Steve Blanda: “I value radio news”

When radioinfo caught up with Steve Blanda recently (read here), he revealed how he had shed a tear listening to the final 2UE bulletin from his hotel room in London.
 
Steve was on holiday when he went through the formal process of being made redundant following the Fairfax Macquarie merger – he came back to Australia unemployed.
 
However, it wasn’t long before he was back behind the microphone with a job offer from Smooth FM.
 
“ I was so nervous,” says Steve. “I think it was a combination of being away from radio for two months, the longest period I have had off since I left high school. That and the totally different surroundings.”
 
And while he admits to being nervous, Steve says a seasoned newsreader should be.
 
“I believe if you don’t get nerves you shouldn’t be in the industry. If you become complacent, it’s time to get out.”
 
“When I am on-air I get an extra energy, it’s a feeling that’s difficult to describe and those lucky enough to have it know exactly what I mean.”
 
Following his redundancy from 2UE Steve contemplated his future. At sixty he feared no one would want him and he wasn’t sure if he wanted to continue.
 
But he loves news.
 
“I value radio news and so does Nova Entertainment, certainly with the Smooth format…hiring myself and people like Ron Wilson and Glenn Daniel is testament to that.”
 
And while Steve’s future has been sealed, for the moment at least, he says the future of radio news is also bright.
 
“There is so much competition now from all sorts of mediums, but the beauty of radio is it can still be your local medium, hence you are one on one with the listener and you can’t get that by listening to Internet radio stations.”
 
“Information that affects you will be the niche radio finds.”

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