Brisbane 4BC suffered a brutal blow when it lost four hosts in the space of two weeks amid its latest ratings bloodbath, but reports suggest the job cuts are not over yet.
Nine Radio star Sofie Formica is currently on leave from her afternoon show, and there is speculation her seat behind the microphone could disappear when she returns.
Television reporter Michelle Tapper has been filling in for the veteran Queensland presenter, 53, and insider data suggests she may be better suited to the job, the outlet reported. The Australian Press Diary.
According to reports leaked to the publication a few weeks ago, the Nine News Brisbane star exceeded expectations when covering Formica’s work on 4BC.
Meanwhile, Formica, who presented Queensland’s The Great South East for almost 20 years, has had the lowest ratings among 4BC’s main daytime shows, with other underperforming presenters having been axed in recent weeks.
But the truth behind this speculation remains unclear, as Formica is scheduled to represent 4BC on the panel for the first 9News Queensland leaders debate on October 3.
Premier Steven Miles and Liberal National Party leader David Crisafulli will face off ahead of the Queensland election, with Formica sitting on the panel with Nine state political editor Tim Arvier and Brisbane Times editor Sean Parnell.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Nine for comment.
Nine Radio star Sofie Formica, 53 (pictured), is currently on leave from her afternoon show and there is speculation her seat behind the microphone could disappear when she returns.
This comes just days after it was reported that another popular journalist would replace Brisbane 4BC’s breakfast team at the end of the month after three of Nine’s top breakfast radio stars were axed from the job.
Peter Fegan will host the morning show from 30 September, while the trio of Laurel Edwards, Gary Clare and Mark Hine will be removed from the show on Friday 13 September.
An internal staff email confirmed that Fegan, who currently hosts 4BC Weekends, will host the breakfast show until December.
The email said: ‘From Monday 30 September, Peter Fegan will take over the breakfast slot until the end of the year, before ending the 2024 survey period on Friday 13 December.’
The message to staff seemed to suggest that listeners can expect more changes at the station for on-air presenters.
Television reporter Michelle Tapper has been filling in for the veteran Queensland presenter and insider information suggests she may be better suited to the job, Diary reported on Sunday.
However, the publication reports that Fegan has told insiders that he has the job secured, although this has not been confirmed.
The dismissal of Edwards, Clare and Hine came days after Daily Mail Australia revealed that bosses at the troubled broadcaster were “sharpening their knives”.
The trio, household names in the Sunshine State, were introduced to great fanfare in 2022 when the station switched to a classic hits format on the morning show.
They scored an impressive 11.8 per cent audience share – and third place – in their debut on the hotly contested morning radio show in the Queensland capital.
But the decision to move the station away from traditional talk in favour of “light entertainment” – in stark contrast to its successful sister stations 2GB in Sydney, 3AW in Melbourne and 6PR in Perth – has alienated listeners and ultimately proved a disaster.
The ratings for Edwards, Clare and Hine have been in terminal decline, with their show finishing a humiliatingly last in the latest poll, with an alarming 4.3 per cent audience share.
According to reports leaked to the publication a few weeks ago, the Nine News Brisbane star exceeded expectations when covering Formica’s work on 4BC.
The trio’s departure was made official three days after Daily Mail Australia revealed they were facing the axe.
Nine Radio’s head of content Greg Byrnes said on Friday afternoon that the network had “decided to take a new approach to breakfast”.
“They will be greatly missed by their loyal listeners and all of us at 4BC, but we will send them off in style worthy of their remarkable careers,” Byres added.
His last day on air will be in a few days, on Friday, September 27.
This comes after Drive host Peter Gleeson and morning news presenter Steve Barker also quit earlier last week in the wake of the Daily Mail Australia story about impending job cuts.
Barker had been a key figure in the Brisbane newsroom since joining the network, receiving a prestigious New York Festivals Radio award for his heartfelt coverage of the Queen’s death last year.
Nine Radio executives also fired the stars of the Brisbane morning talk radio show, Laurel Edwards, Gary Clare and Mark Hine, following a disastrous ratings decline.
Well-placed sources within 4BC revealed the network was now planning an unprecedented overhaul of its presenter line-up as it returns to a hard-hitting interview approach and desperately tries to lure back absent listeners.
They said the decision was a humble admission that the station’s entertainment experiment had failed.
“We need to blow the whole place up and start again, and we need to do it now,” a senior 4BC official told Daily Mail Australia.
‘We’re losing ratings and advertising money every day right now. 2GB and 3AW are flying. Even 6PR is coming back.
“But 4BC is a complete mess and it was all caused by bad breakfast decisions.”
Popular 4BC news presenter Steve Barker and veteran journalist Peter Gleeson have also resigned from Nine Radio’s Brisbane station.
There are even fears that the station’s plummeting ratings could see local programming scrapped altogether, after parent company Nine Entertainment announced plans to cut $50m from underlying costs this financial year.
“Staff are very nervous about the station returning to the bad old days of Sydney programming on 4BC,” a source said.
In these difficult economic times, it would not surprise anyone if management made such a decision.
“It would be a wrong and short-sighted decision, but at this stage anything is possible.”
