Sarah Macdonald goes MIA, shock Sunrise replacement rumoured

Sources inside Channel 7 say a surprising contender has emerged to replace Matt Doran alongside Monique Wright.

As speculation mounts that one of television’s most transient presenters Hamish Macdonald to set to replace the beloved Sarah Macdonald in the ABC702 Mornings radio shift, industry insiders are pushing the view the ex-Al-Jazeera reporter has the boss’s blessing.

The boss is of course ABC chair Kim Williams who on Wednesday defended Sarah Macdonald’s “sacking” at a National Press Club address.

After turning up for work on Monday, Macdonald was missing from the airwaves from Tuesday to Friday.

Hamish Macdonald is the hot tip to replace dumped ABC radio presenter Sarah Macdonald.

Sarah Macdonald was MIA from the ABC airwaves this week.

ABC sources say the warm and personable presenter is “devastated” she’s been dumped by the national broadcaster.

Williams smarted when the question of Macdonald’s sacking was put to him on Wednesday.

“It’s inaccurate to say that Sarah Macdonald has been sacked. Her role has not been renewed. They are different conceptually,” said Williams, an aesthete who is in a hurry to transform his new toy and the nation’s public broadcaster.

“Management has determined that it wishes to take that service in a different direction. That decision is a management decision, and I fully support our management in making relevant decisions as to the direction and content of the services that the ABC provides.“

“Conceptually different” ABC chair Kim Williams on Macdonald’s dumping

If the rumours are true, it, will again restore the restless Hamish Macdonald who this columnist three years ago described as one of the industry’s “most confounding bolters”.

It’s fair to say long-running Q&A host Tony Jones left large shoes to fill when he stepped down from Q&A at the end of 2019 but most expected his replacement, who turned out to be Macdonald, to knuckle down and make a fist of the appointment and not prove so, well, flighty.

Macdonald would last 18-months at the helm of ABC-TV’s popular evening panel show after arriving amid much fanfare in February 2020 and clocking off midway through 2021 after the program’s audience had dwindled.

Prior to Q&A Macdonald had a series of short-lived roles.

In 2006, the then 24-year-old former Scots College student landed in what was described as his “dream job”, the role as Australian anchor at Al-Jazeera International (AJI) in Kuala Lumpur. He remained with the broadcaster until 2010.

The AJI gig followed a couple of years working in the field at WIN Canberra and a move to the UK to work for ITV and Channel 4.

By 2010 he had moved to Ten to work as a foreign correspondent for the short-lived George Negus at 6.30 program.

When that show was cancelled, Macdonald was appointed the host of 10 Late News and then in 2013 given his own investigation series, The Truth Is? which was cancelled after three episodes.

ABC executive Ben Latimer

Also leaving the ABC this weekend, is listener favourite Simon Marnie.

After being released from his Ten contract, Macdonald next moved to the US to work as an international affairs correspondent on America’s ABC network but by 2017 he was back at Ten hosting The Sunday Project.

He remained at Ten for two years before jumping ship to the ABC’s Q&A and then returning to Ten’s The Project after the Q&A experiment failed.

In 2023 the ABC reopened its arms to Macdonald and welcomed him to RN Breakfast, which coincided with stints for Foreign Correspondent.

While he has been celebrated for his televisual appeal and good looks, he remains something of a newcomer to radio, a medium which is plainly his second choice.

Meanwhile the executive said to be charge of the ABC702 talent roster, Ben Latimer, hails from Adelaide and has been spending a bit of time there of late. The former FM radio exec is yet to convince Sydney local radio stalwarts he’s totally across unique Sydney market.

Worried ABC bosses were last week said to be discussing walking back the decision to axe Sarah Macdonald who is leaving along with weekend favourite Simon Marnie.

These decisions have eclipsed the one bit of good news to come out of ABC702 in some time, the appointment of Ten newsreader Chris Bath to Richard Glover’s drive show.

When Mr Williams manages to extract himself from the Joe Rogan furore, he’s do well to review the operation of the ABC’s marketing and publicity departments along with its audio department.

Woiwod favoured for Doran gig

Seven sources say the network is favouring US correspondent David Woiwod to replace Matt Doran alongside Monique Wright at Weekend Sunrise.

Woiwod has been at Seven since 2016 following earlier stints at Ten, Associated Press and Sky News UK and is expected to be trialled over the summer.

News this week that Doran will step down as host of the Channel 7 show surprised few.

Seven bosses have been vacillating over what to do about the serially erratic Doran for three years.

US correspondent David Woiwod is favoured to replace Matt Doran at Weekend Sunrise.

Doran’s decision to step down as host of the Channel 7 show surprised few.

In June, this columnist reported that Doran had once again taken a sudden leave of absence from the morning program.

It left TV bosses scrambling to find a replacement, with news veterans Chris Reason and Michael Usher tapped to keep the seat warm for the better part of a month.

In 2023 Doran went AWOL while reporting on the Hunter Valley bus crash that claimed 10 lives.

Doran’s family privately appealed for compassion for the anchor, who we later reported had checked into a mental health facility to address concerns.

In 2021 they again asked for privacy after Seven was forced to spike a million-dollar interview with singer Adele that had been conducted by Doran and produced by scandal-prone producer Taylor Auerbach.

Doran later apologised for the expensive cock-up, offering as his excuse the fact he’d failed to properly preview the singer’s album prior to the sit-down.

Eddy digs in

Still with Seven and we hear Edwina Bartholomew is pushing back on plans to move her from Sunrise to the news department as a reader.

As reported here last week, there has been a push on to find a new role for Bartholomew.

Edwina Bartholomew has no plans to give up her breakfast show gig.

However following our revelations, we hear she’s decided she’d rather hold on to her plum three-day-a-week breakfast show gig.

Executives saw Bartholomew, who this year revealed she had been diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukaemia, as a natural successor to Ann Sanders, whose role has been under review, we hear, to cut costs.

Beau Ryan official

Former NRL player Beau Ryan was announced as the replacement to Mark “MG” Geyer’s post on Triple M Sydney’s breakfast show on Wednesday, five days after this column broke the news.

Beau Ryan, Natarsha Belling and Aaron Woods to Triple M breakfast in 2025

The host of The Amazing Race Australia will be teamed with news presenter Natarsha Belling, and former West Tigers captain Aaron Woods for the Beau, Tarsh & Woodsy show in 2025.

“I grew up with Triple M; it was always on for every car trip and then, during my playing days, it got me through the long commute to training at the Wests Tigers and Cronulla Sharks,” Ryan said in his prepped statement.

“So now to be a part of the new Breakfast team is a wonderful full circle moment. I can’t wait to greet Sydneysiders with the new team in the new year. It’s a close-knit network with passionate listeners. Let’s f****n go!”