All of 5 minutes ago, Derryn Hinch (@HumanHeadline) of 3AW announced his sacking from the broadcaster, and his usual 4-6pm timeslot. This shock move, of course, occurring in the same week that Steve Vizard was given a two week contract to fill in for Dennis Walter in the afternoon.
The big question for me is, simply, why?
For as long as I can remember; I’ve woken up to the debates between Ross Stevenson and John Burns, travelled listening to the opinionated Neil Mitchell, arrived home to the end of the relaxed Dennis Walter program and pulled into the driveway to Hinch’s opening monologue in the late afternoon.
Despite what many may think about listening to the same lineup all ones life, its neither monotonous nor boring. Each member of the lineup manages to keep their listeners on board with a diverse, relevant and interesting range of discussions that involve the input of the audience.
Its the reason for the failure of Steve Price’s MTR; listeners have had no need to change their talkback station.
My simple question is why change a winning formula?
For as long as Hinch has been a Human Headline, 3AW and its executives have stood by him. In the last two years, he’s been under house arrest for naming an accused paedophile and been out of work for months after a liver transplant. Further back, a series of indiscretions gave him his self-professed nickname and twitter tag.
Whilst he has a proficiency for breaking the law, I admire Hinch for not only his strong views, but his ability and willingness to back what he believes to be right.
Should paedophiles really be allowed to anonymously return to the community while other criminals are shamed?
Its a farce, and I was very much on Derryn’s side.
Just this week, Hinch announced, along with Neil Mitchell, their displeasure at the appointment of former Telstra boss Steve Vizard: The man who, in 2005, ran the company into the ground by dishonestly pinching profits.
I won’t pretend to know the full story behind Vizard’s controversial ban from the country’s largest telecomm provider, but his appointment reeks of a new era at 3AW: A not-so Brave New World.
Listeners want to be able to trust the people whose voices pierce their cars, homes, bedrooms and offices; and frankly, while Hinch was controversial, he’s not a liar like Vizard and he backs his own views in.
I’m not entirely sure where I sit politically in a landscape dominated by lacklustre federal leaders, but I know my weekdays are going to suffer from his sacking and the removal of his often controversial opinions.
General Manager Shane Healy’s comments that “life will not be the same without Derryn around, but we believe listeners will react more than favorably to the changes we have in mind”, are frankly a crock, and they will have to pull out a fairly impressive coup to keep their listeners as engaged as they have been.
In the words of the man himself: ‘As somebody once said. That’s life. Watch this space.’
I couldn’t agree more, Derryn.
Farewell and thankyou.
Dean GOLDSTEIN 