‘Australian’ Radio Network
When media types hear corporate buzzwords like ‘transformation’, ‘investment’, ‘AI’ and ‘efficiency’, they know exactly what that means.
We’re all losing our jobs.
Recent weeks have seen a swathe of redundancies at the Australian Radio Network, better known as ARN, the ‘audio-led entertainment company’ behind brands like KIIS, Gold and Cada (sorry, what was that last one?)
KIIS FM’s Sydney/Melbourne breakfast duo Kyle and Jackie O may be the highest-paid stars in the business with a 10-year deal estimated at $200million, but outside of their mammoth contracts, ARN beancounters are trying desperately to save money.
The goal is to rip out $40million in costs to boost profit margins by replacing human beings with artificial intelligence and moving jobs overseas.
While the cost-saving plan is hardly a secret – CEO Ciaran Davis has already announced waves of redundancies, with Sydney content director Tony Aldridge the latest to go – what hasn’t been reported is where the outsourced jobs are going.
Back-end positions in IT and finance are bound for India, we are told, which has led to grim jokes at ARN headquarters that ‘AI’ stands for ‘Actually Indian’.
Kyle Sandilands (left) and Jackie O (right) are raking it in at ARN – but rank-and-file staffers tell us they fear for their jobs every day as management send roles overseas and go ‘all in’ on AI
CEO Ciaran Davis (left) has already announced waves of redundancies, and the use of AI ‘DJ’ Thy (right) to host weekdays on youth station Cada has talent worried they’ll soon be replaced
Our sources also note the irony of a network with ‘Australian’ in its title using cheap overseas labour instead of employing, you know, Australians.
As for the actual AI technology ARN intends to ‘leverage’, we’re told the company plans to go ‘all in’ on the brave new world of artificially intelligent DJs.
The robots have already taken over weekdays on youth station Cada (formerly The Edge) where the host, Thy, is a glorified AI chatbot based on an ARN staff member who has apparently been paid for her voice and likeness to be used.
Other on-air talent across ARN’s network of metro and regional shows are worried they are next to be replaced by an automated voice. After all, they’ve seen it happen.
Zach Mander and Dom Fay, the KIIS FM night hosts who replaced Mitch Churi in January after he was laid off, were recently dropped, and it’s believed their slot will be replaced with a pre-record by a faceless announcer, AI or no voice at all, just music.
One source told us the mood at ARN is ‘beyond grim’ and that the sight of anyone new in the office leads to rumours consultants are sniffing around for ‘efficiencies’.
Seven host’s off-Brand post
Eyebrows were raised in the eastern suburbs media set last week after a curious Instagram post by model-turned-TV-presenter Laura Csortan.
Model-turned-TV-presenter Laura Csortan had the eastern suburbs media set scratching their heads last week with this puzzling throwback snap featuring none other than Russell Brand
The former Miss Australia, 48, is pictured here on The Morning Show about a decade ago
The former Miss Australia and early-2000s ‘It’ girl – who once co-hosted The Great Outdoors and was briefly Larry Emdur‘s sidekick on Wheel of Fortune – hasn’t been on our screens much lately, aside from the odd appearance on The Morning Show.
But she certainly got attention online when she posted a throwback snap of herself last week draped over none other than Russell Brand, captioned: ‘Miss this guy.’
Yes, that Russell Brand. The comedian-turned-right-wing-influencer you are more likely to see peddling conspiracies on Rumble than telling jokes on TV these days.
He also faces charges of rape, sexual assault and indecent assault in the UK, which he denies.
So what possessed Csortan to share a cosy snap with the disgraced funnyman in 2025? Beats us. We texted her on Tuesday to ask, but got radio silence.
Sources tell us friends urged her to take the ‘worrying’ post down. We’re unsure if she took their advice given Instagram Stories expire after 24 hours anyway.
Albo off-target on journo shooting
Anthony Albanese strutted into the National Press Club this week like Perry Mason, declaring that Nine journalist Lauren Tomasi was ‘clearly identified as media’ when cops in Los Angeles fired a rubber bullet her way.
