Legendary Victorian broadcaster Neil Mitchell has announced he will leave 3AW’s top-rated Mornings program after more than three decades as its host.
Mitchell announced his departure to listeners at the beginning of his show this morning while broadcasting from the streets of Melbourne CBD as part of his campaign to fundraise for the Alfred Hospital.
”No mucking around, straight to the point,” he said.
The 71-year-old said he would stop hosting Mornings in three months’ time – at the beginning of December – but would continue in other roles within the Nine Network.
The multi-award-winning journalist has hosted the program, which airs in Victoria on weekdays from 8.30am to noon, since 1990 after he joined the station in 1987.
Mitchell said his decision to step down had not been an easy decision.
“I love this job. Apart from my family, journalism has been my life,” he said.
“I have been acutely conscious of that privilege of the microphone every day I have been on air for over 36 years.”
Mitchell said he wouldn’t be able to stop working, and would be continuing to run his recently-launched weekly podcast with 3AW, Neil Mitchell Asks Why.
He was met with a crying listener, a 36-year-old woman who said she had grown up listening to him, shortly after sharing the news.
“I don’t know what I’m going to do,” she said.
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Mitchell has consistently been the leading presenter in the morning timeslot.
The latest listener survey found he had 17 per cent of the morning audience with an average of 131,000 people tuning in.
Mitchell has been known for his tough interviews with politicians and people in power.
However, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has declined to appear on his show since 2017.
“I think I can hear champagne corks popping up at Spring Street,” Mitchell said after announcing his impending departure.
3AW has said it will announce Mitchell’s replacement in the coming days.
Mitchell was honoured with an Order of Australia for his “service to the print, radio and television media, and to the community through a range of charitable institutions” in 2007.
He is the only person to be inducted into both the Melbourne Press Club Hall of Fame and the Australian Commercial Radio Hall of Fame.
In addition to being with Nine’s 3AW, he has worked with The Age, Time Magazine, The Herald and with all three commercial television networks.
Mitchell is known for his charity work as well as his journalism, having run numerouson-air campaigns to fundraise for various institutions including Melbourne’s Royal Children’s Hospital and The Alfred hospital.
