Hughesy & Kate executive producer Sacha French, ready for Hit Network debut

In the Chinese calendar, 2018 is the Year of The Dog: a good time for lifestyle changes and to start new business ventures.

It’s rather prophetic for Australian radio, given that there’s a notable lineup change in almost every metro market.

And among those changes; Hughesy and Kate moving across the dial from KIIS FM to the Hit Network to fill the vacancy left by Hamish and Andy.

Also moving to Southern Cross Austereo in Melbourne is most of the team that surrounded the duo at KIIS, including long-time executive producer Sacha French.

While not giving anything away, she says the new show will definitely be “them”. But what they bring each day has evolved over the years.

“I think what they had at Nova was obviously different when we went to drive. Being national is different too.

“But, I think a lot of the elements stayed the same, so I can’t imagine they change that much. But, I haven’t even sat down to think about it yet”.

While still deciding whether to take the show in a new direction, French is very clear on one thing: maintaining the show’s integrity.

“We have a show that’s very honest. We all believe in the power of the truth. So, we don’t want to do fake callers.

“We’re not going to embellish a story and elements to make it more interesting.

“I mean, I believe there’s something so powerful about the truth. You listen to some shows and you can hear there’s that ‘something’ that doesn’t quite click”.

Hughesy and Kate’s new national Drive show (4.30pm-6.30pm) will make its debut on the Hit Network on Monday, January 22. It will follow Carrie Bickmore and Tommy Little (3pm-4.30pm), creating a formidable drive ‘block’ to power SCA’s Hit Network through 2018.