Star Power 25: 2023

Ricki-Lee Coulter, Tim Blackwell and Joel Creasey

Ricki-Lee, Tim and Joel, Nova Network

Nova’s national drive show has been a dominant force in the time slot for quite some time, with the original iteration launching in 2010. At the time it was Meshel, Tim and Marty: a team made up of Meshel Laurie, Tim Blackwell, and Marty Sheargold. Laurie would depart the show in late 2013 to join Nova 100, and in her place, Kate Ritchie would join the show. This line-up persisted for some time until Sheargold departed in September of 2020, replaced by Joel Creasey. In March of this year, Ritchie moved to Breakfast alongside Fitzy and Wippa, with Ricki-Lee Coulter joining the drive team permanently. 

The program is the most listened-to-drive show (4-6 pm) with a cume of 1,483,500  according to the Gfk Radio Ratings Survey. Its hosts have enjoyed success outside of the radio medium with Coulter recently returning to Channel Seven to host Australian Idol – the show that launched her career in 2004 – and Creasey hosting the Australian coverage of Eurovision.

Larry Emdur 

Seven Network

Last year, Larry Emdur celebrated his 40th year in television. Host of two high-rating programs in The Morning Show and The Chase Australia, Emdur was originally best known for hosting both the Wheel of Fortune and a record-breaking 1500 episodes of The Price Is Right. In 2007, Emdur joined Kylie Gillies to co-host Australia’s #1 morning television program, The Morning Show, which has spent the past 16 years as the top program in its timeslot. 

In late 2021, Emdur was announced as the new host of Australia’s #1 daily game show, The Chase Australia. In 2015, he was also named Men’s Health Celebrity Man of the Year and became the magazine’s oldest-ever cover man. Emdur has been twice nominated for the People’s Choice “Most Popular Host” and twice nominated for a Logie.

Sophie Monk

Nine Network

Sophie Monk has the enviable job of hosting streaming powerhouse, Love Island Australia. The show made history in 2022 as the first BVOD program to crack the Total TV chart, with the first episode of the season recording a total audience of 326,000 viewers to put it as the 29th overall show for its launch day – despite airing exclusively on 9Now.

Across Channel Nine, Monk can also be seen as a panellist on The Hundred with Andy Lee and as a celebrity guest on the occasional Lego Masters episode.

Beau Ryan

Paramount ANZ

In 2019, Beau Ryan was announced as the host of Channel 10’s The Amazing Race Australia, guiding the travel show through both international seasons and Australian seasons grounded due to Covid restrictions. The 2022 season finale brought in 628,000 total national viewers. Ryan is also a regular guest on Studio 10, and competed on the 2022 season of I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! In 2024, Ryan is set to host the Channel 10 remake of Gladiators alongside Liz Ellis.

Leaving the world of football for television, Ryan was a regular guest, and then co-host on The Footy Show from 2009-2018

Tom Gleeson

ABC

Tom Gleeson is perhaps best known as the host of ABC’s Hard Quiz, the show born out of his Hard Chat segment on The Weekly. Hard Quiz frequently tops non-news TV ratings, even when up against major commercial shows. In 2023, Gleeson made his way to Channel 10 as host of Taskmaster, taking the role of the show’s overlord that Greg Davies plays in the UK original version of the format. Taskmaster Australia has been confirmed for a second season coming in 2024.

Taskmaster was not Gleeson’s first stint on Channel 10, having worked on This Week Live in 2013 alongside Dave Thornton, Tommy Little, and Meshel Laurie.

Mick Molloy and Mark ‘MG’ Geyer

Mick Molloy and MG, SCA

There were a number of new shows taking to the airwaves for the first time in January this year, with one of them being Sydney’s Triple M Breakfast show. Coming out of a radio hiatus, Mick Molloy moved from Melbourne to Sydney to join Mark ‘MG’ Geyer for Mick and MG in the Morning. In the most recent GfK survey, the show recorded a 5.5% share.

Molloy has spent the better part of the last three decades with SCA and the last 11 years with Triple M, building many of its shows, including Martin/Molloy, the no. 1 daytime show Tough Love, seven years on Melbourne’s #1 FM Breakfast show The Hot Breakfast, three years in the Triple M Drive slot with Jane Kennedy, and then another year with his national Molloy Drive program, which was regularly no. 1 nationally for men aged 25-54, before calling last drinks in 2021.

