WSFM Content Director Mike Byrne has been made redundant.
Byrne was told the news this week, just days after steering the station to number one in survey 7.
ARN staff heard about the news yesterday and, this morning, just after helping Jonesy and Amanda finish up their program year Byrne started preparing for his exit next week.
A statement from ARN reads:
“At ARN, we are continually evolving our structure to meet the needs of our clients and audiences in a sustainable and cost-effective way. Unfortunately, this process sometimes involves making difficult decisions and farewelling remarkable team members.
“Mike Byrne has been an integral part of the business since he returned to ARN in January 2020. Over the past five years as Content Director of WSFM, Mike has demonstrated exceptional professionalism and leadership, drawing on his 35 years of experience in the radio industry.
“Mike leaves having achieved the milestone of taking WSFM to number one overall for the first time since it converted to FM. A loyal and passionate member of the ARN family, we sincerely thank Mike for his outstanding contributions to WSFM and the broader network and wish him nothing but the very best for the future. Mike’s final day will be next Friday December 6.”
Mike Byrne has told radioinfo:
“It’s been a privilege to lead the best radio team in Australia for the past five years. Leaving WSFM as the number one station is a career high.
“I look forward to seeing the team go from strength to strength as Gold101.7 in 2025 and a new challenge for me!”
Byrne’s redundancy coincides with a rebrand of ARN’s Gold format stations next year, where the historic WSFM Western Sydney callsign will become Gold 101.7.
On Linkedin, Mike Byrne posted this message and a video of a standing ovation from staff as he left the building.
After 5 of the best years of my career today was my final day at ARN.
In 2019 when ARN Chief Content Officer Duncan Campbell asked if I would be interested in taking on the Content Director’s role at WSFM I thought I’d misheard at first and had to ask him to repeat the question!
To be asked to come back to Sydney and run such an iconic station in the world’s best radio market was a dream come true. And it’s been like that for the past 5 years!
It’s been the best 5 years of my career, and it’s been an absolute privilege to lead what I consider to be the best little radio team in the world. We even managed to get WSFM to number 1 for the first time in its 46 year history.
I leave the role with a heavy heart, but with so many others also leaving the radio industry this year I feel blessed to have had such an amazing run. I plan to take a break, travel for a while and reconnect with my beautiful family before regrouping and see what 2025 brings.
Thanks to the amazing team at WSFM, you’re in great hands and will smash 2025 out of the park!
Read Mike Byrne’s analysis of what got WSFM to number one here
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