At 5.30am this morning, 3AW breakfast hosts Ross Stevenson and John Burns welcomed back the sacked overnight host back to the station.
Tony Moclair was dropped as host of 3AW overnights last year when the Nine Radio network decided to network the program hosted by Michael McLaren in Sydney and Brisbane into Melbourne. Now Nine Radio management via head of content Greg Byrnes has welcomed Moclair back to the #1 Melbourne radio station.
In an email to notify staff of the change on the weekend, Byrnes said: “At the start of the year, we made the decision to return our evening programming to the local market with Denis Walter on 3AW and John Stanley on 2GB.
“The big audiences that both Denis and John have attracted at night shows our listeners seek the companionship and connection of a local voice. Returning Tony to overnights in Melbourne is recognition of that, as well as the high regard in which we hold him as a 3AW broadcaster.”
Byrnes went on to thank Michael McLaren for his work in recent months, and noted the change will now allow him to focus more on Sydney and Brisbane listeners.
Nine Radio has not been afraid to overturn previous management decisions. One in particular that proved popular with staff was the return of Stephen Beers as 3AW station manager last October. Hiring former 2UE PD Greg Byrnes was also a popular move. 2GB re-hired Chris Smith in December and Nine dumped the old AM sports format in favour of bringing back music to the Magic, 2UE and 4BH stations.