SCA boss reveals reason behind shock axing of Hughesy, Ed and Erin 2DayFM breakfast show
Earlier this month, Hughesy, Ed and Erin abruptly ended their 2DayFM breakfast show mid-week, after four years in the slot. There was no on-air farewell, and although “some of our families living in different cities” was given as the official reason the trio was “unable to commit to 2025”, the truth is far less cosy.
Speaking to Mumbrella this week, Southern Cross Austereo’s CEO, John Kelly, confirmed that it was a network decision not to continue the show helmed by Dave Hughes, Erin Molan, and Ed Kavalee.
“We’d really like to thank Hughesy and Erin for their work and their passion over three-and-a-half years,” Kelly said. “They’ve put their heart and soul into that program.
“You know, we clearly have made a decision in line with what we’ve been talking about today: we need to drive results that deliver, in a profitable way, the audiences that matter. And clearly, we made a decision that it was time for change.”
Kelly is referring to the all-important 25-54 demographic, which SCA is currently commanding on a national level. During the last radio ratings, the Sydney breakfast show drew just 3.6% of listeners, a figure that jumped to 4.2% during the trio’s final ratings book – a nice bump to farewell the show with, but unlikely to give management pause regarding their decision.
“Again, I can only thank them for their work,” Kelly says of the team’s four-year run at 2Day. “We’ll be announcing a proposed lineup for breakfast for 2Day in due course.”
Jimmy Smith and Nath Roye, from The Jimmy & Nath Show national nights show, are currently occupying the Breakfast slot, but this is a temporary measure.
As to whether SCA is looking within its vast network for a replacement, or looking to poach a big name from elsewhere, Kelly is open to anything.
“I mean, we have 88 radio stations,” he reasons, and [chief content officer] Dave Cameron and his team are currently, particularly looking at 2Day in Sydney and also Triple M in Melbourne.
“We’ve had some changes there with Marty Sheargold moving to the afternoon. So both those shows are high priority in planning for the next year – and I’m sure we’ll have an announcement to you and the market in due course.”
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Nathan Jolly is the Features Editor at Mumbrella. He joined the team in July, 2023.
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