MG is a former player for the Penrith Panthers, and an Australian International and NSW State of Origin second-rower before he retired and moved to a media career. He originally joined Triple M on The Grill Team Breakfast show in 2009 and then The Rush Hour show.

Fifi Box, Brendan Fevola and Nick Cody

Fifi, Fev and Nick, SCA

It’s been a big year for The Fox’s Breakfast trio, most notably for the show taking the #1 FM Melbourne Breakfast position in survey five – breaking the 25 survey winning streak of GOLD FM’s Christian O’Connell. In the most recent GfK survey, Fifi, Fev, and Nick recorded a share of 9.5%.

The show began in 2014 as Fifi & Dave, hosted by Fifi Box and Dave Thornton, before  Brendan Fevola joined in 2016. In 2017, anchor Byron Cooke joined the lineup, and Thornton announced his resignation later the same year. In 2020, Cooke left the show to be replaced by comedian Nick Cody, resulting in the current lineup of Fifi, Fev, and Nick.

Jock Zonfrillo, Melissa Leong and Andy Allen

MasterChef Australia, Paramount ANZ

In 2020, Andy Allen, Melissa Leong, and Jock Zonfrillo joined MasterChef Australia as the new look judging lineup, replacing the long-serving, George Calombaris, Gary Mehigan, and Matt Preston. The first season for the fresh trio, MasterChef: Back to Win, came during the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic and had gangbuster ratings.

While the numbers for the show – like many others – are no longer at that Covid-induced peak, the new lifeblood injected in the show by the three judges has seen it become perhaps 10’s most valuable property.

The show had an 806,000 total national audience across the 2023 season, making it #1 in its timeslot in key demos. 

On May 1st, Paramount confirmed the passing of Zonfrillo at age 46. He is survived by his wife Lauren Fried and his four children.

Dave Hughes, Erin Molan and Ed Kavalee

Hughesy, Ed and Erin, SCA

Erin Molan, Dave Hughes, and Ed Kavalee joined forces in 2021, following Hughes and Kavalee’s move from the national drive slot to 2DayFM’s breakfast team. The program most recently had a share of 4.6% in Sydney according to the GfK radio ratings survey. 

Both Hughes and Kavalee share a long history with Channel 10 where Hughes was a long-time contributor on The Project before more recently working as a guessing panel member on The Masked Singer Australia, which had an average of 821,000 national audience in 2022. Kavalee has been a fixture on 10 for a long time thanks to his work on Have You Been Paying Attention?. The show dominates the 8:30 pm timeslot with an average national total audience of 803,000 in 2022. 

Molan had a long history at Channel Nine prior to the appointment, mostly on the station’s NRL coverage and anchoring its sports reporting on news bulletins. She is currently a primetime contributor and host of Erin on Sky News Australia and a columnist for The Daily Telegraph.

Amanda Keller and Brendan Jones

Jonesy and Amanda, ARN

In March this year, ARN’s Amanda Keller and Brendan Jones celebrated 18 years on air together, after ending 2022 by signing a multi-year deal to stay with the network. The breakfast radio show for WSFM is currently ranked #2 FM in Sydney with a share of 8.5%. 

Jones joined WSFM from Triple M in 2003, before Keller joined in 2004 – originally as a part-time co-host on Wednesdays. Jones had extensive experience hosting Morning and afternoon and drive shifts at 2NM Muswellbrook, i98fm Wollongong and B105 Brisbane before he landed at Triple M Brisbane, hosting Drive before moving back to Sydney to host the drive show.

In 2017 Jonesy released his first book 50 Shades of Fifty. 

Keller’s first role in breakfast radio was also in Sydney, where she co-hosted the Breakfast show for Triple M with Andrew Denton in the 90s. Until recently Keller was also one of the hosts of Network 10’s The Living Room, the winner of the 2015, 2016 & 2017 Logie Award for Best Lifestyle Program. In 2016, Keller was awarded the Order of Australia medal in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list, in recognition of her service to broadcast media and the community.

In 2017 at the Commercial Radio Awards, she was the first female on-air presenter to be inducted into the ACRA Radio Hall of Fame.

