Laurel, Gary and Mark show axed
4BC announces "new direction" for breakfast
As widely tipped, Radio 4BC has announced that its breakfast show starring Laurel Edwards, Gary Clare and Mark Hine is to come to an end.
The last show is expected to be broadcast on Friday, September 27.
Update, 8pm: Laurel Edwards has just posted on social media:
Bittersweet day.
Sad because the Laurel, Gary and Mark Breakfast Show will finish up on 4BC in two weeks. Unlike what has been inaccurately reported it was no unceremonious ambush. There was no kicking or screaming, frogmarching or dramatic walkouts.
Thank you for all the lovely messages
I will miss spending every weekday with two amazing work husbands Gary and Mark and genuinely laughing each morning. Extremely proud of what we have achieved as one of the longest running, successful teams in Australian radio and still having fun
Who knows what’s ahead but for now, ready to chill.
It means the station will finish the year with new voices at the start of the day and in the Drive shift, with host Peter Gleeson leaving today to take up the position of CEO of the new greyhound complex at Purga, The Q.
Head of content for Nine Radio, Greg Byrnes, praised the trio, who came over to 4BC two years ago when Radio 4KQ was sold and became sports station SEN.
“Laurel, Gary and Mark have played a critical role in our live and local content strategy,” he said in a statement.
“It has been a privilege to have them engage with Brisbane through 4BC but we’ve decided to take a new approach to breakfast.”
While the show has not rated well in recent surveys, 4BC has done itself no favours through its swinging door approach to line-ups over the past decade and more.
Speculation over who will replace them has already been intense, although with Gleeson suddenly no longer a contender in a reshuffle, it’s likely that the final line-up has not been set in stone.
Some previous posts about 4BC:
A golden opportunity at Nine | Peter Gleeson goes to the dogs
Shake-up for Brisbane radio | A matter of listening to the listeners
I’ve said a lot about this in past missives. Now that it’s confirmed, I just hope that the decision-makers at Nine Radio think deeply about what Brisbane audiences need rather than take a Sydney-centric view of what a talk radio station should be like.
That being said, the most noise about who will replace them points towards Channel 9 reporter and 4BC Weekends host Peter Fegan, with Mornings host Bill McDonald, Afternoons presenter Sofie Formica and Gleeson’s “temporary” replacement, Gary Hardgrave, also in the mix when it comes to internal candidates.
Maybe, just maybe, Nine has been casting its net widely and will come up with someone from outside the building, maybe outside the radio industry, who can nail it.
In any case, the first month, which coincides with the state election campaign, won’t be typical of what’s to come. As I’ve said many time before, a win by the conservative LNP will make it hard to produce right-wing radio if they decide to go down that rocky route.
Before all that, Laurel, Gary and Mark, who will have next week off, will have the week beginning September 23 to say goodbye. That will make interesting listening.
The thing with LGM ratings is you can see exactly where they went. They went from 11 to 4 while 4BH went from nowhere to 10 because they hired Barbecue Bob Gallagher and committed to the classic hits 24/7. 4BC didn’t commit to the format it had in breakfast. #notrocketscience