Green Bay Radio: Longtime WIXX Morning Host Jim Murphy Retiring

Jim Murphy retires today

WIXX's morning host "Murphy," as he's best known, worked part time at the home improvement store chain early in his life and loved it, but it was “a fluky start” in radio that sent him down a career path as one of northeastern Wisconsin’s most enduring and endearing on-air personalities.

The Green Bay Press-Gazette reports listeners have been waking up with him for generations — a familiar voice and steady presence who brings levity, laughter and no-nonsense next-door neighbor relatability to whatever comes up from 5 to 9 a.m. each weekday. People who were in middle school or high school when he first started at Green Bay's WIXX in 1991 are now grandparents, and they’re still tuning in.

“We hear a lot of ‘I listened to him on the bus,’” said Katie Schurk, who has co-hosted the “Murphy in the Morning” show for 20 years. Co-host Nick Vitrano has been with them for the last 12.

Yet, getting Murphy, who retires today, to acknowledge that he and the show that carries his name are a bona fide local institution is not an easy ask, at least not the part where he readily takes credit for any of it.

“A lot of my success is due to the people I’ve worked with. If it was just boring ol' me, I don’t know if it would’ve made it 32 years, but luckily, I’ve had great partners along the way," he said.

Before Schurk and Vitrano, he shared the studio with such well-known media types as Kathie Hall, John Maino, Tammy Elliott and Marti Spittell, among others. He also cites the staying power of WIXX, a Top 40 powerhouse that dates back to 1977. It's that rare generational station that hooks everyone from kids to people in their 80s with its on-air personalities, community presence and the latest Jelly Roll hot mix.

“People just grew up with the radio station and they’ve never left their entire lives,” Murphy said, “and I’ve been a part of that for 32 years, which is a pretty big chunk of change."