Scott Cam

Nine Network

Scott Cam has had a long history on Australian television, with the 2014 Gold Logie winner appearing on programs such as Backyard Blitz, Renovation Rescue, Domestic Blitz, and Reno Rumble.

He is best known for hosting The Block. Cam has hosted The Block since 2010, helming the show after its return from a six-year hiatus. Since its return, The Block has been a dominant force in the TV ratings surveys. In 2022 the show recorded an average Total TV audience of 1.607 million, with The Block-Winner Announced the highest rating non-sports program of the year (recording a Total TV audience of 2.664 million).

In 2023, Cam will host a new show for Nine, Australia’s Most Identical, which will present the search for the nation’s most identical twins, with Cam a father of twins himself.

Ray Hadley

2GB, Nine Radio

Ray Hadley’s morning radio show for 2GB has rated #1 in Sydney since 2004.

In Survey Four this year, he clocked up 150 consecutive wins, an achievement that Nine Radio head of content Greg Byrnes told Mediaweek is “something that has never been done in Sydney.”

His most recent survey result for Sydney was again a market-leading 13.7%. Hadley has won 32 Australian Commercial Radio Awards (ACRAs), and in 2017 he was inducted into the ACRA Hall of Fame.

Hadley is the most awarded broadcaster in the history of the ACRAs.

Christian O’Connell

Gold FM, ARM

Christian O’Connell has become a dominant force in Melbourne breakfast radio since launching The Christian O’Connell Show on Gold 104.3.

Before joining ARN, O’Connell was the host of the Christian O’Connell Breakfast Show on Absolute Radio in the UK.

He is the youngest ever inductee into the UK’s Radio Academy Hall of Fame and has won more Radio Academy Awards than any other person.

In 2008 he joined Absolute Radio UK, where his national Breakfast show was broadcast to over 2 million people. In 2018, O’Connell joined Gold where he grew his audience share to 12.2% in the most recent GfK radio ratings survey, making the show the top FM breakfast in the market.

Laura Byrne and Brittany Hockley

ARN

Laura Byrne and Brittany Hockley both originally came to fame off the back of their appearances on The Bachelor (Byrne in 2017 and Hockley 2018) but both are now arguably more famous than the beaus they were competing for.

In 2019, the close friends launched the podcast Life Uncut which quickly gained traction amongst existing and new fans of the pair. As of the most recent Podcast Ranker by Triton Digital, the podcast is #8 in Australia with 396,758 monthly listeners and 1,283,021 monthly downloads. 

In 2022, the podcast took home the Listeners’ Choice Award at the Australian Podcast Awards and made its move to radio with the Life Uncut Radio Show airing Saturdays from 10 a.m.-12 p.m. on KIIS and iHeartRadio.

The pair also host The Pick Up on KIIS every weekday at 3 p.m. alongside Mitch Churi. The Life Uncut team are currently on a national live tour, taking the show across the country. 

Osher Günsberg

Paramount ANZ

Osher Günsberg has been the go-to man for 10 in recent years, hosting The Masked Singer Australia, The Bachelors Australia, and narrating Bondi Rescue.

From 1999-2009, Günsberg worked as a music VJ on Foxtel’s Channel [V], hosting the national hit radio program Take 40 Australia and co-hosted Network 10’s Australian Idol.

Günsberg’s radio career began in 1994 at Brisbane’s B105, he then went on to host Take 40 Australia, The Hot Hits Live from LA, Hit105’s Stav, Abby & Matt with Osher breakfast show and Osher’s Love Line nationally on the HIT Network.

Günsberg has also hosted several podcasts including Better Than Yesterday, DadPod with Charlie Clausen, Idle Australians with James Mathieson, ABC’s Tall Tales & True and Love Life with Leanne Hall.

In 2023 Gunsberg was nominated for the Most Popular Personality on Australian Television at the TV Week Logie Awards and started a new production company with Ben Richardson – his former boss at Channel V.

Abbie Chatfield

Paramount ANZ / SCA

Abbie Chatfield has done a lot since 2019 when she was the runner-up on Matt Agnew’s season of The Bachelor.

