Featured Posts
latest
Southern Cross Austereo axed Hit 100.9 show Dan & Christie, hosted by Tasmanian radio veteran Dan Taylor and Home and Away star Christie Hayes, on Tuesday.
Fans were left outraged when they learned the top-rated breakfast radio show in Hobart had been canned amid a round of cost cuts.
Christie, 39, took to Instagram on Wednesday with a video montage of her favourite moments on the show, as fans expressed fury in the comments over the axing.
'#1 Breakfast Show, years of laughter as best friends, many national headlines, and the privilege of using our microphone to advocate for autism, IVF and fertility, women's safety, going head-to-head with the Prime Minister plus so much more,' she began.
'We truly cared. We are so thankful to our incredible spouses and our producer Matt, and we are devastated (and confused!) that Dan & Christie is coming to an end.
'We love our audience and hope you'll follow us into whatever comes next.'
To every friend of our show who laughed with us, cried with us, trusted us, confided in us and loved us, we love you right back. Thanks for listening,' she finished.
Listeners flocked to the comments of the post to wish Dan, 40, and Christie luck, and to express their confusion that the show was coming to an end.
'Oh no! This makes no sense. Sending hugs and best wishes,' one person wrote, as another added: 'Omg can't believe this, clearly never put it to a listeners' vote.'
'This is awful! We adore listening to you and Dan every morning. What the heck!' noted a third.
'What?! This doesn't make sense. I am so sorry,' someone else wrote.
'Omg what? Why? How? This has really not made my day. I hope the universe has bigger and better things in store for you both xxx,' commented another.
'This is devastating. Two greats, so proud of everything you've done,' one user said.
'Regional media should be protected, not collateral to prop up the cap cities. All the best for your next venture, I'm sure it will be bigger and brighter than before!' someone else wrote.
Christie told Daily Mail on Wednesday: 'What hurts most isn't losing a microphone, it's losing that daily connection with listeners who trusted us with their stories.
'We built a very strong show that advocated for autism, IVF, women's safety and the issues affecting Australian families, while never being afraid to hold powerful people to account, including the Prime Minister.
'I'm deeply grateful to our listeners and our hardworking team for making Dan & Christie what it was.
'It's a heartbreaking time for Australian media in general and my thoughts are with everyone affected by redundancy in whatever profession and industry change.'
Dan and Christie presented their final show on Wednesday, June 17, despite achieving incredible success in last year's radio survey, surging 2.7 points to a 21.2 per cent audience share.
The popular duo, who replaced Hobart pair Jimmy and Nath in 2022, knocked Sarah, Mick & Johnno from 7HOFM off the top position.
Newcastle-based breakfast show, Hit Newcastle's Jess & Rohan, will now be networked into Hobart to replace them.
The axing was one of three regional show cancellations announced by SCA, with Triple M's Robbie & Carly and Hit's Bronte & Lakey also getting the boot.
The cuts were announced via an internal memo from Head of Broadcast Content (Audio) Matt O'Reilly, sighted by Mediaweek.
'We have had to make some incredibly difficult decisions regarding a few of our regional shows. Choices that we don't make lightly,' O'Reilly said.
He then went on to acknowledge the impact on departing staff.
'They have played a vital role in our business and put in a mountain of hard work to connect with their listeners,' he said.
Daily Mail has reached out to SCA for comment.
The cuts come after Rohan Lund took the reins as chief executive of Southern Cross Media, the newly formed company created through the merger of Seven West Media and Southern Cross Austereo.
The current and anticipated job losses, which have also affected Seven, mark one of Lund's first major moves since taking over the media giant, following his comments about wanting a more streamlined operation.
Speaking at the Mumbrella360 conference earlier this year, Lund flagged his intention to create a 'lean' corporate structure across the business.
What's coming up in the village?
Next week on Hollyoaks, Rex tells a terrible lie about his injuries in a desperate attempt to save his relationship with Ste. Meanwhile, Tony kicks Ant out of the house, and Mercedes discovers a secret about Jenson.
Here is our round-up of all the biggest moments coming up in the village. You can also check out our collection of 15 spoiler pictures from next week’s episodes.
Later, detective Donny chases a suspect, and Rex is accidentally knocked over outside the garage in the process. Ro then finds Rex and tells him about what Ste said about him. When Ste finds Rex with cuts on his face, Rex says it was an accident, but when he notices how concerned his husband is, Rex decides to exaggerate what happened.
When Dodger and Theresa return to the village, they are told about Sebastian’s leukaemia and rush to support Warren.
But Cleo spies a woman’s name on a notification on Dodger’s phone and grows suspicious that he could be hiding something else.
But will Ste find out that Rex is lying about the details of the incident?
