Compiled by Trent Thomas and Tess Connery
Mike E and Emma on moving to their own beat on RnB FRIDAYS
Mike E & Emma have joined LiSTNR with a new breakfast radio show on radio station RnB FRIDAYS. It is a daily program Monday to Friday from 7am – 10am and began Monday, February 28.
Podcast Week’s Trent Thomas caught up with Mike Etheridge and Emma Chow to talk about moving from FM radio on The Edge where the pair spent 11 years, to now being on the LiSTNR app and DAB+ radio.
RnB FRIDAYS is now its own 24/7 channel on LiSTNR and DAB+ with the pair hosting the live national weekday breakfast show.
Mike E: “It’s a new challenge because it’s available on LiSTNR and DAB+, so we don’t have the luxury of just being on FM. The challenge is attracting our loyal listeners to download an app if they don’t have DAB+ radio. I know some people are still a bit technophobic, but it’s not hard, you just hit play. There’s no difference to getting in your car and hitting play on a boring old FM station.”
Emma: “We also are national now so we’re reaching a broader audience in that sense.”
Mike E: “That’s the challenge of being quite Western Sydney centric. When Dave Cameron approached us, it was a live show and a podcast, and we were looking at opportunities, of just doing podcasts. And the challenge with that was we didn’t have the live immediacy of callers and just live radio in general. It was a perfect opportunity that Dave presented to do a live show and a podcast daily. It’s the best of both worlds.”
Emma: “It’s the first time this has ever been done by the SCA as well. You can feel the excitement and how innovative this show and station is.”
Mediaweek asked the pair if they always planned to stay together after ending their long-running breakfast program on The Edge.
Emma: “Once every couple of years we check in if we want to stay together and the answer is always been a resounding yes.”
Mike E: “So far.” [Laughs]
Emma: “So far! We are still committed to our radio marriage. I have never really entertained the idea of doing this with anyone else. Because the chemistry between us is undeniable. We would both find it really hard to find a radio, wife or husband that can do it for us the way that we do it for each other.”
When asked if having a national show changes their approach, after being Western Sydney focused for so long, the pair agreed it did slightly.
Mike E: “We’re trying to walk the tightrope of both. We know the majority of our listeners to begin with are going to be our existing listeners that have come over. But it’s more about talking to a psychographic or a type of person that could live in suburban Melbourne, Brisbane, or Western Sydney. They’re not inner-city elite people and they have the same values and views all around the country. We might say footy, instead of naming our NRL team, because you don’t want to alienate AFL fans so it’s now footy.”
The pair also said that moving to SCA and LiSTNR has allowed their content to grow up a little.
Mike E: “We don’t want to be stuck talking to teenagers or people under 21 or something. We are older and we wanted to make sure that we were going to a brand that would reflect our growing maturity”
Emma: “We’ve all grown up together. We’ve all become grown-ups together. And it’s nice to be able to sit together in that space.”
The pair said it was an interesting experience adapting to making a podcast with the live show.
Mike E: “If we just did a podcast, we wanted it to sound as live as possible. What we have now is the live show and elements from that taken to the podcast and packaged up, we’re also trying to make the podcast a little different. We were even having a chat before looking at the times that people downloaded it.”
Emma: “Time of day consumption and how long are they listening to it for and are they listening live and on the podcast as well to catch up. The things that we’re working on, not just on the live show but podcast as well, is to be more creative and step up what we were already doing.”
When asked if their audience has followed them to SCA, the pair said a fair amount have.
Emma: “We even recognise some of the names that are calling. We know the ones that are loyal and have been there from day one and followed us over, which is really reassuring for us.”
Mike E: “We had a lot of people telling us that they stopped listening to that other station since we left. We’ve also been speaking to some new people. We had a couple of calls from Brisbane and Melbourne today.”
When asked if they think they will make it 11 years at SCA as they did at ARN, the pair gave an emphatic yes.
Mike E: “God 11 years. We didn’t even think we did it that long until we stopped. We are really enjoying SCA It’s a very good company.”
Emma: “It’s very welcoming. Everyone’s very excited that we’re in the building. It’s a very exciting company to be a part of the show”
Mike E: “The other reason for joining SCA was that we know there’ll be opportunities. And the fact that they’re actually investing in their talent. They’re not just talking a big game.
“The opportunities could be endless within LiSTNR and SCA and they weren’t there anymore at ARN.”
[Listen to Mike E and Emma here]
2 Guys 1 Cup now an exclusive LiSTNR podcast
LiSTNR has announced that 2 Guys 1 Cup, a comedy podcast by comedian and broadcaster Wil Anderson and actor and writer Charlie Clausen, is now available exclusively on LiSTNR.
Now in its sixth year, the show discusses weekly AFL news and is the go-to podcast for footy fans who enjoy silly banter between two friends over serious stats and stale analysis.
Coinciding with the start of the 2022 AFL season, LiSTNR’s exclusive signing of 2 Guys 1 Cup marks Wil Anderson’s return to SCA. The show strengthens LiSTNR’s suite of original Australian content, putting it together with popular shows like Hamish & Andy, Just the Gist, Matt & Alex – All Day Breakfast and Halfternoons with Those Two Girls.
