Frank Murphy is known as a radio and television personality in Knoxville, Tennessee. He was formerly a producer for high-profile morning shows in Washington, DC and Los Angeles, CA.
Frank is a member of Knoxville's long-running improvisational theatre company, Einstein Simplified and host of Scholars' Bowl on East Tennessee PBS.
Murphy was the 2014 Knoxville recipient of the FBI Director's Community Leadership Award. In 2014, he was the Social Media inductee in the Friends of Literacy East Tennessee Writers Hall of Fame. Frank was named Best Local Blogger in the 2012 Metro Pulse readers survey. He was also voted East Tennessee's Best Local Blogger in 2008 and was voted first runner up in 2007, 2009 and 2010 by readers of the Knoxville News Sentinel.
Radio experience - producer
Early career
Murphy began his radio career in 1982 at the campus radio station of George Mason University, WGMU. That summer he worked the midday shift at WVBK-AM in Herndon, Virginia, without being paid. At the start of 1983, he was named station manager of WGMU, just as it was transitioning from a closed circuit broadcast available only in the Rathskeller to a carrier current transmission which could be heard in the dorms and student apartments on any AM radio.
A WGMU air band contest caught the attention of Denise Benoit, the promotion director of WAVA-FM. She contacted Murphy and hired him as her intern for the summer of 1984. At the end of his internship, Murphy was hired by the station as its assistant promotion director, a position he held until 1986. During 1985 Murphy was heard on the air reading snow closing announcements in the morning or doing an occasional weekend air shift. He was most often heard as part of Don Geronimo's afternoon drive program, especially when the show would broadcast from local bars on Friday afternoons.
The Don and Mike Show, WAVA
In November 1986, Murphy replaced John Nolan as morning show producer for the Don and Mike Show. In this position, he regularly made appearances on the show, often when something went wrong and hosts Don and Mike were heard to yell out "Fraaaank". Frequent guest Bobcat Goldthwait would jokingly refer to him as "the omnipresent Frank." He continued in that job until Don & Mike left WAVA in 1991 upon the announcement of the station's sale to Salem Communications.
Murphy served as morning host until the sale became final. During that time, Murphy won the Best New Talent in the Market award at the March of Dimes Achievement In Radio Awards. When the sale's closing was delayed, Murphy partnered with afternoon host Joe Friday and traffic reporter Janet from Another Planet to create a new morning show for the station's last few months.
WAVA changed format on February 12, 1992.
The Jay Thomas Show, KPWR
Five days after WAVA changed formats, Murphy began a new job as morning show producer for Jay Thomas at KPWR (Power 106) in Los Angeles. While there, Murphy appeared as an extra in the movie "It's Pat" and as a featured extra in episode 17 ("Two on the Aisle") of the first season of Jay Thomas' sitcom, "Love & War." Thomas left the radio station in 1993.
The Kevin & Bean Show, KROQ
A few months later Murphy departed KPWR for a job as morning show producer for Kevin and Bean at KROQ. He worked alongside Jimmy Kimmel and Adam Carolla and often participated in on air segments. Kevin & Bean once challenged Murphy to sell over 1,000 boxes of Girl Scout Cookies for his daughter.
Underground singer-songwriter Wesley Willis visited KROQ several times. He wrote and performed on-air a song titled "Frank Murphy." The lyrics included the lines: "You are a working-class dog. You are a producer for the Kevin & Bean Show. You work hard at 106.7 KROQ. You are a working-class man."
The Mark & Brian Show, KLOS
In 1996, Murphy was hired as executive producer of the syndicated Mark and Brian show based at KLOS. Mark & Brian would refer to him as "Mr. Owl" due to his love of trivial information. He participated in the annual "Football Bet," always choosing to support the Washington Redskins. His unusual punishments included cleaning a public restroom, collecting semen from a bull and picking the nose of a stranger. He was also known for writing the difficult trivia questions for the "You Can't Win" game.