What's New
BY Sarah Patterson September 13, 2024
What's New October 24, 2023
More Hit regional breakfast radio show shake ups
After Maz Compton and Matty Baseley called it a day last Friday on Hit 101.3 networked out of Gosford, more regional NSW and QLD shows look like they are being dismantled or altered before 2024.
This morning Bianca Dye was not on air, with her Gold Coast SeaFM colleagues Danny Lakey and Ben Hannant continuing without her. The show and Dye have not commented on the absence. The team won Best Podcast by a Radio Show at the 2023 ACRAs.
SCA Head of Regional Content, Blair Woodcock said there will be a different Gold Coast breakfast line up for 2024 featuring Lakey and a new radio partner to be announced soon, with Dye and Hannant opting to focus on new pathways.
“Ben and Bianca have always gone the extra mile and have even put themselves on the line to help community groups and individuals up and down the coast with their generous nature and positive energy, and they’ll be missed from the speakers in 2024. We are set for an exciting time as we plan the new show that will be waking up in this amazing part of the world,” said Woodcock.
Also rumoured to be impacted is Newcastle’s Hit106.9’s where Ash London is currently co-hosting with Nick Gill and Nick ‘Ducko’ Ducat while Jess Farchione is on maternity leave, and Hit Queensland’s Guy “Cliffo” Clifton and Bronte Langbroek who were about to celebrate a year on air together but have also been off air this week.
It could be that there will be just one regional and networked Hit Breakfast show for NSW and Queensland with Newcastle and Gosford, and Townsville and the Gold Coast being amalgamated to further reduce SCA costs and staff.
With last week’s news of ARN and Anchorage Capital Partner’s proposed bid to takeover SCA, surely this reduction of staff and shows, which would likely have occurred anyway if ARN’s bid is successful, further makes the transition easier not harder for ARN.
The bid remains with the SCA Board which has to unanimously recommend the proposal before regulatory approvals from both the ACCC and ACMA, and a great many other terms and conditions might come into play.
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What's New
BY Sarah Patterson September 13, 2024
Feel so sorry for these hard working and talented teams. SCA appears to be hell bent on destroying all localism from outside the major cities. Shame on them. It’s so sad to see how far a once influential company has fallen and gone so off track.
How horrible – sorry to hear some great talent losing their jobs.
I’m truly concerned for any up and coming talent or people trying to break into radio as an announcer / on air talent. It’ll be non-existent before too long. No wonder why podcasts and youtube productions are thriving.
What a disaster for the industry. More and more redundancies, the talent in regional shrinking. The once great SCA valued development and talent now they are a third choice in the market for people wanting to work in the industry.
3 years this year DC started in his role with nothing to show for it.
If ARN takes over SCA… There will be a monopoly in the Riverina, as we only have SCA as a commercial network… I do not think that ACMA will approve of this… And neither will our local member. That and they MAY need to offload SC10 regional to Paramount Australia.
Losing 3 brilliant radio talent, Maz, Matty and Bianca Dye in one swoop.
SCA doing SCA things.
Reading this it’s clear it doesn’t take much imagination to throw together an FM Breakfast team. The combo is boy/girl or boy/girl/boy (but never girl/boy/girl). Boy/boy is a possibility but only if both are funny and will become the next Hamish & Andy. And you have to have someone’s nickname in the title – preferably the funny one. That makes them relatable and down-to-earth. Maz and Matty are an exception but only because Maz already sounds like a nickname.
Perhaps someone in FM land should try breaking the mould and see what happens?
The decision to axe Maz Compton, Matty Baseley & Bianca Dye shows you how much SCA care about radio.
These are 3 of the best radio minds in the country, baffling calls being made. Sad times for radio in Australia.
Would the last to leave SCA please switch off the lights.
The CEO banged on about localism as the antidote to globalism in their AGM today…whats local about axing local shows for more networking?