Radio host Dan Ilic in hot water over satirical ads

UH-OH. The host of an ABC breakfast radio show is understood to be in hot water over a satirical “hour of ads” segment that took aim at management.

Adverts land radio host in hot water

HE GOT the sack from his last gig for using company equipment to film an audition tape for The Daily Show, and now Dan Ilic may be in hot water again.

The comedian and outspoken host of ABC Radio’s 702 Sydney breakfast program took aim at the national broadcaster’s management in a satirical segment on Wednesday, putting to air a series of fake adverts.

Purportedly staged in order to gauge his audience’s views on rumoured changes to the ABC’s revenue strategy, Ilic’s stunt could be read as a critique of incoming Managing Director Michelle Guthrie — although he declined to comment when contacted by news.com.au.

It is understood to have gone down like a lead balloon at the ABC’s Ultimo bunker.

Guthrie, who will take over from Mark Scott in four months’ time, has been lured from Google with a $900,000 salary and a brief to secure the taxpayer-funded broadcaster’s financial viability.

Media commentary this week has focussed on the possibility that she may throw out the traditional notion that the ABC must be entirely free, after she flagged a need, in budget-constrained times, to “really look at all options around monetisation”.

Introducing the so-called “hour of ads”, Ilic audibly suppressed a giggle as he explained the gag to listeners.

“The ABC with ads, it’s an interesting proposition... Well, it’s your radio station, so I thought I might do an experiment. I might use this hour to see what an hour of ads on 702 would sound like. So, this hour, you’ll be hearing some ads.

“Don’t worry, they’ll be editorially independent... Hope you enjoy.”

Then the barrage of overly-enthusiastic voices started.

“Are you worried about sunburn this summer? Then stand in the shade,” the first ad began.

“Shade. It’s brought to you by all non-transparent objects, and it’s available for free.”

But it wasn’t over yet; this “ad break” was a triple threat.

“Time. It’s that thing you’re rapidly running out of on the slow march towards death.

“If you’re losing track of it, think about buying a machine that measure it, like a watch, clock — or pretty much any electronic device these days.

“This message is approved by Einstein’s theory of relativity.”

“I’d love to know what people are thinking.”

But wait, there’s still more.

“Hey Jane, have you ever thought about buying things for your home or office?”

“Sure have, Stevo.”

“Then why not try shops? Shops. It’s where everyone goes to buy things... Except people who buy online!”

The similarity in style and tone to actual, commercial advertisements was as striking as the satire was cutting.

They had clearly been written, planned and recorded well in advance of Wednesday’s breakfast program.

“I’d love to know what people are thinking,” Ilic told his listeners.

“Give us a text, or give us a call and tell us what you’d like to plug... We’ve got an hour of ads, pretty much. This whole show is sponsored by all sorts of things.”

No stranger to controversy, Ilic rubbed his bosses at Al Jazeera up the wrong way in June when he slapped up an audition tape for a rival employer in their San Francisco studios.

Vying for a correspondent gig under Trevor Noah, the replacement host for esteemed American satirist Jon Stewart on his talk show The Daily Show, he instead landed on his rear when AJ unceremoniously fired him just six months into his role as a presenter on youth network AJ+.

He said at the time that he was “sorry for what I did” and had not thought that it would matter.

“I didn’t think it was hurting anyone. I was not really abusing resources,” Ilic told Fairfax.

“It’s something that happens in every TV network, television station around the world, this is just what happens in the media.”

News.com.au reached out to Ilic through his agent, but he declined to be interviewed.

An ABC spokesman would not say whether management had approved the stunt before it went to air, or whether listeners had called in to protest the “ads”.

The spokesman said in a statement: “This was a humorous and satirical take on some assumptions being made by other media outlets and our audience took it as such.”

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Originally published as Radio host Dan Ilic in hot water over satirical ads