ABC is Australia’s pride as a national radio station spread across the country.
Sweeping changes have greeted the ABC radio stations to make things better on how the station is run. The new schedules affect hosts, timeslots and breakfast programs, among others in the cities of Melbourne, Sydney, Perth, and Brisbane.
Sydney
Robbie in the Triple J studio
Robbie Buck, the Breakfast presenter at ABC Sydney now forms a partnership with the Morning presenter, Wendy Harmer for the 6 am to 10 am a show with 30 minutes break for AM at 8 am which remains untouched in schedules.
The World Today anchored by Eleanor Hall as well as the flagship PM now has a reduced time period to 30 minutes. The daily current affairs of ABC will no longer run for 2.5 hours but 90 minutes in the current schedule. Journalists and Listeners are not at all happy with the time cut. The news director explained the decision was rather audience-driven and nothing of any job cuts.
The Drive shift got an extension to 6.30pm to meet the longer commuting times, Michael Mason said.
Linda Mottram, the former foreign correspondent, replaces the late Mark Colvin to anchor PM shift that is moved to 6.30pm on local radio but remains at 5 pm on Radio National.
Melbourne
New voices to be heard on our radios
Much like other locations, a dual breakfast team comprising comedian Sami Shah and Jacinta Parsons will be the host from 5.30am-7.45am to take the place of Red Symons.
Focus, a new mid-morning program will come up by 10 am in Perth, Brisbane, and Sydney with Casie McCullagh in Sydney, Emma Griffiths as host in Brisbane, and Nadia Mitsopoulos for Perth. Conversation hour will be hosted by Mornings presenter, Jon Faine at 11 am in Melbourne.
Patricia Karvelas, an RN Drive presenter has a television program added to ABC. The ABC Karvela show is expected to be on air at ABC News Channel from 9 pm on Sundays.
A new regional current affairs program will run for 25 minutes at 6 pm every weekday. The program is targeted at those living in regional Australia. Fiona Reynolds, the director of ABC regional made this submission.
Perth
An Australia-wide Public Service Broadcasting radio network
In Perth, Paula Kruger will team up with Peter Bell, the Breakfast presenter, for a joint production. The positive response from listeners in cities on dual hosts has prompted this arrangement.
Genevieve Jacobs, a more experienced broadcaster, will be replaced by Adam Shirey in Canberra as the Morning presenter. Her services will actually not be needed anymore.
It was a sad one for her to be parting ways with the radio station after a successful run with the station.
Also in the 2018 new arrangement, Katherine Feeney will be the new afternoon presenter in Brisbane; Richelle Hunt- Melbourne; Liz Trevaskis– Darwin and Anna Vidot for Canberra.
New Drive presenters are Steve Austin for Brisbane, Geoff Hutchison for Perth and Laura Tchilinguirian for Canberra.
The Hub replaces Michael Cathcart’s Books and Arts on Radio National. The program will cover diverse discipline daily. The Book Hub will be presented by Claire Nichols on Tuesday while the Stage Hub will be presented by Cathcart on Mondays. The Screen Hub will be presented by Jason Di Rosso on Wednesday and Thursdays.
Change is the only constant thing in life. It brings life and improvements. It is expected that the changes in ABC will start seeing positive results that come with these changes.