Leap of Faith: Why Gerard Whateley left ABC radio for SEN
WITH his contract about to expire and no new offer on the table, an out of the blue phone call in early December changed everything for broadcaster Gerard Whateley.
Fiona Byrne
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A SURPRISE out of the blue phone call in early December set in motion respected broadcaster Gerard Whateley’s stunning leap of faith from ABC radio to sports station SEN.
As he prepares to launch his new morning show on Monday, Whateley said he was intrigued but not looking for a change from the ABC when the initial call about SEN came from Crocmedia boss Craig Hutchison.
His ABC contract was due to expire on December 31 and the ABC had at that point not made a formal contract offer for a new term.
“It all happened in the second half of December and really it happened between the 20th and 23rd of December,” Whateley said of the SEN deal.
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“Claire, my wife, and I met with Hutchy at home after the Perth test and I was coming out of contract on December 31.
“I had not anticipated to be in the position to consider anything else and I did not know there was anything else to consider, and then Craig’s vision for what he thinks sports radio could, and should be, in Melbourne struck such a deep chord. It was irresistible to take it on and see what role I could play in that.
“And I believe he is right. I think a sports radio station in this town above all others should be a cherished and thriving part of our community and I think there is the opportunity for that to happen and I want to be on the front end of it.
“A lot of people have asked me (why move to SEN) and I don’t have much better of an answer other than it is what I want to do and it is my decision to make.”
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Whateley said his weekday show, named Whateley, would focus on sport while embracing Melbourne and its newsmakers, with an impressive line-up of high profile contributors and show regulars.
“We as Melburnians, we are not sports fans to the exclusion of anything else, but it is fundamental to how we see ourselves, so I am going to play in three spaces, sport, Melbourne and life,” he said.
“Sport will be the core and we will talk about Melbourne and life.
“I am not changing my style. Hopefully my style is something the SEN audience will enjoy and embrace and hopefully it welcomes another group of people in who have not been welcomed in before.”
He admitted he would have liked the opportunity to say thank you to his ABC Grandstand audience, but missed that chance after the station pulled him from it is coverage of the Sydney Test match after being informed of his decision to move across the dial.
“It is less about goodbye and more about thank you,” he said.
“For 17 years that audience let me grow with them, let me learn my craft, challenged me and supported me to the point where I treasured that relationship,” he said.
“But no one needs to miss me … come with me.”
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Apart from hosting his morning show, Whateley will be SEN’s chief sports caller.
The two roles will combine almost immediately with Whateley heading to Minnesota to helm SEN’s coverage of the NFL Super Bowl LII on Monday, February 5 from 10.30am.
Whateley’s call of the play-by-play action will be heard on SEN and its digital channels.
“That is a bucket list moment for me,” he said.
“The prospect of being able to bring the biggest annual international sporting event back to an Australian radio audience for the first time, in one act that encapsulates what the new era (at SEN) wants to be. It wants to take you to the biggest sporting moments and I am going to have the privilege and the honour to lead that, which I take extremely seriously but I am utterly thrilled about.”
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Whateley confirmed he and Hutchison had had a difference of opinion years ago that saw their friendship frost over.
“I was his (Hutchison’s) mentor when he started at the Herald Sun. We were a year apart as cadets and after three weeks there was nothing I knew that I could teach him,” he said.
“He taught me a lot. When the opportunity came to move to Channel 10 he took me into a sound booth one night to help me understand how to speak on the electronic media.
“We had a falling out as competitive reporters, which is a long way in the past for me. I don’t dwell on it. It just caused us to part ways for a period of time and now we are back together.
“We had a whole lot of shared heritage and I have really enjoyed reigniting that.
“To reconnect with him and understand what he has done, it is impossible not to admire it and I am telling you first hand it is really hard not to get swept up in it.
“If his vision and his ambition was not so strong I would not be by his side but I am thrilled to be in on it.”
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