Over a span of several months at KNBR, Greg Silver had been working after Golden State Warriors games on Dubs OT postgame shows with insider John Dickinson. Following a packed stretch of games, Silver decided to take advantage of a three-day gap in the schedule by flying down to Los Angeles, Calif. to visit his grandparents. Shortly after his plane landed, he discovered that the station had laid off longtime personalities John Lund and Tom Tolbert, creating hosting vacancies in the midday and afternoon time slots. Silver then received a message from program director Mike Hohler and market manager Larry Blumhagen asking if he could meet with them and subsequently joined a call that would change his career.
Silver discovered that the station wanted to pair him with San Francisco 49ers play-by-play announcer Greg Papa on the midday show, forming a new duo on the airwaves in the middle of the fall sports season. With all the sudden changes taking place, he was shocked at being afforded a chance to work in this capacity and appreciative of the venture.
“I had been climbing my way up the ladder over the span of a couple of years, but it felt like more than just kind of the next step up,” Silver said. “So obviously I was very grateful to have that opportunity, but it was a ton to process between the people that had been let go.”
Silver did not evince the layoffs to represent windfall for younger employees to advance at the station, and he found the occurrence unfortunate because of the strong culture that he felt had been established. Reflecting on the legacy of Lund and Tolbert, he considers them both to be consummate professionals and understands the potential frustration of the audience in the abrupt nature of these moves. On top of that, the external perception of KNBR had been wavering with previous cuts, show cancellations and employing three different program directors in four years.
“I can’t blame the public whatsoever for the way they reacted to those moves because radio is a very interpersonal business,” Silver said. “Even if you don’t know these people directly, if you’re tuning in to listen to their shows and they’re on the air for 20 hours in a given week, you feel like you get to know them, and there’s a personable element. So when that gets taken away from you on no notice, it’s not just a shock to the workplace and everyone that had to kind of pick up those pieces and recover.”
Silver is the son of award-winning sportswriter Mike Silver, who is currently a senior writer covering the NFL for The Athletic. Throughout his youth, Greg Silver watched his father convey an indefatigable work ethic and dedication to the craft. In addition, he always treated everyone around him with respect and dignity while networking to forge positive relationships in the business. Concurrent with Silver’s midday debut this past December, KNBR also added Greg Papa’s son, Derek, to the afternoon drive program with Adam Copeland. Even though they carry eminent surnames, Silver wants to prove himself to the audience and combat preconceived notions surrounding nepotism.
“You can’t ever control how people are going to react and what they’re going to say, but I can control not acting like a nepo baby and all of those stereotypes,” Silver said. “So just showing up, being a team player, being willing to work hard [and] pay my dues. Just take as much advice you can from people who have done this a lot longer and people that are smarter than you.”
Bruce Gilbert, the senior vice president of sports for Cumulus Media and Westwood One, informed Silver that there is no substitute for on-air repetitions, meaning that continuing to host will assist in establishing more synergy with Papa. The show will be broadcasting from the NFL Scouting Combine next week, an experience that Silver believes will help the program bond. Yet throughout this endeavor, he is trying to recognize his strengths while also supporting his colleagues and striving to offer his best.
“I do try to just move forward and learn a ton along the way,” Silver said. “When you’re paired with somebody like Greg Papa, who knows as much he knows, it almost just forces it upon you to keep working to try to soak up as much as you can all the time.”
Regardless of the 35-year age gap between the two hosts, Silver feels that he has been able to foster rapport with Papa and bond over football. As part of his multifaceted role, he is trying to position Papa to shine and demonstrate his encyclopedic knowledge of local sports. Adequately setting him up to thrive and fulfilling his obligations with a keen awareness of the audience has permitted the show to succeed, and it recently garnered an 18th-place finish in their category during the recent Barrett Media Top 20 series.
Silver does not worry about the specific ranking strata but is appreciative to have received an indication that the transition is going well. In being a new member of the show, he attributes much of the success to Papa and Lund and how they were able to resonate with the audience.
