Sarah Mac is pure ABC. Why don’t the bosses who dumped her listen to their listeners?

Of all the insults upon insults that ABC management is heaping on its loyal listeners, this might be the most infuriating. On Thursday, Sarah Macdonald, the beating heart of the ABC’s radio audience, announced she was no longer wanted by the institution. She’d been given a few days’ notice.

Cue meltdown of the switchboard and the text line. Cue social media going wild (don’t pester me about how social media means nothing to you, some of us communicate with our nearest, if not dearest, that way).

ABC presenter Sarah Macdonald announced on air that she’d just learnt her contract would not be renewed next year.Credit: Graphic: Monique Westermann

This is what ABC Audience Support sent listeners in response to complaints: “Sarah is a respected and talented broadcaster and has been loved by her audience over the years, presenting on various programs including Nightlife, Evenings and most recently, Mornings.”

Sorry but I have to annotate this. Macdonald is not a “has been”. On ABC Radio Sydney, she is at the height of her warmest and strongest powers. She was offered the first interview with our new governor-general because Samantha Mostyn understands her audience. It’s clear ABC management does not.

“We understand that any changes to our line-up can be difficult for our audience – it is testament to the deep connection that ABC presenters have with their listeners.”

What? This is not a loyalty to the ABC as an institution. It’s loyalty to the actual people who do the actual work. And dear god, it’s also tossed Simon Marnie, who reminds me every week why I am lucky to live in this city. Marnie feeds us, helps us in emergencies, is our companion. What the hell? Marnie was also given just a few days’ notice. Yes, it’s a testament. It’s a testament to Macdonald, to Marnie and to Richard Glover who is going of his own, and very smart, accord.

“It is also important that we find space on our stations for new voices across the network,” ABC Audience Support said. “We appreciate your feedback and will be announcing the new Mornings presenter for 2025 soon.”

New voices? Tell that to Phillip Adams, who has broadcast almost as long as I’ve been alive. Tell that to Glover, who was unimpeded over a quarter of a century and who had the guts to attack ABC management live on air on Thursday afternoon. During the launch of the new presenters, he also spoke out.

So why Sarah? Is this part of some attempt to give ABC Sydney a more commercial flavour? If so, that’s the exact opposite of what its listeners want. It was ABC managing director David Anderson who hired radio bosses Mike Fitzpatrick and Ben Latimer from Triple M and Nova. But their army of listeners don’t want them meddling with our lifeline and connection to the real world. Time after time, a woman broadcaster has taken on this time slot for a few years and then been dumped. Think Deborah Cameron (rest in peace). Think Sally Loane. Think Linda Mottram, dumped in exactly the same way. Time after time.

When the ABC says it needs “new voices”, let’s hope it’s not an old voice with a new gender.

Mornings are not an easy gig, and yet Macdonald made it possible for us to be in touch but also feel we could manage the challenges the world brought us. Earlier this year, I asked her if I could come and talk during her program about what it meant to be a grandparent today. The talkback was the most brilliant aspect, people sharing their hilarious tales of utter exhaustion; and some of those people contacted me offline to share what was engrossing and challenging about dealing with small children and bad backs. Macdonald was all about building connections.

And I tell you who else is shocked. And that’s 2GB’s Ray Hadley. He had an entire segment on his program on Friday morning dedicated to someone he described as a “rival of mine on the ABC” who had “basically been sacked”. As Hadley said, Macdonald had just delivered “a nice growth in audience”. Then he said: “She’s a quality broadcaster.”

“Whoever identifies talent at the ABC has got no idea what they are doing,” he said. “You have a successful woman, making inroads in the morning program and probably had a better chance with making more inroads with my retirement on December 13, and what do they do? They sack her.

“I would say to the person in charge of making such a decision, you are a dope.”

Haha. Is this the first time in living memory that I have ever agreed with Hadley? Probably. But he’s a thousand per cent right.

I was one of those who complained about Macdonald’s sacking, but I don’t have any hope that management will listen. How do I know? When The Drum was axed last year, the audience went wild. Petitions. Calls. Emails. Text lines. Commentators.

Did management listen? No, it did not. And now for those of you still watching, you have to watch glib Tom Gleeson on endless repeats of Hard Quiz. Mildly entertaining if you like ritual humiliation and crushingly dull topics chosen by the contestants. Once a week is the right frequency.

It’s as if ABC management thinks the ABC can be commercial, should be commercial. Does it understand that we don’t want more quiz shows or more banal presenters? Does it understand that there are multiple audiences out there and those who listen to Triple M and Nova are not the same as the ABC audience?

I tried to get through to 2GB management to suggest they hire Sarah Macdonald but no one would return my calls. She could replace Hadley and would make 2GB less, ahem, male. But I doubt it would take the risk. If not, I can imagine her making the best podcasts in the country.

In the meantime, ABC staff rushed to embrace Macdonald as she left her studio on Thursday. Her staff loved her. Her audience loved her. And just for once, wouldn’t it be grand if ABC management listened to its listeners?

Jenna Price is a visiting fellow at the Australian National University and a regular columnist for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.