Nova’s Susie O’Neill signs off
Another change in the Brisbane media landscape. Who's next?
Whoosh. Time does fly if it’s been 10 years since Susie O’Neill began on the breakfast show at Nova 106.9.
If you haven’t heard her yet — which seems unlikely, since the station is always near the top of the ratings and is a favourite with Uber drivers — you’d better hurry.
O’Neill, whose first big gig was as an Olympic swimming champion nicknamed “Madame Butterfly”, has decided to leave the show she hosts with Ash Bradnam and David “Luttsy” Lutteral, on November 28.
She said in a statement: “I do this with a very heavy heart, this decision wasn’t easy.
“Ash and Luttsy are like brothers to me, they brought me into their world a little over a decade ago and they have always been my biggest supporters. We have formed an incredible bond over the years, which made this decision even harder. I’m proud to call them my friends, as I am the entire Nova breaky team.
“It’s hard for me to articulate exactly why I’m leaving. I think turning 50 last year I realised I’m at a whole new stage in my life. Our kids have grown up and I just feel the next chapter will see me pursue other goals, both professionally and personally.”
Once a champion, always a champion. All the very best to her!
Nova is promising a further announcement about next year’s lineup soon.
One assumes Bradnam and Lutteral — who were part of Nova 1069’s original breakfast team back in 2005 and have (mostly) been there since — will remain in situ … but one could be wrong.
One thing is for sure: the Nova 2025 team won’t include an on-air defector from their fiercest rival in the breakfast slot.
It’s been confirmed that the successful B105 breakfast line-up of Stav, Abby and Matt will stay on air “well into the future”, with Stewart Davidson, Abby Coleman and Matt Acton all on long-term contracts.
No word yet on the future of the KIIS 973 line-up of Robin Bailey and Kip Wightman. Despite the poor performance of Kyle and Jackie O Show in Melbourne, rumours persist that the Sydney-based duo of Kyle Sandilands and Jackie Henderson will be broadcasting at breakfast time in Brisbane next year.
Barbecue Bob Gallagher is likely to return (if he so chooses) to brekkie at 4BH, which is acing it at the moment, while 4BC’s 2025 line-up is up in the air — with Peter Fegan on trial in breakfast until the end of this year, and disturbing news that its sister station in Perth, 6PR, has cut the number of local shifts and will have three daytime shows rather than four. I’ll just say (again) that, in my opinion, the people on the air in Perth, and Brisbane, have been badly served by their bosses in Sydney.
As I’ve also reported before, the word is that there will be some changes at ABC Brisbane, with strong rumours that there will be a permanent place in the lineup for Ellen Fanning.
Longtime fans of that station are in for a treat when former top-rating host Spencer Howson returns to the breakfast shift from December 9-24. He’s remaining coy about his plans for next year.
NINE LIVES
I was going to write at some length about the Changing the Culture at Nine Entertainment report, which revealed some of the terrible stories from behind the scenes at that organisation. All I’ll say is that the same exercise at other media companies — and, I imagine, many other workplaces — would yield similar results. I am not confident that change is afoot, partly because some of the offenders remain untouchable. You can read the report here.