Who'll replace Hamish & Andy? Austereo discusses what's next

26 August 2010

by Jason Treuen

As yesterday's news that Hamish & Andy were quitting their drive show reverberated around the nation, it was quickly followed by the colossal question – who the hell will replace them?

The Today Network twosome have been nothing short of a radio phenomenon with their drive slot averaging just under 20% of overall share nationally in the last radio rating survey (they ranged from 22.4% at Perth's 92.9FM to 14.7% at Sydney's 2DayFM).

Yesterday, they announced they would downsize their daily drive show this year to one weekly two-hour show/podcast in 2011 .

Exactly who will fill those super-sized shoes remains to be seen, but Craig Bruce, Austereo’s Head of Content, hopes to reveal their replacements sooner rather than later.

“We want to get on the front foot and announce something in the next three to four weeks,” he tells TMN on the way to the airport. “We’d anticipated this for quite a while so we’ve had some time to think. We had a long list which is now a short list. We think we can put together a really good show with people that the audience already know or will be aware of.”

While he remains tight-lipped about who’s at the top of the list, Bruce does confirm several details. The new show will remain national, be overseen by the same team (Content Director Dave Cameron and integral producer Sam Cavanagh) and interestingly, it’ll be a quite different to Hamish & Andy’s current show.

“We want to make sure there’s a point of difference from what they are doing now. That’s not to throw the baby out with the bathwater but I think it’s highly unlikely we’ll have a male duo. Whether we do a broader four-hander (four hosts) or three-hander, we’ll try and make it different as we can to distinguish it.”

And while he admits Hamish & Andy quitting drive was a huge day for him, he also points out that “the sky hasn’t fallen in”.

“Last night on The 7pm Project, they were saying something about Austereo executives and this being the worst day of their life, but we’ve built shows before. Of course, we love Hamish & Andy, but we think we can do it reasonably job of building a show from the ground up.”

He adds: “I think [Hamish & Andy staying on as a weekly show], despite what you might see or hear, is a fantastic result for us. There’s lots of versions that could have been yesterday and we’re very happy they are with us. They’re a critical part of our roster for next year.

And what of Hamish and Andy? With all this new free time, what will that be doing in 2011? Will they be working more closely with The 7pm Project and capitalising on overseas opportunities, as rumours suggest?

“I don’t know,” says Bruce. “They’re pretty tightlipped on these things. They have talked about wanting to spread their wings, as you can imagine. With the commitment to drive, they really haven’t been able to do anything other than radio really.”

Whatever their plans, one thing is for certain – there’s going to be one huge Pants Off Friday farewell on their last day in December.

Bruce concurs, adding: “I’m aware of some of their plans for their thank you tour, so hopefully we can give them a really good chance to catch up with their audience before they go.”