This morning I listened live to Kristen and Nige, on Canberra‘s Mix 106.3, as Nige Johnson explained why he’s been off air. Nige had a stroke on June 4, and while it will be deemed a minor one in the grand scheme of things, he is still unable to swallow properly and feel temperature on one side of his body. While he will pop in, he is unlikely to return to his radio breakfast show full time until 2027.

You can listen below:

I consider myself a Canberran now. Because the population can be transient, there is a saying of sorts that if you’ve lasted more than a few years here, you become it automatically, because so many people seek to leave. But, this town of politicians, public servants and police has a lot going for it, truly.

I caught up with a radio mate visiting from Sydney on Sunday. He’d been out in the city the night before and commented how jovial everyone was. I explained that the Canberra Raiders had won at home earlier that day, and the effect of that rolls over into the evening.

He teased me about my love for this ‘one horse town’ and I’ll own it.

The response to Nige this morning was a different kind of evidence of the Canberra bubble we live in.

In the radio ratings for the ACT, which came out a fortnight ago, Ross Solly on the local ABC held top spot on breakfast. No other ABC station in Australia rates the way 666 does. Kristen and Nige were second, and there was a fair bit of daylight to Mix 106.3’s sister station Hit 104.7 in third.

Nige has been on air with either Hit or Mix in Canberra for somewhere heading towards three decades. Anyone who would call themselves a Canberran will know his name, and voice. He even has a DAB+ station playing whatever the heck he wants, which is actually called Nige!

So, when Nige went missing on June 5, with the station citing family reasons, the online community noticeboard did what every city that is really a small town with big aspirations does. It went into overdrive with conspiracy theories, and I’m Canberran enough to confess I totally bought into it.

Somewhere between the replacing Kyle Sandilands, and taking his first mid year vacation of his radio career, speculators came an understanding that this was serious. Possibly aided and abetted by several people seeing Nige wandering the corridors and outdoors of the local hospital, only wearing his fetching gown.

Nige made light of this, but for all who delight in saying on social media that they don’t care about radio or want back shows from the 1990s, I’ve seen an outpouring of love over the last few weeks, and particularly this morning, for ‘Canberra’s Dad’.

He and his family have asked for privacy as he recovers, and has reminded us, particularly the blokes, that you don’t need to be bleeding from your eyeballs to go see the doctor if something is off.

As a Canberran first, and a radio listener second, I’m so glad you’re going to be okay Nige. Best wishes for the ongoing recovery.

Jen Seyderhelm is a writer, editor and podcaster for Radioinfo. Email: [email protected]. You can subscribe to this publication for just $199 per annum (less for community stations, students and pensioners) and support local media. Celebrate Radioinfo in its 30th year.