Nine’s Greg Byrnes tells Peter Saxon.

“I think my role is very much a support role,” says Byrnes, Head of Content at Nine Radio.

“Am I going to sit down with Neil Mitchell and Ray Hadley and go through, minute by minute of their programs? They know what works and what doesn’t work.”

Talk radio, particularly at 2GB in Sydney, hasn’t enjoyed much stability in the content role since the legendary John Brennan held a tight rein over the biggest egos in the business.

Now there’s a new, more professional, management style at 2GB while the biggest egos in John Laws, and more recently, Alan Jones have left the building.

Byrnes continues: “They need to know that there is a support mechanism around them. When they cross the mark, they can expect that there’ll be a discussion about it.”

Nonetheless, Talk presenters tend to have much more creative freedom about what goes into their show. Even the music, if any, tends to be chosen by the on-air talent.

“To have opinion on a daily basis, is not easy. Add to that, live radio with no safety net and there’s a lot of room for damage. It’s a very tough job these people do. So, they need to know that there’s support around them. And that, I think is my best role,” says Greg Byrnes.

Peter Saxon