With Ash London leaving her Ash London Live show ahead of the birth of her first child, Tom Bainbridge and Oliver Morris are stepping up to the plate. Coming in from late nights, Tom & Olly will now be heard from 7-10pm nationally across the Hit Network for the rest of 2021.
Mediaweek spoke to Bainbridge and Morris about what 2021 has been like so far, and what their plans are for the new slot.
With Ash London leaving big shoes to fill, Bainbridge and Morris are excited to bring their own style to the slot.
Bainbridge: “We’re really looking forward to getting in there and smashing it. The first question that everyone asks us is ‘are you going to change? Are you going to become a music show?’. I just think that every radio show is a music show in one way or another. If you’re on a commercial Hit station, you’re a music show because you play music. So the music is always going to be forefront for us, but we do so much more than that. I’m really looking forward to bringing some real fun listener-focused stuff to the airwaves. “
Morris: “The way we see it there’s no point in trying to be Ash London, or do what she does, because she does that the best.
“We’ve always been doing a show that we think deserves to be in the slot earlier, that’s how we see it. We’re just going to take what we do to the slot and trust that there’s value in what we do, and that it will deliver what it needs to deliver.”
For Bainbridge and Morris, going into the 7-10 pm slot comes off the back of a very positive year behind the mic.
Morris: I think Tom and I have done our best work yet this year, our relationship is better than it’s ever been and that’s obviously so important with radio. Through Covid we’ve been forced to be more transparent about ourselves, where we’re at, our emotions, and things that are working for us and things that aren’t. So I think it’s some of the best radio we’ve done. We’re gelling and working together better than we ever have. I’d like to believe that as a result, we’re now doing the best slot we’ve ever had.”
Bainbridge: “These lockdowns really force you to check in with other people and check-in with yourself, and so we’ve been really in tune with how we’re feeling. That’s allowed us to really make sure that we’re bringing really positive vibes to everyone because nobody needs any negativity right now. They don’t need serious, they just need fun bloody times. And that’s what we’ve been able to do, which is good.”
Broadcasting Nationally
With Australians living under numerous different levels of Covid restrictions, broadcasting to the entire country means taking every lockdown into consideration.
Bainbridge: “When Melbourne was in a strict lockdown we didn’t really ever reveal that we were in Melbourne and going through lockdown. We didn’t really reveal that stuff. This year, we’ve connected a bit more into ‘whatever you’re doing, in whatever way you’re dealing with the pandemic, we’re here to get you through and we’re here to bring you a few laughs for the next three hours’. That’s usually how we put it.”
Morris: “It is a headache. There are so many experiences with lockdown, or with getting out of lockdown, and it’s such a pivotal moment and experience for everyone who’s going through those moments. To not be able to just go, ‘we’re free today!’ and really celebrate it, having to smooth over the whole journey into, ‘well it’s tough, but we’re getting through’, it does blunt it a little bit.
“At the end of the day, all everyone needs is a good time, and radio is a distraction, it’s a bit of fun whilst you’re driving or working. You can get caught overcomplicating ‘how do we get the messaging right for everyone?’, but I think everyone just wants to be distracted with a good laugh and a good time and some good music – and we can give it to them.”
Mardi Gras 2021
Earlier this year, the pair took to Mardi Gras, marching alongside Carrie & Tommy, who were joined by Troye Sivan.
Bainbridge: “That was amazing. It was my first Mardi Gras as a gay man, and that was pretty special to be able to go there and walk with the company. SC-Gay we were for that weekend!
Morris: “I know you Tom were excited about Troye Sivan, but I actually got to meet Anthony Albanese and Tanya Plibersek. I got to get a photo with them. I didn’t get a photo with Troy, I didn’t bother! [laughs]
Bainbridge: “But you couldn’t dance, which sucked. Covid affected Mardi Gras, so I’d like to go back and experience what it’s like without Covid for sure.”
Morris: “That feels like a lifetime ago, it was a real aberration in the last two years that we got to do that – just going to the airport was fun, just going to a hotel was so good. I’ve heard a lot of people in radio talking about how it would just be great to go out and have a drink with colleagues, because without that it’s just work. It’s such an important part of the fabric of enjoying your job, having those downtimes and those weird moments. That was one of them, a rare one.”
Top Image: Tom Bainbridge and Oliver Morris