Since then, Chatfield has gone about establishing herself as one of the most talked about names in the industry, cultivating a large online following with 475,000 Instagram followers.

Achievements include creating and hosting the popular It’s A Lot podcast, hosting Binge’s dating show FBoy Island, and working as a guessing panel member on The Masked Singer. 

Until August, Chatfield also hosted the national radio show Hot Nights with Abbie Chatfield on the Hit Network, stepping back to focus on her other projects.

In the most recent Podcast Ranker, It’s A Lot was the #18 podcast in the country with 250,410 monthly listeners and 592,660 downloads.

Karl Stefanovic and Sarah Abo

Nine Network

After Allison Langdon made the move to hosting A Current Affair, January saw 60 Minutes reporter Sarah Abo step into the role of Today co-host alongside Karl Stefanovic.

In 2011, Stefanovic won the Gold and the Silver Logie for Most Popular TV Presenter and has banked more than 25 years of experience in television. He has worked also worked as a TV journalist in America and New Zealand, alongside his career in Australia.

He took over hosting duties for Today between 2005 and the end of 2018. Stefanovic also hosted Nine’s This Time Next Year, returned to Today at the start of 2020, and has also regularly reported for 60 Minutes.

Abo started her career at Network 10, spending two years in the Adelaide newsroom before making the move back to Melbourne, and in 2013 joined SBS as a journalist and presenter. She joined 60 Minutes in 2019, before making the move to Today in 2023.

Natalie Barr and Matt Shirvington

Seven Network

After 21 years at the helm of Seven‘s Sunrise, David ‘Kochie’ Koch announced his departure from the show in May. The following month, Matt Shirvington was confirmed to be joining Natalie Barr at the desk. In the year to date, the show has recorded an average national audience of 367,000.

Since 1994, Barr has been part of Channel Seven, and for the best part of 20 years, she has been an integral part of Sunrise. In March 2021, she took over from Samantha Armytage as co-host alongside Koch. 2023 marks Barr’s 20th year with Sunrise, making her one of Australia’s longest-serving breakfast television anchors. 

A former Australian sprinter, Shirvington joined the Seven Network in 2020. Before taking the Sunrise job full-time, he had been filling in for Kochie on Fridays, as well as hosting Holey Moley and the network’s Tokyo Olympics coverage.

Mia Freedman

Mamamia

Mia Freedman is the co-founder of women’s digital media company Mamamia, a platform she built from its beginnings as an online blog in 2007. Since then, the company has grown to now report a monthly reach of seven million Australian women across generations Z, Y and X, over-indexing VS average household income by +27%.

The brand also boasts a podcast network consisting of around 50 different shows and 90 female hosts. In the most recent podcast ranker, Mamamia Out Loud was the third-ranked podcast with 627,683 monthly listeners and 1,852,230 monthly downloads. 

As a magazine editor before starting Mamamia, Freedman worked on titles such as Dolly, Cleo, and Cosmopolitan – the latter of which she became the youngest-ever editor of in 1996.

Ross Stevenson and Russel Howcroft

Ross and Russ, 3AW

Since joining 3AW Breakfast in July 2020, Russell Howcroft has cemented his position, alongside Ross Stevenson, as a radio ratings powerhouse.

In August 2022, Howcroft renewed his contract as co-host of the breakfast show, partnering up with Stevenson for another four years. 

Former lawyer Stevenson and marketing guru Howcroft have been number one for 25 consecutive surveys, and 3AW Breakfast has continued its overall success, celebrating the number one position for 169 consecutive surveys (dating back to Survey 1 2002).

In the most recent GfK radio ratings survey, the pair had a 21.7% share and recorded a 48.7% share of the commercial streaming audience.

Allison Langdon

Nine Network

After three years as co-host of Today alongside Karl Stefanovic, January saw Allison Langdon step into the hosting role of A Current Affair. The move came after the departure of Tracy Grimshaw, who had hosted the show for 17 years. Since Langdon joined the show, there has been a Total TV average audience of 884,000 viewers per episode.

Langdon joined Channel Nine’s Darwin newsroom in 2002 and won the David Marchbank Award for Best New Journalist during her first year in the Top End before moving into the role of political reporter for the Northern Territory.

