Who will Drive 4BC into the future?
Also: is working from home killing the Brisbane CBD?
As reported here first, Neil Breen is leaving news-talk radio station 4BC. Since I wrote my original article, which was picked up by radioinfo, I’ve been in touch with a few people, some of whom have suggested a slightly different narrative to the one presented on air and reported here and in other media.
Whatever the sequence of events, 4BC is looking for a new host (or hosts) for the Drive shift.
But will it be as simple as keeping the Brisbane Live brand of news and opinion, and slotting in one of the many contenders for that gig?
Or will 4BC be looking at the big picture of what it offers across the day and the week, and maybe doing something different in Drive?
Since my last missive, it’s been reported that Ray Hadley has signed with 2GB for another three years. 4BC posted that fact on social media, suggesting that Hadley will continue to be heard in Brisbane as part of his $9 million deal. The post featured a wonderful photo of Ray in front of that well-known Brisbane landmark, the er … Sydney Harbour Bridge.
Hadley has a solid audience here — although it’s nothing like the numbers he has in Sydney — so I guess that makes sense for him to continue on air, at least for the immediate future. But it doesn’t necessarily follow that the Drive shift (or indeed any other shift on the station) has to retain a right-leaning news-talk format.
After all, Hadley is heard on plenty of regional stations where his show is squeezed in amid otherwise music-heavy formats. On the Darling Downs, he’s heard on Triple M 864, which plays comedian Marty Sheargold’s networked show at 3pm.
Might 4BC opt for a lighter program to bookend its breakfast offering of Laurel, Gary and Mark? Or will that program remain the outlier?
While strict business sense would be for the network to aim for the audience that will deliver the biggest slice of advertising dollars, the media doesn’t always work that way.
Does 4BC, or the Nine Network that owns it, fancy itself as a political player? Is it in the talk-radio business because it wants to have influence? (Although many would argue that media no longer has the power to shift audience opinion, only to occasionally amplify it.)
The danger with aligning itself too much with one side of politics is, of course, in p*ssing off the people who passionately support another party or simply don’t want politics rammed down their throats 24/7.
If 4BC is looking to recruit younger listeners, who tend to be more progressive than their parents, then putting all its energy into toppling the Labor government is unlikely to pay off on ratings day.
(It’s interesting to note that BC’s own studios are in a federal electorate that fell from Labor to the Greens at the last election — an indication that politics in Brisbane are a lot more nuanced than they used to be.)
At a time when its ratings are actually on the up, 4BC is facing a crucial decision.
Everyone who’s interested in radio will have an opinion, so here’s mine. The new Drive host (or hosts) should be:
known to Brisbane audience and/or have strong local credentials (Neil Breen wasn’t a household name when he started on air, but he grew up in the city and knows its idiosyncracies);
palatable to existing audiences (or, at least, those in the demographic the station seeks to keep) and able to attract new listeners;
“gotcha” proof (i.e. either has no dirty laundry or has already aired it in public);
equipped with a genuine desire to get out and about among the audience and do the things they do, rather than hang with the big end of town; and,
funny and fun to hear.
Who are the contenders? I reckon the list should include, in no particular order:
one or two people currently working for the ABC, including those associated with the days when ABC Brisbane enjoyed far higher ratings;
people from TV land (not exclusively those on Nine or those who’ve already been fill-in hosts on 4BC);
people with high profiles in other media, including social media; and, importantly,
people already in the building — not just those with full-time on-air gigs
I’d be casting my net wide, and I’d be thinking of not just individuals but potential double (or triple) acts. I will disappoint some readers by not naming names here, but I do have some people in mind.
But, of course, for all I know, it’s already a done deal.
Disclaimer: I was employed by 4BC from January 2021 to April 2022, producing shows for Bill McDonald and Spencer Howson.
REINVENTING THE CBD?
In my current job, I work four days a week, one of them from home. Some of my full-time colleagues have two out-of-office days.
As far as I know, they all enjoy the chance to do that, and our employer is happy with the situation. And as far as I can tell, productivity has not suffered as a consequence of this arrangement.
But elsewhere, workers are being told it’s “selfish” to want to work from home, because of negative impacts on others.
The person making the claim happens to run a commercial property group, whose business will suffer in terms of lower rental income if too many people work from home and offices become smaller (or they close altogether).
It’s also claimed that cafes, bars and hotels will suffer, which may be true of those in the CBD, but perhaps similar business in the burbs will flourish as workers spend their money locally. And it will take pressure off public-transport systems that don’t work all that well.
In any case, WFH is here to stay. It’s just a matter of time before it becomes the rule rather than the exception.
The challenge for the CBDs is to reinvent themselves both as destinations and places to live.