SCA axes Today Network’s Hot 30 in response to nurse’s death
Southern Cross Austereo has announced the axing of the Today network’s Hot 30 show after nearly two decades as a response to the death of a nurse caught up in a prank call to the hospital where the Duchess of Cambridge was being treated.
Tonight’s move also saw SCA announce that it was suspending prank calls, continuing to suspend all advertising on Sydney station 2Day FM and that it was holding a “comprehensive review” of its procedures.
Although the Summer 30 show aired nationally, SCA is continuing to run ads on the rest of the Today network including Fox FM in Melbourne, 92.9 in Perth, SAFM in Adelaide and B105 in Brisbane.
The network has continued to decline to describe what went on behind the scenes between the call by relatively inexperienced presenters Michael ‘MC’ Christian and Mel Greig being recorded and going to air. The duo gave interviews to Nine and Seven which aired tonight. Both said they were distraught.
SCA said in a statement: “The Company has conducted a review of the process undertaken in the airing of the segment which has found that company protocols were adhered to.
“The segment was referred to an internal review process which included internal legal review and authorisation was granted to broadcast. The Company does not consider that the broadcast of the segment has breached any relevant law, regulation or code. The Company will fully cooperate with any investigations.”
Tim Burrowes founded Mumbrella in 2008. He worked on Mumbrella until 2021. At various points he was editor, content director and editor-at-large.
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Does this mean, “We’re laying low until this thing blows over”?
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instead of sending 2 young people, filling in for summer in an off peak show to face the media where are the executives in programming who ratified the decision to air the segment along with legal. Read the act about airing an unauthorised segemnt without permission. Surely in the world today SCA should have phone records of the 5 calls they claim to have made, which the hospital has disputed. Anyway they played it none the less. To see those young distraught people take the hit and claim they didn not know what happened after recording, well any presenter is taught the code when they start so they knew the process and the different “filters” this would have gone thru. Heard their names mentioned?
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