He hands Ant a bag of his clothes, telling him that he is welcome to stay with the McQueens, and the teen is left stunned by his dad’s actions.
Theresa walks in on this intense conversation, and she is concerned about what is going on. Tensions continue to rise between Cleo and Theresa – could the cousins be at odds over Dodger?
Dodger then makes a big decision about his future, then meets up with his handler from work afterwards. What has Dodger been hiding, and is Cleo involved in some way?
Later, Gemma finds Jenson outside the hospital and threatens him into working with her, as she is well aware of the trouble he is fleeing from. But with Mercedes overhearing this conversation, what will she do with this new knowledge about Jenson?
Tony then wants to compensate Leela for her hard work at The Dog and is keen not to take advantage, so he offers to pay her. Will Leela accept payment for her help?
Things go from bad to worse for Richie.
Home and Away has revealed the aftermath of the soap's shock shooting storyline. In episodes that have already aired in Australia, David Langham was confirmed to be the victim of a shooting by new police officer Richie Brezniak.
Richie ignored orders and chased a potential suspect, pulling a gun as his nerves grew.
In this week's episodes that air in Australia, David remains in a critical but stable condition in hospital, with his daughters Lacey and Jo remaining by his side.
Richie is racked with guilt over the whole ordeal, as well as the prospect of his impending police hearing to learn what will happen to him next.
After speaking to his girlfriend, Abigail Fowler, Richie decides to visit David in hospital, but the conversation brings up the immense trauma of the shooting for David, whose condition deteriorates.
The following day, Richie has to face his hearing, having an emotional conversation with Abigail beforehand in which he tells her he needs some space and ends their relationship.
Speaking to Who, he said: "You have to look after yourself, you work with the stunt coordinator, you work with the director, and the cameras, and there are great stunt people on set.
"You also have to be careful with bringing up trauma for viewers, as a scene like this can raise a lot of past trauma for them."
Lynne McGranger has opened up about embracing a new chapter in her life after leaving Home and Away.
The beloved actress, 73, who portrayed Irene Roberts on the long-running soap for 33 years, told Daily Mail one of the only reasons she decided to sign up for new series Shark! was to prove that age should never be a barrier.
'Being a woman of a certain age, a lot of people start to feel invisible,' Lynne said.
'And I thought, "Bugger that for a joke. I am gonna get out there and show people that it doesn't matter what age you are, age is a number. You can do whatever you choose to do."'
The veteran star said that stepping away from the role that made her a household name has given her the opportunity to push herself in ways she never could before.
'I wanted to do something different that was apart from Home and Away,' she explained.
I've been on telly doing Irene for 33 years, and I thought, "Wow, this is not something I would do normally.' But it is something that I'm gonna have a crack at.'
Shark! follows six Australian celebrities learning to face their fears and dive into an ocean while at the same time confronting their individual personal fears.
While many fans know her as one of Australia's most recognisable television stars, Lynne said she is also looking forward to reconnecting with her first love.
'I just wanna do more theatre,' she said. 'That's where I started. A lot of people don't know, but I was a stage actor before I was a television actor.'
The actress revealed returning to the stage was one of the major reasons behind her shock decision to leave Summer Bay.
'During Home and Away, I was lucky enough to get away occasionally and do bits and pieces. But towards the end, the last five to 10 years, it just became very demanding and I had to focus on that.'
Now free from the demands of a year-round television schedule, Lynne said she is enjoying the opportunity to be more candid than ever before.
'I can speak my truth and it's... I love it,' she said.
The actress also spoke about recently going public about a difficult period in her career involving workplace bullying, but stressed the incident occurred decades ago and was unrelated to Home and Away producers.
'That was many years ago,' she explained. 'It was great to be able to say that without disrespecting the show and the producers, because it had nothing to do with them.'
'It was just a situation that arose and a situation which now, with hindsight, I feel I dealt with really well.'
Having spent decades in the entertainment industry, Lynne also had some advice for the next generation hoping to make it in showbusiness.
'Put your head down and your bum up,' she said. 'Work hard. Do the best you can do and be kind.'
'Be kind and respectful because if you tread on people on the way up, you're going to meet them again on the way down.'
The actress believes humility is one of the most important qualities a performer can possess.
'There's no place for egos in this industry,' the Gold Logie winner said.
You have to be kind and inclusive. Maybe the world just needs to be a bit more like that.'
Despite the daunting nature of the challenge, Lynne said the cast of the new Channel Nine series formed a close bond.
Among those who impressed her the most was influencer Tammy Hembrow.
'Tammy was the one I thought, yeah, 'I don't know...
'Tammy is a gorgeous young woman. Very close to her family, but loves the water. She's a mermaid. She's a real mermaid.