Opinion from Jason Morrison.
The end of Luke Bona’s ‘The Nightshift’ on the National Triple M Network was undoubtedly a “business decision”, but its cancellation is a tragedy for the listeners and the radio industry.
In an era where just about everything is judged by ‘brand credentials’, an all-night talkback show on radio’s original Rock & Roll network … well, nothing could be more “off brand”
But somehow, The Nightshift worked.
Luke had a batch of clients who supported his show and SCA backed the programme for almost a decade.
That’s over now and it was an amazing run.
At midnight each weeknight, the Triple M music stopped and the talk guy rolled in.
The Network switched and the switchboard started flashing.
Quintessential Triple M listeners ‘went talk-back’:
They were, truckies navigating pot holes on Queensland’s Bruce Highway, FIFO miners on the big machines in WA’s Pilbra, nurses on night duty in Wagga, the woman running an outback roadhouse on her own, wharfies and council workers on their smoko, and train drivers at the controls of the XPT.
The show had an amazing reach. A bit like the feel of the golden days of Macca’s “Australia All Over”.
But the Nightshift was a bit more “sealed section” than regular polite talk-back.
And, there were some wild regulars:
A nightly dose of tough-love commonsense from Grannie Sue from place called Yorkeys Knob near Cairns. Then Rod the interstate truckie who’d talk politics, then honk his horn, almost blowing your ears off live on the air. Calls from a certain Melbourne hooker on her way between clients were particularly memorable. People living in their cars by the side of a highway, unable to make ends meet and calls from the middle of a high speed police chase.
The show went everywhere. A remarkable cross-section of Australia.
Sure, you’d get the occasional pissed idiot, but overwhelmingly people were smart, entertaining, and worldly.
And … they loved Luke.
I filled-in on the show when he was on leave.
It was always a wild ride and the five and a half hours would race along.
I was staggered at the number and quality of callers at 3am when the talkback lines typically went dead at other places I’ve worked.
The Triple M audience was risqué at times and brilliant and very different to the traditional talkback listener.
They had answers for everything. They spoke the language of the street or the pub.
If people thought something was bullshit, they’d say it.
Very, very, few of the normal Liberal / Labor talkback barrackers.
The mid-dawn audience felt huge. The Night Shift’s network list stretched over three pages. We counted 75 stations every night and over 150 separate transmitters and translators AM, FM, and DAB. Every capital city and major centre (and who knows how many via the stream).
You have to wonder, what for them now?
The SCA “business decision” means Luke loses his job. It’s a sad turn for one of the industry’s talented and genuinely good guys. His very committed producer Thomas Denham is out of work, in a tough employment market.
It’s a blow for diversity of opinion on the air as well.
But let’s look on the brightside …
Credit must go to Mike Fitzpatrick and Guy Dobson who launched this ‘Luke Bona experiment’ almost 10 years ago, and the programme directors who’ve followed and backed the show.
Luke and Triple M discovered a whole new type of talkback listener.
The last show L to R : Luke Bona, Adam McDonald (via video link), Reverend Jim Reynolds, Jason Morrison.
So, where will they go now?
No criticism of the ABC, but what these listeners want and how they want to express it is really not ABC fare!
If you’re lucky, in some parts of the country you might be in range of a Caralis family-owned station or perhaps 2GB or 3AW drifting in on the skip.
But there’s definitely a void.
One of Australia’s greatest radio executives John Brennan once said “nights and mid-dawns touched the heart and soul of your station and even if it didn’t make a lot of money, getting it wrong did a lot of damage”.
Cost cutting and tough times has killed something popular and innovative.
Triple M should be proud that it did it well for so long.
As radio lovers, we all should be sad that the show is gone.
About the author:
Jason Morrison is a former 2GB & 2UE announcer and Director of News for Channel 7.
He was Luke’s back-up for the last two years and now runs NewsMax Australia.