It’s been over three months since Tom Tolbert and John Lund were both let go as part of Cumulus Media’s cuts at KNBR in San Francisco. Both were fixtures of the Bay Area sports radio scene for decades, with Tolbert being part of the KNBR brand since 1996 following a seven-year career in the NBA.
Since being shown the door at KNBR, Lund started his own podcast in January, entitled John Lund Unleashed: A Bay Area Sports Podcast. The podcast airs new episodes daily at 8 a.m. Pacific on YouTube, featuring Lund’s takes on the world of sports and exclusive interviews with prominent figures in the San Francisco sports scene.
Lund was joined on his podcast Friday morning by Tolbert, who sat down for an extensive interview and spoke about his dismissal from KNBR back in November.
“I knew something was going on that day when (Mike) Hohler’s hair looked halfway decent and he wasn’t wearing a hat,” joked Tolbert about his sighting of KNBR’s program director that afternoon. “I went, ‘We’re probably screwed.’ And, oh God, he’s wearing a collared shirt too? Oh man, we’re toast.”
Tolbert and Lund were part of nationwide cuts by Cumulus that also included Creative Director Tony Rhein who had been with the station for more than 15 years among many other names around the country.
Beginning Monday, Tolbert will be launching his own podcast on YouTube, which he stated will contain discussions about sports and entertainment. He said there will be some focus on San Francisco-based teams, but only if “it’s worth it.”
“We’re not in the sports talk business. We’re in the entertainment business. We’re entertaining people,” said Tolbert on what listeners can expect from his podcast. “That’s what I’m hoping I can do with the guests we’re going to have on. I’m hoping to have a lot of the same guests that I had on throughout the course of my years at KNBR—maybe once a week, we’ll try to do an interview—but we’re not going to stick to that.”
Tolbert later spoke about his appreciation for the remaining staff at the San Francisco-based station and why he wouldn’t have ventured into the podcast space if he were still part of the KNBR roster.
“This is something that I wouldn’t have done if I hadn’t been shown the door at KNBR, because I probably would have stuck there. I liked the people that I worked with,” Tolbert stated. “I loved working with Copes (Adam Copeland) and Tim (Webb) and Derek (Papa). They’re just really cool guys—fun to work with, fun to be around. And that’s probably the part of the job I’ll remember the most—the people.”
During his tenure at KNBR, Tolbert hosted with Ralph Barbieri, Ray Ratto, Rod Brooks, Larry Krueger, and John Lund, in addition to Copeland. Tolbert also spent time with ESPN, working on NBA coverage from 2002 to 2006.
Tolbert’s new podcast launches Monday and will produce episodes every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, with clips shared on his social media platforms.
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