Bonta Hill grew up a fan of San Francisco’s sports teams – albeit before the dominance of the Golden State Warriors and San Francisco Giants – and was always willing to talk about the teams at the drop of a hat. Reading about sports from the local newspapers was representative of an escape for Hill, as he grew up in an unstable home and in a high crime area. At the age of 10, he was placed into foster care and struggled to balance maintaining financial stability with his academic performance.
Nearly 15 years later, Hill was working as a supervisor at United Parcel Service (UPS), but was let go by the company for what he referred to as minor errors. Shortly thereafter, he began working at a local Peet’s Coffee to pay his bills, but continued to watch sports from afar. Recognizing his love and passion for the local teams, a friend of his suggested he try to go back to school to pursue a career in sports journalism.
“I went back to school at the age of 26, walked into the journalism department and asked the department chair at the time, Juan Gonzales, ‘Hey man, I like to write; I’d like to try to be a sports writer,’” Hill recollected. “I did a story for him. A few months later, I won this award at the Journalism Association of Community Colleges, and he offered me the sports editor position the next semester.”
From his early days at the City College of San Francisco writing and editing sports stories for The Guardian, Hill possessed a determination to try to differentiate himself from his competition by taking advantage of any opportunities that would help him diversify and/or sharpen his skills, along with networking with those across sports and media.
He transferred to San Francisco State University in 2011 to obtain his bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism and continued his public address announcing duties at the City College of San Francisco. Furthermore, he continued his writing by starting as a correspondent for the San Francisco Examiner in February 2011, covering sports on deadline at the college and professional level. Once he completed his stint as a public address announcer in early 2013, he worked simultaneously in a similar writing role with the San Francisco Chronicle, trying to continue to garner as much experience as possible in media.
While Hill thought he was going to be a writer from the time he entered school, making the move to San Francisco State University gave him his first exposure to working in sports talk radio – and he found to prefer the medium because of his nascent ability to discuss sports. In May 2013, Hill began working as an intern for SportsPhone 680 at KNBR where he operated radio consoles, wrote broadcast copy and screened phone calls from listeners. Aside from refining his interpersonal communication skills, he also grasped another valuable lesson applicable to all areas of sports media and something that would prove to be valuable years later.
“I learned what not to do in sports – and that’s burn bridges,” said Hill. “I thought that was very, very important. I saw a lot of people burn bridges; I saw a lot of people quit. There was a lot of turnover obviously. Some people were unhappy with the money they were making [or] the role they had. I just learned not to burn bridges, and learned to be patient [as well].”
Hill was hired in a full-time role after completing his internship, continuing to work behind the scenes; however, he ultimately knew that his place was behind the microphone in the main studio. To achieve this goal and prove himself in one of the top markets in the United States though, he needed to mature his “raw” talent and prove himself in other areas. He always knew that he would succeed in his hometown if he remained focused on his ultimate goal, which is why he was offended when he was told that he would need to follow an industry archetype by a colleague.
During graveyard shifts in which Hill would engineer San Francisco Giants games, Hill envisioned himself talking sports to an audience on the air despite the station having its lineup set. One morning at the end of a shift, he spoke to a former producer for NBC Sports Bay Area, and suggested that it was almost his time to receive a chance to be on the airwaves.
“He said, ‘Bro, you really think you’re going to be able to get a job in this market? You’re going to have to go to Bakersfield; you’re going to have to go to Eureka.’ And I went off on him,” recalled Hill, “and I said, ‘I’m good enough to run with the big dogs. If I’m not good enough to make it here, then what the hell am I doing this for? I’m going to make it here.’”
Confident in his knowledge of the Bay Area’s sports teams while procuring a naïve yet calculated hubris, Hill began working with radio host and baseball historian Marty Lurie, who would host Weekends in the Park and Giants Post-Game Talk at the station. As Lurie began to see Hill’s potential as a radio host, he gradually gave him the opportunity to appear on-air during his shows and interact with callers.
“Marty would make me stay after my shift where I was making no money to take calls with him and do a show with him,” Hill remembered. “When I didn’t have work on the weekend, he was like, ‘Hey, come down to do a show with me. Let’s go.’”
