The ABC’s capital city radio network, its triple j and RN national networks and its regional stations have unveiled their 2018 program schedules which will launch on-air from January 22 next year.

Director of ABC Radio, Michael Mason says the changes to the program schedule, along with a move in some capital city stations to co-hosted breakfast shows reflects the changing audience needs.

“We’ve seen a marked shift to longer commute times towards the end of the working day. On weekdays, more than three-quarters of people listen to radio in the car (GfK data),” Mason said. 

“We know that our metropolitan audiences are seeking a broader mix of quality local news and information at that time relevant to their commute home.” 

Mason says the move to introduce co-hosted Breakfast programs in some of the ABC’s key capital city markets is due to the overwhelmingly positive response from listeners in cities where a “double-header”’ presentation had been trialed. 

“The industry bench-mark for Breakfast is for a two-person presentation and in Adelaide the combination of our Breakfast and Mornings presenters has helped push that show to the top of its timeslot,” he said.

The introduction of an early afternoon music and culture show hosted by Myf Wahurst (pictured) is aimed at a broader audience and would have a contemporary and conversational feel.

 “I can’t think of anyone better than Myf Warhurst to take listeners on a musical and cultural journey of discovery that will celebrate and showcase great Australian music and performers,” says Mason.

New Regional Evening Current Affairs Show

Director of ABC Regional, Fiona Reynolds, says a new 25-minute Regional national current affairs program will be broadcast on all regional stations from 6.05pm – 6.30pm weekdays, and replayed on Radio National and Radio Australia at 7.35pm.

“Our new current affairs program provides audiences, particularly those living in regional Australia, with a mix of news and information from across the country at the end of the day,” Reynolds said.

“Regional Australians have told us that they want to know what matters to people in other communities and have a say in national conversations. 

“Earlier this year, we announced Connecting Communities – a $15.4 million annual funding boost for regional content and services, creating up to 80 new reporter, producer and presenter roles.

“More than half of these jobs have been filled and recruitment is underway across the nation for the remaining positions.”
 

Capital City Local Radio

Presenters of the Breakfast and Morning shows in Sydney, Robbie Buck and Wendy Harmer, are joining forces to co-host an extended show that will be broadcast from 6.00am to 10.00am weekdays (with a 30-minute break for AM at 8.00am).

In Brisbane, Rebecca Levingston and Craig Zonca will team up to present weekday Breakfast from 6.00am to 10.00am (with the AM break at 8.00am).

Melbourne also gets a dual Breakfast presentation with local favourites Jacinta Parsons and writer/comedian Sami Shah co-hosting a new show from 5.30am to 7.45am.  

ABC Radio Perth sees a shared time-slot from 6.00am to 9.00am (with the 8.00am AM break) with its Breakfast presenter, Peter Bell and its new Mornings presenter, Paula Kruger.

In Adelaide and Canberra, the local stations will see a co-hosted 30 minutes cross-over between their Breakfast and Mornings presenters. Adelaide continues with Breakfast presenter Ali Clarke and its Mornings presenter, David Bevan and in Canberra Dan Bourchier continues to present Breakfast, with Adam Shirley coming in as the new Mornings presenter.

A new capital city mid-morning program, Focus, launches in the Brisbane, Sydney and Perth markets from 10.00am to 11.00am. The new program will cover a wide range of topical issues drawing on the knowledge and expertise of the ABC’s specialist genre reporters as well as industry experts. Emma Griffiths will present in Brisbane; Cassie McCullagh in Sydney and Nadia Mitsopoulos in Perth.

Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski will share presenter duties in 2018 on Conversations, which will continue its broadcast from 11.00am to midday weekdays in all states and territories except Victoria, followed by The World Today from 12.00pm to 12.30pm presented by Eleanor Hall.

Myf Warhurst moves from Double J to Local Radio with a new program featuring a mix of music, culture and talk showcasing metropolitan and regional artists and festivals. Myf Warhurst will be broadcast on the capital city stations except Hobart from 12.30pm to 2.00pm and on regional stations from 1.30pm to 3.00pm.

The Afternoon and Drive programs shift later into the day, with Afternoons from 2.00pm to 4.00pm and Drive from 4.00pm to 6.30pm. The Drive programs will include more regular input from state-based ABC News teams with a greater focus on local current affairs.

The 2018 line-up features new Afternoon presenters in Brisbane (Katherine Feeney); Melbourne (Richelle Hunt); Canberra (Anna Vidot); and the return of Liz Travaskis in Darwin.

There are also new Drive presenters in Brisbane (Steve Austin); Perth (Geoff Hutchison); and Canberra (Laura Tchilinguirian).

Early evening programming rounds off with a 30-minute wrap of national news and analysis with PM presented by Linda Mottram. The new editions of both The World Today and PM start on-air from January 2, 2018.

Evenings programs remain from 7.00pm to 10.00pm with new presenters in Brisbane (Kelly Higgins-Devine); and Darwin (Mikaela Simpson).

There are new Weekend presenters in Brisbane (Loretta Ryan); Perth (Jamie Burnett and Charlotte Hamlyn); and Darwin (Conor Byrne and Joel Spry on Saturdays and Jessica Ong on Sundays).