Posted by madcityradio.com on January 09, 2009 at 23:50:05:
1070's Murphy leaving afternoon radio show
Dennis Punzel — 1/09/2009 5:51 pm
Heller and Murphy are breaking up.
Owen Murphy, co-host of the top-rated afternoon sports talk show on WTSO/1070 AM, is leaving the station to become program director of the ESPN affiliate in Seattle.
The impending move was announced during Friday's show, which was Murphy's finale. He had co-hosted the show with Mike Heller since October 2006. He came to Madison from ESPN Radio's flagship in Bristol, Conn., where he worked as a producer for a variety of shows, including "Mike and Mike" (Greenberg and Golic) and Dan Patrick.
"Owen has really been a true asset to me and to all of us here," said Tim Scott, WTSO program director. "I can't say enough about the guy. He's a really talented guy and for the two years he's been here he's had a terrific impact. Listeners notice what he did on the air, but for us in this building, his benefit was more off the air than on air.
"One of the things Owen brought to the show is he had a lot of ties, a lot of connections. Coming here from ESPN, he taught us a lot about good radio from a national perspective. I think what we did is that we showed him what local radio is and how it works. Now with his new opportunity, he can take the best of what he learned from a national standpoint and what he learned from a local standpoint, which will make him a great program director. It's a tremendous opportunity for him and I couldn't be happier for him."
Phil Dawson will fill in for Murphy beginning Monday, but Scott said that long-term plans will come out later.
"Owen's going to be a hard guy to replace," Scott said. "But we have something big, big, big planned with that program. We're planning some surprises as we go forward from here. We never take a step back, we always move forward."
And they will move forward with Heller at the center of the show, Scott said.
"Mike's still going to host the show," he said. "I don't think I've ever met a person more passionate about being on the air every day than Mike Heller. Mike has all the skills, in my opinion, to be a national talk show host. He's that good. What Owen brought to Mike was a better understanding of how to be a great talk show host."
(The Capital Times)