Speculation on who will replace Fran Kelly suggests that it may be RN Drive host, Patricia Karvelas.
According to The Australian today (subscription required) Karvelas is the odds on favourite to get the breakfast chair after Hamish Macdonald burned bridges by leaving Q+A in the middle of the year to re-join The Project.
Macdonald had filled in for Kelly frequently when she was away, and he saw the gig as one of his dream roles, but his departure from the ABC was not well taken by some ABC executives, especially outgoing news boss, Gaven Morris.
radioinfo sources back the view that Patricia Karvelas is the preferred candidate at this stage, and that Macdonald will not be returning to the ABC.
Being a regular RN listener, it was obvious that my prediction of list of suitable candidates for RN Breakfast at https://radioinfo.com.au/news/fran-kelly-departs-abc-rn-breakfast-after-17-years/ included Sally Sara, Patricia Karvelas, Hamish McDonald and Mark Fennell. The article in "The Australian" , 3rd heading "Hamish’s burnt bridge at Aunty" at https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/media/peter-fitzsimons-a-closed-book-on-lisa-wilkinson-coverage/news-story/fd5acfa9e7f6dc420c38a116177c0bcc mentioned that PK and Hamish were two of those suitable candidates.
Without insider knowledge of "The Australian", I still hold that Sally, and Mark are also contenders.
Thank you,
Anthony of the balance of probabilities that it's exciting to be in Belfield