He’s still not back on with Steve Price and tonight for example he introduced Rita Panahi as joining him every night with no mention of her filling in.
Well at least that annoying Mike Williams is no longer on the website replaced with Luke Grant. For a moment I thought we would be getting that fool from Melbourne up the line. I think the Macquarie News has improved, well just a little but we are still getting annoying quotes like “have a listen” and so. 2GB listeners are not teenagers.
Indeed. Checking back through podcasts, Ben Fordham didn’t refer to Peta Credlin as filling in for Andrew this week. He did last week. The last time I can find Steve Price mentioning Rita Panahi was filling in for Andrew was uhhh…I’ve gone back to Feb 14 and still haven’t found a mention.
That said, 2GB and Macquarie Syndication websites still list Andrew Bolt. On the other hand, Bolt has started “The Andrew Bolt Podcast” which is described as “the official podcast of Herald Sun columnist and TV presenter Andrew Bolt”. No mention of radio. There was an episode in December and one on Sunday. He noted on his Herald Sun blog for the latest episode that it will be weekly. It’s being recorded on an echoey setup which doesn’t sound at all like a professional radio or TV studio.
There was also an entry on his blog on Monday about the possibility of John Singleton selling his Macquarie stake, with odd speculation that Singo could buy another station and take Alan Jones with him. It included lines such as
I am not sure 2GB is quite the happy, supportive home for Jones that it once was
and
I have no particular insight or information
Add that all up, and I have no idea what is going on, but it sure seems like Bolt might be out of Macquarie.
If Bolt’s rant has any basis … Buying 2SM or buying back 2CH would be John Singleton’s only options, but I think he would need to pay Caralis or Oceania Capital a nice profit to entice them to sell.
Agreed. But if I was John Singleton’s age, I’d probably get out of radio while it’s still profitable and retire with the bucketload of money made from the sale.
Reckon Nine would try and buy (at least the more profitable/lucrative parts of) SCA if they’re interested in radio but are concerned about MRN personalities like Alan Jones being more of a liability than an asset to the company?
Seven News claims that Alan Jones has other offers on the table and that Macquarie has until Wednesday to respond. It appears to be a real possibility that Jones will leave 2GB at the end of June.
That was my first thought TBH. Sky News’ post-6pm lineup probably could do with a replacement for Andrew Bolt, who’s on the nose after recent dodgy comments about a certain high profile court case.
If Jones leaves surely they’ll just promote all existing weekday presenters up a shift (Hadley at breakfast, Smith in the mornings, etc.), move Luke Grant to weekday overnights/Wake Up Australia and call it a day?
Given his age and the fact he’s only done one stint of fill-in presenting (Early October 2016) since his December 2015 retirement from the overnight program, I can’t see Brian Wilshire returning. Besides, Michael McLaren probably deserves a better timeslot anyway.
Well I’m not 100% sure what News Corp thought of those odious views, but it’s to my understanding that quite a lot of regular people (including even some conservatives who usually support him) were none too pleased with Bolt’s “alternative view” on the court case.
And yes I’m aware that Alan Jones has also attracted his fair share of negativity and legal action over the years but as we should all know by now, News Corp has deeper pockets than Macquarie Radio.
If Alan leaves 2GB (which I can’t see happening…cutting back to four days per week seems more likely ala Kochie on Sunrise), I think Steve Price is the most likely to take the spot, at least at first. It has struck me as intriguing that Steve is the only fill-in who does not stick to the format (restrict calls to the 6:30 and 8:30 half hours, sport and finance crosses before the top of the hour etc). It has made me wonder if he is trialling a succession plan.
Longer term I’m sure Nine would like to lure Jason Morrison back to 2GB, and deprive Seven of their Sydney news director in the process. He is one of the few who have proven they can retain the audience during Alan’s absences. If memory serves, Jason actually increased the ratings when he filled in for one of Alan’s extended absences some years back.