At 2pm Sunday, Take 40 Australia host Andrew G, launched a new show across the Austereo’s Today Network called ‘The Hot Hits Live from LA’. Hot on its heels (airing the night before) is another new live networked show for Saturday nights called Party People. Both shows are produced by independent syndicator, mcm media and both feature DJ Havana Brown. The question is, will Andrew G, who rivals American Idol counterpart Ryan Seacrest for workload, continue to host Take 40 too? More on that later.

First off, Saturday night saw the debut of Party People a “beat-fuelled party crawl” featuring an impressive crew in including the aforementioned DJ Havana Brown, Charli Delayney, Chris Page, Lizzy Lovette and resident DJ Special Ed.

For six hours each week from 6pm, Party People will take listener requests and cross live to clubs and parties that night. The show is a great fit for sponsor Ubisoft promoting their new dance game, Just Dance on Wii.

Then on Sunday afternoon ‘The Hot Hits Live from LA’ promises to deliver “hits, glitz & glamour direct from LA” in a four hour weekly format giving its Aussie audience a “VIP pass to the hottest music city in the world!”

The first show, with sponsor Optus on board, featured Snoop Dogg and Jared Leto as well as Vanessa Amorosi and reality TV star Kendra.

The air time of 2pm EST Sunday in Australia means it’s 7pm Saturday night in LA. As well as in-studio interviews and performances every week, a roving reporter will be delivering the ‘LA Lowdown’ “the inside scoop straight from the streets, celebrity haunts, music and movie events of LA. The ‘VIP Sleaze Report’ will be first with the scandalous stories making tomorrow’s headlines. If it’s bizarre, funny, entertaining or glam – and it’s happening on a Saturday night in LA – this show will be covering it live,” says the publicity blurb.

Apart from being broadcast across Austereo’s Today Network and regional partners, it will be online at www.thehothits.com and on Optus mobile.

Which leaves the question of whether Andrew G will continue as host of Take 40 Australia given this new radio show and all his television commitments. According to one senior Austereo exec, there will likely be new hosts. Their preferred option is Kyle and Jackie O. But the show’s producer, mcm media, is yet to be convinced that the controversial duo is what their iconic founding program needs at this point.

We’ll keep you informed on how that pans out.