ABC Local Radio

ABC appoints new Radio Managers in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Hobart

The ABC has appointed new managers to run four of its key metropolitan radio stations in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Hobart.

Dina Rosendorff has been appointed Local Manager, ABC Radio Melbourne; Simon Scoble Local Manager, ABC Radio Brisbane; Samantha Stayner Local Manager, ABC Radio Hobart; and Melanie Withnall Local Manager, ABC Radio Sydney.

The vacancies within the ABC’s Capital City network are the result of the March restructure of content teams across television, radio, digital and news platforms.

Head of the ABC’s Capital City Network, Warwick Tiernan welcomed the new appointments saying: “All four managers bring a wealth of broadcast experience to their new roles, coming from both inside and outside the ABC.”

“Our capital city radio network is an incredibly important part of the ABC’s output, engaging with more than two million Australians every week,” he said. “The managers of our Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Hobart stations will not only steer their stations locally but will make important contributions to the future sound and direction of the network as a whole.”

ABC Radio Melbourne

Dina Rosendorff has worked across print, radio and television, beginning her journalism career with the Herald Sun newspaper, where she won a Quill Award for Young Journalist of the Year. She then joined ABC News, before spending two years in Boston, MA, working for the NPR affiliate radio station, WBUR. Dina returned to her hometown Melbourne in 2014 to join RN, where she has held roles including RN Drive Executive Producer, Journalism Editor and Arts Editor. Dina takes up her new role at ABC Radio Melbourne next week.

ABC Radio Brisbane

Simon Scoble has more than a decade as an editorial leader at the ABC and before that at the Seven Network. Simon began his media career in commercial radio and then spent six years in television as a News Producer for Seven in Queensland. For the past five and a half years he’s been the Local Manager in Darwin where he has led the team in creating distinct Local content that reflects the character of the city and its people. Simon will join ABC Radio Brisbane in mid June.

ABC Radio Hobart

Samantha Stayner is a former Content Director at ABC Radio Melbourne, where she led emergency broadcasting during the Black Saturday fires of 2009 and later appeared as the ABC witness at the Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission. As a content maker, most recently as senior producer with Rafael Epstein’s Drive program at ABC Radio Melbourne, she has produced and presented outstanding ABC programs from the city to the desert for more than 20 years including in Ballarat & Alice Springs. Sam will join ABC Radio Hobart in early July.

ABC Radio Sydney

Melanie Withnall is currently the Managing Director at Sydney Educational Broadcasting Ltd, which runs 2SER 107.3. She is also the Vice President of the Community Broadcasting Association of Australia. Melanie was part of the team that won Gold & Silver Awards at the New York Radio Festivals in 2017,and is passionate about 2SER’s educational mission to train young journalists. Prior to her current role, Melanie was senior producer of Mornings at ABC Radio Sydney. She has also worked as a Radio lecturer at the AFTRS, and an Executive Producer at 2UE and 2GB. Melanie will join ABC Radio Sydney later in July.

If the fish rots from the head, the talent drought has taken hold with a vengeance in ABC management.

A nice bloke, was a beginner journo under 4BC news director Scott McKinlay in the lean days of four journos for a metro station when at Macrossan Street.

Moved into TV via regional stations and most recently, ‘learning the bureaucracy’ in Darwin.

Hardly a competitive market for experience in Brisbane where the change of content is on the nose.

Could have been worse, will he keep employing his former colleague Anthony Frangi? After leading 4BC, 4BH towards major staff losses resulting in MRN relaying over 95% content not from Brisbane, he picked up a job with the ABC. Unbelievable.

Was a producer for commercial radio in Sydney. Early in her career, a night time producer.

Been at 2SER for years.

Running a community radio station is far different to a metro national broadcaster.

Unless the ABC wish to head that way?

Onwards to oblivion?

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She presented mornings on 702 ABC Sydney (as it was known then) from 2008 to 2011.

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Alicia Loxley will be filling in for Raf Epstein from Monday.

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Amanda Shalala is sitting across from me at the SCG for the Swans vs Eagles match. #starstruck

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ABC Sydney DAB+ logo. What is it with the ABC and their ‘rough-as-guts’ DAB+ slideshow graphics image for their ABC Sydney DAB+ transmission? Surely their graphics department could have produced a professional logo for their DAB+ transmission. The image is blury & inconsistent in colour as one might expect with a very heavy compressed small jpg file. An 8 year old could have probably done better. Then the red logo isn’t cited exactly in the centre of the white background.

Whilst the ABC’s logo looks okay on their web pages I really think the ABC should have thought a little more about the appearance for radios capable of displaying DAB slideshow images/logos.
The logo really does look like a representation of the Japanese national flag (The Rising Sun - Hinomaru).
I thought the ABC was the Australian National Broadcaster and not part of the Japanese government?!

Perhaps the ABC should consider redesigning their ABC Sydney DAB slideshow images to something similar with what 2GB or Southern Cross does to promote their various announcers/programs with a cleaner and not so prominent logo.

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Ohhh, the fun to be had with this! Pandora’s box, another topic indeed.

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Looking at the source code of a playlist file for ABC radio streaming, I discovered that Media Hub Australia is providing the stream.

What a shame, you think the ABC, the size it is could handle streaming in house.

it’s probally a case of being forced to

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Does the ABC not control their own radio switching any more? e.g making sure 720 Perth gets an updated version of The World Today at 12:05 WST and so on? Delaying SA/NT program by 30/90 mins and so on.

By who? Bundled in the TV master control contract?

Remember the ABC own half of Mediahub.

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ABC radio news is carrying a rather obscure news item today, the death in the US of rapper https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XXXTentacion_discography

I see only fleeting success in Australia.

No listings of his work on Nova, SCA, The Edge playlists.

Died age 20.

This guy was no Biggie Smalls (or he was no Notorious B.I.G. pardon the pun!) yet ABC are winding up their crocodile tears for him in bulletins.

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Plus from what I’ve heard, he was a total fucking shitbag.

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You don’t think the death of an artist that had the #3 album in the country a couple of months ago is news?
I don’t think his music would be suited for commercial radio use, either.

Absolutely. But that doesn’t stop his death being news. Same when Weinstein croaks.

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I had kids refuse to do their work because of his death. FFS!

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On the Gold Coast, Julie Clift is filling in for Bern Young for the next month on Breakfast (including the early portion simulcast to Brisbane and Sunshine Coast) who is off to have some corrective surgery done on her nose. Kim Dennison is filling in on Saturday Breakfast.

Sack them.

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And again Chloe Maxwell misses out.

Yes, the former model ‘discovered’ by ACA who went on to a long and successful modelling career.

She took to radio in 2017 like a duck to water, both on air and producing.

Unfortunately, internal politics has pushed Chloe to the outer which is a big loss for a station that needs all the talent it can get.

A pretend serious news/hybrid adult alt music format that outside of the 9 hours local shifts is duplicated by the 612 and 94.5 signals to the north and south respectively that both overspill so well into the Gold Coast?

More movement on the Gold Coast - Drive presenter Matt Webber is now heading off for a few months to do some digital work for ABC. Cathy Border will be presenting Drive in his absence from Monday.

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