I’m starting to think 6PR have lost the plot and I say this as a loyal listener who has had them on 12 hours a day most weekdays for the past 17 years.
I was majorly pissed when they dumped Howard Sattler after the incident with Julia Gillard but I could at least understand their reasoning with that. I didn’t agree, but that outcome was expected. To me it was like they were waiting for a reason and they jumped on it. He owned that timeslot and one screw up and he was gone.
Paul Murray was dumped from Mornings without getting a chance to say goodbye. He didn’t do anything wrong - they just didn’t want to give him a raise and so they didn’t renew his contract. He wanted one final show to say goodbye and they wouldn’t give him that.
They have treated Simon Beaumont terribly over the years. He’s been out and back a few times. He was doing fine on Afternoons and had a loyal audience. His personality was perfect for that slot and now he gets shafted to weekends. That was just unfair. I feel bad for Simon because he got the worst deal from the last round of changes. Sure he’s not gone but he might as well be. No one listens on weekends.
Basil leaving obviously meant Breakfast needed someone new but moving Millsy to Afternoons after 16 years doing Breakfast, which was doing great in ratings, was an unnecessary slap in the face to one of their longest serving presenters. He could have done Breakfast alone and things would have been fine. You could tell with how emotional he was in his last few weeks that he didn’t want to move. He even said as much.
The tricky one for me is Liam Bartlett coming back. That is a plus for 6PR for sure but that left Gareth Parker without a show. I like Gareth but I’m not sure Breakfast will suit him. He’s far better suited to the Morning show format. No one wants serious stuff at Breakfast. I would have been curious to see how things would have gone if he were paired with Millsy. They could have tried that for a few days or a week before Basil left to see if it would work but no. They didn’t even give that a chance.
And now Chris Ilsley. He has done a mighty fine job for so long. He has a loyal late night audience who love the guy. Once again another presenter doesn’t get a chance to say goodbye. 21 years. Seriously… wtf. Where’s the loyalty 6PR?
If this is how Nine are going to run 6PR going forward then they are going to lose a lot of listeners. You don’t just dump presenters for no reason. Especially ones who own their slot or who are getting better numbers each time the ratings are released.
People don’t like change - especially Perth people - but minor changes here or there generally aren’t a big deal. They have basically bulldozed their entire weekday lineup.
Nine and 6PR management should be ashamed of themselves.
This will be a disaster.