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Bill Murphy
The Traveling Man
By David Liller

Bill Murphy, who had spent over 20 years in local television in the Tampa Bay area, decided late last year that it was time to retire from the news business. Murphy said the end of his television career came when he realized he no longer felt he could handle the impact hosting the weekend morning news show at WTVT Fox 13 was having on his personal life.

"I did the weekend morning show for ten years, and I just got really tired of declining every offer every Friday and Saturday evening. You have to get up so early to do the show that I couldn't do anything those nights," Murphy said. "The thing is, I was very serious about the weekend morning (show) and I didn't want to fake it if I had been out too late; I'm just not one of those people who can do that."

Murphy announced in October 2007 that his television career would come to an end on Jan. 4, 2008. On that day WTVT held an on-air retirement party for Murphy and Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio declared January 4 the "Bill Murphy Day" in the city.

Murphy said recently that he might have stayed with WTVT if he and the station could have arranged a different on-air shift for him. Murphy said that although that arrangement didn't come about, he has nothing but good feelings toward his former employer.

"Now that I've had a chance to step back a bit, I said to myself, 'People would give anything to do the things I've done.'" Murphy also realized that while he was ready to leave the television news business, he wasn't ready to retire in the traditional sense of the word. "I'm 62 years old. I don't even know what 62 is supposed to feel like," Murphy said. "What is 62 supposed to look like? Isn't 62 the new 42, something like that?"

What he also realized was that he was ready to become his own boss. He also decided to make a living by capitalizing on the things he loved doing during his years as a television personality.

And, since coming to Tampa in 1985, Murphy had done quite a bit. He arrived in Florida from Monterey, California to start a morning talk show with local CBS affiliate WTSP called "Murphy in the Morning." The show, similar in format to the nationally-syndicated "Regis & Kelly," ran for nearly seven years. The program provided Murphy with a forum to display his quick wit and ability to interview local and national celebrities, including the man who became his favorite interviewee: Muhammad Ali.

Murphy, born and raised in New York City, said recently that he was first bitten by the media "bug" in the 1970’s while in the U.S. Navy and stationed in the Philippine Islands. While there he worked with the Armed Forces Philippines Radio leading him to set his sights on being a disc jockey once he left the military.

His first civilian media job was as a disc jockey and news reader at KJOI in Los Angeles. Soon afterwards he broke into television in Medford, Oregon and from there went to Seattle, and then Monterey before finally arriving in Florida for "Murphy In the Morning."

In 1994 he became a feature reporter, movie critic, and weekend anchor for WTVT. But perhaps Murphy's most lasting impact as a reporter came with his "One Tank Trips" stories for the station. The premise of the travel reports was to uncover regional attractions and sights that could be reached from the Tampa Bay area on just one tank of gas.

The popularity of the reports led WTVT to collect, edit and publish the reports in book form. The first "One-Tank Trips" book was an instant success, and the two sequels proved equally popular. "One-Tank Trips” was a production of Fox 13 and Bill Murphy. “I did the reports and we had a lot of help putting it into book form," he said.

"We did the first book in 1999 and launched it at a big party held at the Florida Aquarium. We had live entertainment, food and drink, the Fox on-air people were there, and there was free admission. When I was driving up to the to the aquarium with my daughter and I saw this huge line of people waiting to get in, I thought, 'Great, the aquarium booked another event the same night.’ My daughter said, 'No, Dad, they're here for the book.' I was told 2,000 people were turned away that night."

Murphy said the One-Tank Trips books have been so popular in Florida that he was the state's best-selling author for years. "I was told we sold more than 300,000 copies," he said. Murphy didn't receive any of the income generated by the sale of the books; all proceeds from One Tank Trips went to WTVT. Murphy was circumspect about the arrangement, saying it was part of the job and helped him secure his position at WTVT.

