ABC’s secret masterplan revealed as staff speak from inside the national broadcaster

About 10 people were gathered by ABC’s boss to completely overhaul the national broadcaster — but things didn’t go to plan. Now, disgruntled staff speak out.

A masterplan to reinvent the ABC has been tossed out the window as turmoil bubbles inside the national broadcaster amid a string of high-profile departures and decisions that one on-air host has compared to a “midlife crisis”.

Current and former staff members have spoken anonymously to news.com.au about the taskforce that was formed to overhaul the radio division of the network and halt the haemorrhaging of listeners.

“The ABC has an uncanny ability to take a really good idea and f**k it up,” one staffer said.

The advisory squad – led by head of strategy Jeremy Millar and involving about 10 people from across the content, technology, policy and managerial departments – was appointed by ABC’s managing director David Anderson around March last year.

Its mission was to review ABC radio and formulate a blueprint that would initially be implemented in capital city stations before rolling out across the regions.

News.com.au understands a final report outlining the plan was submitted to Anderson a few months later and was supposed to be presented to the board which included then-ABC chair Ita Buttrose.

The plan was seemingly blown up after the appointment of former Nova FM exec Ben Latimer as Director of Audio in July, followed by ex-Triple M boss Mike Fitzpatrick as Head of Capital City and Sport.

What followed was “an incredibly tumultuous year”, as described by one staffer.

The surprise additions of Latimer and Fitzpatrick to the leadership team raised eyebrows inside the taxpayer-funded organisation.

A number of employees expressed confusion that management would scout from the world of commercial radio, where top-rating breakfast programs like KIIS FM’s The Kyle & Jackie O Show and WSFM’s Jonesy & Amanda are often a mix of celebrity gossip, pop music and swift news headlines.

“Ben and Mike are two smart radio people who are experienced in modern music formats, but they have very little experience in journalism, news or talk,” one former staffer said. “Still, that’s not to say they’re not good operators.”

While some long-term staff were resistant to all change, others knew the sound of the radio network was desperate for an update.

“They’re still doing things from 1986,” one said.

Former commercial radio exec Ben Latimer with Nova FM radio hosts Ben Harvey and Liam Stapleton.

The plan formulated by the taskforce was set to slowly evolve the stations over about three years – retaining current listeners while gaining new ones.

“The initial plan was very much to analyse the audience and see what things they didn’t like, what things were weak and then to try work out the best things to fix and move the network ahead,” one former employee said of the initial “masterplan” that was conceived by the taskforce.

“With Ben and Mike, their understanding of the ABC audience is not there. And the ABC audience is very different to a commercial radio audience.”

Latimer was contacted for comment about the current direction of ABC Radio but is currently on holiday. ABC declined to provide comment for this story or disclose whether the strategy devised by the taskforce has been implemented. Fitzpatrick was also unable to respond to news.com.au, with staff saying the programmer has been on extended leave.

Former Triple M exec Mike Fitzpatrick with WSFM breakfast host Brendan Jones, of Jonesy & Amanda.

News.com.au understands the taskforce included industry veteran Cherie Romaro – a programmer who has overhauled many of Australia’s major talk, news and music stations.

“Cherie and the team were slow and careful – it’s how you’d make changes to the ABC audience,” one former producer said. “The brief was to evolve the brand and do it slowly without getting listeners – or employees – upset. When the taskforce finished, there was what they called a blueprint. But then Ben and Mike came in and that plan seems to have changed.”

When asked what was involved in the masterplan, Romaro told news.com.au it would be “inappropriate … to comment on the confidential nature of the contents of the very extensive review of ABC Radio”.

“What I will say is, the team have a very difficult job to do and it will take a lot of time and resilience to reset our ABC Radio national network,” she said.

Under Latimer and Fitzpatrick, listenership has been turbulent throughout the year. ABC Radio Sydney’s audience share dipped to its lowest level since records began – hitting 5.1 per cent in the first survey of the year, down from 5.4 per cent, before bouncing back by the third survey, according to GfK, the research company that measures audience. In Melbourne, the year’s third survey delivered a blow for the station, which also dipped to its lowest-ever audience share.

While some staff speculate elements of the initial blueprint seem to have been cherrypicked and implemented, other changes under Latimer’s leadership have been controversial – the most recent being the shock axings of popular Sydney morning show host Sarah Macdonald and weekend presenter Simon Marnie.

“(Management) were trying to make the morning show content a little more populist,” one former production employee said. “And that’s not such a bad thing to do. But if it’s at the expense of quality news and information or quality entertainment and intelligent fun, then that’s not a good thing.”

