Neil Mitchell quits 3AW after 30 years behind the microphone

Influential talkback radio host Neil Mitchell steps away from the microphone on his top-rated show after three decades at Melbourne radio station 3AW.

His departure will lead to a major reshuffling of the radio booths, with host Tom Elliot and new addition to the station’s lineup, Jacqui Felgate, being tipped for time slot promotions.

Mitchell, 71, is a member of the Hall of Fame of the Melbourne Press Club and entered the newspaper straight out of high school, soon becoming editor of The Herald Sun.

He made a part-time switch to radio in 1987, while continuing to work for rival newspaper The Age as a reporter, columnist and executive.

He has worked for all three commercial television networks, but it was during his stint as a morning presenter on 3AW that he made his biggest cultural mark. He gained a reputation for watching the ‘little man’ and regularly driving the national discussion.

Mitchell told the story in 2013 that Ford would shut down its Australian manufacturing operations, earning him a Walkley Award.

Another major achievement was that the Victorian government had to pay back $26 million in illegal fines after exposing faulty speed cameras used in the state.

Just last week, his hour-long interview with Anthony Albanese set the national agenda when the prime minister revealed that he had not read the entire Uluru statement despite “fully endorsing” it.

Mr Albanese also told Mitchell about his divorce, revealing that he nearly left politics in 2019 in a bid to salvage his crumbling marriage to Carmel Tebbutt.

Mitchell is famous for his private life, but has been happily married to Selina since the 1980s and has an adult son and daughter. In 2019, he sold their family home in Malvern East, which had existed for 40 years.

Mitchell was contracted to 3AW until June 30, but instead of signing a new deal, his deal was extended to the end of the year to give him room to make up his mind about his next move.

The current host of 3AW’s 3-6 p.m. weekday driving program, Tom Elliot, is Mitchell’s likely replacement in his 8:30-12 a.m. timeslot.

Elliot is an Oxford-educated former hedge fund manager and has hosted Drive since 2013, before acting as a fill-in for Mitchell.

Taking over Elliot’s drive spot could be popular former TV newsreader Jacqui Felgate, who jumped into radio after leaving Channel Seven in April 2022. She was a hit with listeners and bosses in the afternoon time slot.

The switch will be the biggest shakeup at 3AW since Mitchell joined the station in 1990.

Former 3AW colleague and The project regular Steve Price wrote on Saturday that the owners of 3AW, Sydney-based Nine Entertainment, were on the hunt for a younger audience for the channel.

Price claimed the change of direction would sink the station and the decision was “laughable” as half of its listeners were, according to the most recent radio survey, “at or near retirement age.”

Price talked about how Mitchell’s installation as morning presenter was the start of 3AW’s dominance of the Melbourne radio market.

“Within eighteen months – I was program director – we went from number six station in Melbourne to number one,” he wrote in The Herald Sun.

Since then, Mitchell has consistently scored at the top of his time slot.

Price said Mitchell had the “work ethic of an ox” and Melbourne newspapers relied on him for publishing stories.

“People like Neil are trusted guests in their audience’s homes and cars… 3AW must be very careful and think that it could simply change the name on Neil’s office door and assume continued success,” he wrote.

According to GFK’s most recent radio survey, 3AW tops the airwaves in Melbourne with an audience share of 14.6 percent, with Gold second with 11.1 percent and smoothfm third with 9.7 percent.

Nova and KIIS targeted a younger demo, finishing in fourth place with 7.3 percent each, and Triple M rounding out the top five with 5.3 percent audience share.