Nine expects more from less after Alan Jones

Nine bosses internally admit they will lose their commanding lead in Sydney when Alan Jones goes.

2GB’s Alan Jones. Picture: Adam Yip

Senior Nine Entertainment executives are internally conceding they will lose their commanding lead in the nation’s biggest radio market when Alan Jones steps down at the end of the month, but are gambling that the loss of ­listeners will be offset by a long-term rise in advertising revenue.

The calculated risk comes as part of a broader strategic shift across Nine placing a greater emphasis on commercial sustainability rather than ratings dominance.

Jones stunned listeners on Tuesday when he announced he was retiring from his program after 35 years in radio while barely six months into an $8m, two-year contract.

The team behind Jones’s epony­mous breakfast show will learn its fate on Thursday after being summoned for individual meetings with 2GB management.

There are fears many of Jones’s loyal staffers, some of whom have been with him for almost three decades, could be forced to follow him out the door when he switches off his microphone on May 29, leaving incoming breakfast host Ben Fordham with a dearth of ­experienced operators.

Jones has long credited his production team for the success of his show, which extended its grip on the lucrative Sydney timeslot by claiming 17.9 per cent of audience share in last month’s ratings survey. He has been known to personally supplement their salaries out of gratitude.

“My team here is unbelievable,” Jones said in a letter to friends. “They have collectively been with me for 140 years. They are my family and they have worked hard for me and for the audience.”

The Jones news comes in the midst of widespread cost-cutting and redundancies across Nine as chief executive Hugh Marks looks to rein in costs.

Industry insiders said that even with Jones’s team behind him, it would be “impossible” for Fordham to retain the outgoing host’s audience share.

“It can’t be done,” one well-connected 2GB source told The Australian. “That’s no slight on Ben. Everyone wants him to do well. Alan had an incredible ability to engage his audience. Many have tried to replicate him and it’s very difficult to do.”

Advertising bosses predicted the move would pay off and that while audience share would drop, Fordham would pick up more ­advertisers and younger listeners.

The 43-year-old, who has been promoted from 2GB’s drive-time slot, will have time to bed down in the new role, following Commercial Radio Australia’s decision to suspend ­surveys, which require fieldwork by research provider GfK, because of the coronavirus. The next survey is not scheduled to be released until September 29.

Karl Stefanovic has been touted as a potential long-term successor to Fordham in the drive slot after impressing while filling in last year, but Nine sources say he is committed to reviving the ­embattled Today show.

The drive void will initially be filled by Mark Levy, who hosts a one-hour evening sports radio show on 2GB and 4BC Monday to Thursday, with station sources saying the deft hand had “every chance” of retaining the role.

There is much pressure on Nine and its boss to get the transition right. Mr Marks oversaw the disastrous crucifixion and resurrection of Stefanovic in the breakfast television timeslot and his moves in the breakfast radio market are being closely monitored inside and outside the network.

His do-more-with-less policy is unpopular with some key Nine factions and two key executives have recently been openly discussing the longevity of his tenure.

Questions have also been asked about leaks at Nine after Mr Marks was photographed having a lunchtime picnic with his executive assistant, Jane Routledge, at Clifton Gardens on Sydney’s leafy lower north shore last week.

In the absence of the official radio surveys, Nine said it would use other methods to track the performance of Fordham’s breakfast show and others.

A Nine Radio spokesman said it had “a number of ways of measuring a show’s performance”.

“These include audience engagement, be it through open line calls, listeners emails, through digital measurement of audio streaming on our websites and apps, plus there is of course the clear strong commercial results our clients see from that advertising on talk radio,” the spokesman said.