Nine has fired two of its star presenters, a move that has sent shockwaves through the industry.
Popular presenters Julie-Anne Sprague and Tod Johnson have both been sacked as part of an overhaul of the media company’s Perth-based talkback radio station 6PR, as advertising revenue continues to dry up.
Sprague, the channel’s only female presenter, signed on to the channel’s crucial ‘afternoon’ timeslot with much fanfare 18 months ago, after outgoing presenter Steve ‘Millsy’ Mills was promoted to the breakfast programme.
Johnson, a legend of the Perth music scene from his days as frontman of 80s local band V Capri, joined the station as host of ‘The Nightshift’ show from 8pm in a major revamp of the evening line -up in February 2021.
Sources within the broadcaster said both presenters were completely blindsided when they were given the tap this week after Nine Radio’s head of content, Greg Byrnes, flew in from Sydney to oversee the cuts.
None of the presenters will be replaced and instead the services of other presenters will be extended in a desperate bid to reduce costs.
Mills and his breakfast show co-host Karl Langdon, who are usually on air from 5am, are now getting a bit of a lie-in, with their start time pushed back to 6am and their show now running until 10am.
Popular Perth presenter Julie-Anne Sprague as part of a drastic overhaul of the embattled outlet
Tod Johnson has also been shown the door after his Nightshift show ended
The rescheduling means Gary Adshead’s morning show will now run until mid-afternoon at 2pm, after starting an hour later from 10am.
The ‘afternoon’ show will be scrapped entirely, with presenter Oli Peterson set to be on air from 2pm before finishing at its current knock-off time at 6pm, after which the station’s Wide World of Sports will be expanded to two o’clock.
Johnson’s former timeslot will now be filled by Tony McManus’ Money News programme, broadcast from 3AW’s Melbourne studios from 8pm to 12am.
His show previously ran during the graveyard shift from midnight to 3am.
In an internal email to all staff at the station, Nine Radio boss Tom Malone said the overhaul was necessary to reduce costs at the cash-strapped media company.
Sprague (pictured with former Deputy Prime Minister Julie Bishop) had been the station’s only female host
Gary Adshead’s awkwardly named ‘mornings’ program now runs until mid-afternoon as 6PR staff are asked to work longer shifts to accommodate the cuts
“Perth’s advertising market has been struggling, down 16% over the past five years, and rising costs have put additional pressure on our financial performance,” he said in the email.
“To ensure the sustainability of the channel, we are making adjustments that will help us return to profitability over the next twelve months, while still delivering the quality content our listeners love.
“Unfortunately, this means we will no longer hear Julie-Anne Sprague or Tod Johnston on our airwaves.
‘This is a sad and difficult day for the Afternoon and Night teams and for our listeners, and we greatly appreciate their contributions to 6PR.‘
6PR’s evening listeners can now tune in to hear Tony McManus’ show from Melbourne
Nine Radio boss Tony Malone announced the shocking changes in an internal staff email on Wednesday
Nine officials said there were concerns the 6PR changes are a harbinger of similar cost cuts at the company’s other stations: 3AW, 2GB and Brisbane’s 4BC.
“Forget the hosts – even the shows aren’t safe anymore,” a Nine Radio insider told Daily Mail Australia.
‘This shows how desperate they are to target our budgets – and that no one and nothing is sacred.
‘The concern is that if it works, there will be more cuts within the company and more heads will roll.
“And it’s not just the presenters; it is also the producers who make these shows who are in the line of fire.”
The shocking reconfiguration at the talkback station is so fresh that 6PR’s website was still advertising Sprague and Johnson’s programs as of Wednesday afternoon.
Laurel Edwards, Gary Clare and Mark Hine were given the chance at Nine’s Brisbane-based 4BC, talkback station after a disastrous ratings collapse in the critical breakfast timeslot
The changes mirrored those at 4BC, where four hosts left in just two weeks.
The station’s struggling breakfast presenters, Laurel Edwards, Gary Clare and Mark Hine, got the ax last month – just a week after Daily Mail Australia revealed they were in the crosshairs following a ratings devastating blow.
The trio – household names in the Sunshine State – joined 4BC two years ago when the station switched to a classic hits format in the critical breakfast timeslot.
They initially achieved an impressive 11.8 percent audience share – and a third place finish – on their debut in the Queensland capital’s hotly contested breakfast radio competition.
But the decision to steer the station away from talkback in favor of “light entertainment” alienated listeners and ultimately proved a disaster.
4BC’s popular drive-time presenter Peter Gleeson wrapped up last month after taking on a new role as head of Q greyhound racing complex in Queensland, while his executive producer Luke Cooper revealed he would also be leaving to focus on to join the ABC.
Veteran journalist Peter Gleeson left 4BC amid staff shake-up to take a new job running Queensland’s new state-of-the-art greyhound racing complex
Amid the unrest, Steve Barker, the channel’s highly regarded breakfast newsreader, also announced he was on his way out.
Nine bosses indicated the channel would return to its talkback roots by giving hard-hitting 4BC Weekends presenter Peter Fegan the chance to prove himself in the crucial breakfast timeslot until the end of the year.
Veteran presenter and former Liberal MP Gary Hardgrave was then parachuted in for the outgoing Gleeson.
Nine cut around 200 jobs at the company in August as part of a $30 million budget cut, with interim chief executive Matt Stanton promising to cut a further $50 million from the budget this financial year.