the crossover to sports journalism. After his efforts at becoming a screenwriter in Hollywood, he came back to Boston to write for WEEI.com, which was relaunched in 2008.

2. Kirk struggles with depression. The unconventional sports journalist has been open about his struggles with depression and suicidal thoughts. It is a struggle that has seen him take a break from his show to deal with his mental health.