After a three-decade career, the ABC has announced the departure of triple j’s group music director Richard Kingsmill.
Kingsmill started with the ABC in 1988 as a triple j producer. Within a couple of years, he moved into a presenting role. During his time with the station, Kingsmill has been behind the mic hosting his long-running Australian Music Show, and was one of the architects of triple j Unearthed in 1995.
In 2003, he moved to the role of triple j music director, before becoming group music director in 2017, overseeing music content at triple j, triple j Unearthed, Double J, ABC Country and ABC Local Radio.
In 2023, another station was added to his remit, triple j’s Hottest.
Under his direction, the station increased its Australian music content from 30% to 60%, and uncovered artists such as Missy Higgins, Grinspoon, G Flip and Genesis Owusu.
His time has seen triple j grow its five capital city reach from 980,000 in 2006, to surpassing 2 million in 2017, and reach its current record of 2.3 million in 2022.
He has also brought listeners interviews with local and international artists including David Bowie, Radiohead, Björk, Nick Cave, Daft Punk, Flume, Gotye, Lana Del Rey and Kendrick Lamar.
Of his time with the ABC, Richard Kingsmill says: “I started with a lot of passion, but pretty modest skills to be honest. I’m incredibly grateful in how the ABC kept encouraging me to grow and gave me time to develop. I’ve worked with so many amazing and talented people, you can’t help but learn and be inspired every single day. I started with two main loves – music and radio. Those have been constants for me across all these years.
“I’ve given my heart and soul to everything I’ve done here. The best feeling now, at the end of all that, is knowing how much I’ve still got left in the tank in continuing to contribute to the Australian music industry.”
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