Brisbane 4BC took a brutal hit when it lost four hosts in the space of two weeks amid its latest ratings bloodbath, but reports suggest the job cuts aren’t over yet.
Nine Radio star Sofie Formica is currently on leave from her afternoon show, with speculation flying her seat behind the mic may be gone when she returns.
TV reporter Michelle Tapper has been filling in for the veteran Queensland presenter, 53, and internal data suggests she may be a better fit for the job, reported The Australian’s Media Diary.
According to reports leaked to the publication a few weeks ago, the Nine News Brisbane star has exceeded expectations while covering Formica’s job at 4BC.
Meanwhile, Formica, who hosted Queensland’s The Great South East for almost 20 years, has raked in the lowest ratings among the key daytime 4BC shows, with other low performing hosts getting the axe in recent weeks.
But the truth behind this speculation remains unclear as Formica is slated to represent 4BC on the panel at 9News Queensland’s first leaders’ debate on October 3.
Premier Steven Miles and Liberal National Party leader David Crisafulli will face off ahead of the Queensland election, with Formica seated on the panel with Nine’s state political editor Tim Arvier and Brisbane Times editor Sean Parnell.
Daily Mail Australia have contacted Nine for comment.
Nine Radio star Sofie Formica, 53, (pictured) is currently on leave from her afternoon show with speculation flying her seat behind the mic may be gone when she returns
It comes just days after reports another popular journalist is set to replace Brisbane 4BC’s breakfast team at the end of the month after three of Nine’s biggest breakfast radio stars were fired from the job.
Peter Fegan is set to host the morning program from September 30 as trio Laurel Edwards, Gary Clare and Mark Hine were phased out on Friday, September 13.
An internal staff email confirmed that Fegan, who currently hosts 4BC Weekends, will be in the chair for the breakfast show until December.
The email read: ‘From Monday, September 30, Peter Fegan will look after the Breakfast timeslot until the end of the year – before we wrap up the 2024 Survey Period on Friday, December 13.’
The message to staff appeared to suggest that listeners can look forward to further shake-ups at the station for on air presenters.
TV reporter Michelle Tapper has been filling in for the veteran Queensland presenter and internal data suggests she may be a better fit for the job, reported Diary on Sunday
However, the publication reports that Fegan has told insiders he has the gig secured, though this has not been confirmed.
Edwards, Clare and Hine’s axing came days after Daily Mail Australia revealed bosses at the embattled network were ‘sharpening their knives’.
The trio – household names in the Sunshine State – were unveiled to much fanfare in 2022 as the station switched to a classic hits format on the early morning show.
They claimed an impressive 11.8 per cent audience share – and third place – on debut in the Queensland capital’s fiercely contested breakfast radio contest.
But the decision to steer the station away from traditional talkback in favour of ‘light entertainment’ – in stark contrast to its successful sister outlets 2GB in Sydney, 3AW in Melbourne and Perth’s 6PR – has alienated listeners and ultimately proved a disaster.
Edwards, Clare and Hine’s ratings have been in terminal decline, with their show finishing a humiliating last place in the latest survey, with an alarming 4.3 per cent audience share.
According to reports leaked to the publication a few weeks ago, the Nine News Brisbane star has exceeded expectations while covering Formica’s job at 4BC
The trio’s departure was made official three days after Daily Mail Australia revealed they faced the chop.
Greg Byrnes, Head of Content for Nine Radio, said on Friday afternoon that the network had ‘decided to take a new approach to breakfast’.
‘Their loyal listeners, and all of us at 4BC, will miss them greatly, but we’ll be sending them off in a style worthy of their remarkable careers,’ Mr Byres added.
Their final day on air will be in a few days time on Friday, 27 September.
It comes after drive host Peter Gleeson and breakfast newsreader Steve Barker also resigned early last week in the wake of Daily Mail Australia’s story about looming job cuts.
Barker had been a key fixture of the Brisbane newsroom since joining the network, collecting a prestigious New York Festivals Radio award for his heartfelt coverage of the Queen’s death last year.
Nine Radio execs also took the axe to its Brisbane talkback breakfast radio show stars Laurel Edwards, Gary Clare and Mark Hine following a disastrous ratings collapse
Well-placed sources within 4BC revealed the network was now planning an unprecedented overhaul of its presenting line-up as it reverts to a hard-hitting talkback focus and desperately tries to lure back truant listeners.
They said the move came as a humbling admission that the station’s entertainment experiment had failed.
‘We need to blow the whole place up and start again – and we need to do it now,’ one senior 4BC insider told Daily Mail Australia.
‘We’re bleeding ratings and ad money every single day at the moment. 2GB and 3AW are flying. Even 6PR is making a comeback.
‘But 4BC is an absolute trainwreck and it’s all been brought about by poor decisions at breakfast.’
Popular 4BC newsreader Steve Barker and veteran journalist Peter Gleeson have also resigned from Nine Radio’s Brisbane station
There are even fears the station’s ratings free fall could see local programming scrapped entirely, after parent company Nine Entertainment announced plans to cut $50million from underlying costs this financial year.
‘Staff are very nervous the station is going to go back to the bad old days of Sydney programming on 4BC,’ one insider.
‘In these tough economic times it wouldn’t surprise anyone if management made that decision.
‘It would be the wrong decision – and a shortsighted one – but at this stage anything is possible.’
