Merrick Watts, Jules Lund, Sophie Monk and Mel B to host 2DayFM breakfast show
Merrick Watts, Jules Lund, Sophie Monk and former Spice Girl Mel B will host the 2Day FM breakfast show in place of Kyle and Jackie O from January, Southern Cross Austereo has confirmed.
The team appeared on Channel Nine’s Today show this morning to make the announcement, with Mel B joining the conversation from Hollywood, California. She will move between Sydney and Los Angeles to appear in a regular segment on the show.
They replace the Kyle and Jackie O Show, which moved to the Australian Radio Network’s new station Kiis 1065 after dominating the breakfast show ratings for more than 50 surveys.
Watts moves to 2DayFM from Southern Cross Austereo’s Triple M network where he hosted the axed Highway Patrol show for the last two years.
Monk moved from LA to Sydney to host the weekend breakfast show on Southern Cross Austereo’s Today Network with Dave Thornton in September. She had previously filled in for Jackie Henderson on the Kyle and Jackie O show with Kyle Sandilands.
And Lund moves to Sydney from Melbourne to host the show after leaving the national drive show he hosted for SCA’s Today Network with Fifi Box.
Mel B, or Melanie Brown, has become an Australian favourite since appearing as a judge on the X Factor on Seven, but a legal stoush has prevented her from moving to join Channel Nine to be a judge on Australia’s Got Talent.
The team was revealed after two teaser videos featuring a series of potential new hosts fed out by Southern Cross Austereo this week, however Mel B has not appeared in any of them.
Content director Craig Bruce, head of content for Southern Cross Austereo said Brown can offer a unique celebrity insight, demonstrated in tests of the team, when she was able to talk about the Miley Cyrus as a personal friend.
He said: “It was kind of a moment for me when I thought that’s a really different and unique perspective on celebrity that we’re probably not going to get on any other radio show around the country. She is well connected, she’s based there and here and I think it will work really well for the show to have that element.
“We can certainly go to her if there’s an inside running that she can bring to the show that others might not have, but she’s a good storyteller and she’s had a really interesting and full life and will bring those experiences to the table as best she can.”
On the question of the four hosts, Watts said on Today: “To be completely fair Kyle is the size of three. The composition of the show is four people with different personalities and different things to offer so we all play different roles and it’s gone very smoothly, we’ve done lots of testing already, and trialled off air on the show and it has been really good.”
Monk added: “It’s two really strong women and these guys are very emotional so it’s a very different dynamic.”
Bruce said the four hosts, all in their thirties, should pull an audience of under 40s.
“Good radio performers certainly on breakfast reach that level of maturity where they can pull off a show like this somewhere in their thirties so I think we’ve got about the right demo spread and we will bring some new ideas in a multimedia approach to the show and I think that’s something that’s exciting for us,” he said.
“We’re going to make it the most visual, the most social breakfast show on radio next year. It’s a passion of Jules’ and he believes, as we do, that broadcast radio, online and social are a really strong mix, and our plan is to bring those platforms together wherever we possibly can.”
The Australian Radio Network have confirmed 2DayFM’s former content director Derek Bargwanna and former EP of the Kyle and Jackie O show, Simon Greally, have followed Sandilands and Henderson to Kiis. Bargwanna departed the Today Network in September.
Dan Bozykowski will be the show’s audio producer and current Mix 1065 producers Minnie Cummins and Abigail Benaud will stay on at the station previously called Mix.
Duncan Campbell, national content director for ARN, said: “These appointments are the next step in ensuring the all-new Kiis Kyle and Jackie O show is set up for success in 2014. Each of these people are proven professionals.”
The Kyle and Jackie O show will start on Kiis 1065 on January 20 and SCA has not confirmed the start date for 2DayFM’s new breakfast show.
Megan Reynolds
What a mess. They all just talked over each other to compete for funny’s. Not a good start
And wasn’t Watts dumped by nova because of poor ratings?
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Wasn’t Lund on a national drive show? Not just Fox FM??
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SCA axes the Highway Patrol to cover what they need to keep Kyle. Kyle moves to ARN. SCA gives Merrick Kyle’s old job. Does that mean he gets Kyle’s money as well?