‘There’s no ambiguity,’ he assured us. ‘She wasn’t wearing a trackie; she was wearing a helmet and something that identified her as media.’
Great details from our PM – except they’re not true.
In reality, she wasn’t wearing a helmet or a journo vest. Albanese didn’t just get it wrong, he managed to sound smug while being factually off the pace.
Nine U.S. correspondent Lauren Tomasi was shot with a rubber bullet by LA cops this week
Now, we’re not suggesting she wasn’t easily identifiable as a reporter. The microphone and cameraman should have been enough of a clue.
But you’d think a prime minister with the biggest team of spin doctors in Australian history might get his facts at least vaguely right.
Instead he charged in like a guy who’d skim-read a headline and nothing more. It’s classic Albanese: full of conviction, light on details.
Q+A’s demise a long time coming
While the ABC has finally buried its once great panel show Q+A, in truth it has been a crudely reanimated corpse for years now.
Ever since founding host Tony Jones left in 2019, the show just hasn’t been the same.
Regular audiences of more than a million dropped to a mere fraction of that under the conga line of replacement hosts who couldn’t live up to Jones’ charisma and talent.
While critics of Q+A have long attacked the left-wing bias of the program, that didn’t really matter – at least not when Jones was running the show.
The program was eventually killed off because it became… humourless.
Ever since founding host Tony Jones left in 2019, the ABC’s once great panel show Q+A lost its sense of humour that was essential to counterbalancing its often heavy-handed left-wing bias
The replacement hosts lacked the skills to pivot between humour and serious cross-examinations. Without Jones’ wit, reasons to watch fell away and so did its audience share.
Once that happened, it was inevitable the show would get canned – it was really only a matter of time. ABC management resisted for as long as they could, in the vain hope it might find its feet under a new host.
It wasn’t to be.
Hate to say we told you so…
Sometimes we just hate being right.
A fortnight ago, we told you DAZN – Fox Sports’ new British overlords – weren’t exactly enamoured with the network’s stable of footy chinwag shows.
One glance at the ledger would explain why. Turns out a rotating cast of ex-players and grizzled sports journos doesn’t come cheap.
Some were reportedly pocketing north of $200,000 for what amounted to a part-time gig and a few hot takes.
Now comes the first casualty: The Back Page has been binned.
Twelve days after we reported that Fox Sports’ new British owner, DAZN, was reviewing the network’s stable of footy talk shows, it was announced that The Back Page was wrapping up
Twenty-nine years on air is no small feat – hats off to the team for keeping it running this long
Launched in 1997 by the late, great Mike Gibson and Twelfth Man satirist Billy Birmingham, the show quickly became a fixture. Early panellists included Tracey Holmes, Jeff Wells, Peter ‘Chippy’ Frilingos and (shudder) Peter FitzSimons.
Twenty-nine years on air is no small feat – hats off to the team for keeping it running this long. But under the new DAZN regime, the writing was on the studio wall.
Last week, Fox Sports swore blind to us that ‘magazine programming’ was central to their future plans. Twelve days later, they canned The Back Page.
So we asked the question again this week and were told – again – that magazine shows ‘remain an integral part of our business’.
A Fox Sports spokesperson said of The Back Page ‘Like all things in sport and TV, there’s a right time to hang up the boots. And we thank the wonderful team that has brought sports lovers so much joy across 29 seasons, including producer Matt Parslow, who has been at the helm since 2008.
‘While we farewell The Back Page, Fox Sports’ commitment to delivering the best, weeklong programming is as strong as ever. We have launched more shows to our unrivalled line-up in recent years and we will keep introducing new shows and formats.
‘We will share more on this in the near future but for now, we celebrate The Back Page, and the years of entertainment it brought so many before it wraps at the end of June.’
Newsroom cringe over Usher’s cha-cha
Some of the more serious newsmen at 7News are quietly losing the will to live watching Michael Usher cha-cha his credibility away on Dancing with the Stars.
