‘Change is never easy’: ABC director addresses Sarah Macdonald fallout
ABC’s director of audio has been forced to “address some of the issues” that arose last week upon the shock announcement that popular Sydney Mornings presenter, Sarah Macdonald, had been dumped from the show.
Ben Latimer emailed ABC staff on Monday to ensure them that changes were carefully considered, and he was “disappointed to hear about some of the comments and poor behaviour being made in recent days”, regarding Macdonald’s removal.
“By striking a thoughtful balance between well-known and refreshed talent, we aim to build deeper connections with our loyal listeners while extending our reach to engage new audiences,” Latimer told staffers of the ABC’s audio direction.
“Change is never easy and of course the impact on some of our colleagues is difficult.”
Macdonald announced her own sacking live on-air Thursday morning, just hours before the ABC’s upfront.
“Well, here’s the news from me in terms of disappointment,” Macdonald told her listeners. “I’m not going to be on the radio with you next year, the ABC has decided not to renew my contract here at Mornings.
“702 listeners, you are so wise, you just rock… you are so thoughtful, interesting, surprising. It has been such an honour and such a privilege to share your stories and your lives. I will miss telling the stories of Sydney.
“I am proud of what I’ve done. The ratings are up. I’ve broken lots of stories. Had the first interview with the new governor-general. I got the premier of New South Wales to regularly take your calls. Led the election coverage, led the move to our Parramatta studios.”
The ABC announced a number of other programming changes in the hours after Macdonald’s on-air revelation, including the return of Fran Kelly to Radio National in a daily Drive program, and Paul Barry‘s Media Watch replacement – but news of Macdonald’s unceremonious dumping overshadowed this.
Barry himself weighed in on Macdonald’s sacking, tweeting “I can’t believe this. IMHO she’s brilliant, one of the best things on radio. WTAF?”
ABC’s director of audio Ben Latimer told Mumbrella on Thursday afternoon: “Sarah is an incredible broadcaster who has built a strong rapport with the ABC Radio Sydney audience over the last two years in Mornings and we wish her all the best.
“We will be making further announcements about our line ups in the coming days.”
No replacement for Macdonald has been named, however former Q+A presenter Hamish Macdonald is heavily tipped to be stepping into the slot.
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Nathan Jolly is the Features Editor at Mumbrella. He joined the team in July, 2023.
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What a load of new age management bollocks. In terms of retaining (And growing) Existing audience, Sarah McDonald is one of the few ABC hosts to significantly increase her ratings. In terms of Finding new audiences, and Providing lists with fresh faces, could someone please explain how bringing Fran Kelly out of retirement achieves that? The man is clearly a programming genius. Not .
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ABC failed to read the room on this one, many have listened to Sarah since her JJJ days and her sacking is disappointing to say the least.
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I wish Tim Webster was a permanent fixture on ABC.
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I agree with Sammy……..sure Sarah is a triff person but often I thought the show was “chook radio”…..recipes, cleaning tips etc and I’ve written to ABC in that vein. Hamish….that would be fabulous.
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Kat, the only way the ratings will go is up. Sarah’s ratings are terrible (despite what she may claim).
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Lots of rusted-on barnacles are upset about Sarah leaving, but if ABC Radio actually wants to grow its audience, it needs to change. And no, Sarah’s ratings haven’t been good for a long time—look it up, they’re public.
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Yeah Sara MacDonald is the best bright cheerful person on morning radio abc ,what are u doing ,I listen to to this program she is so entertaining so knowledgeable. We all are going to miss her !!
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It’s baffling how much backlash there is over Sarah Macdonald’s departure. I get that people loved her, but c‘mon —not everyone gets to stay until they retire (though I guess staff at the ABC aren’t used to that! lol).
The ABC clearly needs to change, and this whole saga only highlights the resistance from both audiences and staff.
While I personally might’ve preferred a completely new face, Hamish will be fantastic. Give him a crack—this isn’t the end of the world, it’s just another day in media.
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I think Kim Williams and Ben Latimer are making a huge mistake for their future careers in the ABC for sacking Sarah Mac and Simon Marnie. Surely they can fathom how this is going to affect the ratings in 2025. Be wise boys. Think twice and act once. It’s a basic lesson we teach children.
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I will be waiting for the ratings to fall if Hamish Mc Donald replaces Sarah MacDonald.
He has done a stint before I think and I remember switching off .
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I totally disagree with the above comments, and the backlash from the listeners confirms how well loved this presenter was. It’s not always about constant change, change, change. It’s actually nice to hear the same person day after day talking about normal things, and if Ann didn’t like it she could have turned over the station and listened to someone else instead of complaining.
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It’s a pity about Sarah being dumped. I listen to her in the morning and mostly it’s been good. I like that the Premier comes on and takes calls each month, they have a good rapport. If Hamish gets the gig that’ll be great. He’s a good egg and can be like a dog with a bone trying to get a pollie to answer the question.
Fran Kelly must have a contractor with the ABC after her failed TV show they need to slot her in somewhere. I hope they bring back Tim Webster over the summer. I don’t want to the bloody cricket. Isn’t that what the app is for? Its not the 2BL of my childhood where we were subjected to boring cricket while in the car. #ABC #MorningsABC #ABCsummer #ABCnotthecricket #TimWebster #HamishMacdonald
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The ABC now have at the helm ex Murdoch employees, seem to be carrying on their agendas by alienating the remaining core loyal audience.
Installing of either right wing sympathetic types (most ex Sky) or those who are banal or both. Regional ABC local radio has lost all but a skerrick of truly local content to presenters that broadcast from the other side of the state and inane list compilers with such riveting content as “ring in an tell us your favourite sandwich content”.
As far as local news content goes in the regions, we hear far more about Trump et Al than local content, so Sky regional has moved in. That my “Friends of the ABC”, is the true, not so , “Hidden Agenda”.
And this is happening under a current Labor government……go figure.
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I concur with JC that it has been a long-held desire by the Murdoch right to abolish the ABC and now they have successfully installed Murdoch’s right-hand man in Australia to run the ABC, their wish is about to come true.
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I concur with JC. It has been a long-held desire of the Murdoch-right to abolish the public broadcaster and now that they have Murdoch’s right-hand man in Australia at the helm, their wish is close to becoming true.
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