Jim Murphy of WIXX's 'Murphy in the Morning' show is signing off after 32 years
GREEN BAY - With apologies to Packers president and CEO Mark Murphy, Green Bay is losing its most famous Murphy.
Jim Murphy, known simply as “Murphy” or “Murphy in the Morning” by WIXX-FM (101.1) listeners who have been waking up with him since 1991, will retire after 32 years as the host of the iconic morning show that carries his name. The Wisconsin Broadcasters Association first reported the news on Monday. Murphy confirmed it during an emotional segment in the third hour of Tuesday's show with co-hosts Nick Vitrano and Katie Schurk.
"I've said it before, I've been fortunate to have amazing partners from Day One, and it was always a team effort. All those folks, from Kathy Hall to Tammy Elliott to Marti Spittell to Mr. (John) Maino to everybody, it would never have happened this long without such great people working with me, you guys in particular," Murphy said on the air. "It was a good run. A heckuva run."
Murphy, who marked his 32nd anniversary at the station on Sept. 9, said he's already received many kind comments and well wishes for retirement. He was reminded of just how long he's been a part of listeners lives when he read a comment from someone who said they first met him as an elementary school student and they're now 36. Or another who said she started listening to him as a sophomore and now she's a grandmother.
His final "Murphy in the Morning" will be Nov. 28. Vitrano and Schurk will continue on with a third co-host to be named later.
More from Murphy 'He's loved universally': As WIXX's Murphy in the Morning prepares to sign off after 32 years, he and his co-hosts look back at the magic
Murphy is one of the Green Bay-Fox Valley radio market’s most popular and longest-serving on-air personalities. He turned “Murphy in the Morning,” which airs from 5 to 9 a.m. weekdays, into a local institution. Don't believe it? When the Neville Public Museum marked Brown County's 200th anniversary in 2018 with an exhibit highlighting 50 people, 50 places, 50 artifacts and 50 photographs from the county's history, Murphy made the cut.
A 1979 graduate of Bay Port High School, he worked in radio in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, Oshkosh and at a Soft Adult Contemporary station in New Orleans before returning home to Green Bay in 1991 for the morning show slot on WIXX.
In the years since, he’s been a fixture in the community, hosting countless contests, concerts, fundraisers and Packers game day activities and programming, including the weekly "Breakfast with the Boys" and later "1 on 1 with the Boys" shows with Packers players and coaches. In 1996, ahead of a Packers-San Francisco 49ers playoff game, he memorably flew out to San Francisco to swap radio studios with a pair of morning show personalities, Elvis and J.V., to give their listeners a big dose of Packers hype while they took over WIXX and riled up listeners with 49ers talk.
The secret to staying relevant in radio for so many years, Murphy said in a Howard-Suamico Education Foundation interview last November, is “to give people a reason daily to come back. I’ve got great partners who help me tremendously, and I’ve been so fortunate over the years to have a team effort at a great radio station. It’s never been just me.”
Murphy has been the constant on the highly rated morning show over the years. His previous co-hosts have included Maino, Hall, Elliott, Spittell, Kathy Larkin and Jen Lawrence, among others. Current co-hosts Schurk and Vitrano are both WIXX veterans, with 20 and 12 years, respectively.
“Working on a legendary station for 32 years has been a phenomenal ride. I can’t thank Duke Wright and Jeff McCarthy enough for giving me the opportunity many moons ago. I’ve been blessed with amazing co-hosts and co-workers throughout my tenure here at WIXX. Could not have done it without them … especially Katie and Nick," Murphy said in a statement released Monday to the trade industry. "Also, to all the faithful listeners in the northeast Wisconsin region, thank you for your friendship and loyalty. I will miss them tremendously. Time really does fly. Savor every minute of it.”
WIXX is owned by Midwest Communications, the company founded by Wright, who died in December. Murphy talked about how much he admired Wright's work ethic and the personal approach he took in getting to know his employees and their families.
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Kendra Meinert is an entertainment and feature writer at the Green Bay Press-Gazette. Contact her at 920-431-8347 or kmeinert@greenbay.gannett.com. Follow her on X (formerly Twitter) at @KendraMeinert.
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: WIXX's 'Murphy in the Morning' host to retire after 32 years
