COMMERCIALISM HAS KILLED MY RADIO STARS
January 2002
From Sydney Morning Herald

The thrill is gone, so Sacha Molitorisz is giving Triple J the big kiss-off.

The thrill is gone, so Sacha Molitorisz is giving Triple J the big kiss-off.

Dear Triple J,

Goodbye. I'm leaving you. Tuning out. Moving on. It has not been an easy decision to make. We've been together so long. Do you realise it's almost 20 years since we first started flirting? And sure, we had our ups and downs. I admit now that just about every time I travelled overseas, I strayed. But none of those foreign stations ever compared with you. I always, always returned.

I also know that now might not be the best time to deliver this letter - given you're sponsoring the Big Day Out and mopping up after Saturday's Hottest 100. But I'm fed up. The only question is, have I changed or have you?

I can't help thinking that perhaps it's because you're the ABC's youth network and that I'm 32. Maybe I'm too old for you?

To be honest, though, I reckon age has nothing to do with it. I still want to hear interesting, innovative music. You are just not satisfying me the way you used to.

For starters, you're too repetitive. Not to mention that you've sacked some of your best announcers. It's as if, now that you're a national station, you don't know who you are any more. Or that you decided you exist only for teenagers.

Quite simply, I think you've stopped caring about me or my friends. They're aged from 20 to 40 and they've all tuned out. So, for your own good, I'm getting personal. If you're ever going to have another lasting, meaningful relationship, you'll need to shape up.

First, replace that bloke who's in charge, Ed Breslin. Not everybody on the staff would be broken-hearted. I remember when, in late 2000, that Shier guy promoted Breslin to "head of national music" at the ABC.

So now he's the boss of you and Classic FM - what an impossible mix. In fact, rethink the whole senior team. Several have been there too long. Then get in people with ideas and enthusiasm and energy.

Second, respect your talent. Like Merrick and Rosso. After taking over drive-time in 1999, they built a massive, loyal fan base - and they were loyal to you, too. But then they had a bingle with station management and received an attractive offer from Nova FM, so they left.

Face it, for years you haven't been treating your staff well. I still get shivers about that day in 1990 when you purged three announcers. You only had eight! And one of the three was Tim Ritchie. He made listeners care about the music. So why axe him? And why sack Jaslyn Hall after 10 years hosting the weekly World Music Show?

You still have a lot of talent there, I admit. Richard Kingsmill is the king - he really knows his stuff - but his shifts are too little and too late. With Robbie Buck it's worse. He's talented and charismatic. Now that he isn't working on SBS-TV's Alchemy, he should be doing more than just weekends.

Fortunately, some presenters aren't only talented, they're on- air when they should be. Adam Spencer and Wil Anderson do a good job at breakfast because they're not just funny, they're smart. And Francis Leach is great from 9am to midday. He has interesting guests and asks hard questions. As you'll notice, though, they're all men, so ...

Third, hire more women. Last year it looked as if you'd posted a "Blokes Only" sign on your front door. This year it's better but there's still a way to go.

Fourth, chase quality, not just popularity. If you're good, you'll inevitably be popular. So bring back Unearthed, that great initiative that plugged you into the country and the outback.

And stop flogging obnoxious novelty songs by bands such as the Bloodhound Gang and Pauline Pantsdown. And - this is the big one - lose the commercial-style playlist set-up you've had for the past decade. You routinely ignore local bands such as Sea Life Park and Ides of Space and the Lucksmiths in favour of giving Limp Bizkit's latest single yet another spin.

You're not a commercial station, so why sound as if you're trying to be one? Now that there's Nova as well as Triple M and 2Day FM, isn't it more important than ever to forge your own identity?

I don't put much faith in ratings, but last year yours were dismal. In December, after less than a year on-air, Nova rated an impressive 9.3 per cent of the audience share (thanks in part to Merrick and Rosso). Leader 2Day fell to a 10.6 per cent share and you languished on 4.8 per cent. Whichever way you look at it, it's time for a new vision - like FBI, the new Sydney community station with a licence to broadcast new music, 50 per cent of it Australian, which is going to be launched later this year.

So, I guess that's it.

In the words of Homer Simpson: Welcome to Dumpsville, Triple J. Population: you.

Personal note: Although I can't agree with everything this article has to say (a lot of it is quite flawed, hypocritical, or technically inacurate) - it does perhaps raise some valid points I believe... It probably doesn't look good me posting this as the only article update on the site in quite some time - it's the only one that's come in my email box, and I just haven't had time to search for others...