Brian Murphy, co-host of the morning show on KNBR, has signed a four-year contract extension to remain with the station. As announced on the Murph & Markus show by KNBR program director Mike Hohler, Murphy will remain a part of the station through the spring of 2029, which will extend his tenure with the sports talk radio outlet to more than 25 years. Upon the news being revealed, the show played applause sound effects and celebrated Murphy inking a deal to stay with the brand.
As he expressed his gratitude on the air, Murphy thanked Cumulus Operations president Dave Milner and regional vice president/market manager Larry Blumhagen, along with his agent Paul Anderson. Murphy has been hosting morning drive with Boucher over parts of the last two years as the station has undergone several changes to its programming lineup and managerial structure.
“I never wanted to leave,” Murphy told Barrett Media. “It’s home, and it has been home for 20+ years, so that’s a strong lore to keep doing something that you really love and have so much fun at that has never felt like work.”
The news takes place less than two years after KNBR laid off morning show co-host Paul McCaffrey that ended his 18-year run with the station. The Cumulus Media-owned station also let go of Tom Tolbert and John Lund as part of layoffs last November and subsequently reshuffled its daytime programming lineup.
“While certainly we’ve had unfortunate changes – and nobody’s happy about all the loss of all of our colleagues,” Murphy said. “….It’s a tough transition for all of us. The fact of the matter is if you have a chance to stay at KNBR makes a nice offer, a nice gesture to stay, then I’ll accept it.”
All three former KNBR hosts recently collaborated to launch the Bay Area Sports Collective, a podcast network that includes new shows and is co-owned by former KNBR program director Jeremiah Crowe. Murphy did not elaborate on whether he engaged in discussions with the venture, but confirmed that he was “mulling many options” throughout the process.
“Yeah, definitely my mind was open to what’s next because, as I saw at KNBR, change is constant, so I had to keep my mind open and was ready to see what was out there,” Murphy said. “But fortunately for my sort of stability and consistency, KNBR really stepped up, and I can’t thank them enough, especially given the climate and how everything’s gone the last few years. It was a real pleasant turn of events.”
Murphy, who has been a member of KNBR since 2004, will be remaining on the airwaves for several years to come as teams in the San Francisco Bay Area look to bring more championships to the locale. The station serves as the flagship home of the San Francisco Giants and San Francisco 49ers and has introduced several new hosts on the airwaves in recent months, including Greg Silver and Derek Papa. Murphy expressed optimism in the direction of KNBR and recognized having the play-by-play rights as an anchor and reaching listeners in new ways has kept him confident in the future.
“I was sort of confident that I had value to the station,” Murphy said, “and I hoped that we could kind of mutually recognize that, and I think that’s what happened.”
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