SCA shuts down Merrick and Rosso speculation, backs Beau Ryan

SCA has issued an emphatic statement in support of its Triple M Sydney breakfast show Beau, Cat & Woodsy, following media speculation they could be bumped in favour of radio stalwarts Merrick Watts and Tim Ross.

“Any speculation about changes to the Triple M Sydney Breakfast lineup is categorically false,” SCA said in an exclusive statement to Mumbrella.
The breakfast show features former NRL player turned media personality and host, Beau Ryan, alongside radio broadcaster and anchor Cat Lynch, and fellow former NRL identity Aaron ‘Woodsy’ Woods.

Beau Ryan, Cat Lynch, Aaron Woods

The show was first revealed towards the end of last year, with Ryan and Woods set to star in the program alongside newsreader stalwart Natarsha Belling. Belling, however, departed in March to join the afternoon news podcast The Briefing, part of SCA’s Listnr network.

On Monday morning, The Australian said Triple M was “secretly planning” to axe the “embattled” radio show.

“Even though the duo have managed to marginally increase the station’s audience share in the highly competitive Sydney breakfast timeslot, network insiders told Diary the station’s top boss had already cosigned the ill-fated experiment to the scrap heap,” the Diary claimed. The piece went on to suggest the network was in talks with Watts, and wanted him to come on board alongside his former Triple J and Nova co-host, Ross.

SCA sources, however, insisted to Mumbrella that no Triple M bosses or SCA C-suite executives have talked with the duo.

The official statement to Mumbrella continued: “Triple M is fully committed to Beau, Cat & Woodsy. SCA has one of the most consistent lineups of live and local breakfast shows across Australia’s metro markets, and the Triple M Network continues to deliver its clients the Audience That Matters – winning Men 25-54 nationally for 20 consecutive surveys.”

In the most recent radio ratings, Triple M in Sydney had a 5.4% share of total people, up 0.5 points from the last survey. This placed it behind market-leader Smooth (12.3%), AM-leader 2GB (11.6%), Kiis (10.4%), Gold (8.5%), Nova (7.0%), and ABC (5.7%), but ahead of SCA stablemate 2DayFM (4.3%) and youth broadcaster Triple J (3.9%). In breakfast, the show has an overall 4.5% share, up 0.1. The breakfast show’s average audience in the most recent survey was 33,000, up 1,000, while its cumulative audience was 313,000, up 33,000.

Ryan also hosts The Amazing Race Australia on 10.