Crushing blow for Erin Molan as Sky News Australia makes big decision about her TV show – after her breakfast radio program was axed

EXCLUSIVE

Erin Molan is parting ways with Sky News Australia this week after the political news channel pulled the pin on her public affairs program on Friday evening.

Daily Mail Australia can reveal which political commentator and former Channel Nine NRL Footy Show host has already hosted her final show on the News Corp channel and will officially end her time on the channel on Friday afternoon.

Although network insiders suggested Molan was blindsided by the decision to cancel her show, Sky News Australia insisted they had ended their association with the presenter on amicable terms.

“Erin has been a fantastic member of the Sky News team over the past three years and has worked incredibly hard for her viewers, passionately advocating for the issues close to her heart,” a spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia.

‘We would like to thank Erin for her contribution to the network.’

Despite the loving farewell, Molan would not show up at the station’s quiet Christmas party on Wednesday afternoon.

Daily Mail Australia has confirmed that she will present her weekly news program Erin for the final time on Friday, November 29.

She will not return to the airwaves at Sky News Australia or get the chance to say goodbye to viewers.

Network colleague James Macpherson appeared on the program last week in place of Molan, but viewers were told he was only ‘filling in’ for her and the program was still billed as Erin.

The decision to cancel Molan’s show comes just months after the breakfast radio program she co-hosted with comedians Dave Hughes and Ed Kavalee was axed by Southern Cross Austereo’s struggling 2DayFM station in August.

The trio were replaced by Hit Network’s Jimmy Smith and Nath Roye, who agreed to bring their nightly The Jimmy and Nath Show for breakfast for the rest of the year.

It is believed that the cancellation of Molan’s two major hosting roles has come at a significant financial cost to the veteran journalist.

Sources said she brought in about $200,000 a year from her 2DayFM radio gig and another $150,000 a year from her job at Sky News Australia.

The 41-year-old journalist joined Sky News Australia in July 2022 after parting ways with Nine in December last year after 11 years with the network.

She debuted her own show, simply called ‘Erin’, on July 19 at 7pm, initially replacing co-Sky presenter Sharri Markson on Sunday nights while she was on maternity leave, before her show was moved to 5pm on Fridays.

Explaining her decision to change channels, Molan said she was keen to break away from sports broadcasting and focus on hard-hitting political reporting.

“Just because I can be silly and funny and all those things doesn’t mean I don’t also have a real passion for politics or that I can’t be credible in other areas,” Molan told The Daily Telegraph. time.

‘I’ve always loved news and it’s always been my passion, I’ve just been waiting for an opportunity to delve into it.

“As my show takes off, I think the perception that maybe I’m just that sports girl or that girl from The Footy Show will change,” Molan continued.

‘As a presenter on television, it doesn’t really matter what the subject is.

‘I’ve done entertainment, news bulletins and sport, I’ve hosted ridiculous segments on The Footy Show.

“None of these things make me less legitimate in another space. The ability to do a lot of different things, to laugh at yourself and be silly, but also to be serious and believable when necessary, I don’t think any of those things are mutually exclusive.”

Following the cancellation of her breakfast show, Dave Cameron, chief content officer of Southern Cross Austereo, which oversees 2DayFM’s line-up, said the station would announce a full-time replacement ‘in due course’.

It is understood that Smith and Roye have since agreed to continue in the timeslot permanently.

The outgoing presenters, Molan, Hughes and Kavalee, issued a joint statement at the time thanking their audiences for tuning in throughout their broadcast.

“We have enjoyed our time together on 2DayFM Breakfast, but as some of our families live in different cities we cannot commit to 2025,” they said.

‘So with a heavy heart we are stepping aside so that 2DayFM can find the team to help them further in Breakfast

“We are so grateful to Sydney for their support, and doubling our listenership in three years is something we are extremely proud of, and we will miss them all.”

The decision to ax the show quickly proved to be a flashpoint after Molan’s News Corp colleague Annette Sharp wrote an op-ed in Sydney’s Saturday Telegraph claiming the decision to put pressure on the presenters “has been coming since October 2023”.

‘With the expensive radio show Hughes/Kavalee/Molan struggling to break into the breakfast market and losing around a third of its audience in the fourth and final radio ratings (from a 5 share to a 3.6 and sixth behind 2GB, KIIS , WS, ABC, Smooth and Triple M), the writing was on the wall for the breakfast team whose appeal with 2DAY’s traditional female audience has always been questioned,” Sharp wrote on August 10.

‘Hughes, Kavalee and Molan were robbed of the chance to say goodbye to their audiences when 2DAY quickly switched to a music-only format on Thursday, which some radio insiders predict could deliver better ratings.’

The story drew an almost immediate rebuke from Molan, who is still a columnist at the Daily Telegraph, when she returned to the paper’s website less than four hours later.

“Dear Annette,” she wrote in an open letter.

‘Thank you very much for the interest you continue to show in my career. A few more things, and I won’t take long on this, but if you don’t give me the right to answer, I’ll be forced to do it myself.

‘Just a few facts you conveniently left out in your piece… In three years we’ve taken our breakfast radio show in Sydney from less than 200,000 listeners to over 400,000 listeners – that’s incredible growth.

‘My weekly 5pm show, Erin, on Sky News is regularly the top-rated show on the network on Fridays.

‘I also write a column for this newspaper and for Stellar Magazine… both seem to be quite well received.

“Southern Cross Austereo asked me to stay, I said no. I may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but I’m clearly not yours, and that’s fine, but please reach out in the future if you’re unsure of the facts.’

Despite journalists being encouraged to contact her for comment, Molan did not respond when contacted by Daily Mail Australia on Wednesday.