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.
No comments
Post a Comment