On 23 June 2003, Nathan Morris – who had just finished his time on Big Brother – switched the mic on alongside Natalie Locke, hitting the airwaves for the first time as Nova 93.7’s new breakfast show.
Twenty years down the line (now also joined by Shaun McManus), Perth’s Nathan, Nat, and Shaun is one of the country’s most successful breakfast shows, bringing in a share of 17.3% in the most recent radio ratings survey.
Mediaweek spoke to Nathan Morris about his time on air, and why the show connects so well with listeners.
Looking back on his time on air, Morris says the biggest change – other than the fact that leather wrist cuffs and puka shell necklaces are (sadly) no longer incredibly fashionable – has come from the speed at which technology has evolved.
“The way we consume information is so much quicker. Back when we first started, we could read a topic in the paper or online, and you could do that topic three weeks later because not many people would have consumed it. Nowadays, it could be seven o’clock, and we could think we’re talking about something at eight o’clock, but by eight o’clock it has become redundant and something new has come along.
“When we first started here, we had no computer screens, really, except for the one that the person on the panel was using,” says Morris. “We would have a girl named Mandy who would write people’s names on a whiteboard, and then if someone dropped out she would rub it out and rewrite it. I remember the first day we got screens with the listeners’ names on them, and we could see what they were calling about – it blew our minds, we thought we were on the enterprise!”
Nathan, Nat, and Shaun
In a career that has seen him ride a penny farthing, convince the WA Police to help him find his stolen pirate hat, and complete an entire show alone during Covid, there are a few highlights Morris lists looking back.
“I’ve done some amazing things. I’ve opened up the cricket with Mark McGowan at the WACA for bushfire charity – I don’t play cricket by the way, nor like it, nor have the right to be at the WACA!
“We slept on and did our show from a Navy ship, and were given access to parts of the ship that no other crew was allowed to have, that was pretty amazing.
“I took a world record off of Cameron Diaz. On The Jimmy Fallon Show, she got the world record for snuggling in a hammock with bunnies – it was 48 bunnies, and I thought, that’s not that many bunnies. So I ended up getting a whole pile of bunnies, and I was in a hammock with 50 of them a week after she’d set this world record. I happened to interview Cameron the week after I took her title off her, for a movie that she had called The Box – she was enraged that I took that off her!”
One of Morris’ highlights is particularly recent, and saw the team make some very powerful friends.
“We just went to the Prime Minister’s house! We went there for dinner, which blew our minds. That was just from me saying to him that it enrages me that he’s never had me out for dinner. Next minute, he said ‘well, come over’ and his people made that happen.”
Nathan, Nat, and Shaun head to Anthony Albanese’s place for lunch
Through it all, however, Morris says that the listeners are at the heart of the show – no matter where it takes the hosts.
“The best thing from my 20 years is our listeners, they are unbelievable. We could do no celebrity interviews, no competitions, just chat with our callers. They are so generous, they are so funny, they get the sense of humour that we have, they are kind – and they’re a bit controversial when they need to be!
“The way I see our show is that everyone’s got their own problems, so when you are turning on our show, we let you forget about them and we just have a laugh. That’s probably the main compliment that I’ve gotten from our callers throughout the years – I’ve had people say ‘I’m having a tough time, and the thing that gets us through it is just forgetting about that while your shows is on and having a laugh’.”
As for what comes next for Morris? He says that he’s happy to stay for as long as audiences keep responding to the show.
“In this part of your career, you start looking at your age and you look at the demos of the station, and you go, ok, how long is this going to be a match for? But we’re in a really special position where our audience has grown. Nova was probably never supposed to have as broad an audience as what we have, that resonates with younger people and the older generation.
“I love the people that I work with, I love our team, so if we keep performing well, my future is going to be Nova.”
See Also: Perth powerhouses: Nova’s Nathan, Nat and Shaun on record high ratings shares
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Top Image: Nathan Morris