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There will be competition for laughs as Merrick is the only funny one amongst them, the rest are just personalities (an Monk barely has that)
Merrick left Nova because he was sick of Breakfast on Nova, not due to ratings. They must have given him a pile of money to come back to Breakfast – but not Kyles money, as they now have to pay Matt Tilley & Joe Hilderbrand to do national drive on Triple M. I think they axed highway patrol to free Merrick up for 2 Day as they knew Kyle would go.
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Classic new radio hosts strategy.
Start with 3-4 hosts see how they perform.
Within a month it will be whittled back to two.
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@John, I believe it’s called the “Wake Up” strategy….
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What a horrorshow – shouty narcissists & fake tan for breakfast.
Why not just harness folk who are already playing the 2day game, like Matt Acton & Charli Delany; no doubt cheaper & actually interested in (commercial) radio & not merely biding time between on camera gigs/better offers?
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Oh dear! A blur of minor TV and Radio personalities craving to be heard…
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I think this is great news, out with the old, in with the new!!!!
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So much negativity on here yet no alternative solutions offered. What lineup would have satisfied you PB?
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Merrick was axed from Nova mid year due to poor ratings and was replaced by Fitzy and Wippa.
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What was wrong with Dan and Maz?
I love Mel B (way more than Watts) but with so much Australian talent, I’m not sure why we had to employee someone off shore.
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All that means is Nova’s strategy is f****d, David B. Fitzy and Wippa do a good job, but Merrick is much better. Wippa was axed from Austereo’s 92.9 about 5 years ago… It’s a game of musical chairs played to a top 40 music track.
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Shame they didn’t take a gamble on some new kids coming through. I don’t mean to appear ageist but this quartet are all 40 or there abouts and are hosting a show that I’m guessing has a mean age of 16.
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It must really annoy people who work for years in radio when they just drop in people like Monk and Mel B. I couldn’t care less who they have but I think a big part of 2day’s success as with Fox is their music. It’s incredibly mainstream commercial pop that appeals to people who want traffic and weather and something bright in the morning.
What they say in between the songs is largely inconsequential.
I do really think one or two will be gone by March though.
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Sophie Monk has done plenty of fill in radio work and frankly, I prefer her on radio to anything she’s ever done on TV or film. She’s a genuinely funny woman, self deprecating and warm.
It isn’t new to catapult celebs or comedians into radio spots. Why single out Mel B and Monk on that? Oh thats right…they’re women! Next they’ll be expecting the vote!
Ironically, for me, the least interesting choice is Watts. He’s the most experienced radio host and in my opinion (and it is just an opinion), he’s a Merrick missing a Rosso.
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I like jules and Sophie did a great job while fifi was off. 4 is a concern ? I think it will be hard to get a word in.
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aww..you” ad “types….so much better than anyone else….so bitchy
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Is this a radio show or a basketball team? One more and they have a starting five. But they won’t win many games. Everyone will want to be captain and shoot all the baskets – too many egos.
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Steve,
Wippa was not axed from Perth. He left freely of his own choosing. Good try though.
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Steve, Fitzy and Wippa are doing just fine. Merrick has two talents, one is to laugh at his own jokes and the other is to shout.
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People commenting here- are the industry types or listeners . So much for talent I. Australia being great. The same old people playing musical chairs. What abt Kate Ritchie. Leaves a tv show where she was popular and then tries radio fails that tries tv fails that tries radio again.
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@billyc, so interesting how we have such different viewpoints, I actually listen to the FM morning shows to hear the talking! I like listening to celeb interviews and some of the chatter between the show hosts, particularly Fitzy and Wippa. I prefer listening to music later in the day, I flick over to other stations when the music comes on in the morning.
As for the line up, I’m glad I’m not a betting woman because I would have bet the house on it just being Jules and Sophie which I would have really enjoyed! They were great when she filled in for Fifi. I like Merrick but only think they need 2 hosts. And Mel B – I wish someone could tell me her appeal, cannot stand her! I hope she gets sick of the early starts quickly.
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