There is some disquiet at Channel Seven over newsman Michael Usher (pictured) appearing as a contestant on Dancing with the Stars
Seeing Usher prance about in a sequinned vest during promos for DWTS that air during hard-hitting Spotlight investigations he’s meant to be hosting, and during an ad break on Monday’s 6pm news, is proving a bit much for some of the more high-minded journos to stomach.
Back when Craig McPherson (aka Mr Sonia Kruger) ran the newsroom, hard news types were kept well away from light entertainment shows.
Then Anthony de Ceglie (briefly) took over and let Usher be the exception to the rule, and now his replacement Ray Kuka is stuck with it.
The newsroom cringing is set to continue because Usher apparently lasts ‘far longer than anyone here expected’ on DWTS.
And for what? DWTS is rumoured to be getting the chop after this season anyway.
A Seven spokesperson dismissed the newsroom chatter and noted that several of the network’s news and weather presenters had taken part in Dancing with the Stars, including Chris Bath (a mirror ball trophy winner), Samantha Armytage, Kylie Gillies, Grant Denyer (also a winner) and Sam Mac.
They added: ‘Michael Usher is one of the country’s finest journalists with a serious track record – and he’s also up for a challenge.
‘Australians are going to love seeing another side of him as he brings his charm to the dance floor. We back him and his 7NEWS Spotlight investigation this week is an unmissable investigation.’
Honi Sulk
The pearl-clutching editors of the University of Sydney’s student newspaper, Honi Soit, scored an own-goal last week by disinviting news.com.au’s political editor Samantha Maiden from its forthcoming journalism conference.
Maiden had been asked to speak at the event, only for ominous and unspecified ‘community concerns’ to be raised about her coverage of Palestine.
‘It is important to us that the speakers at the Student Journalism Conference have views that we can stand by,’ said Honi Soit’s Orwellian editor.
‘And in light of the reception to the announcement of your event, we do not feel that we can host you as a speaker at our conference.’
The babies at Honi Soit disinvited political editor Samantha Maiden (pictured) from the student newspaper’s journalism conference, prompting other speakers to pull out
The ‘truly weird’ thing, Sam noted, was she had not written anything about Palestine recently, let alone anything controversial.
Her abrupt no-platforming prompted ABC broadcaster David Marr to pull out too.
‘Isn’t the point of Honi Soit and of conference of this kind to examine different – and perhaps uncomfortable views – about the big issues of the day?’ Marr asked.
Not, it seems, for the echo chamber-loving gatekeepers of Australia’s oldest uni.
When Inside Mail contacted Honi Soit for comment, we were told they would prefer not to defend their position ‘in the interest of not fanning the flames’.
‘We will not be publishing our side of the story, as we expect that that would merely worsen a situation which, in our view, has spiralled dramatically out of control,’ the editor grimly noted.
‘This is not coverage that benefits our conference, which is the only kind of coverage we are interested in having.’
Too bad!
The conference, which will run from 15-18 August, has bagged a number of impressive speakers, including Sydney Morning Herald investigative reporter Kate McClymont, Sky News anchor Cheng Lei and ABC radio host Dom Knight.
They did have another esteemed ABC radio host and journalist lined up to speak – but Richard Glover told us he had ‘pulled out of it too’.
‘I said in my email that the event “no longer aligns with my values”,’ he added.
How many others might follow suit?
Neighbourhood dispute
With Neighbours finally closing its final curtain next month (for real this time) the show’s stars have found themselves turfed out of Erinsborough and looking for their next gig.
But the out-of-work actors shouldn’t expect a helping hand from executive producer Jason Herbison.
‘All the cast thought he was trying to sell Neighbours to an overseas buyer to keep the show going, but that is not the case,’ says our Ramsay Street insider.
We are told Herbison – who spent his high school years mailing in Neighbours storyline ideas, joined the writing room upon graduation, and rose up the ranks to EP in 2013 – is shopping a new show to networks in Australia and the UK.
