2DayFM staff refuse to work with breakfast host Em Rusciano
LISTENERS are calling for new hosts on the embattled 2DayFM Breakfast show as The Daily Telegraph revealed Grant Denyer and Ed Kavalee struggle to work with co-host Em Rusciano
Confidential
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LISTENERS are calling for new hosts on the embattled 2DayFM Breakfast show as The Daily Telegraph revealed Grant Denyer and Ed Kavalee struggle to work with co-host Em Rusciano.
Of 1100 listeners who joined an online poll today, over 57 per cent demanded the show should find new hosts.
Staff were said to be leaving the station’s breakfast show amid claims of a dire working environment, with some refusing to work with co-host Em Rusciano.
One insider referred to “casualties” at the Sydney radio station and it is understood one of Rusciano’s co-hosts did not speak to her off-air throughout yesterday’s three-hour show.
Revelations of tensions on the breakfast show, also hosted by Ed Kavalee and Grant Denyer, come just days after Rusciano launched an expletive-filled tirade calling Sydney’s media “c...s” and accusing station executives of “injecting two people” into “my show”.
Insiders at Southern Cross studios said Kavalee did not speak to Rusciano off-air during yesterday’s show.
One source told The Daily Telegraph several people had left the show and others were looking for other work.
“Things are at breaking point, people just cannot work with her (Em’s) energy. There have been ... casualties at the hands of Em Rusciano,” the insider said.
The tensions have proved too much for some, with the insider saying: “The audio producer is now working on another show, the publicist is refusing to work with her and one of the producers has told the company that they are looking for other work. All of that on top of the previous host (Harley Breen) leaving.”
Breen left the show last November amid rumours of tensions between the pair.
In March, he confirmed they would often sit in silence off-air but played down talk of animosity, saying: “I don’t really talk to a lot of people off air.”
Recent shows have been tense, with Kavalee, Denyer and Rusciano sitting in stony silence as ads or music play.
Sources revealed Kavalee, who has a widely held reputation as one of the most likeable people in radio, was offended by some of Rusciano’s comments about him to Wil Anderson on his Wilosophy podcast.
“I, all of a sudden, got two co-hosts that I’d never really met or spoken to, and then I’m expected to have this instant chemistry with,” Rusciano told Anderson.
“And it was just hectic. And it was The Em Rusciano Radio Show. It was my show, and all of a sudden Ed’s anchoring.”
Rusciano also slammed Sydney’s media in Anderson’s popular podcast.
“The media in Sydney especially, again, bunch of c...s,” she said.
The 39-year-old also admitted she was heading towards her demise on the show.
“I think I’m probably hurtling towards some sort of implosion in the next six months,” she told Anderson.
While the show has seen a slight improvement in its audience share this year since Kavalee and Denyer joined the team, they are still rating well below their rivals.
The Daily Telegraph contacted Rusciano yesterday but she did not respond to any questions.
A 2DayFM spokeswoman refused to comment on problems on the breakfast show and would not reveal if Rusciano had been reprimanded for her comments.
A TIMELINE OF TROUBLED 2DAY FM:
November 2013 — Kyle Sandilands and Jackie O announce their departure from the station and the network, defecting to KIIS FM.
January 2014 — Merrick Watts, Jules Lund and Sophie Monk take over breakfast, with Mel B as a contributor.
August 2014 — Mel B leaves the breakfast team.
January 2015 — Dan and Maz take over the breakfast slot.
January 2016 — Rove and Sam’s arrive into the 2 Day FM breakfast market, Dan and Maz moved to weekend breakfast.
January 2017 — Rove and Sam moved from the breakfast show to a national nightly program on the Hit Network due to poor ratings. They are replaced by Em Rusciano and Harley Breen.
June 2017 — Rove and Sam’s 7-8pm national show axed.
November 2017 — Harley Breen announces he is leaving and will be replaced by Ed Kavalee.
December 2017 — Grant Denyer announced to join Em Rusciano and Ed Kavalee from early January.