Vega sparkles as combos settle
January 30th, 2008 Posted in Pets Guide Vega’s new breakfast line-up - Australian Idol’s grouchy judge
Ian “Dicko” Dickson, bogan comic Dave O’Neil and one-time Big
Brother evictee Chrissie Swan - is a dubious combination on paper,
but on air the trio bristles with energy.
And listeners are tuning in, if Vega’s pumped-up talkback
callers are any guide. But the station needs a miracle to catch up
to the top-rating breakfast teams on Fox and Nova. It also needs to
at least double ratings figures to compete with Triple M and Mix,
both busy batting up their own new breakfast shows this month.
Fox FM’s Matt Tilley and Jo Stanley returned from holidays in
sparkling form, clearly enjoying the battle of one-upmanship with
their Nova rivals Dave Hughes and Kate Langbroek. Listeners will
need a sharp prod to leave these shows.
The A-team at 3AW - Ross Stevenson, John Burns and Neil Mitchell
- is also back to its top-rating best, along with Red Symons and
Lindy Burns on 774 (much to the relief of cranky ABC listeners who
have complained to the Letters pages about comedians as fill-ins
over summer).
In another tussle, Nova is making a tilt at Fox FM’s unstoppable
drive duo Hamish Blake and Andy Lee. Last weekend, Nova signed
Triple M funny man Ed Kavalee (who was left jobless in November
when Tony Martin’s Get This crew was mysteriously sacked). Kavalee
will join Akmal Saleh and Cal Wilson from 3-6pm, starting
Monday.
According to industry scuttlebutt, another Get This refugee,
Richard Marsland, was courted by Triple M for a key shift, but he
chose to concentrate on comedy writing work with Rove and Shaun
Micallef’s Newstopia. Marsland’s ex-boss Martin is writing another
book.
Meanwhile, as the new breakfast shows settle into a daily
groove, several radio bosses privately earmark Vega as the best of
the new teams, which must be music to the ears of Vega bosses after
years of lurking at the bottom of the ratings ladder.
“We know it’s a big challenge,” says Dickson, a British-bred
Sydneysider who admits he knows little about Melbourne. “But I’m
keen to prove to Melbourne that I’m not some Pommy, Sydney-based
blow-in. I want to connect with this city, so I’m buying a house
down here and committing to this show.
“It sounds hokey, but it’s an absolute privilege to talk to a
major city as it’s waking up. Every morning, I get out of bed at
four with such a spring in my step.”
By contrast, the first week on air could only be described as a
struggle for Triple M’s much-hyped breakfast team, comedian Peter
Helliar and ABC golden girl Myf Warhurst. Both seasoned performers
on TV and radio, Helliar and Warhurst seemed tense and disjointed
in their first few shifts, but they have settled into a more
relaxed zone this week.
Meanwhile, Warhurst is rapt to be home in Melbourne after a
stint on the Triple J breakfast show in Sydney. She knows many of
her rivals and admits to sending congratulatory text messages to
Vega’s Dickson, with whom she worked on the ABC’s popular Favourite
Album show.
“Pete and I were a bit nervous at first,” says Warhurst, fresh
from an afternoon sleep before filming an episode of Spicks and
Specks. “There was such a big publicity push for the show, so there
are big expectations weighing on you.
“But I’m really happy now. I don’t want to sound up myself, but
it’s really going well. It just takes a while to settle in.”
Mix FM’s breakfast show Two Women and a Metro had a promising
start, thanks to the slick timing and appeal of Triple M veterans
Brigitte Duclos and George McEncroe, backed up by the easy-going
comic-style Tom Gleeson, the show’s lone bloke and alleged
metrosexual.
Duclos and McEncroe, accustomed to batting off blokey jibes on
Triple M, are clearly relishing the chance to talk about children
and shopping rather than muscle utes and footy. The newly married
Gleeson creates a good balance, as one of a handful of male comics
with a big female fan base.
“Women are the reason I got into comedy,” Gleeson explains after
his first week on air at Mix. “When I was a primary-school kid, I
used to get approval from women by making them laugh. It was the
only way because I had freckles and red hair.”
*Public radio veteran Neil Rogers will mark 25 years of
broadcasting with a special live show on Triple R tonight. The
three-hour show will feature performances by Perry Keyes, Liz
Stringer, Harem Scarem and the Darling Downs, from 7pm.
* Student station SYN also celebrates an anniversary today -
five years of full-time broadcasting.
Related posts
Tags: absol, handful, holidays, lear, metro, pecks, Pet, sleep, vet
