Carmen Braidwood says 96FM stopped using her and Fitzi’s ideas prior to axing

Former Assistant Editor

The final week of October last year saw Carmen and Fitzi unceremoniously dumped from the Breakfast slot on 96FM Perth.

Carmen Braidwood and Brad ‘Fitzi’ Fitzgerald had spent five years on the air and had finally started showing positive results in the ratings.

They’d risen to a 9.5% share in Perth by June, but nonetheless ARN replaced them with Paul and Lise without notice and with the tagline ‘more fun, more Perth’.

Carmen has now revealed in an interview with Seven West Media that worrying changes were made to their show after that survey result.

“That’s when we knew that we were gone,” she said.

“We both desperately wanted it to work and wanted our creative ideas to be contributed to the show but after survey four they weren’t being used.

“We were asked to talk shorter breaks and play more music and that’s when we thought ‘This doesn’t feel real good’.

“By the time it got to sort of September/October you go ‘Well, if we’ve not heard anything by now I think we should be looking for jobs’.”

Carmen said that ARN content director Duncan Campbell‘s feedback filtered through to them, and she heard that he’d been wanting “two people that were hungrier.

“I think that Fitzi and I were very hungry, we worked really long hours on that show,” she said.

“Whilst being sacked, or not having your contract renewed or whatever you want to call it, it’s humiliating and frustrating and it’s sad,” she said.

“I had being doing a lot of propping up of my own ego anyway because we were largely left — other than the directive of what not to do — without any great positive reinforcement throughout much of that experience anyway.”

Carmen is now working as an MC, lecturing at TAFE, as a business consultant for hire and as an artist in residence at All Saints College.

She is enjoying her new lifestyle, but didn’t rule out a return to radio in the future.

“If the right show or the right opportunity was to come up on TV or radio then, of course. My husband and I would like to leave Perth at some point but certainly not in the immediate future.”

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