2 Guys 1 Cup will be available on LiSTNR from 9 March and new episodes will drop every Wednesday during the AFL season. It will be produced by Mike Liberale for SCA.
LiSTNR and Triple M launch MG’s Rugby League Rundown
LiSTNR, in conjunction with Triple M, has announced that MG (Mark Geyer) and Liam Flanagan will host a new mid-week NRL podcast. Known to Triple M audiences from their Triple M Sydney show The Rush Hour, MG and Flanagan are reuniting to bring NRL fans MG’S Rugby League Rundown which will feature a preview of upcoming NRL rounds, MG’s tips, discussion, and healthy debate about the big issues facing the game as well as exclusive stories and tales from MG’s illustrious league career.
MG is well known for his outstanding footy career, as well as being an Order of Australia media recipient for his service to the sport of rugby league football, and a member of the Triple M family.
Liam Flanagan is well respected from Triple M’s The Rush Hour, as well as his LiSTNR podcast The Scorecard, a daily snapshot to get listeners across the sport stories they need to know across all footy codes in just 10 minutes.
MG’s Rugby League Rundown will be available on LiSTNR, with new episodes available weekly on Wednesdays.
ARN’s podcast Toni & Ryan cracks 5 million downloads in five months
Toni & Ryan, the Aussie podcast winning over audiences worldwide, smashed a major milestone on Friday: five million global downloads in five months.
The podcast, which Toni Lodge and Ryan Jon only launched in August last year, enjoyed its biggest month in February with over 1.3 million downloads. That number was likely helped by the pair’s social media following, with almost two million between them.
The podcast has proven a viral hit online too, with their Instagram Reels and TikTok videos featuring best bits from the show surpassing 30 million views in February and more than one billion views since the podcast’s first episode.
Toni & Ryan, who refer to each other as “just good friends”, launched the podcast on August 23 with an episode titled T-Pain and Tinder Bios after a series of videos recorded after hours in the KIIS FM Richmond studios went viral on TikTok and Instagram with almost 100 million views.
Listen teams up with MyHeritage.com to launch Blast From My Past
UK Audio Production Company of the Year, Listen, has teamed up with global family history platform MyHeritage.com to launch a brand new podcast called Blast From My Past.
Australians are now, more than ever before, eager to find more information on their loved ones, and to reunite, re-connect and discover the most meaningful part of their life, their family. Blast From My Past is the first podcast to capture the stories of people from all over the world who discovered something heartfelt, interesting or incredible from their past
The first episode, “The Secret of Ereikoussa”, is now live with Yvette Corporan’s discovery of her story about her grandmother who told her that the Greek Island community where she grew up conspired to hide a Jewish family right under the noses of their Nazi occupiers.
[Listen to Blast From My Past here]
Grant Denyer and wife Chezzi join Nova
Grant Denyer and his wife Chezzi have joined Nova Entertainment’s stable of podcasts with their unfiltered tell-all show, It’s All True?
In the podcast, the former Sunrise weatherman and his producer/presenter wife share funny and honest stories of the good, bad and ugly of life, and their drama-filled 12-year marriage.
The couple, whose relationship has been splashed across the tabloids, divulge their personal stories no matter how god-awful, embarrassing or hilarious.
[Listen to It’s All True? here]
Nova launches The Sports Update and The Fashion Update podcasts
Nova Entertainment Podcast Network (NEPN) has announced the launch of two more titles, The Sports Update and The Fashion Update.
The Sports Update is an extension of the podcast network’s successful Australian and world news show The Update and will focus on the latest news in sport, tapping into the country’s favourite pastime.
The show will feature a range of experts from Nova’s newsrooms around the country, with Mitchell Lewis leading the charge Monday to Friday, delivering all the sports news listeners need to know every morning.
NEPN is also extending The Update brand producing a pop-up version for Melbourne Fashion Week (MFW) called The Fashion Update.
The network, which is the official podcast partner of MFW, will be a daily podcast that highlights key shows, events and interviews from the festival from 3 to 13 March.
[Listen to The Sports Update here]
[Listen to The Fashion Update here]
Finder launches crypto podcast to help listeners understand Web3
Global fintech Finder has launched its first crypto and Web3 focused podcast series, Block Climbing.
The fortnightly podcast, released every second Wednesday, is hosted by Finder journalists and self-confessed crypto skeptics/enthusiasts, Tegan Jones and Tim Bennett.
Tegan Jones and Tim Bennett
With Finder research showing nearly 1 in 5 (18%) adults now own crypto, the podcast has been launched to help Australians on their crypto journeys.
The series is a “Crypto Bro”-free zone where beginners, skeptics and everyone in between are welcome to learn, question and have a few laughs along the way.
From understanding what Web3 actually means, to delving into the depths of blockchain true crime, Block Climbing is a new go-to source of information on all things crypto and Web3.
[Listen to Block Climbing here]
