I remember when I realised that Marty Sheargold was playing Ray Gruber in the ABC TV and Netflix show Fisk (which I thoroughly recommend). Those of you who have seen both will understand that he is a distinctly Australian and equally brilliant version of Nick Offerman‘s Ron Swanson in Parks and Recreation.
I realised, for a fleeting moment, that alongside his comedy appearances, and a breakfast radio show built on his name, that Sheargold had rather a lot going on, at all ends of the day.
Not long after I binged Fisk, Sheargold took a sabbatical from that breakfast show from October 2023 until he returned with the other metro talents in January. Now, while on his mid year break, and three days after Triple M’s No Talk Day championing men’s and mental health conversations, Sheargold has decided to step aside from breakfast radio for good.
He said:
“Taking an extended break at the end of last year has reinforced the importance of spending more quality time with my family. As a result, I have made the decision to prioritise self-care, maintaining a better work/life balance and will not be returning to my Triple M Breakfast show.
However, I will continue The Marty Sheargold Show podcast, along with the 3-4pm national Triple M show. I want to thank my immediate team and the network for their ongoing support and understanding. And I’d also like to thank the listeners for their loyalty to both the show and the station. Like them, I remain a Triple M fan.”
Which means that he has chosen to say goodbye off air, not on.
SCA‘s Triple M are being very supportive by accommodating this one hour afternoon program, and the podcast, which is getting nearly 300K monthly downloads. A third season of Fisk is in the works too.
SCA Chief Content Officer, Dave Cameron, said:
“SCA supports Marty’s decision to rebalance his personal and work commitments, and we’d like to thank Marty and his team for creating a unique and hilarious Breakfast show for Melbourne since 2021. It is exciting however that our listeners will continue to hear Marty alongside his current team of Troy Ellis, Loren Barry and Will Ralston across both the Triple M network as a national Afternoon radio show.”
SCA was already in a cash strapped position after the lingering attempted takeover by ARN, where ARN particularly wanted the Triple M brand. GfK Radio 360 survey 3 had a slight increase for both Triple M and Sheargold’s show in the most fiercely competitive Melbourne radio ratings in memory. And there’s a place for Triple M in that battle.
We are increasingly seeing breakfast radio presenters with many strings to their bow, or stretching themselves too thin, depending on which way you look at it. My gut feeling is that the successor for Marty, who will be announced “in due course” is likely to also fly solo, rather than be a (far more expensive) team. SCA will want to get it right first time.
The question is, who?
Jen Seyderhelm is a writer, editor and podcaster for Radioinfo.