Smallzy for breakfast is a rare event in radio. Something to savour for just two weeks of the year in the lead-up to Christmas.
Nova doesn’t hand the keys to a breakfast show to just anybody. The network has been blessed with long-term solutions across Australia – from Nathan, Nat and Shaun in Perth to Ash, Luttsy and Susie O’Neill in Brisbane to Fitzy and Wippa in Sydney.
A rare Nova major market upheaval is underway though with new breakfast shows in Adelaide and Melbourne.
Ben, Liam and Belle have been plucked from Adelaide and parachuted into Melbourne. To get the jump on their 2023 competition the trio has started in their new market early, giving Nova the opportunity to give Smallzy two weeks of national breakfast in all other metro markets.
The announcer who is usually piloting the music network’s evening program Smallzy’s Surgery likes to boast he lives without an alarm. It’s therefore been a little shock to his system to be required bright-eyed and bushy-tailed at 6am daily.
“It’s fun because in a couple of days, I shouldn’t be doing it again for a while,” Smallzy tells Mediaweek at the end of the first of his two breakfast weeks.
Smallzy’s Surgery is a content machine that attracts national ratings-winning audiences across eight surveys every year not just because of the host’s appeal, but also because of the stars the show delivers night after night.
“Breakfast is a good opportunity to show off some of our best stuff that we’ve done from the year and to do some new stuff too,” he explains. “We’ve got a whole bunch of new interviews rolling through both weeks.”
That content ranged from his Kim Kardashian and stars of Avatar interviews to a Five Seconds of Summer breakfast show takeover.
Radio stars make the most of their star encounters and Smallzy has been dining out on his Kim Kardashian meeting. He was in the right place at the right time during an LA trip and he even made it into an episode of the new season of The Kardashians on Disney+.
Smallzy in the Nova studio during daylight hours
“I was seen in the second last episode of the season, at about the 27-minute mark at their launch party,” he said for people wanting to make the most of the Smallzy at a Disney+ party experience.
“There’s a couple of times in the episode I am at the canapes at the launch party. Had I known the camera was there I wouldn’t have done what I was about to do. They were filming Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker. They’re behind me. They’re making public displays of affection and I am just eating all the canapes…I just grabbed them off the tray and I am shovelling them in. [Laughs]
The Smallzy’s Surgery All-Star Summer Breakfast Show is both hosted and executive produced by multiple ACRA-winning talent.
Smallzy on the MTV red carpet with his ACRA-winning executive producer Zach La Cava
“ACRA-winning executive producer Zach La Cava has been doing a great job outshining me every step of the way, as usual, doing a fantastic job. I really am so grateful to work alongside him, one of the best in the business,” said Smallzy who also has his own trophy cabinet stocked with the industry awards.
Smallzy then jokes he doesn’t want to talk him up too much for fear someone might try and poach him for their show. La Cava is also joined at breakfast by the rest of the Smallzy’s surgery team.
Smallzy: “We’re a great team, we have a great chemistry. Whenever you work shift work like we do on the night show you form a great bond with the people you work with. And we’re all struggling equally with being in so early!”
The fine print details how Smallzy wins in all Nova metro markets
Smallzy has just renewed with Nova on a new multi-year contract and he is returning for 2023 after hosting 11 years of Smallzy’s Surgery.
“Can you believe that? 11 years…it’s insane. Honestly, I’m grateful every day and I just re-signed to continue doing the show, which is exciting. So we are back next year.”
One of the attractions of Smallzy’s Surgery is the access the host gets during international trips to award shows and big tours.
“This year, I feel like we’re probably back 75% to what it was like in 2019.
“In the last half of this year there were a bunch of great opportunities that some of our partners that we work with were able to send me on.”
When asked about the biggest interviews he snagged this year, Smallzy replied:
“Definitely the Kardashians. It would never have happened had we not been in the LA at the time.
“We went to LA originally for the weekend to interview Dwayne Johnson for his movie that came out earlier this year. We also covered off the MTV European Music Awards in Germany a couple of weeks ago as well which got us a whole bunch of big music stars.”