MEDIA McKNIGHT EXCLUSIVE: The future of 4BC revealed

Is the Brisbane radio station going to be networked from Sydney or will localism continue. Media McKnight has the answer.

Also in this edition:

• Big news as Seven’s Kerry Stokes says he will step down if a merger between SCA and Seven goes ahead.
• The fallout from that bizarre interview on SKY NEWS last week.
• The dangers of doing live news crosses with the public.
• And the video every creative needs to see.

You can watch the video version of this edition in the player below

4BC TO REMAIN LOCAL DESPITE McDONALD LEAVING

There was a lot of confusion at Brisbane radio station 4BC on Friday when Mornings presenter Bill McDonald announced he was leaving the station – immediately.

“We’re always full of surprises here on Mornings, we like to keep you guessing and here’s another one for you to wrap up the week” McDonald said at the end of his show.

“That’s it for me, I’m calling it quits. I’m signing off, not just for the week, but for the last time today”.

It’s fair to say the station went into meltdown with most people at the Cannon Hill studios only finding out as McDonald made the announcement live on air.

It’s left many wondering what will happen to local programming in Brisbane going forward with many fearing shows will be networked from Sydney, replacing local programming

Media McKnight can reveal there will be no change to the ‘live and local’ strategy. All shows between 5.30am – 6pm weekdays will remain local, broadcasting from the Cannon Hill studios.

The station has just employed its own local sales team which has already seen revenue increases, thanks to a focus on localism.

While there is no doubt budgets are under pressure and all costs are being evaluated, Nine Radio executives believe local programming is the answer to future success.

Who will be part of that future, though, remains unclear.

Radio veteran Jason Matthews will host Mornings until the end of the year while Nine works out a plan for 2026. The next round of radio ratings will be released on Tuesday 14 October and that will help guide Nine on what is – and what isn’t – working.

A lot is riding on those results.

KERRY STOKES READY TO STEP DOWN

The announcement that Seven and SCA have proposed all-scrip merger that would bring together television, audio, and digital/publishing assets under one roof revealed big changes for Seven’s Chair Kerry Stokes.

As per the press release:

Kerry Stokes AC will assume the role of Chair of the Board of Directors until stepping down from the Board in February 2026 and transitioning the role to Heith Mackay-Cruise.

It will mark the end of an era.

Stokes is a tough operator who really loves the medium. News and Sunrise are his two biggest loves on the network and he has been appalled at some of the decisions made regarding these two brands over the years – and hasn’t been afraid to let his executives know it.

In the late ‘90s early ‘00s Stokes was always seen as a try-hard Kerry Packer, but then he showed his true skill when Seven became Australia’s dominant number one network and stayed there, forcing Nine to retire the ‘Still the One’ branding.

And then there was that absolute disaster when Nine lost its balls – but that is a whole other story.

This deal, if approved, would see SCA shareholders holding 50.1% of the combined entity, and Seven shareholders 49.9%.

What is being merged / acquired

            •          The assets include Seven’s TV, publishing, and digital operations — e.g. 7plus, The West Australian, The Nightly, national broadcast rights (AFL, cricket etc)

            •          On SCA’s side: radio networks (Hit, Triple M) and the LiSTNR podcast / audio platform

            •          The merger is described as “all-scrip,” meaning no cash changes hands; it’s a share swap structure. 

Nine Entertainment was seen as a potential buyer of SCA but it was facing many hurdles before that could happen, including offloading its AM radio network. Seven needs growth and its options are limited, so this makes sense.

There’s no doubt we now live in a world of consolidation – it’s the only way these legacy media companies can survive.

But that means fewer jobs.

It’s getting harder out there and many former producers are now serving coffee just to pay the bills.

The big lesson for anyone in media is find something new – you can’t rely on jobs in legacy media because they’re all going.

FREYA FIRED

It’s been a big week for SKY NEWS AUSTRALIA presenter Freya Leach who was fired from her self titled show Freya Fires Up this week.

As reported in the previous edition of Media McKnight, the show made headlines after guest Ryan Williams draped bacon over his shirt and told the host it was to “protect him” from terrorists, as he made further Islamophobic comments before being cut off.

To its credit, SKY NEWS AUSTRALIA offered a full apology.

