ABC Radio staff and fans are turning on the national broadcaster after a range of beloved presenters failed to have their contracts renewed.
The bloodbath includes hosts such as Sarah Macdonald, Richard Glover, Simon Marnie and Robbie Buck who were told they wouldn’t have their contracts extended into 2025.
Replacements for the highly-respected lineup with decades of experience are yet to be announced, leaving fans and colleagues scratching their heads.
Staff have been shocked while Friends of the ABC president Cassandra Parkinson said listeners need ‘at least some expectation about the strategy going forward’.
‘We need to hear from Head of Audio executive Ben Latimer about why the decisions were made,’ Ms Parkinson told the Daily Telegraph.
Latimer explained in a statement distributed to ABC staff that the changes were ‘driven by rapidly evolving audience expectations’.
‘Change is never easy and of course the impact on some of our colleagues is difficult,’ it read.
He added the decisions for the 2025 roster have been ‘carefully thought through and discussed’ and noted the ABC is ‘navigating a period of significant transition’.
Fans and ABC staff have voiced their frustrations with the national broadcaster after a raft of presenters weren’t given spots on the 2025 roster of ABC Radio (pictured, ABC Ultimo office)
Latimer’s statement has done little to temper the frustration of fans however, with almost 6,000 signing a change.org petition calling on Macdonald to be reinstated as host.
Macdonald announced her ‘disappointment’ in departing from the ABC on air during her November 21 show after weeks of absence from ABC Sydney’s Mornings show.
‘Listen, I’m not going to be on the radio with you next year, the ABC has decided not to renew my contract here at Mornings,’ she said.
‘I am proud of what I’ve done. The ratings are up, I’ve broken lots of stories, had the first interview with the new governor general, I got the premier of New South Wales to regularly take your calls, led the election coverage, led the move to our Parramatta studios.’
Former Media Watch host Paul Barry took to social media to express his disbelief at Macdonald’s parting after decades of service.
‘IMHO (In My Honest Opinion) she’s brilliant, one of the best things on radio. WTAF,’ Barry wrote in a post to X.
Morning show rival Ray Hadley also sung praise Macdonald’s way.
‘I don’t know Sarah Macdonald but I do know one thing about her, she’s a quality broadcaster and I would say that quality broadcasters are in short supply at the ABC,’ he told listeners.
Among the presenters to have been cut was Sarah Macdonald (pictured) who mornign show rival Ray Hadley described as a ‘a quality broadcaster … in short supply at the ABC’
Beloved presenter Simon Marnie’s emotional final show after three decades of presenting was attended by hundreds outside Government House last weekend.
Among those in attendance was Robbie Buck, who similarly didn’t have his contract renewed, a Governor-General Sam Mostyn and NSW Governor Margaret Beazley.
Buck told Marnie ‘we love you … we’re going to miss you’ before quietly announcing he would too be leaving Aunty on his show later that night.
‘I wanted to say a big thank you’, Governor-General Mostyn told Marnie.
Ms Parkinson echoed the feeling of ABC Radio fans who are worried ‘about the staff who are leaving’.
‘I just hope they’re okay and they’re being looked after,’ she said.
Daily Mail Australia contacted the ABC for comment.
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