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‘It’s pretty much coming in after Bradman’: Nine Radio boss on replacing Ray Hadley
Depending on when you read this story, Ray Hadley is either in the middle of his final ever broadcast in the 2GB Mornings slot he has commanded for two decades, or he is enjoying the first moments of a long-earned retirement from the airwaves. But how do you fill a Hadley-sized hole in the hearts of Sydney listeners?
As Nine Radio's head of content, Greg Byrnes tells Mumbrella, it's quite easy - assuming you started planning decades ago, of course.
“We are certainly well positioned, I feel, for the future.”
2GB is losing its biggest star, but Greg Byrnes isn’t worried. As he speaks to Mumbrella, Ray Hadley’s replacement, Mark Levy, is being mobbed by listeners at an outside broadcast at Marsden Brewhouse in Western Sydney.
“All the day shows are out there,” Byrnes explains of the all-day OB. “We built it, really, as a come-and-say-goodbye to Ray. And Levy’s out there, he’s emceeing for the day. He’s been swamped! The place is packed. I’ve been in the office – I haven’t been out there, but they’re telling me that Levy has been mobbed.
“That’s a really good place for him to start the Mornings show.”
Mark Levy
Levymania is certainly a positive way to end 2024 for the Sydney talkback station, especially after a rare stumble across two ratings books saw the usually unassailable 2GB lose the Sydney radio crown to not only WSFM, but also fall behind smooth – a slip to third place is bad enough, but when stations that target similar age demographics are beating you, it isn’t ideal.
Ben Fordham also lost his Mornings crown to Kyle and Jackie O during the year (although he snatched it back in the final survey) while Hadley suffered the ignominy of a survey loss – also falling to third place – as he announced his retirement.
“Certainly survey six into survey seven on 2GB was unkind,” Byrnes admits. “We’ve rebounded back to where I think we should be – [survey 8] is a bit more realistic. But you’ve got to take the good with the bad, right? And you take the figures that they come.
“There was certainly no knee-jerk reaction off the back of surveys six and seven. We knew that it would take a couple of surveys to wash through. And that’s what we’ve seen.”
Byrnes reasons that Nine Radio’s broadcasting of the Olympics may have played a part in the ratings hiccups.
“The only change in listening habits, the only thing that was different was the Olympics. The only thing. Ray was off-air in total five weeks, but Ray was also spearheading our Olympics coverage. We know that listener habits, it’s a really important part of what we do. We know when we make line-up changes – we don’t like doing that because it disrupts people’s everyday habits.
“And we’re habit-driven. Particularly in our form of radio, people expect to hear a certain voice at a certain time of day, whether it be a UK report or a US report or a rumour file or a finance report or a sports report. We run our clocks pretty tight.
“The moment you upset those listing habits, as we did during the Olympics – we knew it would disrupt the listeners. Now, in Sydney, there was an impact. I can’t blame it on the Olympics, but that was the only thing that was different.”
Byrnes notes that ratings are just one marker of success.
“Commercially, it was an outstanding success. A commercial result, as you can appreciate, is key…”
As Byrnes points out, talkback radio is hinged on habits. A lineup change such as Hadley to Levy reflects more than a game of musical chairs – it marks a generational shift at 2GB.
“We’ve got Ben [Fordham, in Breakfast]. That was a generational shift from Alan to Ben. From Ray to Levy is generational. Michael McLaren, who’s doing Afternoons. He’s under 40. So it’s all evolved slowly, as it needs to.
“Ben Fordham did drive for 10 years on 2GB before he went into breakfast. Levy’s still under 40! Mark Levy’s been on the station for 18 years. So people know him. They like him.”
Despite the Levymania on display in the sweltering West, Byrnes is well aware of the monumental change they are making.
“It won’t be enough to ensure ongoing success,” he said of Levy’s current popularity.
“He’s going to have to work really hard. It’s relentless, this form of media. Opinion-led broadcasting is tough. Three hours a day, five days a week. You can’t come on and say, ‘Well, nothing really interests me today’. And heading into an election year, it’s even more so.
“But again: it’s generational, but he’s been on 2GB for 18 years. The audience feels they know him.”
It was also important that the passing of the baton was handled with care, and they didn’t rush into replacing Hadley.
“We always felt it would be nice if Ray was able to announce his successor, but there was no rush to do that,” Byrnes explains. “We wanted to make sure that [Levy] was the right decision. We spoke to quite a few people. And again, we’re upsetting a lot of listening habits. People have been used to Ray at seven-past-nine.”
Luckily, Nine Radio have a great case study in Melbourne, where Neil Mitchell retired from 3AW Mornings at the end of 2023, after 34 years in the slot. Tom Elliott stepped into the role this year, and won his timeslot in all eight ratings books for 2024.
Neil Mitchell
“Tom had been on Drive for near on 10 years, and we haven’t missed a beat in relation to Tom replacing Neil, which is no easy thing,” Byrnes reasons. “And he’s done it in his way.”
Byrnes notes the quick ascension of Peter Fegan at 4BC, who has recently been put into the Breakfast slot after two years in a variety of roles, and Jacqui Felgate in Drive at 3AW as the next generation bubbling under.
“It takes time. So, it’s always good to know that we’ve got people who have had decade-long careers on the radio station, when we look at moving them into other roles, when opportunities come up.
“But at the same time, we need to be increasing, expanding the pie to make sure we’re bringing in new people, new voices, and new ideas, and fresh ideas, and fresh sounds.
“So it’s a balance. But, I certainly feel very lucky that Mark was available and is more than willing and very keen and very excited to take it on.
“As he said, ‘it’s pretty much coming in after Bradman.'”
Or, perhaps, The Beatles following Elvis?
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Nathan Jolly is the Features Editor at Mumbrella. He joined the team in July, 2023.
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