But as I said last week:

An immediate review has been launched into Leach’s program. The review will look at its guest booking and vetting procedures to prevent a similar incident occurring again.

Presumably the best solution would be to rip this show off the air – she might have a big future, but she’s just not ready for the big time yet.

It turns out executives at SKY NEWS AUSTRALIA thought the same. Media Watch reports a producer has been fired by Leach will continue to be seen on other programs.

It’s always the way, isn’t it – a behind the scenes person gets fired while the presenter keeps their job.

Typical.

FOOTY NEWS CHAOS

Covering the footy can be tough, especially at the end of the season.

The first rule for news reporters is always be careful about who you talk to during a live cross – make sure any possible talent is well vetted and know the rules of broadcasting.

7NEWS reporter Bethan Yeoman found that out the hard way at the Royal Derby Hotel in Fitzroy after the Brisbane Lions won the AFL Grand Final.

YEOMAN: Girls, how was the first half of the game?

FEMALE PATRON: First half of the game, really f**king… really stressful.

Cue awkward moment where both the reporter and lady being interviewed realised the genuine mistake – but it is one of the joys of live television, which does not have a 10 second delay like radio.

You can see the exchange in the player above.

NO MORE WINNING?

Confusion reigns supreme when it comes to Seven’s Winning Arvo. This week there has been no cash prizes up for grabs and the Alex Cullen hosted links are just news updates.

But, weirdly, Cullen did not cover the interest rates decision live at 2.30pm AEST during his block of programming. Instead, Ann Sanders was given the task of presenting the news from Sydney.

It honestly makes no sense.

For those paying attention, I am not a fan – as I made clear last week when I said:

The Australian television industry died on Monday 22 September 2025 at 1pm, just one year short of its 70th anniversary.

It brought us plenty of laughs, informed us and was sometimes controversial.

But, like the Dodo, its time is up.

That’s the only conclusion I can come to after the pile of shit that viewers were served Monday on Channel 7.

To be clear, I was working at Seven until the end of the financial year and enjoyed my time working there. But even knowing those comments would likely cost me future work, I believed they needed to be said. The TV industry needs to be creative if it wants to survive and serving up this crap is not going to retain viewers.

And the fact is everyone at Seven knew it was a dog after day one.

Now the blame game has begun with everyone involved trying to claim they were only doing what they were told to do.

That might be true, but even if you’re handed a turd, at least try to roll it in glitter.

If this had been a success, those same people would be trying to claim credit. You can’t have it both ways. No matter the limitations – whether budget or creative brief, it is up to those producing these shows to make something of it.

That’s the definition of being a creative.

AND WHEN IT COMES TO CREATIVITY…

There’s a video everyone working in the media needs to see – and it’s all about being creative.

YouTuber Tom Scott talks about the greatest title sequence ever made. But he doesn’t just do it from a studio or his bedroom, he climbs a mountain to where the original sequence was done and talks about how little details were put into the title sequence that most viewers would never notice.

He noticed though and it inspired him. He now has 6.6.m subscribers and each of his videos now have millions of views.

I’ll include a clip of the show in the video version of this article but I ask that you all go and watch the entire clip HERE.

And even if you’re not sure where it’s going or why you’re watching a video about an English TV show’s opening title sequence, I promise you it is worth watching – and it might even inspire you.

McKNIGHT TONIGHT celebrates 50 episodes

Wednesday night marks 50 episodes of my home internet show – McKnight Tonight.

While the numbers are still small, there have been very positive signs and we’re even generating a modest income on YouTube. Each month the page is growing by around 190 subscribers.

While the YouTube algorythm is tough to penetrate (but it does seem to be happening), the videos on my TikTok page have been doing some solid business.

The previous edition of Media McKnight had approx 850 view on YouTube, but almost 10,000 on TikTok.

Some videos and live streams have done much better though when they have managed to hit at the right time.

Despite what you might think about TikTok, the videos on my page have had solid numbers, with my view count sitting above 400,000 since I joined earlier this year.

But YouTube is where you can really make the money through advertising, so my efforts will continue to be focused there.

Meanwhile, I’ll be streaming every episode of McKnight Tonight, including the pilot, from Thursday night at 10pm AEST on the McKnight Tonight YouTube page. Feel free to dip in across the following few days and see what it’s all about – you never know, you might be surprised!