Jules Lund is ‘rapt’ that he doesn’t have to be Hamish and Andy’s seat warmer in 2015

JULES Lund was meant to host the national drive show for the first five months of 2015 until Hamish and Andy return. But not anymore.

Failed show: Mel B, Merrick Rosso, Sophie Monk and Jules Lund has a miserable year on 2Day FM.

JULES Lund is “rapt” that he no longer has to be Hamish and Andy’s seat warmer next year.

Lund was set to host the national drive show from 4-6pm on the Today network for the first five months of 2015 until Hamish and Andy’s return in July, but the idea never sat well with the former Getaway presenter.

“I was of the opinion, look I would prefer not to take a step forward and then a step back,” said Lund to news.com.au.

“I’ve got nothing to gain.”

Failed show: Mel B, Merrick Rosso, Sophie Monk and Jules Lund has a miserable year on 2Day FM.

Instead, Lund will return to the airwaves in January with a new national show from 6-7pm.

“The 6-7 pm slot is really exciting for me because I can create a more digitally focused show than ever before,” he said.

So who will host the drive show until Hamish and Andy return?

It will be Dan and Maz (in every market except Sydney) who have hosted the show for the past 12 months. Sydney listeners will get a more music based show until Hamish and Andy return.

The two-hour show will be made up of highlights from Dan and Maz’s new 2Day FM breakfast show which kicks off in January.

Maz Compton and Dan Debuf will be all over your radio next year.

“We had a think about it and look, if you see the results today, Dan and Maz have gone up again in every market around the country,” said Southern Cross Austereo’s Head of Content Craig Bruce.

“They’re clearly our strongest national brand. From our perspective, the audience loves Dan and Maz so for consistency around the group it made more sense for us to go down this path.”

And Jules Lund couldn’t agree more.

“The audience is used to hearing Dan and Maz ... and having me and another co-host come in would be quite disruptive.”

Andy Lee and Hamish Blake will return to the drive slot in July. Picture: Julie Kiriacoudis

The last round of radio ratings for 2014 were released today. Here are the highlights:

— In Sydney, Kiss FM’s Kyle and Jackie O continue to dominate, extending their lead to 1.4 points over stablemates Jonesy and Amanda from WSFM.

— In Melbourne, Triple M’s Hot Breakfast with Eddie McGuire is the number one FM breakfast show.