Neil Breen to replace Alan Jones on Brisbane’s 4BC breakfast
Nine Radio will replace Alan Jones in Brisbane with a new local breakfast show, hosted by Walkley-award winning journalist Neil Breen.
Jones announced he would be retiring from radio last week. His breakfast program was syndicated from 2GB to Brisbane’s 4BC.
Breen has been one of Nine’s senior sports reporters and presenters from a number of years. He is a former editor of The Sunday Telegraph and has previously been sports editor for both The Courier-Mail and The Australian.
Nine’s managing director of radio, Tom Malone, said he was excited to see Breen return to his hometown for the program.
“We are thrilled that Breenie is returning to his hometown with a dedicated local breakfast show for Brisbane on 4BC,” said Malone.
“Local radio is an important part of any community and we know Neil is the perfect choice to provide Brisbane listeners with the very latest news and information.”
Malone was outspoken about wanting to focus on local content as he moved into the leadership role with Nine Radio, following Nine’s acquisition of Macquarie Media in 2019.
Breen said he is beyond excited to be returning to his hometown and turning his hand to radio.
“4BC was a daily part of my life for decades, and to be going home to host 4BC Breakfast and creating a show for the people of Brisbane that connects with them is beyond anything I could have dreamed of,” he said.
“I grew up in Brisbane, went to Brisbane State High School, studied journalism at QUT and did my first 13 years in journalism there. I was a cadet on the old afternoon Daily Sun in the Valley and was taught the ropes by old hardheads who worked hard and played harder.
“I then spent ten years at The Courier-Mail, several as the chief police roundsman, and was appointed sports editor in my twenties. I’ve loved my time in newspapers and TV, but for me radio has always been a huge passion. I’m so honoured to be taking the mantle from Alan Jones.
“Radio has an intimacy and a connection with its listeners like no other medium and my program will be focused on telling the story of Brisbane. And I want the people of Brisbane to tell us their stories, particularly as we recover from the impacts of COVID-19. I want it to be their show.”
Breen joined Nine at the end of 2012 as executive producer of Today and he has since been a leading sports reporter for Nine News Sydney, Sports Sunday, 100% Footy and the Sunday Footy Show.
In 2002, Breen won a Walkley Award for Journalism, and was a finalist again in the 2018 awards. He has won two Kennedy Awards, “Scoop of the Year” in 2012 and the Kennedy Harry Potter Award for Outstanding Television News Reporting in 2018. He has also won an Australian Sports Commission award for excellence in sports journalism and been a finalist several times.
4BC held a 9.7% audience share in Brisbane breakfast as of the last GfK radio ratings survey. Overall, the network holds a 7.6% share.
Breen’s first 4BC Breakfast show will go to air on June 1.
A good move indeed. 4BC’s advertisers and listeners have been neglected for years now by an astonishing lack of committment locally. Unsurprisingly, it’s one of Nine’s own white middle-aged male reporters to get the gig but it is a step in the right direction.
I hope this trend continues and 4BC have the opportunity to gradually replace all the Sydney-centric programming north of the border with fresh local voices in other key timeslot, hopefully with a little more diversity than what 2GB currently serves up.
I’m very much looking forward to the day 4BC reinstate a local morning program in the 9am-midday slot. Regardless of how you spin the ratings or how much advertising revenue he supposedly brings in, I believe Hadley and his infamous reputation to be a liability to the entire company.
Of course, more local programming probably won’t arise until advertising revenues gradually return to normal after the pandemic, but with this latest announcement, there is hope.
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