On the air

Murphy, Sam and Jodi on some of their more memorable celebrity interviews.

The best:

Randy Jackson “He was such a great interview, and he’s from here. I have such a crush on him, you have no idea.” —Jodi

Donny Osmond “He was surprisingly fun. He’s actually pretty laid back and kind of made fun of himself. He was pretty cool.” —Murphy

Harry Connick Jr. “He was one of our favorite interviews. It was like talking to a best friend. He was so easy.” —Jodi

The worst:

Emeril Lagasse “We had to really pull it out of him. He didn’t turn on the same charm he does for TV. I wanted to tell him to get a media coach because in radio you have to turn on the charm even more because listeners have no visuals.” —Jodi

Simon Cowell “He would only talk to us at night, so we had to come back into the studio and conduct the interview, but you do whatever you have to do to get it.” —Jodi

The bizarre:

Shirley MacLaine “We threw out a UFO question and she just ran with it. She was dead serious. She wanted to talk about this book she had written so we were doing all of this other stuff and she was like ‘Are we going to talk about my book?’” —Sam

“She was over the top.” —Murphy

The offices at KRVE 96.1 The River are dark, the doors locked. Employees have the day off in honor of Martin Luther King Day.

That is, except Bob Murphy, Sam North and Jodi Carson. They have the day off, too, but the success of their nationally syndicated radio show leaves little room in their busy schedules for holidays. Instead they’re spending the day tucked away in a tiny studio that used to be a storage closet recording promos and production pieces for their 10 markets.

It’s just another typical day for this trio known simply as Murphy, Sam and Jodi. I’ve been invited to sit in and see what fans only hear.

Known as “the morning show for you and your family,” they’ve cultivated a successful, family-friendly formula that includes PG-rated interviews with Hollywood celebrities, as well as regular features like the “Woman’s Health Minute” and “Kid Matters.” They offer a distinctive alternative to X-rated interviews with porn stars or crass on-air personas common on drive-time radio.

“We try to provide entertainment and information that working parents rely on in the morning,” Jodi says. “Most morning shows talk about sex 90% of the time. We don’t talk about it at all. We want parents to feel good about listening to our show without worrying that their kids will hear something inappropriate.”

After the initial success of their show in Baton Rouge, they branched out into other markets. They syndicated their program in 2002, adding Amarillo, Texas. Today, they can be heard from 5:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. in 10 markets, including Pensacola, Fla., Albany and Augusta, Ga., Charleston, S.C., Salisbury, Md., and Beaumont, Midland/Odessa, and Victoria, Texas.

“We decided we wanted to grow our show, but we didn’t want to leave Baton Rouge,” Jodi says. “We love Baton Rouge. It’s our home market. We all live here and love it. We realized that this is the best way to grow in this industry.”

What makes their show unique is they’ve crafted it so it feels and sounds local to listeners in all 10 cities. In fact, listeners who win on-air prizes often turn up at the local radio station and are stunned to learn their favorite local radio personalities work out of Baton Rouge.

“It’s very customized,” Murphy says. “We don’t conceal the fact that we’re out of Baton Rouge. It’s not about deceiving the listeners. We want people to feel like we’re their morning show, no matter where they may be.”

To make this work, producers Drew Murrell and Emilie Speyrer get in touch with the various affiliates before the sun comes up. They’re finding out what the traffic is like in Amarillo, or the big local news story in Augusta.

“There’s a lot of stuff to handle that you wouldn’t think of,” Jodi says. “We have 10 affiliates, so we have 10 bosses—10 people to do custom spots for every day. We’re their morning show and we’re in touch with those managers as often as we are with our managers here in Baton Rouge.”

How long have they been doing the show together? They answer in unison: “Too long!” then erupt into laughter.

The show’s format dates back to 1997 when Jodi joined the Murphy and Sam Show, which was five years old at the time and The River was still an upstart radio station in Denham Springs.

“It was five blissful years with no estrogen,” Murphy jokes, prompting Jodi to roll her eyes.

Originally from Denham Springs, Jodi had previously worked in advertising and television. Despite her background in radio (she did traffic reports in Clemson, S.C., on football game days while working through college), she tried to get out of radio.

“Murphy tried to hire me at The River, like, three times, and I always said no,” she explains. “He tried to hire me for love songs at night before there was a Delilah at this station. I finally took a part-time position as their producer for a little while. The day I walked into the room and started working with them I knew I was going to stay. That sounds very cheesy. It’s a very Hallmark thing to say, but it’s true.”

Sam is a New Orleans native who started as a news reader at LSU’s station, KLSU. Murphy got his start at Baton Rouge Magnet High School’s WBRH.

It’s not just the family-friendly content that keeps parents in the carpool line tuning in day after day. It’s the trio’s natural chemistry. While they each bring a unique perspective to the show—Jodi is the token female, Sam is the sarcastic funny guy, and Murphy, Mr. Straight-laced Conservative—they complement each other well. It’s not really even role-playing—they play themselves.

“They remain true to themselves day in and day out,” Speyrer says. “It’s almost to the point of being predictable. If Jodi starts talking about something serious you can almost bet Sam’s going to come back with something to try and lighten things up and then Murphy will say, ‘Come on guys we need to be serious,’ before slipping in something to get Sam going again.”

Another interesting dynamic: Murphy and Jodi are husband and wife. They married eight years ago. Sam may be the proverbial third wheel, but he finds humor in the situation, even if it’s odd sometimes.

“They’re married and I’m stuck in the corner,” he jokes. “We’ve talked about me moving in with them so I can be up-to-date on everything going on. It hasn’t happened yet.”

Murphy and Jodi say their working relationship has strengthened their marriage. “It is hard and I don’t recommend that everyone work with their spouse,” Jodi says. “We worked together before we were married. Had we tried to do it the other way around I know it wouldn’t work. We wouldn’t be in this room.”

In addition to their roles on the show, Jodi serves as the station’s music director, Sam as the program director, and Murphy is a regional vice president of programming with Clear Channel.

They plan to build on the success of their show and expand into new cities.

“We hope to continue to branch out and reach more listeners,” Jodi says. “We’ve really gotten the hang of managing 10 and feel like we can handle more.”