Alan Jones was close to signing rival mega deal
Negotiations between 2GB broadcaster Alan Jones and Macquarie radio bosses went down to the wire on Tuesday with Jones going close to signing a counter deal, also worth $4 million.
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Negotiations between 2GB broadcaster Alan Jones and Macquarie radio bosses went down to the wire on Tuesday with Jones going close to signing a counter deal, also worth $4 million, with a consortium that would have seen him jump ship to Bill Caralis’s Super Radio Network for radio and News Corp, publisher of this newspaper, for television and print. Negotiations are ongoing with News.
The agent for that deal, which would have launched Jones into direct opposition to 2GB’s future breakfast star Ray Hadley in the breakfast slot — something Jones, on 2SM, would relish — was none other than Nick Fordham, son of John Laws’s former agent John Fordham, one of Jones’s trusted friends.
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Nick Fordham remains a thorn in the side of Macquarie’s parent company, Nine, whose CEO Hugh Marks underestimated in 2017 when Fordham refused to budge on a requested pay rise for his client, then Today show anchor, Lisa Wilkinson. Wilkinson ended up walking to Ten, something Today is yet to recover from.
Marks could ill afford to underestimate Fordham a second time concerning Jones — the biggest star on this newly acquired 2GB roster.
After talks between Jones and Macquarie CEO Adam Lang broke down late last year, another of Jones’s good friends, horse breeder John Messara, stepped in to act for the broadcaster in his talks with Macquarie.
Messara finally nutted out the deal for Jones to remain at Macquarie on the same money with his eight staff team in tact.
The contract, say radio sources, was signed on Tuesday morning — and announced that afternoon.
Lang’s name was not, in the end, on the three paragraph press release announcing Jones had been re-signed.
Russell Tate, Macquarie’s Chairman, was instead.
“Over his already extraordinary radio career, Alan has dominated Sydney radio with 218 ratings survey wins, including 15 consecutive years at Number 1 on 2GB — an unprecedented achievement. And with Alan’s current ratings share of the Sydney radio audience among the highest it has ever been, his dominance shows no sign of slowing down. All of us at Macquarie are delighted that we will continue along for the ride with one of the Australian media’s most outstanding performers,” said Tate in the statement, only choking a little on his helping of humble pie.
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