Red Symons signs with 3AW, says he’s thrilled to be returning to radio
RED Symons has delivered his old ABC employer a cracking “up yours” this week, signing on with rival 3AW as breakfast ratings at Aunty continue to plummet.
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RED Symons has delivered his old ABC employer a cracking “up yours” this week, signing on with rival 3AW as breakfast ratings at Aunty continue to plummet.
The veteran broadcaster will appear regularly on Mornings with Neil Mitchell, signing on the dotted line on Friday morning.
Symons was controversially given his marching orders from the ABC last year, with no explanation after a 15-year stint.
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He told Page 13 on Friday that he was thrilled to be returning to radio.
“I love to listen and I love to have a chat,” he said. “It will be good to be back. I grew up on radio.”
NEIL Mitchell offered Symons a job when he appeared on his show last month. “Do we have to talk about it on air?” Symons quipped.
Off air, Mitchell got him across the line and it’s about a good a pick-up as you can get.
Mitchell said he has always enjoyed Symons as radio talent and thinks they will have some robust conversations every Thursday fortnight, which will no doubt go entirely off script.
“I really enjoyed our chat last month and I think it will be fresh and fun,” Mitchell told Page 13 on Friday.
“Red is unpredictable. It could go anywhere and I like that.”
Symons was replaced by broadcaster Jacinta Parsons and comedian Sami Shah, who have been shedding listeners in the wake of the ex-Skyhooks rocker’s departure.
The ABC wanted to freshen up its line-up, but you know that old saying of if it ain’t broke …
ABC Radio Melbourne is Red-faced this week as the latest ratings survey shows it has less than half of 3AW’s audience share in the critical breakfast timeslot.
Six months after Red was given the gong, Parsons and Shah have slipped 0.4 points to sit on a share of 9.6. Commercial rivals Ross Stevenson and John Burns boast a massive 20-point share.
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