Craig Hansen

One of KMJ 580 AM’s longest tenured broadcast personalities is retiring at the end of the year.

Craig Hansen’s first day with KMJ was Nov. 24, 1976. Next week he will celebrate 42 years with the station.

Blake Taylor, KMJ program director, said was far as they can tell, his tenure is likely the second-longest run in KMJ’s 96 year history short of Jerry Higgenbotham, who was there from 1949-1994.

Hansen has held a number of on-air positions over the decades, and was described as the “go-to guy on Saturdays,” hosting news, “Autoshop Talk,” “Real Talk” and “Radio Tradio,” which was the local answer to Craigslist before the site was born.

“Radio Tradio” featured local residents calling in to offer various goods for sale and leaving their phone number in hopes of finding buyers. The show ended a few years ago.

Hansen’s final show at KMJ is scheduled for Dec. 22.

“After that, he and his better half will be driving his Corvette out of the mayhem of California and moving out of state to retire in peace,” Taylor said.

Taylor said the station is not only losing a personality, but also some institutional memory.

“Craig is a virtual encyclopedia of KMJ’s long history and import to Fresno and the San Joaquin Valley,” he said.

“Keep listening to KMJ over the next few weeks as we bring in Craig to regale our listeners with some of his epic radio tales,” Taylor added.