Experienced presenter and reporter Jonathon Kendall has been named as the new co-host of The Conversation Hour on ABC Radio Melbourne and Victoria, as Warwick Long farewells the program to present the Victorian Country Hour.
Jonathon will co-host from ABC Gippsland, joining Richelle Hunt behind the mic from May 3.
Warwick Long will take over the Victorian Country Hour from April 19 and will continue to be based in Shepparton.
Nikolai Beilharz is off to South Australia as EP of Rural programs.
… wonder why the persist with a separate Melbourne Conversations which was originally a vanity project for Jon Faine? the rest of the country takes the excellent national program with Richard Fidler …
So it’s vanity for Jon Faine but not Richard Fidler?
Maybe the ABC wants to roll out what is currently in VIC across each state once Richard Fidler retires from the show.
Last time I listened to the Conversation Hour was October/November via 3GI/3MT. They were prattling on about high density housing in Box Hill. Hardly of relevance to most Victorians outside Melbourne. I would suggest separating Melbourne from Country VIC. IMHO ABC Local Radio should have local content and national programs should be punted to Radio National (hence the name).
exactly … Fidler was hired specifically to do a national program … Faine was just the overpaid morning host who had to have his own way …
very true … on the other hand Conversations is truly of interest to everyone wherever they live …
It’s the weekday equivalent of Macca.
Faine started The Conversation Hour many years before the national Conversations programme. It was a much better programme for local radio in that time slot. The Fidler programme always struck me as bland and dull. Was it pre-recorded or just devoid of any live feeling?
The current iteration in Victoria is different than Faine’s but more relevant in that time slot than the national podcast.
I guess it’s just a matter of personal opinion then … Rob’s post above says it’s too “Melbourne” for the rest of Victoria and when I was working mornings on ABC Local Radio, Fidler’s program was one of the few I actually listened to because it felt like it was aimed at an intelligent listener compared to the rest of the dross on ABC during the day …
More like a fact that Faine’s programme predated Fidler’s.
That’s certainly opinion, but hard to take seriously based listening to one segment several months ago when a quick glance of recent programme synopses suggest otherwise. It’s not perfect radio, but in my opinion suits local radio if that’s what the budget dictates better than the national option which is well suited to RN or podcasts.
One of the hosts is based in and broadcasts from regional Victoria.
TBH, I would have given the hour to Trioli - either extended Mornings or TCH with VT.
My apologies, I was using that as an example. I generally wake to ABC Gippsland switching to 3GG during the day. I find that when I listen to state-wide programs on ABC Local Radio, they are typically Melbourne centric. When ABC Melbourne is separated from ABC Victoria, the programming becomes far more relevant and as a general rule I think ABC Local Radio should be as local as possible. (I am also a fan of more local content on commercial radio - Triple M Gippsland is pretty much bare bones). Consistent with this, I believe Radio National is a more appropriate home for national programs.
I appreciate that the ABC has cost pressures (like everyone else) and has to undertake networking - hence even items like the Rural Report cover two broadcast areas ie Gippsland and Shep (previously Gippsland and Bega), whereas I don’t think of them as having much commonality.
As @Snoozenooze point’s out one of the new Conversation Hour co-hosts is the Brekky presenter from ABC Gippsland, which would appear a smart way to offset the natural bias to being Melbourne-centric. So it is a good move, I just think local is better.
I agree and apologies if I came across a bit harsh at your previous assessment.
Given the presenter he’s replacing was based in and presented from Shep, perhaps that perception won’t be overcome outside of Gippsland listeners who are familiar with him.
Gippsland - Bega is at least a continuous coastline with similar weather. The current split with Shep is unhelpful due to different weather, catchments etc.
Why is ABC Vic so skinflint as to not afford local rural reports in each market?
The Good Friday national programming lineup on ABC Radio today, aside from respective AFL and NRL match commentary was:
6.30am - 10am Paul Culliver (ex-Melbourne)
10am - 1pm Rebecca Levingston (ex-Brisbane)
1pm - 4pm Sarah Howells (ex-Maroochydore)
4pm - 7pm Kia Handley (ex-Newcastle)
What’s on tonight?
Who was filling in for Macca today?
Although Paul is originally from Melbourne he’s currently hosting breakfast on ABC Capricornia out of Rockhampton - unless he made it down for the long weekend?
He was using the Melb text number ending 774 774