Two of Hobart’s best-known breakfast radio hosts have swapped the studio for a “freezing” caravan in New Norfolk, launching a podcast just days after being axed from their top-rating show.
Dan Taylor and Christie Hayes lost their Hit100.9 breakfast slot last week after Southern Cross Austereo (SCA) cut a string of regional shows.
They were told on Tuesday, June 16, that their show would end the next day.
Today, they were back behind the microphone – this time in a caravan owned by Hayes’ husband Justin and once lived in by her mother.
“We’re starting one because we don’t have jobs,” Taylor told listeners in the inaugural podcast.
“We lost our gigs. I mean, we’re literally sitting in an effing caravan,” Hayes said.
The caravan was “freezing cold”, Hayes said, with Taylor saying he could not feel his feet while Hayes kept warm under a blanket.
Justin set up the cameras and microphones and made the show’s logo using ChatGPT. There is no pay, no advertising and no prizes.
But the pair, who had Hobart’s number one breakfast show with a 21.2% audience share in last year’s survey, are pressing on.
They were halfway through another ratings survey when the decision came down.
“Yes, we got made redundant. Yes, it hurt and it ripped our hearts out. But still, at the end of the day, what really matters is your family and your friends,” Hayes said.
“We have air in our lungs, now we’ve got a mic. We’re going to keep this going … and I’m excited about where we’re going to go.”
Taylor said it was his third redundancy in radio.
“You can do everything in your power to be the best there is and you can still lose,” he said.
Messages from listeners had been overwhelming, they said, with many recalling how the show kept them company on the drive to work.
The axing was part of a wider round of cuts at SCA, which is shedding up to 300 staff before the end of June. The company merged with Seven West Media in January.
Newcastle-based breakfast show Jess and Rohan commenced networked broadcasting into Hobart today to replace them.
Taylor and Hayes said they would not miss the 5am starts or time away from their children.
The pair plan to release five episodes a week, hoping listeners will take them on the morning commute in place of traditional breakfast radio.
“We’re doing it for you guys,” Hayes said.
