In an interview with the Australian newspaper today, Macquarie Radio Network chairman Russell Tate told reporter Sally Jackson, at least 50 per cent of the people said, ‘You’re a complete dickhead, you’ve done exactly the wrong thing; this is a disaster’ when 2GB silenced all advertising on Alan Jones show in response to the recent advertiser protest boycott. In hindsight the strategy seems to have worked and things are now getting back to normal.

Describing how he and his executive team handled the crisis, Tate told The Australian:

“We would have then had to consider what I think is a completely unacceptable way forward and take Alan off air for a period. It’s a silly scenario, really, because what happens when he comes back? That was always last resort.”

The strategy worked to take the momentum out of the protests and give the station time to negotiate with its advertisers. Tate says:

“I’m pretty sure they all scratched their heads and thought, ‘What the f . . . was that?’ We took away their targets.”

Read the full article in The Australian where Tate talks more about his fast learning curve about social media.