I think Ricki works better now, unfortunately Kate’s been gone too long.
This may explain the absence of Sarah from the show. She has gone MIA, and there has been no mention of her on air.
As I mentioned previously Tom Ivy is no longer really having an on air presence on the show anymore, it is just Fitzy & Wippa.
The show seems to be in a holding pattern at the moment.
I f this rumor is true when will the big announcement take place? Will she join the show after Easter?
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As long as she calms down the yelling and screaming and faux excitement it would be helpful. Certainly, a much more female-skewed show than it used to be. Nova has all but given up on a male audience for drive.
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I know it’s still only a rumour but I would have had Chrissie Swan join F&W instead of Kate Ritchie, they have great chemistry with Chrissie.
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Big Brother contestants +1
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What is Nova’s obsession with Chrissie?
Is she really that great?
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I don’t think she would move to Sydney - even if a semi trailer filled with cash backed into her driveway.
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I don’t think being in Sydney for Sydney based radio shows has been a requirement for a little while now
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Chrissie Swan would not go back to Breakfast. She has been telling everyone that she was tired of working those hours and that’s why she quit her Melbourne show.
This may explain the absence of Sarah from the show. She has gone MIA, and there has been no mention of her on air.
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Fitzy and Wippa on their is own ends up with a lot of waffle. Sarah had become an important part of the show and I think F&W had come to rely on her so much that it sounds like they sometimes struggle to keep the conversation goingwhen it’s just the two of them. I have even heard Wippa call out to producer Jess a couple of times. She took part in the conversation today.
He was on the show quite a bit today and they even had the Ten Tenors in the studio to sing Happy Birthday to him.
If Nova are planning or are in the process of making big changes, they risk blowing up the whole station. The jury is still out on Chrissie taking over afternoons and we dont know how Ben & Liam will do in Melbourne. Drive has been uncertain for nearly year with Kate’s absences. Surely they cant keep Kate in the title of the show if she is going to continue her absence long term.
If anything, I think Kate Richie might havr considered quitting radio altogether after having a long break away for it. If she was having problems with doing her job in the afternoons, I think early mornings would be a lot more stressful and probably wouldn’t suit her considering she has a young daughter.
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The programming decisions at Nova are very strange to say the least. If they are going to make massive changes to Breakfast and Drive why not announce them at the end of last year.
If it is true that Sarah has left the show they should have given her a proper farewell at the end of last year as she is loved by listeners, and was an integral part of the show. It is not fair to the listeners for her to be suddenly removed from the show with no communication whatsoever, if my hunch is correct.
They are struggling big time without Sarah and Tom Ivy’s input, the show has lost its flow.
If massive chances were going to take place start fresh at the beginning of 2022, not halfway through survey 1.
I think they have blown up survey 1, the Chrissie Swan show won’t rate. All Nova stations wi be down, but Perth will still be #1
Again if the rumour is true Kate is joining F&W , why not announce it at the end of 2022?
If Ricki -Lee is going to be permanently on drive, rename the show for 2023, Joel, Tim & Ricki.
I have a feeling this maybe the final year of the F&W show on Nova 969, with Ben & Liam the new hosts in 2023. I don’t know what they will do about Nova 100 Breakfast if this happens, and if they have no other options, I would not put it past Nova to network Breakfast between Sydney and Melbourne.
Maybe this is the year where 2day fm beats Nova in a ratings survey???
2023 could be a very interesting year, survey 1 is out on Thursday 16th March.
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I agree that the show has lost something without Sarah there. You can hear it with most discussions stalling after a couple of minutes when in the past they could have gone for ten minutes. I don’t know why you think Tom is missing. I heard the show this morning and listened to two podcasts from Thursday and Friday.
Tom generally is a bit quieter at the start of show and tends to really get into every segment towards the end of the show. He is probably doing other things at the start of yhe show with his role as Producer. That part of the show is usually about latest news, hot topics and entertainment. That’s when Sarah was most valuable.
It is odd to be making changes before for Survey 1 has even finished. They could have at least waited until the show had its Easter break. That’s why I’m wondering if there is a personal issue that can’t be talked about.
If Sarah has been forced out it would be an extraordinary turn of events. Just two years ago Nova couldn’t get enough of her. Apart from her pivotal role with Fitzy and Wippa, she also did an hour early mornings 5-6am with Matt de Groot, a Saturday morning show with Matt and Matty J, the celebrity gossip show with J Mo on Sundays, and had a podcast. Plus she had two young boys who were toddlers. At one stage she was sick and started taking quite a few days off. It sounded like she was burning out. Yhen she quit some of those roles and was sounding better on F&W again.
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Sarah McGilvray has left Nova according to her LinkedIn profile - she had been with the network for 11 years. It was a very quiet exit.
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If that is true, wow!!!
This gives the Kate Ritchie joining Fitzy & Wippa rumour more credibility.
I still think Nova should have let the audience know of her departure from the show. They have always farewelled their producers when they left.
The show is not the same as it was before, it has gone downhill massively. I have found myself going to the darkside and listening more to KJO recently.
Radio Today / Radio Info very quiet on this one. I guess waiting on an announcement from the network?
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She’s either been sacked or it going to a competitor.
Yep. They don’t break news anymore. They just wait for the press releases.
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You would have thought if her contract was not renewed she would have left at the end of 2022, not halfway through survey 1.
If she is going to a competitor, 2day to join Hughesy and Ed??? Or an off air role as a producer at another network.
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I was more going thinking suddenly sacked for doing something wrong.
It was clearly sudden. They’ve found themselves in a holding pattern not knowing what to do.
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Hence the rumour of Nova approaching Kate Ritchie to join Fitzy & Wippa. Maybe this is contract filler, to see if she can lift the ratings this year.
I think there is a fair chance the show won’t return in 2024.
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Depends when she signed on as On-Air talent with Nova. If I recall correctly, she did suddenly join the show in a more prominent role after being heard in the background as Producer Sarah. If she was head-hunted by another show/station she might have signed a contract with them but when Nova got wind of it, they took her straight off air.
When Marty Sheargold signed with Triple M, they at least let him stay long enough to say goodbye. He didn’t announce a new job until much later. If Sarah signed with Hughesy and Ed, for example, she may not be allowed to announce anything for a while.
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They had to let Marty say goodbye he was the star of the show.
They could not let him just disappear off the show, here one day and gone the next.
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Marty would have also had a significant non-compete/restraint clause putting him on gardening leave for about 4 months if memory serves correctly?
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