Hill continued to hone his craft working with Lurie and the belief that he would be able to build a sustainable career in the Bay Area was becoming more lucid and less improbable in scope. Nonetheless, there are never any guarantees in media, and Hill knew that the feasibility of him succeeding in a market with fixated lineups was still quite implausible. He never stopped having confidence in himself and his abilities throughout this time though, resolute in his commitment to realize his ultimate aspiration.
“I didn’t know if something was going to open up – I had no idea what was going on – but I had the self-confidence that one day I would do it even though it wasn’t realistic in this market with the lineups being so set,” said Hill. “I had the belief, although it may have been delusional, [that] I would one day be on the air in the Bay Area.”
By the time 2016 came around, Hill’s profile had gained prestige in the industry and word of his talent was circulating among industry professionals. One day, legendary radio host and play-by-play announcer Greg Papa was listening to the Giants postgame show, and contacted Lurie to tell him that he liked Hill’s voice and to contact him. In short order, Hill met Papa one night in the press box at Oracle Park, home of the San Francisco Giants, and quickly grasped that he wanted him to join his show on KNBR’s competitor: 95.7 The Game.
“I had never met Papa; I just knew about him doing Raiders games [and] obviously doing Niners games,” said Hill. “He’s a legend – just untouchable. You don’t even think about working [with him] when you’re growing up in the business.”
Following his conversation with Greg Papa, then-program director Don Kollins hired Hill to join Papa on his midday show, replacing previous show co-host John Lund who had been hired by KNBR. It was surreal to Hill, who just months earlier was engineering shows and working overnight shifts, along with doing shows for no pay on the weekends to gain experience. Now a broadcast entity in one of the largest broadcast markets in the country had taken a chance on him at the request of one of their hosts, which put immense pressure on Hill to flourish.
“A lot of people thought I was going to shrink,” said Hill, “and some of that kind of spurred me to keep me motivated because a lot of people didn’t think that I would last.”
Papa’s midday show did not implement any callers into the programming, deviating from a more congenial, interactive style of radio he had experienced with Lurie at KNBR. Moreover, it was essential that Hill worked to establish a working chemistry between him and Papa and try to make the most of what he considers to be a lucky break.
“I did a bunch of studying because I knew Papa was going to be watching everything,” said Hill. “I watched everything anyway, but you had to watch it a bit differently knowing that you’re working with a guy like Greg Papa.”
Throughout each show, Papa and Hill would analyze the action of the previous day and talk about the upcoming games set to take place. As they approached three years on the air together though, Papa abruptly left the station to take the radio play-by-play job with the San Francisco 49ers. It was a move that surprised many, including Hill, and left his future with the station in jeopardy if not for station program director Matt Nahigan.
“Matt’s been everything, and I think he helped save the station at 95.7 The Game when we were kind of going through some low moments – and here we are now still ticking,” said Hill. “He’s given me an opportunity – he could have let me go after Papa left.”
An aspect of what makes Nahigan the “best boss” Hill has had in the radio industry is his perpetual ambition to generate favorable ratings and revenue for the station and those involved. Superior performance comes with establishing good habits in a productive work environment, and Nahigan does that by meeting with his employees on a weekly basis to discuss their strengths and shortcomings.
“Sometimes we need to be coached; we all fall into bad habits,” said Hill. “I don’t care how old you are or how long you’ve been in the game. There’s always somebody to be there to have constructive criticism, and Matt Nahigan [has] provided that.”
Nahigan moved Hill to work with Matt Steinmetz and Daryle Johnson to form a new midday show called Bonta, Steiny & Guru. While there was undoubtedly an adjustment period for Hill to familiarize himself with his colleagues and the show’s audience, he felt comfortable in the direction and format of the show. Being able to take calls from listeners again was something always indicative of sports radio to him that had been missing for the time he had worked with Papa, and he was elated to once again foster that unique connection.
“I loved working with Greg Papa, but I did miss taking phone calls from the audience because that’s sports talk radio – hearing from crazy fans,” Hill stated. “They’re going to say some wild things; they’re going to say some great things. That’s sports talk radio.”
To Hill, the style of conversation between him and his co-hosts was more laid back and easygoing, but the show quickly culminated nearly a year after its launch when Joe Fortenbaugh left the station to pursue a new opportunity with ESPN in Las Vegas. As a result, the station revamped its lineup to appeal to the listening audience and to compete with KNBR, especially in the mornings with the longstanding duo Murph & Mac.
