EXCLUSIVE
A senior Nine executive has dramatically quit the network just days after two of its top presenters were unceremoniously sacked by the media company – and with speculation running rampant, a third is on the verge of walking out the door.
Daily Mail Australia can reveal that Nine Radio’s 6PR content manager Emily White has resigned from the network after almost 15 years at the Perth talkback station.
Greg Byrnes, Nine Radio’s national head of content, quietly announced her departure in a staff email at 6pm on Friday, after most employees had already left for the weekend.
“Emily has been with 6PR since 2010, when she accepted an informal role as newsreader,” he said in the internal announcement.
‘She gradually excelled in various news and programming roles before being promoted to Content Manager in 2019.
‘But as 2024 draws to a close, Emily and her family feel the time is right to explore a change in the WA boom.
“I know that Emily is much more than just a colleague to many of you and that you will miss her leadership greatly.
Emily White, Nine Radio’s head of content at 6PR, has left the company just days after two of its top presenters – including the station’s only female presenter – were sacked by the struggling outlet.
Current morning host Gary Adshead is tipped as the next host to appear at the door at 6PR
‘On a personal level, I will miss her insight, intellect and warm nature.
‘Emily leaves Nine Radio with our very best wishes and we will certainly send her off with great affection for her final day at the end of November.’
White’s departure comes just two days after Nine fired two of the channel’s top presenters – including its only female presenter – as part of a drastic overhaul of its ailing Perth facility.
Nine Radio announced on Wednesday that popular presenters Julie-Anne Sprague and Tod Johnson had both been given the opportunity.
The announcement was overshadowed just hours later when Nine confirmed it would publish the long-awaited independent report into the company’s toxic workplace culture the following day.
Although the investigation focused mainly on the embattled company’s television news and current affairs division, it found that bullying and harassment were also widespread in its radio division.
Nine Radio national head of content Greg Byrnes with 2GB breakfast king Ben Fordham
Station insiders told Daily Mail Australia the departures were expected to go ahead, with incumbent morning show host Gary Adshead tipped to move to the company’s television newsroom in Perth in the coming weeks.
Sprague, the channel’s only female presenter, signed on to the channel’s crucial ‘afternoon’ timeslot with much fanfare 18 months ago, after outgoing presenter Steve ‘Millsy’ Mills was promoted to the breakfast programme.
Johnson, a legend of the Perth music scene from his days as frontman of 80s local band V Capri, joined the station as host of ‘The Nightshift’ show from 8pm in a major revamp of the evening line -up in February 2021.
Sources within the broadcaster said both presenters were completely blindsided when they were given the tap this week after Nine Radio’s head of content, Greg Byrnes, flew in from Sydney to oversee the cuts.
None of the presenters will be replaced and instead the services of other presenters will be extended in a desperate bid to reduce costs.
Mills and his breakfast show co-host Karl Langdon, who are usually on air from 5am, are now getting a bit of a lie-in, with their start time pushed back to 6am and their show now running until 10am.
Popular Perth presenter Julie-Anne Sprague as part of a drastic overhaul of the embattled outlet
Tod Johnson has also been shown the door after his Nightshift show was axed
The rescheduling means Adshead’s morning show will now run until mid-afternoon at 2pm, having started an hour later from 10am – although rumors are swirling that he won’t be spending too much longer on the program .
The ‘afternoon’ show will be scrapped entirely, with presenter Oli Peterson set to be on air from 2pm before finishing at its current knock-off time at 6pm, after which the station’s Wide World of Sports will be expanded to two o’clock.
Johnson’s former timeslot will now be filled by Tony McManus’ Money News programme, broadcast from 3AW’s Melbourne studios from 8pm to 12am.
His show previously ran during the graveyard shift from midnight to 3am.
In an internal email to all staff at the station, Nine Radio boss Tom Malone said the overhaul was necessary to reduce costs at the cash-strapped media company.
Sprague (pictured with former Deputy Prime Minister Julie Bishop) had been the station’s only female host
“Perth’s advertising market has been struggling, down 16% over the past five years, and rising costs have put additional pressure on our financial performance,” he said in the email.
“To ensure the sustainability of the channel, we are making adjustments that will help us return to profitability over the next twelve months, while still delivering the quality content our listeners love.
“Unfortunately, this means we will no longer hear Julie-Anne Sprague or Tod Johnston on our airwaves.
‘This is a sad and difficult day for the Afternoon and Night teams and for our listeners, and we greatly appreciate their contributions to 6PR.‘
6PR’s evening listeners can now tune in to hear Tony McManus’ show from Melbourne
Nine Radio boss Tony Malone announced the shocking changes in an internal staff email on Wednesday
Nine officials said the changes showed no one on the network was safe amid the company’s continued aggressive cost-cutting efforts.
“Forget the hosts – even the shows aren’t safe anymore,” a Nine Radio insider told Daily Mail Australia.
‘This shows how desperate they are to target our budgets – and that no one and nothing is sacred.
“And it’s not just the presenters; it is also the producers who make these shows who are in the line of fire.”
The shocking reconfiguration at the talkback station is so fresh that 6PR’s website was still advertising Sprague and Johnson’s programs as of Wednesday afternoon.
Laurel Edwards, Gary Clare and Mark Hine were given the chance at Nine’s Brisbane-based 4BC, talkback station after a disastrous ratings collapse in the critical breakfast timeslot
The changes mirrored those at 4BC, where four hosts left in just two weeks.
The station’s struggling breakfast presenters, Laurel Edwards, Gary Clare and Mark Hine, got the ax last month – just a week after Daily Mail Australia revealed they were in the crosshairs following a ratings devastating blow.
The trio – household names in the Sunshine State – joined 4BC two years ago when the station switched to a classic hits format in the critical breakfast timeslot.
They initially achieved an impressive 11.8 percent audience share – and a third place finish – on their debut in the Queensland capital’s hotly contested breakfast radio competition.
But the decision to steer the station away from talkback in favor of “light entertainment” alienated listeners and ultimately proved a disaster.
4BC’s popular drive-time presenter Peter Gleeson wrapped up last month after taking on a new role as head of Q greyhound racing complex in Queensland, while his executive producer Luke Cooper revealed he would also be leaving to focus on to join the ABC.
Veteran journalist Peter Gleeson left 4BC amid staff shake-up to take a new job running Queensland’s new state-of-the-art greyhound racing complex
Amid the unrest, Steve Barker, the channel’s highly regarded breakfast newsreader, also announced he was on his way out.
Nine bosses indicated the channel would return to its talkback roots by giving hard-hitting 4BC Weekends presenter Peter Fegan the chance to prove himself in the crucial breakfast timeslot until the end of the year.
Veteran presenter and former Liberal MP Gary Hardgrave was then parachuted in for the outgoing Gleeson.
Nine cut around 200 jobs at the company in August as part of a $30 million budget cut, with interim chief executive Matt Stanton promising to cut a further $50 million from the budget this financial year.