I caught wind of KNBR’s interest in Bonnie-Jill Laflin several weeks before she was officially added to the morning show known as “Murph & Mac,” which up to that point was hosted by Brian Murphy and Paul McCaffrey.

There have been other contributors to the show over the years. Perhaps most notable among them was Kate Scott, who for several years was KNBR’s sports anchor for “Murph & Mac” and Gary Radnich’s show with Larry Krueger. But it seemed like Laflin, a former scout for the Lakers and cheerleader for the Warriors, 49ers and Cowboys, was being added as a third host. At the time, this (theoretically) represented a pretty big shakeup for a show that had a certain style and chemistry between Murphy and McCaffrey. But not much changed — including the show’s name — and KNBR let Laflin go last week.

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Why KNBR parted ways with Laflin

From when she started in September 2018 through her last day at the station, it seemed as if KNBR never knew what to do with Laflin. Sometimes she’d get in a question or two during an interview or toss out an opinion on whatever the topic du jour happened to be, but as time wore on it became easy to forget she was on the show at all. Entire segments would often go by without her saying anything. The most she spoke near the end of her tenure was when she’d list a few of the day’s sports headlines or do an ad read after Murphy threw it to traffic before a commercial break.

It was never a fit, and that became even more noticeable after all of the hosts were forced to broadcast from their homes. Listeners and hosts have been wondering for the last few months when the lack of live sports and the economic downturn might lead to budget cuts at both KNBR and 95.7 The Game. But it’s probably not accurate to put Laflin’s departure in that category for a couple of reasons. First, her contract was up in just two months. Second, this allows more “Murph & Mac” airtime for Adam Copeland, who already hosts “The Leadoff Spot” on weekday mornings from 5 to 6 a.m.

This recent move by KNBR doesn’t appear to portend any other cuts in the near future, although just like anything in today’s environment, that can always change.

It was interesting that the first local sports talk radio personnel move since the pandemic took place on KNBR’s morning show, because “Murph & Mac” held a decisive advantage over 95.7’s morning offering (“Joe, Lo & Dibs”) for months. That continued in the June ratings, which we’ll look at in a bit.

Local sports talk radio is as male-dominant as ever

95.7 employs two women on the digital side, Kirsten Moran and Whitley Sandretto, and over the years they’ve had women in update roles such as Anna Kagarakis, Gianna Suter-Franco and Ileana Matzorkis. But they’ve never had a woman host full time. And with Laflin no longer at KNBR, the only times a woman will be heard on a regular basis for the foreseeable future will be early in the morning during Amy Lawrence’s “After Hours” show on CBS Sports Radio.

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The lack of female representation at both stations shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone who’s followed the industry over the years, even though we’re almost seven years removed from the infamous “sandbox” rant on KNBR 1050 that got Damon Bruce suspended for a week.

The business side of sports talk radio isn’t geared toward women. The ratings tell us this; while listeners of all ages and genders are included in the figures Nielsen makes available to the general public, the numbers that stations like KNBR and 95.7 The Game care about (and this goes for sports talk stations in other markets as well) are among men ages 25-54. However, since some ad buys are done based on ratings among all adults 25-54, it would be a good idea for stations to broaden their horizons.

And that doesn’t just mean including women’s voices, either. In a market like the Bay Area, it’s noteworthy that over the years there’s been very little if any regular representation from Latinos or Asian Americans. With every media company either voluntarily taking a look at their diversity practices or being forced to do so in recent weeks, we’ll see if the local sports talk stations make an effort on that front in the coming months.

Fewer sports talk listeners during the pandemic

Don’t expect many more hirings or firings soon. Both stations are essentially running in place, doing their best to creatively fill all these hours with content. And since current listeners may not be the same audience stations target during normal times, there’s a hesitation to make significant lineup changes. The audience might revert once the masses start commuting again.

Also, big changes cost money. Existing hosts are under contracts of varying length and new hosts would require contracts of their own. And what radio station is interested in making a big-splash move now?

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We have two different sets of ratings for you this week. First, the June figures (again, men ages 25-54).

And this time we have the figures for spring as well.

Now we have a pretty clear look at how COVID-19 has affected both stations, and it’s been a slog. A year ago, the stations came close to finishing in a tie overall from Monday through Friday, with KNBR finishing at a 5.6 for the spring quarter and 95.7 at a 5.4. So the overall audience for sports talk is about half of what it would be under normal conditions. July should be pretty slow, too, but perhaps we’ll see some big jumps in the numbers for August and September … if we get live sports back.

Media morsels

• Upon further review, the Giants’ radio broadcasters will not be traveling to call road games this season. Initially, the understanding was that local TV and radio broadcasters would call all games, home and away, from their home broadcast booths. But Dave Flemming told me a couple of weeks ago that MLB had notified broadcasters of a change in plans by saying that radio broadcasters would likely travel during the upcoming season.

Then Flemming told our Andrew Baggarly on Thursday that the radio crew, which also includes Jon Miller and producer/engineer Darren Chan, has decided to remain home after learning more about MLB’s protocols for the 60-game season. I reached out to Flemming to confirm, and he provided the details. 

“Once we were designated Tier 3 by MLB and not allowed on (the) team plane, buses, etc., that changed our calculus,” Flemming texted on Thursday. “We are allowed to travel, but on our own entirely. We thought that safety dictated that would be too risky — airports, hotels, rental cars — we really are trying to keep everyone safe and healthy. So I’m not particularly nervous for myself, but it’s on all of us to avoid exposing each other. And travel without the team’s infrastructure just feels too exposed. (The) Giants allowed us input in that decision and didn’t force us either way, which was nice.

“We considered going to LA for the opening series just to be there for the beginning of this historic season. But even that we decided — each would have to drive separately, get to ballpark separately, we couldn’t help Darren with equipment — just not very practical.

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“We are reserving the right to travel if there is a game or series late in the season that would warrant it, or if circumstances change enough that the safety issue might be alleviated somewhat. So we aren’t ruling that out.”

• I’ve checked on this and I believe Tim Kawakami has also checked on this, and there’s still no official word on whether NBC Sports Bay Area and California will (or can) broadcast the planned exhibition games between the A’s and Giants on July 20 and 21.

• On Thursday night, NBC Sports Bay Area aired “Sports Uncovered: The Lost Barret Robbins Interview,” a half-hour presentation of Greg Papa’s 2011 conversation inside the Dade Correctional Institution with the former Raiders offensive lineman about what went into his Super Bowl XXXVII disappearance. The show is available on the network’s YouTube channel.

• A correction to an item from last month, when I wrote that KNBR still maintained a small ownership percentage of the Giants. Cumulus sold its 1.59 percent stake in the Giants for $13 million in 2014.

(Photo: Neilson Barnard / Getty Images)

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