It's getting Ugly on the airwaves
Phil O'Neil swaps mornings for overnights; Sandilands’ supporter leaves the building.
Some big decisions made in Sydney over the past few days will have a flow-on effect for Brisbane radio audiences.
Night owls will notice a change in the air from March with the addition of “Ugly” Phil O’Neil to the line-up on 4BC. Of course, the show will be on relay from 2GB in Sydney.
O’Neil, who is leaving the morning shift on Gold 101.7 in Sydney, has had a storied radio career in Australia and the UK (more on that later). As many will know, he was once married to Jackie Henderson, who still bills herself as Jackie O.
There has also been a reshuffle at the top of Nine Radio, which owns and operates 4BC, 2GB, 3AW and 6PR, with Greg Byrnes becoming Sydney station manager and national content manager. From a Brisbane perspective it doesn’t mean much because Byrnes has long held sway from afar over everything heard on 4BC, which is currently rating at its lowest levels in recent memory.
On the good news front, 4BC will get a new promotions and community manager. Putting the right person in that job — someone who genuinely knows and loves this great city — will increase the station’s profile. I’d suggest more outside broadcasts and someone willing to do what Danny Hoyland did so well for 4BC many moons ago — getting out among the people and covering sponsors’ events with great passion live on air.
Getting back to O’Neil, radio futurologist and friend of Mister Brisbane, James Cridland, has a slightly down-to-earth, some may say cynical, interpretation of the hiring.
He notes on social media that O’Neil has “done massive shows on Triple M Sydney, across Australia, Kiss 100 in London, Kerrang in Birmingham, and WSFM’s morning show for the last three years”.
Cridland adds: “[O’Neil has been] Quoted as saying, of his move to a graveyard shift that few people listen to and that isn’t rated so doesn’t really matter to the station... ‘This really is the most exciting and pivotal moment of my career.’”
I suppose I could think of worse ways to slide into retirement. Or, I suppose more likely, he has ambitions to find his feet before a move into prime time.
O’Neil is a pro but he’s untested in an all-talk format. I guess Nine Radio is hoping he’ll help bring a younger audience to the stations. My advice to him, for what it’s worth, is don’t play into the ultra-right-wing angry old man trope.
If you take the time to discover your audience and potential audience, you’ll find it’s a broader church than some people at Nine Radio think it is.
Have you heard about The Wrinkle? It’s my other newsletter
and website for members of Generation Jones
and their friends. Check it out and subscribe for FREE here.
The other big radio news this week comes from ARN, owners of KIIS, home to the successful-in-Sydney-but-not-so-much-in-Melbourne Kyle and Jackie O Show.
Duncan Campbell, the content director whose biggest (or at least most expensive) claim to fame was signing up Jackie Henderson and Kyle Sandilands for $100 million each over 10 years, is leaving full-time employment with the group.
Lauren Joyce is moving in as chief audience and content officer. It remains to be see if ARN pursues its grand ambition to network the Kyle and Jackie O Show nationally, including on Brisbane’s KIIS 97.3.
Of course, whatever happens will be no consolation to the up-to 50 people who’ve lost their jobs at ARN in recent times.
Ballet’s new boss
Congratulations to Ivan Gil-Ortega, a Spanish dancer and choreographer formerly with the Stuttgart Ballet and the Dutch National Ballet, who has been appointed artistic director of the Queensland Ballet.
Also, a round of applause to Greg Horsman, who held the fort in an acting capacity after the sudden departure of Leanne Benjamin late last year after less than six months into the gig.
And a hearty welcome back to Li Cuxin, the former artistic director, who will help steer fundraising in the new role of chair of the Queensland Ballet endowment fund.