In December 2021, Matt Murphy departed his longtime news/talk home in Birmingham to take over the 12-3 PM timeslot in the lineup at SuperTalk 99.7 WTN.
And as he made his way to Music City to helm the midday show, a thought continually prevailed in his mind: “If I do my job, I’ll be in afternoon drive within three years.”
Mission accomplished.
Last month, Murphy was announced as the successor to Brian Wilson, who retired from the 3-7 PM window at the Cumulus Media Nashville news/talk station.
It’s easy to see why Matt Murphy would covet the afternoon drive slot on SuperTalk 99.7 WTN. Before Wilson, a news/talk radio powerhouse in his own right, the window was hosted by Phil Valentine. A radio legend in Nashville, Valentine unfortunately succumbed to the COVID-19 virus in August of 2021, leading to the shuffle that brought Murphy to the Tennessee capital in the fir st place.
“Since I came to Nashville, it was always a goal of mine,” Murphy said of his new opportunity in afternoons. “Brian Wilson has made such a name for himself, not only in Nashville but across the United States. The idea to follow him after he followed the great Phil Valentine is just a great honor and opportunity for me, and one that I very much look forward to.”
“The idea that I would sit in the same seat as Phil, that I would then sit in the same seat as Brian, in the same daypart, is just a great chance for me to showcase what we’ve already built in middays going forward,” Murphy later added.
And that chance to not only hone his craft in the 12-3 PM timeslot on the station, but to also acclimate himself to the Nashville and Tennessee political scenes after spending more than 20 years in Alabama allows him to hit the ground running in afternoons.
“I love covering the national scene, but I like to dig into the state scene, as well, being a local show,” Murphy said. “And learning that, in the state of Tennessee, there’s one statewide elected official — it’s the governor. In Alabama, you had the governor, lieutenant governor, Secretary of State, Treasurer, Attorney General, auditor, all of these statewide elected positions.So, naturally, there’s a lot of jockeying for positioning before an election season.
“Well here, all of those are appointed positions, except for the governor. So that dynamic alone, it seems like a little thing, but it’s a huge thing in terms of the nature of politics. So when you start learning, you have to catch up to speed with all of those types of things. So that was a lot of excitement. And I’m glad that we did it this way. There was some thought about where I would fit into the lineup three years ago. I’m glad that it happened the way that it did, that I kind of learned the lay to land before I got into that drive time slot.”
Murphy said it didn’t sink in that he would take over such a venerated timeslot until Cumulus Media Nashville Market President and General Manager Allison Warren — alongside Talk Programming Operations Manager Paul Mason — that he had, in fact, been tabbed to take over afternoon drive.
“There was always a feeling that I had that opportunity in front of me, so long as I didn’t screw it up, honestly,” he said with a chuckle. “But it wasn’t until she officially said ‘We would like for you to be our afternoon drive host,’ that it kind of hit me. And then I did think about the legacy of the radio station, the incredible power that that radio station has demonstrated.
“Things like the pushback against the income tax, where Phil Valentine orchestrated what was a statewide effort to stop a state income tax in the state of Tennessee. I mean, moments like that. You’re trying to carry on that tradition. So it’s the culmination of what I came here to do. The opportunities that are in front of us now are limitless … so I’m very excited.”
The three-year period at SuperTalk 99.7 WTN in middays also allowed Matt Murphy to get a deeper understanding of the audience that listens to the 100,000-watt flamethrower that can be heard as far away as Alabama, Georgia, and Kentucky.
“I think you have to know who you’re talking to. You have to understand what (the audience’s) concerns are immediately,” he said. “And so that balance becomes when we’re going to talk about national subjects versus when we’re talking about things that are involving Davidson County, or Nashville, Tennessee, or Tennessee more broadly.
“And frankly, I think in the last eight years — as incredible as Donald Trump has been for America, in my opinion — but for the industry that I work in … I think there’s a danger in not serving the local community and not serving the state community and making sure that you’re hitting those subjects as well. So I try to do my best to balance the two, and there are plenty of ways to do that, but you have to know the area that you’re in in order to do that effectively.”
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Garrett Searight is Barrett Media’s News Editor, which includes writing bi-weekly industry features and a weekly column. He has previously served as Program Director and Afternoon Co-Host on 93.1 The Fan in Lima, OH, and is the radio play-by-play voice of Northern Michigan University hockey. Reach out to him at Garrett@BarrettMedia.com.
