Around all the hype surrounding the release of GfK Radio 360 Survey 4, particularly in Melbourne, two people stood out in their contrasting positions.
The first was 2GB‘s Ray Hadley who was celebrating his 20th year atop the ratings. A couple of comments from the post survey spin cycle were Nine Radio‘s Head of Content Greg Byrnes saying:
“Talk radio is relentless. what Ray Hadley has achieved today is truly remarkable and he’d be the first to thank his hundreds of thousands of listeners who tune in every day right around the country.”
And Ray adding:
“A wise old broadcaster once told me: ‘Be yourself, get in before anyone else and work public holidays’. The formula seems to have worked.
My thanks to my wife Sophie for her total loyalty, and love to John Singleton for having faith in me all those years ago.”
Hadley, who turns 70 this year, currently hosts on 2GB and for the Nine Radio Network The Ray Hadley Morning Show and The Ray Hadley Country Music Countdown on Saturday nights which, via his passionate support of country music, saw him win a a Country Music Capital Award at the 52nd Golden Guitar Awards in Tamworth earlier this year. This will be Hadley’s 7th Olympics that he will broadcast and commentate, and Game 3 of State of Origin, next Wednesday July 17, the 99th Origin match he has called. I haven’t even mentioned his Continuous Call Team other NRL responsibilities, or how early he is known to arrive for work to be prepared for his day on air and how he’s always listening when he’s not.
Survey 4 was also the last for Marty Sheargold and his Triple M Melbourne breakfast show.
SCA Chief Content Officer Dave Cameron said in the spin that Sheargold achieved “terrific growth” in his final survey on breakfast.
He did. The 0.7 increase to 6.6 took him ahead of Kyle and Jackie O on KIIS 101.1 and back to where he was before he took a three month break to look after his mental health last October.
Sheargold is the face and brand of that breakfast show. Outside of radio he has been filming a third series of the ABC and Netflix show Fisk, of which he is a major (and wonderful) character. He’s performing all around Australia from August to November as part of The Comedians with Mick Molloy, Lawrence Mooney and Sam Pang, plus the radio show’s podcast, which will be continuing alongside a one hour afternoon show, got just shy of 300K downloads last month.
Both Hadley, and Sheargold, are exceptionally busy men. For one the load has become too much, the other ‘the formula seems to have worked’. Many of you who work or have worked in the broadcast or any other industry for that matter, will likely identify with one of these positions, or perhaps both. I know I thought I could host breakfast, have a baby and manage my other radio/family/life responsibilities all at the same time to be a beacon of ‘having it all’ for women.
I couldn’t.
After I recovered I tried to do the same thing again. Radio does that to you.
I admire Ray Hadley and Marty Sheargold for both being exactly who they are and need to be right now.
I’m not sure that anyone will ever be able to completely fill Ray’s cowboy flavoured boots. His single minded dedication to radio, sports and country music have earned him a legion of fans who know they can count on him every time to deliver.
To Marty, who made the decision to leave Triple M during his mid season break choosing not to say goodbye to his breakfast listeners, we get it. You knew what your body was telling you to do last year, but just tried to keep juggling and not let anyone down a little longer.
You haven’t. There will be copious regular and radio people who’ll feel seen and heard via your actions too.
Jen Seyderhelm is a writer, editor and podcaster for Radioinfo