Nova 106.9 Brisbane turned 20 on Friday 4 April 2025 and celebrated with an all day 2005 playlist, welcoming back Susie O’Neill and then hosting an epic party at the station for 30 of the original as well as the current Nova 106.9 staff. Seven tick both boxes.
Susie O’Neill joined the Nova Network’s Maddy Rowe on-air from 12pm – 2pm, saying:
“It has been wonderful to have a break from early mornings on-air but it was great to go back to Nova for this special day. I’ve missed chatting to our listeners so when the opportunity came up to jump on air with Maddy for Nova’s 20th birthday celebration, I couldn’t say no. And to think I was there for 10 of them is surreal.”
Going back 20 of them, original staff who returned for a celebration on the Friday night included then General Manager Sean Ryan joining NOVA Entertainment’s CEO Peter Charlton. Alongside breakfast hosts Ash Bradnam and David ‘Luttsy’ Lutteral, the other five staff who have been there from the start are Dee Curtis, Luke McKew, Nathan Russell, Ben Clayton and Sarah Fletcher.
Back in 2005, that team and more were given the task to build a brand-new FM radio station for Brisbane from scratch. They rented a one-bedroom apartment at Kangaroo Point, recruited a “work experience DJ” Bevan, who broadcast the first sounds from the apartment’s bedroom, the Nova team would convene in the kitchen, and kept their paperwork in the bathroom!
They moved to the Teneriffe studios shortly after and remain there today.
The original breakfast team was Ash, Luttsy, Kip Wightman (now at KIIS 97.3) and Meshel Laurie (now podcasting).
After Susie stepped back from breakfast last year, Nikki Osborne joined the breakfast team in January. Susie remains involved with NOVA Entertainment, working on breakfast and national shows across the Nova Network as a guest presenter.
Of the milestone Ash Bradnam said:
“I feel incredibly grateful and lucky when I think of the 20 years at Nova. We got to help build the station from scratch – no pressure of replacing anyone, just creating our own thing. It was super exciting. I’ve loved working in radio since I started in 1995 and it hasn’t waned. Every show is a new one and when it all ends I know I’ll miss the adrenaline of live radio. I’m very thankful I’ve spent most of my working life doing something I genuinely love. On top of that it has just been fun. Nova has been remarkable in its support of me, and I hope I can continue to repay them.”
Luttsy added:
“When Nova started in Brisbane it genuinely shook up the radio landscape from day one. You could sense we were part of something significant and for us to still be part of that in this great city is pretty cool. Brisbane has never been more proud and excited of where it’s heading and I know we will play a fun part in that journey in the coming years.”
