2013 – The year in radio

2013 starts off slowly with Sydney ad revenue down by more than two per cent as advertisers boycott Southern Cross Austereo in the wake of the Today Network’s disastrous Royal prank call. 2DayFM goes on to replace The Hot 30 show with a new program called The Bump.

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Fairfax Radio hires Clarke Forbes as national content director and Rob Curtain as national news director. Fairfax-owned 2UE also makes 29-year-old news reporter Sarah Morice co-host of a new breakfast show with Ian “Dicko” Dickson. Meanwhile John Kerr retires from 2UE’s midnight to dawn shift ending a 56 year career on the air.

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Sami Lukis and Yumi Stynes make their debut as Australia’s first all-female commercial radio breakfast team on Mix106.5.

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FEBRUARY sees royal prank radio presenter Michael Christian return to the airwaves on the late morning shift at the Today Network Melbourne station Fox FM.

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2GB’s Ray Hadley is suspended for three days after a heated exchange with a station staffer.

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MARCH sees Fairfax Media talk station 3AW experience its biggest fall in share while Sydney station 2GB also sees its lowest ratings in more than a year. Ray Hadley’s mid-morning show on 2GB records the biggest drop in any timeslot on any Sydney station.

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SCA’s national sales operations manager Nick Randall moves over to Fairfax Radio Network as national sales director.

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IN APRIL controversial South Australian radio host Bob Francis is reprimanded over two breaches of the commercial radio codes of practice, one of which saw the host tell listeners he hoped asylum-seekers would drown before arriving by boat.

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ARN’s WSFM takes 2DayFM’s spot as the number one commercial FM station in Sydney according to Nielsen ratings released in April. It is the first time in seven years SCA has lost it’s crown.

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Louise Evans, former managing editor of The Australian, is made manager of Radio National.

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IN MAY, 2DayFM recovers its place at the top of the FM commercial battle with an 8.5 per cent audience share while ARN’s WSFM falls back from 8.5 per cent to 7.0 per cent.

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Tired of its talkback hosts Ray Hadley and Alan Jones making regular appearances on the ABC’s Media Watch, 2GB launches its own version of the show.

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Pink Media Group buys a 40 per cent stake in gay radio station OX Live, Sydney’s only gay radio station.

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JUNE SEES veteran 6PR presenter Howard Sattler dismissed by the Perth radio station over a controversial interview with PM Julia Gillard in which he questioned the sexuality of Gillard’s partner Tim Mathieson.

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2DayFM makes an application to the Federal Court to stop the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) from continuing its investigation into last year’s royal prank call incident.

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Hamish & Andy drop their weekly live Monday drivetime show on the Today Network and their hour-long, mainly pre-recorded daily show Business Brunch which launched at the beginning of the year moves from its 10am slot to 3pm.

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DMG boss Cathy O’Connor reveals the Nova network is now broadcasting 80 per cent more ads than it did three years ago.

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Michael Cristian, one of the radio DJs at the centre of the royal prank scandal, is crowned Australia’s Next Top Jock in an internal Southern Cross Austereo competition.

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IN JULY Today Network host Mel Greig files legal action against her employer Southern Cross Austereo for allegedly failing to provide a safe workplace over involvement in the royal prank call.

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Former 2UE talkback radio host Michael Smith takes up a regular spot with the station’s rival station 2GB to discuss news and issues of the day with Ben Fordham on Sydney Live.

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Federal election campaign ads contribute to a rise in radio ad revenue in July and the metro markets jump by 8.97 per cent to $57m marking the sixth consecutive month of growth. However Southern Cross Austereo reveals a drop in profits and revenue down by 6.5 per cent.

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Adelaide shock jock Bob Francis retires after 57 years on air with the biggest ratings point increase of any timeslot in the city in August.

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The Australian Radio Network enters the digital streaming space launching iHeartRadio. The app, released in September, shoots straight to number one in the Apple app store.

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EARLY SEPTEMBER sees Southern Cross Austereo’s Mix 94.5FM change its lineup in Perth, swapping the Breakfast Brunch for the Drive crew.

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Melbourne’s long-established radio breakfast duo Dave Hughes and Kate Langbroek announce they will be leaving the Nova 100 show after 12 years. They claim the number one spot in September’s Nielsen ratings.

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Reality TV popstar Sophie Monk makes her radio comeback in Australia as co-host of the Today Network’s new national weekend breakfast show with Dave Thornton.

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2DayFM takes action against the ACMA after a preliminary report on the royal prank call incident. The network tells the Federal Court the report has the potential to do “enormous damage” to the radio station and prejudice future criminal proceedings.

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The ACMA finds 2GB’s Ray Hadley breached codes of practice by giving airtime to a story that claimed school children visiting Parliament would no longer be given snacks because of budget cuts, without verifying the claim or broadcasting a correction.

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EARLY OCTOBER sees Southern Cross Austereo’s Fox FM Melbourne breakfast duo Matt Tilley and Jo Stanley announce they will step down at the end of the year “to embrace new opportunities”.

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Triple M confirms that it is axing its national drive show Merrick and The Highway Patrol after just 18 months on air.

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Nova 100 announce Tommy Little and Meshel Laurie will replace Dave Hughes and Kate Langbroek as the hosts of Nova Melbourne’s breakfast show from next year.

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The ACMA rules against 2GB over comments Alan Jones made on his breakfast show in two separate broadcasts finding the station did not make reasonable efforts to ensure the details were accurate.

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Kyle and Jackie O win the top prize at the Commercial Radio Australia awards when they are named best on-air team. The most recent set of radio ratings sees Kyle and Jackie deliver their 50th FM win in Sydney in a row as speculation swirls over whether they will renew their contract with the station.

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IN EARLY NOVEMBER Fiveaa Adelaide breakfast radio host Keith Conlon announces he will retire at the end of the year after 50 years in radio.

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Kyle & Jackie O announce they will end their show on 2DayFM at the end of the month, at what the pair says is a time of their choosing.

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smoothfm announces its format will be extended to television, with the launch of a new music channel on Foxtel.

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Fairfax-owned 2UE fires drivetime presenter Jason Morrison. Morning presenter Paul Murray criticises the move as he concludes on the air: “We’re buddies forever – bugger radio.” Murray also steps down from the network to commit more time to his work on Sky News.

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Nielsen’s November ratings find 2UE is the lowest rating commercial station in Sydney.

Louise Evans leaves Radio National after just six months as manager as sources say there is tension between her and Michael Mason, group program director of ABC Radio.

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