Chris Smith was its star but TNT has imploded

The platform that gave sanctuary to some of media’s more polarising voices, among them Chris Smith, longtime understudy to 2GB’s breakfast king Alan Jones, has been wound up.

Two years after its launch, online radio platform TNT News has been wound up due to a lack of funding.

The Gold Coast-based conservative news platform, which purported to “separate fact from fiction, truth from propaganda” and committed way too much uncensored and ­unchecked airtime to conspiracy theorists espousing their views on anything from “government ­tyranny” to “Covid malfeasance”, closed its operations yesterday after its financial backers withdrew.

The platform had, in recent years, given sanctuary to some of the industry’s more polarising voices, among whom, notably, was serial sex pest Chris Smith, longtime understudy to 2GB’s breakfast king Alan Jones.

Chris Smith. Source: Australian Digital Holdings

The 24/7 news talk station – which pitched itself as an alternative to 2GB – was dominated by male commentators, among whom was the platform’s own CEO, Mike Ryan, who, along with Talking Dog Media director Jennifer Squires, launched the platform in 2022.

Ryan seems hopeful the station, which featured a sizeable contingent of offshore commentators, might one day win a reprieve.

Smith, meanwhile, looks to have moved on to a self-funded career in media training.

And no, that’s not a gag.