They described last month’s firing of Macdonald as “the biggest mistake”.

Word among some of the staff is Marnie felt middle management was gutless in their approach to the decisions – with neither Latimer nor Fitzpatrick delivering the news themselves.

“It’s a mistake because it was badly done and badly handled from a PR perspective,” they said.

L: Sarah Macdonald’s exit has caused an emotional outcry. R: ABC Radio drivetime host Richard Glover is among a string of high-profile talent who have quit the broadcaster amid the turmoil.

In an appearance at the National Press Club, ABC chair Kim Williams said it’s “inaccurate” to say Macdonald had been “sacked”.

“Her role has not been renewed,” he said. “They are different conceptually …”

It has been reported 2000 text messages objecting to Macdonald’s leaving were sent to the station on the day of the announcement and an online petition has now been launched.

“That is not normal. That is way beyond audience reaction,” said one former producer who’s familiar with the program.

The decision seemingly backfired on management when the results of the second-last ratings survey were released last month, with Macdonald’s morning show jumping to 7.5 per cent, an increase of 2.1 per cent, while the whole Sydney station recorded its highest ratings in several years.

Sarah Macdonald, who hosted the show for two years, is rumoured to be replaced by Hamish Macdonald – a journalist who has spent the past few years toggling between ABC and the more lighthearted world of Channel 10’s news panel show The Project.

Meanwhile, drivetime host Richard Glover has quit the shift after 26 years, replaced by former Channel 7 and Network Ten presenter Chris Bath.

While Bath has previously hosted the Evenings program on ABC Radio and endeared herself to listeners with talk of her bird watching hobby, some staff are concerned the new direction is an attempt to compete with the commercially-focused, mass market FM radio stations. These feelings have been amplified for some with this week’s announcement that outgoing managing director David Anderson will be replaced by former Channel 9 chief executive Hugh Marks.

“The tectonic plates of ABC are shifting. It’s like ABC is going through a midlife crisis,” one current on-air host at the broadcaster said.

“What’s next – Eddie Maguire hosting the breakfast show?” one radio veteran joked.

One senior producer added: “The goalposts keep changing and it’s all changing around the broadcast of sport … there’s a massive push for what you’d find on Triple M and other FM networks. It’s like they wanna go with sport all year ‘round.”

While the ABC is contractually obligated to meet the agreements made to broadcast cricket and NRL, Latimer told media in March he intended to “integrate sport more into our local radio network”.

Hamish Macdonald (centre) hosting The Project on Channel 10.

Former Nine CEO Hugh Marks poses with the network’s breakfast show host Karl Stefanovic.

News.com.au understands the Friday and Saturday evening shows, hosted by Indigenous singer Christine Anu and Beirut-born presenter Sirine Demachkie were temporarily shelved during this year’s football season before getting cut down from three hours to sometimes 90 minutes.

“It’s white and blokey,” one former staffer said of the culture that has developed.

They say the Sydney station’s much-hyped move from the CBD to Parramatta in the city’s west to be at the heart of multiculturalism is a “PR stunt and empty DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) rhetoric”.

Another said the network is “especially toxic for women aged 35-plus, who are treated shabbily”.

Quick-fix attempts to slick up the sound of the stations have extended to playlists and program segments. One former employee said some hosts and producers were being told to shun Aussie musicians. They recalled a situation where a show had planned on inviting popular Melbourne singer-songwriter Jen Cloher on as a guest and management told them they could do the interview but not play the musician’s songs.

“Overnight, the ABC completely evaporated their support of local Australian music,” one employee said.

“The argument Ben and Mike gave is that it’s not local radio’s job to promote or encourage emerging Australian artists – if listeners wanted that, they could go to Triple J or Double J.”

Instead, the playlists have been altered to include artists that, as one employee said, made ABC Radio sound like the sleepy adult contemporary station Smooth FM.

“Things like Michael Bublé crept onto the playlist,” they said. “And clichéd, MOR (middle-of-the-road) music.”

One former staffer in the radio division said unstable audience figures indicated the network’s need for modernisation in order to serve Australians who paid more than $1.1 billion in tax to fund the broadcaster over the last financial year.

“If you’re only delivering 1000 or 2000 listeners, it’s a terrible return on investment,” they said.

“People aren’t listening because they don’t like it anymore. But it’s important to evolve slowly to keep people happy.”

Originally published as ABC’s secret masterplan revealed as staff speak from inside the national broadcaster