“I am young in this business, and it is my job to help make the show fun and informative and entertaining,” Silver said. “There are not a lot of people like Greg Papa in terms of the knowledge they’ve accumulated and the skill of broadcasting, and if you’re a fan of the teams in this market, then that’s absolutely the place to go.”
Aside from his role co-hosting the midday show, Silver is also the co-producer of the program and has other obligations to compile the overall sound. Facilitating the balance of these responsibilities comes through getting ahead on work and creating elements that will advance the show. Furthermore, he is also trying to find ways to keep everyone engaged, present new angles on topics and bring creativity to his work.
“I don’t think that the job is about having to do anything specific as far as, ‘Do X, Y and Z as a radio host,’ or, ‘You have to do X, Y and Z in terms of your personality,’” Silver said. “It’s really just, ‘How can you be your best self for 20 hours of the week and find a way to make that sustainable?’”
Silver has hosted programs before dating back to his time as a college student at UC Santa Barbara and also had the chance to call sporting events on the campus station. Since joining KNBR in April 2023, he has chimed in on select evening, overnight and weekend programming while continuing to freelance as a play-by-play announcer. As a regular part of the weekday prime lineup, he remains cognizant that the listening population had been familiar with a consistent midday pairing for half a decade.
“You can’t always please people,” Silver explained. “I’ve really gotten out of that mindset of being in the people-pleasing business because if you do that, you’re going to drive yourself crazy but also taking seriously the role of trying to put what you believe is going to be a good product for your audience out there.”
Being situated in the building, Silver can discern the leadership of Hohler, who was promoted to the program director role last July, and he is appreciative of his relaxed approach while also managing logistics and personnel. Silver has also had good conversations with Blumhagen despite not meeting regularly, but he always greets him when they cross paths. With profound respect and veneration towards the company executives as they navigate a media landscape with reduced advertising revenue, he considers it his job to prove their inclination correct in assigning him a weekday hosting slot.
“I’m not so naïve that you don’t get this role at age 25 in a market like the Bay Area if you’re not perceived as young and cheap and the industry is booming,” Silver said. “Unfortunately, that’s just not the way things work and I’m grateful, but it speaks like a lot of people have had to pay the price for this too.”
As a young industry professional, Silver looks to keep terrestrial radio and digital audio verticals in the conversation by maintaining a presence on social exhibit platforms. When the on-air light is illuminated, he considers himself to be a performer able to present revelry and embrace self-deprecating humor. Blending elements of entertainment with expertise surrounding the local teams, Silver seeks to inform and occasionally persuade the listening audience while not taking himself too seriously.
“I would say that the sports world is never really worth throwing hate at somebody toward or anything,” Silver explained. “If it’s all fun debates or discussions, then that’s what it’s all about, but [at the] end of the day, this is not life or death, and I think that when I have days and I’ve had shows where I feel a little bit lighter, then I think it ends up being a better product anyway.”
Although Silver always arrives at the studio prepared and equipped with compelling opinions and a shrewd understanding of the marketplace, he does not have a definite future goal in mind. On the contrary, he is staying intensely concentrated on the present tasks at hand and affirms he would need binoculars to have a semblance of a depiction of future success. Aspiring to disseminate the best product possible and honoring the decisions made by the company, he is looking to engender further prosperity and keep up in the race for reach and relevance.
“It’s no secret that things have changed at a fast pace in my time at KNBR with multiple rounds of layoffs and how we’ve done different shows and all of that sort, and so I think when you get too specific, and I will get more specific as time goes on, and I think it’s important to be specific to a degree,” Silver said. “But in this current moment, I’m really just zoned in on everything this has to offer, and whatever it leads to in five years or 10 years, I’m not sure, but the answers will come to me in due time.”
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Derek Futterman is an associate editor and sports media reporter for Barrett Media. Additionally, he has worked in a broad array of roles in multimedia production – including on live game broadcasts and audiovisual platforms – and in digital content development and management. He previously interned for Paramount within Showtime Networks, wrote for the Long Island Herald and served as lead sports producer at NY2C. To get in touch, email Derek@BarrettMedia.com or find him on X @derekfutterman.