Now that he has retired from television he intends to use all of his travel experience to benefit his new boss - himself. Murphy has started a Limited Liability Corporation (LLC) called Travels with Murphy. The former television reporter said he intends to tackle several projects with his new company - most of them travel related. It's an umbrella for a lot of things," Murphy said. The first thing he intends to do is write his own regional travel guide along the lines of One-Tank Trips. He said the book should be finished soon and he hopes to have it published in the fall.

A more long-term venture involves Murphy teaming with a close friend, Robert Wilson. Wilson, who met Murphy while a physical education instructor at the middle school attended by Murphy's daughter, Jessica, recently started his own travel company, Florida Day Tours Inc. Wilson said his business has been in existence for about eight months, and while it is a separate entity from Murphy's company, the two are closely aligned.

"My business will essentially promote his business, including his new book," Wilson said. Florida Day Tours intends to use high-end motor coaches to take guests on day trips to many of the locations Murphy featured in his television reports over the years. He said the luxury buses will also feature food and drink service similar to that found aboard major airlines. He said another factor that makes his company's tours even more attractive, especially to the target audience of senior citizens, is that Murphy will be along, acting as a tour guide and master of ceremonies. "We'll talk with people, do trivia contests; it will be a lot of fun," Murphy said.

Wilson said the idea of Florida Day Tours has been the subject of brainstorming sessions between himself and Murphy for several years. However, both were a little worried about how business would affect their close friendship. "I remember Bill saying, 'Bob, if there is anything in this equation that is going to harm our friendship, then let's not do it,’” Wilson said.

Wilson said the plans were accelerated when Murphy decided to retire from WTVT. Murphy said starting his own company was almost a necessity once he looked at retirement. "You get a pension and social security, but when you do the math, it's still tight," he said.

Murphy said that while he had the energy and ideas for the new endeavor, he lacked some of the skills essential for entrepreneurs - bookkeeping, record keeping, and handling general paperwork duties. "All the places where I've worked, starting with the Navy, did that for me," he said.

Wilson said the ability to fill in the gaps of each other's business skills is why he thinks he and Murphy make such a good team. "I have the tour business and can put the nuts and bolts together to do the tours, put the marketing together, and do the business end of the business. Bill can do what he does best - talk to the people, entertain and inform them," Wilson said. "I'm honored he asked me to do this."

Wilson said even in these early stages the response to the planned tours have been "phenomenal." He said the first tour is planned to begin in April and will take guests to the Historic Bok Sanctuary Gardens near Lake Wales in Polk County. Wilson said plans are also underway to add cruises to the company's services, again with Murphy acting as the guide and host. "The cruises will be first class, and we'll have a large advertising campaign to promote them," Wilson said.

Murphy said that while he was planning to pursue his new endeavors he also had the usual misgivings of someone starting his own company after spending so many years in another's employ. He said he turned to his closest friends, both here in Florida and on the West Coast. "I have some old friends in the business that I turn to for advice. We talk on the phone a lot. They told me, 'As long as you can do this financially, it's a good thing,'" Murphy said.

Wilson said although Murphy doesn't think of himself as a businessman, that assessment isn't exactly true. "Bill looks at it like being a nice adventure. I don't know if he realizes the impact he'll have on thousands, tens of thousands of people when the book comes out and the tours start," Wilson said. "Becoming an entrepreneur is exactly what he is doing."

For his part, Murphy said he is interested in seeing how the business develops and where his new travels take him. He had planned to take a cross-country train trip, video crew in tow, this past winter and produce some DVDs of the journey. That trip was placed "on hold" after a snowstorm cancelled train travel. Murphy said he hopes to reschedule the trip soon.

As for other future projects, the former reporter said he wouldn’t rule out a return to television sometime in the future. Murphy said he likes to keep his options open, and has never been one for planning far in advance.

However Murphy, who has spent decades leaving his bed in the early morning hours to start broadcasting before the sun was up, does have one thing on his long-term plan: "What will I be doing in five years? I will be sleeping in until 7:15 in the morning," he said. "You can quote me on that."

For more information on Murphy's projects, see his website at www.travelswithmurphy.com. For more on Florida Day Tours, visit the website at www.floridadaytours.com or call (727) 322-9944.

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