She returned to Channel Nine’s newsroom in Sydney in 2004 presenting for 9News, Nightline, and Today, before joining the 60 Minutes team as a reporter in 2011. She joined Today as co-host in 2020 and also co-hosts Parental Guidance for the network.

Hamish Blake and Andy Lee

SCA / Nine

Hamish Blake and Andy Lee have been industry-leading entertainers, writers, producers, comedians, and media performers for over two decades.

Blake and Lee started their radio careers in 2003 hosting the 10 p.m. slot on Monday nights for Fox FM, before moving to Saturday mornings in 2004 and eventually a national drive show in 2006 for the Hit Network.

At the end of 2017, they moved solely to podcasting where their podcast, Hamish & Andy, has regularly dominated the podcast rankings – currently sitting at #1 on the most recent Podcast Ranker with 1,046,689 monthly listeners and 2,247,984 monthly downloads.

Blake and Lee have also had success as TV personalities, producers, and creators producing programs together such as Caravan of Courage, Gap Year, True Story with Hamish & Andy, and Hamish & Andy’s ‘Perfect’ Holiday. In recent years, Blake and Lee have also had successful solo TV careers. Blake is the host of Lego Masters Australia and Lee hosts The Hundred, both on Nine.

Sonia Kruger

Seven Network

Sonia Kruger is one of the busiest women in television. In the past year alone she has helmed Channel Seven’s The Voice, Big Brother, and co-hosted Dancing With The Stars – with 2023 marking the show’s 20th season – alongside Daryl Somers. 

Kruger first joined Seven in 1997 as a member of the news show 11 AM as its entertainment reporter. She remained with the program for two years before moving to Today Tonight.

Between 2004 and 2011 Kruger co-hosted 11 seasons of Seven’s Dancing With The Stars. She was also a regular guest reporter for the network’s weekly current affairs program Sunday Night.

Kruger moved to the Nine Network in 2012 where she hosted Big Brother and The Voice Australia, and was on TV every weekday morning on Today Extra.

In 2020, Kruger returned to the Seven Network and has been one of the network’s primetime staples ever since.

Ben Fordham

2GB 

Ben Fordham moved from the 2GB drive slot to take over breakfast from Alan Jones in 2020, and since then he has grown the show’s share to 14.2% in the most recent radio ratings survey.

Fordham is a Walkley Award-winning journalist who spent a decade as 2GB’s Drivetime host where he consistently topped the ratings. He has also worked extensively in TV, mostly for Channel Nine where he had stints on the Today show, A Current Affair, 60 Minutes, and Australian Ninja Warrior.

Kyle Sandilands and Jackie O Henderson

Kyle and Jackie O, ARN

Keeping their crown for another year are Kyle Sandilands and Jackie ‘O’ Henderson.

The pair have had a historic run in FM radio, dominating the breakfast slot since 2004 across two different stations and are still going from strength to strength.

In the most recent GfK survey, the show was the top overall breakfast in Sydney with a share of 14.7%, recording its 38th consecutive survey as the top FM breakfast. Sandilands and Henderson also have the #6 podcast in the country according to Triton Digital Podcast Ranker, with the show’s catch-up podcast having 550,308 monthly listeners and 2,189,042 monthly downloads.

In 1999, Sandilands joined Henderson on the 2Day Network’s nightly Hot 30 Countdown, shifting to the Drive seat at the Network four years later. In the summer of 2004, Sandilands and Henderson took over the reins of the 2DayFM Breakfast Show.

In January 2014, the pair moved to Sydney’s newest station, KIIS 106.5 (formerly Mix 106.5), to host the breakfast show. They went on to help establish KIIS as one of the most popular stations in Sydney and won a record seven ACRA Awards for Best On-Air Team.

The duo has also been successful on TV, with the pair co-hosting Big Brother in 2008. Sandilands was also a judge on Network 10’s Australian Idol from 2005 – 2009, returning to the judge’s seat this year for the Channel Seven remake.

In 2010 Sandilands was a judge on Seven’s Australia’s Got Talent followed by X-Factor in 2011. Henderson started her television career in 1997 on 10’s Ground Zero. Since then, she has hosted Popstars, Undercover Angels, Access All Areas, Australian Princess, The Masked Singer and Logie and ARIAs red carpets.