If you are a part of the country music scene in any way, chances are you’ll know Crossy.

Luke ‘Crossy’ Cross joined KIX Country a little over a decade ago was was hosting breakfast and a weekly KIX Live. He now departs for a new Drive role on 4RO.

Crossy said on Instagram:

“Well, it isn’t how I planned it if I’m honest. After 10.5 years my time at Kix is coming to an end. It has been the best job I’ve ever had and I am sad to see it end. The country community is full of amazing humans. I love all of you and hopefully I’ll get to see a lot of you this weekend at Gympie… I’m sure there will be a Crossy night.”

ARN took over responsibility for KIX at the end of last year saying it would now be ‘bringing contemporary country music to Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide, while expanding into key markets including Hobart, Canberra, Darwin and the Gold Coast.’ Both ARN’s iHeartCountry Australia and KIX were operational still somewhat independently of each other but it appears ARN is leaning towards mostly voice tracked or prerecorded interviews for those stations now too.

This is a real shame for KIX who have been nominated for international awards and KIX content director Justin Thomson also receiving the 2024 International Country Broadcaster Award for his outstanding contribution to the industry.

Country music has lost a few of their radio ambassadors recently. Ray Hadley had set up his Country Music Countdown program on 2GB, initially doing it for free. When he retired he passed the show over to Robert ‘The Duck’ Smith. It counts down the top 20 songs in country music across Australia Saturdays 10pm till midnight.

The ABC too has invested in a country DAB+ station and their long running Saturday Night Country program, hosted by singer Beccy Cole, started broadcasting nationally at the start of 2024.

Image from Instagram.