Three of Nine’s biggest morning radio stars have been axed, just days after Daily Mail Australia revealed bosses at the troubled network were sharpening their knives.
Brisbane’s 4BC announced on Friday afternoon that it is to drop Laurel Edwards, Gary Clare and Mark Hine from its coveted breakfast slot.
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.
The trio’s departure has now been 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”.
Brisbane’s 4BC announced on Friday afternoon that it will be dropping Laurel Edwards, Gary Clare and Mark Hine from its coveted breakfast slot.
Happier times: The trio’s departure has now been made official, three days after this publication revealed they were facing the guillotine.
“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.
Its last day on air will be in two weeks, on Friday, September 27.
This also comes after Drive host Peter Gleeson and morning news presenter Steve Barker also quit earlier this 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.
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 dollars every day right now.
‘The 2GB and 3AW models are in fashion. Even the 6PR is making a comeback.
“But 4BC is a complete mess and it was all caused by bad breakfast decisions.”
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.”