Disrupt staff are waiting to be paid but were left ‘bemused’ by founder’s comments they were in for a ‘roller coaster’ ride

Employees at trouble-plagued Disrupt Radio are still waiting for their pay cheques and clarity from the founder on whether the station has a future.

Jules Lund is among the Disrupt Radio staff who are waiting to find out if the station will be resurrected after it went off-air last month. Picture: Britta Campion

Staff at trouble-plagued Disrupt Radio remain in limbo about the future of the station and say they were left “bemused” by comments made by founder Benjamin Roberts that employees should be prepared for a “roller coaster” ride.

The DAB+ (digital audio broadcast) station remains off-air and employees are unsure if and when the channel will return to the airwaves after a significant investment in the start-up fell through last month.

Many staff are also still waiting to be paid for work completed weeks ago.

The Australian contacted Mr Roberts multiple times in the past week to find out the status of the station and its future, but he declined to give details or respond to a series of questions.

“We’re still working through all of this,” he said in email correspondence.

“There’s no update at this stage, but we should have one this coming week.”

Sources said they were left “bemused” by Mr Roberts’ comments to The Australian last week when he said: “Start-ups are not for the salaried and superannuated, and I made it very clear to people I personally hired that it might be a bit of a roller coaster”.

Disrupt Radio founder and CEO Benjamin Roberts. Picture: Supplied

Insiders told The Australian that it was “quite ironic” that the station which focused on discussing entrepreneurship and the importance of business acumen was battling its own financial woes.

Mr Roberts founded the station, which first went to air in June last year, but in recent weeks it stopped producing new content and now relies on running repeated episodes of its programs.

There is no mention of the station being in disarray on its website or social media channels.

Disrupt has about 12 staff, including presenters and producers, and its headquarters is in Southbank in Melbourne. It broadcasts into the Victorian capital, and in Sydney and Brisbane.

The station’s chairwoman, former ABC managing director Michelle Guthrie, has not spoken publicly about the issues at the station since it has been offline.

Former ABC radio host Libbi Gorr and former TV presenter and businessman Jules Lund are among the station’s high-profile presenters with their own weekly shows, alongside former AFLW player Moana Hope.

Just last month, Gorr interviewed ABC chairman Kim Williams in a lengthy discussion about the taxpayer-funded broadcaster.

It’s understood that if the station does return to the airwaves, the plan is to continue its four daily shows and air freshly created content.

This includes Gorr’s Enterprise Breakfast, Moolah which is hosted by Omar De Silva, Entrepreneur Her led by Hope and Startup Nation presented by Lund.

The most recent official radio ratings data showed that the station drew fewer than 6000 daily listeners across Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane.

Originally published as Disrupt staff are waiting to be paid but were left ‘bemused’ by founder’s comments they were in for a ‘roller coaster’ ride