What a set of seven it was in the world of radio. Well, eight, because it really fired off with the November 28 announcement by Ash Bradnam and ended (or did it?) yesterday, December 5.
If you’re not up-to-date with what’s happening at Nova, maybe you haven’t been following Mister Brisbane closely enough. It has pretty much panned out the way I’ve been saying it will for weeks.
If you got the email version of my post yesterday, it’d be a good idea to read it again, because there are significant updates, including audio.
(The short version is: Nikki Osborne and Ash Bradnam out, Nick Allen-Ducat and Susie O’Neill in.)
Meanwhile, although I reported while ago that Peter “Salty” Psaltis was leaving 4BC, to take up a full-time position with Nine Entertainment (which, as of the time of writing, is the radio station’s parent company), I didn’t cover his farewell speech on Thursday.
Like Bradnam and a few others (B105’s Stav Davidson and Triple M’s Greg “Marto” Martin come to mind), Salty has been an almost-constant presence on the Brisbane airwaves since very early this century.
Here’s some of what he had to say on his final Wide World of Sports broadcast:
“I never thought I’d have the honour of hosting my own program on a great station like 4BC — a station steeped in history and part of the fabric of this wonderful city.
“And to work in this time slot at one stage alongside a great mate in the wonderful Billy J. Smith, a man I credit for bringing me out of my shell in those early days. [I] had many mentors I looked up to and Billy J. certainly right up there.
“... Thank you to all of the contributors and you’ve heard many of them on the program tonight.
“I also want to thank my family, my parents in the early days for the encouragement and guidance as I embarked on a career in an industry that we had no knowledge of and didn’t know anyone involved in the media. And we just heard from my beautiful wife, Thimitra, my two wonderful children … who I look forward to being home with on weeknights and share many more experiences with the three of you.
Some of the tea-leaf readers in the media world suggest that Salty’s exit to the Nine mothership is a precursor to the long-rumoured sale of 4BC and its sister stations, including 4BH, 3AW and 2GB. I’ve been writing about that a lot this year, too.
Whatever happens at 4BC or elsewhere, it promises to be an interesting year in radio.
As it stands now, in the all-important Breakfast shift, it’s the remainers versus the newbies.
“Refreshed” line-ups at Nova (as above), 4BC (Sofie Formica and Dean Miller) and KIIS (where Craig “Lowie” Low will replace Robin Bailey, Corey Oates and Kip Wightman) will face up against battle-worn teams at B105 (Davidson, Abby Coleman and Matt Acton), Triple M (Martin, Margaux Parker and Dan Anstey), ABC Brisbane (Craig Zonca and Loretta Ryan), and 4BH (where “Barbecue” Bob Gallagher has been slaying lately).
I have a strong sense that this won’t be my last post about radio this year, but I think we’re up to speed. For now.
It’s a funny old world and there’s still time for more drama to play out…
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Disclosure: Brett Debritz used to work for 4BC and a few Brisbane newspapers (many of which no longer exist) over a long media career. He regards himself as Brisbane media’s institutional memory. Some say that’s where he belongs.