There have been stories circulating that Deb Knight, the host of 2GB Afternoons since January 2020, was to be axed. The announcement has come from Nine Radio that Knight will leave the show but not the network, staying to host Money News in 2024, Mondays to Thursdays from 7-8pm.
Head of Content at Nine Radio, Greg Byrnes, said:
“Deb’s versatility as a broadcaster and journalist makes her the perfect choice to host Money News. The program is an integral part of our weekday line up and plays a key role dissecting the pressures facing small business and household budgets.
Deb knows finance and our audience knows and respects her. I’m really pleased she’s agreed to lead Money News into 2024 – as well as new projects across 9Podcasts, and continuing her regular column for nine.com.au and working on A Current Affair.”
Knight said:
“It has been a joy to host 2GB’s Afternoons over the past four years and I’m thrilled to be staying within the Nine Radio family, taking on a broader role and a new challenge as national host of Money News.
From the cost of living crisis, to increasing inflation and interest rates, there has never been a more important time to be bringing Australians the financial news that matters to them, and it is a privilege to be able to do this on such an esteemed program and radio network.”
There isn’t a mention of what is happening with current Money News host Scott Haywood. Harnsle Joo, Knight’s EP since she took on Afternoon’s departed the station last week. GfK Radio 360 Survey 7 is out this Thursday.
It would be wrong of me to speculate on the real reasons including politics, issues with activists and advertisers and contract issues, why anyone leaves an organisation.
As a consumer of spoken word programs, especially on 2GB, I fail to understand the reasons when there is something that has been working why "fix" it.
In less than a year, Alan Jones, Chris Smith, Steve Price as well as Andrew Bolt with Steve Price left.
The same goes with Money News' Ross Greenwood. Ross's program was the AFR equivalent on radio.
It was a comprehensive, informative and entertaining program on economics and business. Executives, economists, members of parliament and regular chats with Harold Mitchell made for an imformativevand entertaining show.
This is not a criticism of the current presenters on the station. John Stanley and Ray Hadley continue to be market leaders in their slot.
Nevertheless, to fix something that isn't broken is risky. In this case, changes may have resulted in reduced ratings in the afternoon programs.
Thank you
Anthony, we need kick ass commentators on radio instead of discussing foodstuffs and picking a tune from three selected tunes, Strathfield South, in the land of the Wangal and Darug Peoples of the Eora Nation