Neighbours’ executive producer Jason Herbison (pictured) is shopping a new show to networks in Australia and the UK
Which is totally fine… except there’s sour grapes at Nunawading Studios because he apparently hasn’t invited any of the Neighbours talent to audition.
‘He’s working on this new project. The cast are not only disappointed he’s moved on from Neighbours and doing another show, but also that he’s casting elsewhere. They had assumed he would take them with him, so it feels like a betrayal,’ says our spy.
What’s the saying? Don’t assume – it makes an ass out of u and me.
While the cast might not be following Herbison into his next venture, we’ve heard he is teaming up with Neighbours director Kate Kendall.
It’s been a rocky road to the finish line for the Melbourne-based soap.
First axed by Seven in 1985, Neighbours was quickly picked up by Ten, where it became a cultural phenomenon. It was cancelled again in 2022 after UK broadcaster Channel 5 withdrew funding. Amazon revived the show the following year via its streamer Freevee, in partnership with Ten – but earlier this year, with Freevee’s future uncertain, Neighbours was quietly dropped for a third time.
The final episodes will be filmed in July and air in December.
One night with Delta
Delta Goodrem‘s Music in Paradise concert series is described as ‘unforgettable’ – and it’ll be unforgettable for fans’ bank accounts as well.
The singer, along with her soon-to-be husband Matt Copley, is spruiking her next event, hosted by the Fiji Intercontinental Resort, for April 2026.
The six-day event is billed as fun for the whole family… as long as that family is willing to pony up $11,490.
For that, you’ll get six nights’ accommodation for two adults and up to three kids under the age of 16, entry to three ‘intimate sunset performances’ and three nightly exclusive events. Oh, and a warm towel on arrival.
Delta Goodrem is charging an eye-watering sub for her Music in Paradise concert series in Fiji
If fans are going sans kids, a platinum package will set them back $6,590 per person for twin share – and for that you’ll also get a meet-and-greet with Delta (shared with 100 others), a professional photo with the Innocent Eyes star, a private degustation dinner and a bottle of French champagne.
The cheapest offering is a $3,850 ‘gold experience’, giving access to her three sunset performances, three nightly events, and a free T-shirt.
To be fair, those who have attended her concerts held in Fiji and the Maldives in the past have raved about them. One fan who attended a show in March described it as ‘legitimately one of the best weeks ever’.
So money well spent?
Less talking, more doing
Anthony Albanese has announced plans for a productivity summit to be held in the nation’s capital in August.
Industry leaders are wary of the summit replicating past initiatives that ultimately just endorsed union-backed policies without delivering substantive reforms.
You do have to love the irony of Albo arranging a talkfest to target improved productivity. Doing so quite literally reduces the productivity of those in attendance.
But if it leads to serious reforms, such as to the tax system or the federation, then the talkfest will have been worth it. Just don’t hold your breath…
Albo on the ball with his father-in-law
Getting along with your in-laws is never easy.
But at least Albo doesn’t have to worry about conversation running dry with his soon-to-be father-in-law, Bill Haydon.
You’d think a record election landslide might win over the FIL – but word is Albo’s real bonding moment with Jodie Haydon‘s dad wasn’t politics. It was footy.
They are both South Sydney Rabbitohs tragics.
Albo doesn’t have to worry about conversation running dry with his fiancée Jodie Haydon’s dad Bill. They are both South Sydney Rabbitohs tragics
Jodie is pictured here with her parents at a Rabbitohs game
As we all know, Albo never misses an opportunity to mention his love for the Bunnies. Mr Haydon is a similarly die-hard supporter.
Indeed, Inside Mail spotted Bill the other day wearing his Souths members cap for the 2023 season.
The NRL club co-owned by Russell Crowe will no doubt get a mention when Albo and Jodie tie the knot later this year given the happy couple owe their relationship to it.
The PM was speaking at an event in Melbourne in 2020 when he asked the crowd if there were any South Sydney fans.
‘Up the Rabbitohs!’ Jodie yelled. The rest, as they say, is history.