Once the opportunity came up, Hill wanted to host in the morning daypart, and Nahigan gave him the opportunity to do so with Joe Shasky and Kate Scott (who departed the show after the first year) on their new program The Morning Roast with Bonta & Shasky. For nearly the last two years, the two Bay Area natives have talked sports each morning on 95.7 The Game, having the first chance to react to the prior night’s action on the air.
“Morning shows set the tone for the station every single day,” remarked Hill. “That’s something that I think we both take pride in. You can be a little lighter – people want to laugh in the morning. They don’t want to get hit with all the X’s and O’s…. You can do a little bit of that, but you have to remind yourself that people are just waking up.”
Hill enjoys being able to determine the direction of the show with his co-host, a sense of ownership that he had never felt during his radio career up until that point. While he does not seek to be domineering in his authority, having a share of the final say on key facets of the show has augmented his impetus to produce the most entertaining show possible. This year, the show has seen success in its ratings, becoming the first morning program to win the winter book in the history of the station, along with topping KNBR’s Murph & Mac in the month of May.
“It’s been a lot of fun and for the first time to be honest with you, I feel like it’s my show,” said Hill. “….I didn’t think I’d do morning drive; I didn’t think I was capable of waking up every single day [to get] to the studio, and it’s been a grind at times. It’s been a great adjustment. Yes, it’s different – but it’s been a lot of fun and it’s been life-changing.”
Not all radio personalities decide to try to find a role on television, no less perform it at the same time. Yet there is a growing number of personalities seeking to establish themselves on multiple platforms, and Hill, with his ambition and determination to succeed, sought after an opportunity – one that ironically involved his former co-host Greg Papa.
Aside from working at KNBR as the 49ers’ radio play-by-play announcer and co-host of a midday show with John Lund, Papa had also been working on television with NBC Sports Bay Area to host Warriors Pre/Postgame Live for the last several years. In the fourth quarter of 2020, the network decided to change up the talent by moving Papa back to Giants Pre/Postgame Live, a show he had previously hosted from 2010 to 2016. Subsequently, Hill was named as the new host of Warriors Pre/Postgame Live, his first television role. Being seen has only enhanced the standing of his radio show, and it is a multi-platform presence he seeks to maintain as the years go on.
“Now that I’m on TV and they see me at night [and] they wake up with me in the morning, it’s been huge for our station; I think it’s been huge for our show; and I think it’s been huge for NBC as well kind of cross-promoting,” said Hill. “….I had to do multiple things. I get antsy if I’m just doing one thing and I get bored and what-not.”
In this role, Hill’s notoriety among sports fans in the Bay Area has elevated, and his profile among media personalities is trending in the same direction. From covering a championship team this season on multiple platforms, he has learned to balance coverage of the franchise with other sports, such as football and baseball.
“The priority was simple – Warriors in the playoffs; four championships in eight years,” Hill reflected. “The Giants will get a mention, but we’re not the flagship for them, [and] the A’s have just been an afterthought in this market. It’s unfortunate. We carried the A’s, we tried to talk about them, but there’s a business side to everything.”
His presence around the team and in the arena is something that some sports radio hosts neglect because they are either unable or unwilling to be present at sporting events. Being seen has helped move his career in the right direction, and as a result, he always seeks to make time to interact with players, team personnel and fans of the show – whether that be in-person or by another means of dissemination.
“I’ve definitely entered a different stratosphere in my career, a stratosphere that I never thought was possible,” said Hill. “I kind of keep that same perspective though that at the end of the day, I’m still the same dude as when I first picked up a pen and wrote for the City College of San Francisco as I am today, and I try to keep that same perspective on my life and this career. It could be over tomorrow, so treat people with respect and just be gracious.”
Hill’s media career has risen expeditiously since his early days working to be a team beat reporter thanks to his adaptability to try new things and yearning to succeed. Simply by remaining a fan in the sense that he continues to interact with his audience and attend sporting events as a radio host, Hill has established himself as a bonafide professional with the conviction to constantly improve and attain unrealized heights in the industry. After all, the reason he went back to school in the first place was to attempt to earn a college degree, but doing so ultimately gave him much more than that, stimulating his journey to work in sports media. Anything else for him is, as he puts it, “icing on the cake.”
“It’s an overused cliché, but we really work a kid’s job,” said Hill. “This is the toy department of life. If I wasn’t working in sports, I’d be watching it anyway.”
