Ray Hadley climbs out of bed on weekday mornings before 4am. He doesn’t host a breakfast show but he’s up and about early to start preparation on his long-running, award and ratings-winning morning show.
Hadley has celebrated many milestones on his radio journey. So far in 2023 he has continued his 2GB ratings dominance, notched up 21 years at the station and signed a new multi-million contract.
Signing up for another tour of duty marked a change of mind for the broadcaster. On the day that Alan Jones quit 2GB in 2020, and Ben Fordham was revealed as his replacement, Ray Hadley told his audience: “Ben has my full support. I am supportive of management’s decision. To appoint me to the breakfast shift wouldn’t have been the correct decision.” Hadley added he expected his radio career to end at the expiration of his then-current contract.
See also: Ray Hadley extends his contract with 2GB
What changed for Hadley? Why has he decided to stick around longer on air at 2GB?
“Back then I hadn’t worked with Nine Radio before. I didn’t know whether it would be an enjoyable experience,” Hadley told Mediaweek.
He was speaking this week during a walk he schedules each morning during a break in his show preparation. “I’d said to Nine Radio back then, ‘I’ll see out this contract and possibly move on.’ They said, ‘Okay, we’ll see how we like each other and see what happens from here on in.’
“The management team, who I’ve known for nearly 35 years, have been very, very good. You worry about a change in ownership, whether they’re going to make changes and maybe interfere with your program or try and change it.
“But they’ve just been supportive and left me alone.” Hadley praised Nine Radio management led by managing director Tom Malone with support from head of content Greg Byrnes and 2GB content manager Luke Davis.
Long-time listeners to Hadley have heard him change over the decades. How different a broadcaster is he?
“Very different,” said Hadley. “You like to think you change over 40 years, you evolve. There are things I get away with now, I wouldn’t have got away with 30 years ago. That includes language.
“I would never accept ‘They’re taking the piss’, or ‘They need to kick up the arse’ 30 years ago. Now I say it as standards change.
“I’m a much more relaxed person generally. I’ve got five grandkids, and I’ve got four children that are doing well in life. I’ve got a really happy home life with my wife. I’m probably in a better headspace than I’ve been for some time.”
Has his growth as a broadcaster impacted his politics? “I’ve come to the conclusion there’s not much difference between the Labor and the Liberal Party,” Hadley replied to a question about his outlook.
“They’ve morphed into one another and they do basically the same sorts of things. There are obvious differences in relation to some issues.”
Hadley grins when he said: “I’m typified as a shock jock. And I’m happy to carry that tag. If I criticise the Liberals I get emails and messages some days that I’m a commo and I’m a left winger. Then when I go after Labor I’m back to being a right-wing shock jock.
“There are some issues that I don’t resolve from and there are others that you change your attitude on over years.”
In recent years Hadley promised to do everything he could to get a life-saving drug Trikafta approved for the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) for children.
“I started work on that with the Liberal federal government and then all of a sudden we had a change of government halfway through.”
Hadley then started working on new Health Minister Mark Butler to finish the job. “He convinced the PBS to make it available to kids between 6 and 11. That was something started by the Liberals and completed by Butler. I don’t know Butler, but I’ll forever be in his debt for saving the lives of children.”
Hadley has long been a supporter of rights for children. So much so parts of his program can be difficult to listen to at times. He has long been a supporter of Bravehearts and its mission to prevent child sexual abuse.
“When I first started talking about paedophilia, programmers told me in 1994 when I was filling in for John Laws that people wouldn’t listen to that. I replied if they don’t listen to me then you’ll probably give me the boot but I’m still here.
“I do warn people because you get the odd one saying I don’t want to hear about this. My retort is always that’s why it prospered in various institutions over a century. Because people like you said ‘I don’t want to talk about it’.
“If we ignore it, as a media person and a leader in the media, which I am now, that’s a disgrace. Because it’s unpalatable, it might cost me a few listeners. But it’s the right thing to do to protect children.”
Ray Hadley celebrating 20 years at 2GB in 2022
Ray Hadley and Nine Entertainment
“It’s never been a happier place,” said Hadley about 2GB in 2023. He doesn’t mention Alan Jones by name, simply referring to previous times at the station when he notes management, staff and even the company lawyers were “terrified” of a broadcaster. “There’s no longer a fear factor.”
Nine v News Corp
When it comes to media wars, Hadley has a ringside seat in the ongoing News Corp v Nine mudslinging. He’s been a News Corp columnist while he’s been on the Nine payroll.
“I get more support from News Corp I get from Nine newspapers,” Hadley noted when it comes to publicising his radio program.
After signing his new contract, Hadley said he noted there was a brief mention of it on Nine News Sydney. It was featured in The Daily Telegraph and The Australian. “It hasn’t made The Sydney Morning Herald. I have a long-standing relationship with News Limited/News Corp. My listeners read The Telegraph, they don’t read The Sydney Morning Herald.”
Broadcast diary: Ray Hadley’s weekday routine
“The alarm goes off at 3.30am. When I go to the office, which I do three times a week (I broadcast remotely twice a week) I arrive at the office at around 4.30am.
“From 4.30am until about 6am, I go through all the papers including The Daily Telegraph, The Courier-Mail, The Australian and The Australian Financial Review.
“I have a meeting just after 6am with my staff. We sit down and talk about which direction we’re going to go on that day and what issues I want to talk about. Olivia Wilbury, my executive producer, and I talk about who we might possibly talk to or who wants to talk to me.
“I then have commitments for networks where I’ve got to record commercial reads.
“Then I’ll go for a walk. I stop and talk to people, have a cup of coffee.
“After 7am I start writing editorials, my staff have written some, and I write quite a few. I’ll write the morning’s introduction which is a lengthy piece which I do at 9am.
“Around 8am I’ll have a cup of coffee and do a cross to 4BC in the next half hour with their breakfast crew.
“I do the cross with Ben Fordham at 8.45am.
“The cannon goes off at 9am and then it is flying by the seat of my pants for three hours. The program is not heavily formatted. There might be up to 25 editorials, and in three hours of live radio I might have gone off on many tangents.”
Ray Hadley off air
“I have a game of golf on Mondays and Fridays. On Tuesdays I take one of my grandchildren to swimming lessons and take the other three out too.
“On Thursdays I pick up my youngest grandson from day care. He just turned in one.
“At night I’m in bed by 8 o’clock.”
Hadley’s 2GB colleague Ben Fordham
Ray Hadley on broadcasters
When asked about other radio people he rates, Hadley first mentions a 2GB colleague.
“John Stanley, I really enjoy his program. I don’t always listen to it live but I always do it on podcasts. He’s a really good broadcaster. I listen to Ben in the morning of course because I’m in the station.
“I don’t listen to FM radio much, but I respect them. Kyle and Jackie do a really good job as do the boys at Nova – Wippa and Fitzy – who I run into all the time in the car park.”