Chrissie – “Shocked & Hurt”

Staff Writer

Chrissie Swan has opened up about not being re-signed by ARN for the Mix 101.1 Breakfast show in Melbourne, saying that she was 'shocked' and 'hurt' by the decision.

Speaking to musician Clare Bowditch on her 'Inspiration Bomb' blog, Chrissie suggested that the decision did not take into consideration the relationship she had with her listeners, and was revenue-based.

She said, in part;

"My contract was not renewed and it was not my choice, and no one can really understand what happened….I thought that it would continue, and it came as a great surprise to me that it didn't.

And there wasn't really any communication about why, or what was happening, and I was very hurt by that, and I took it very personally.

And that's where the reputation of radio being a brutal industry comes from, because the people that make the decisions about who work on-air are not the people that are on air themselves.

We have a million listeners. A million people listening to what I say every morning, and you need to feel that you can tell them anything and I do.

It (the Chrissie & Jane show) was a unique proposition for the audience and I was immensely proud of that. There was two women and we had an absolute ball, and we became number one which was not only a first for two females in metropolitan radio, but a first for the radio station that I work on, so that felt like a feather in my cap.

I was surprised because I had believed what I had been told by management, that two women couldn't be #1, so I was deeply surprised that this occurred. Having said that I was surprised how little it meant to me personally, I felt fantastic for the team because it takes a lot of other people to make something succeed, particularly in radio, and I felt a sense of satisfaction, but nowhere near as much as I thought I would.

(So) to have somebody that has never experienced the connection between someone who is on air and someone who is listening make decisions to end the relationship that we have, it is really hard to take because it's not just business for me.

There will always be that disconnect, because the way radio is structured is that business people that are after revenue are making decisions based on that, not on what radio is to the normal person; relationships, stories, trust, vulnerability and communication.

That has, in my experience, no place in the model for the people that are making the decisions and that's where the reputation for being a brutal industry comes from and it will remain that way."

 

You can hear the full interview here.

GFK survey above; S3/14 when Mix 101.1 Breakfast held the #1 FM spot for that survey.

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