The Canberra media community is abuzz with controversy after the quick departure of Mark Parton from the Mix106 breakfast slot… Only to be replaced by FM104.7 personality (I use the term ‘personality’ extremely loosely) Cam Sullings as if we would never notice.
I guess Mix 106 are presenting more than one ‘Cheap Trick’ to the people of Canberra at the moment.
If you think that all reports of things being amicable regading his departure are fact, think again. These sort of affairs are ususally pretty messy. I have heard runmours of a suspension that lead to a massive row between hosts, of which Parton was on the losing end.
Due to the fact that Canberra FM Radio Pty. Ltd (owners of both 104.7 and 106.3) will not shell out any decent cash for a proper breakfast show – thus giving no incentive for decent or fresh entertainers to apply – listeners are yet again stuck with a second-rate program. It’s all about making those advertising dollars though right guys?
- Right!
Here’s a quaestion to those who think they’re in the know, what do you think happens when those ads come on anyway?
I can tell you right now we don’t pull over, or turn the radio up or stop what we’re doing to hear that important message from your sponsor, WE SWITCH OFF!!!
Any clarification or fuel to this little fire is of course, much appreciated.
Interesting! I saw Cam Sullings out on Saturday and he was all decked out in 106 promotional gear (hat, jacket).. thought it was odd.. I thought he was with 104… it all makes sense now!
He’s got a blog.
http://partonwords.blogspot.com/
He seemed like a nice bloke, but I stopped listening to 106.3 when it seemed to be 50% ads and 50% Mark talking about his kids.
IS it just me, or does that article sound like it could well have been written by Mark himself?
I have zero tolerance for Lisa’s incessant off-mike, monkey-like cackling over stuff that really is not funny at all. To paraphrase (the real) Holden Caulfield, she’s a grade-A phony. 2CA all the way baby!
Aw… So that is where Cam is going…
“Here’s a quaestion to those who think they’re in the know, what do you think happens when those ads come on anyway?
I can tell you right now we don’t pull over, or turn the radio up or stop what we’re doing to hear that important message from your sponsor, WE SWITCH OFF!!!”
With detailed analysis like that, UC should give you a Professorship. Forget studies and experts who devote their careers to making advertising work. Forget the businesses whose very livelihood depends on successful campaigns. Angry Henry knows it all intuitively. Let us bask in the warm glowing warming glow of his glorious insights.
If you want to break the ‘Canberra FM Radio Pty Ltd’ stranglehold on shitty breakfast radio, I suggest you start lobbying the Government to give up its racket on spectrum licenses. Radio is a classic Government made oligopoly.
I listen to Ross Solly (sp?) on the ABC. He’s a big tool, but his tool factor is the lowest of all the tools on the radio here…
All ACT radio is a sheltered workshop for radio presenters. Same as the gubmint. But that’s off topic…
Sounds like advertising to me…
I am not too impressed with this Cam guy. He stumbles over his words all the time. He is also not as amusing as Parton. Also, while only early stages, but the show is very flat.
I am looking for a new morning ‘drive to work’ radio station.
Crikey said :
come to the dark side, join us on 2CA – and try to guess the secret sound – I have given up, buggered if i know what it is.
I have heard numerous things through the grapevine, one of them being that Lisa is extremely difficult to work with. She has gotten a lot of high profile Canberra business identities offside with her whingeing and whining. Mark probably had enough of her too.
She never had anything to say on that program and all she did was cackle. Her intelligence level appeared to be that of a chook so maybe that’s why all she ever did was laugh.
Crikey I have to agree with you though that Cam appears to have nothing to say either so all of a sudden we had an intelligent breakfast announcer with wit replaced by someone who cannot seem to string two sentences together and a laughing bimbo.
And after listening the last couple of mornings I am believing the rumours I heard about her being pretentious. Fancy saying to your on-air partner “You are only on trial here”. I heard her say that twice in the same hour.
I think Mix would be better getting rid of her and getting Parto back teamed with Joey. Easy to listen to and intelligent!
Guess I will be flicking the switch now too.
Crikey said :
I’ve now given up and just play a CD now. 106.3 lost me when Mark was going on about his daughter’s irresponsibility, not taking the dog for a walk a set number of times per week. It’s all well and good to make a social commentary about how kids, no matter how old, lack a certain sense of responsibility… but after awhile, it just got old.
His audience halved in the last radio survey – his competitors in breakfast on other stations were at his heels eg. Mike Jeffreys on 2CC
You people are unbelievable. Yeah, Mark was a good presenter, but he’s gone now. And there’s a new guy. Big deal. Geez, give the guy a chance. He probably has never worked with Lisa before, so it’s going to take a few days to get into the swing of things.
I have been listening, and I have to say I like what I hear. Yeah, it’s different ot Mark and Lisa, but I like the chemistry between the two of them, and Cam seems more of a bloke. A good match for Lisa’s girly persona.
They might be media identities, but they are doing their job, and sounding like they are having fun. And that’s what I need in the morning.
As for switching to 2CA…come on, it’s not the end of the world. If you’re going to bag out someone, bag out the breakfast show on 2CA. No intellignet conversation what so ever. Every time I turn it on, they are giving away stuff. I prefer some intelligent conversation in the morning, and althought they sometimes talk rubbish, 106 gives me that.
And yes, I am a fan of the station. And I know alot of people in my department who love the station.
If you want intelligent conversation, try talkback. Not music.
There seems to be a lot of media ‘experts’ and wannabe radio personalities in Canberra.
Those who can, do. Those who can’t, snipe anonymously on blogs.
Kind of sad to see him go. He was around for a while. Now that I’m the wrong side of 30, I like to see us old geezers doing well.
Mix106 is always ‘fourth-in-line’ for my channel-hopping, so I didn’t hear a lot of him. But of what I did… he did some spectacular filler between back-to-back tracks from Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Tango in the Night’ greatest hits LP.
For those looking for some radio gold… try ABC NewsRadio. While clearing ice from your windscreen and driving through fog, there are witty one-liners from Glen Bartholomew and measured enunciations from Debbie Spillane. In the afternoons, honey-smooth tones from Anne Fulwood. And while driving home in the dark, Jennifer Byrne does a VERY helpful dominatrix impression. Try closing your eyes if you’re on a straight road – when she asks a question, you can almost smell the leather.
I asked LoveBumps nicely, but she refused to get a ‘Jennifer Byrne’ haircut.
colin: that’s the point – a lot of people want music on their “music station”, not one song, 10 ads and 20 minutes of mindless talk.
Mix have lost me. The music is soooo bad.
Scotty and Nige have me hooked. Very funny guys.
On AM 2CA is playing some great music that Mix used to play.
2CC is sounding a bit fresher too. They have added jingles in the past couple of days, Ken Sparkes is reading all the promo spots along with a new website.
Today I thought I’d give ole 106.3 a chance on the way to work. The lister-feeback topic of the day was: “would you pay $175 for a hamburger?”. Thanks for that truly top shelf, earth-shatteringly insightful stuff 106. If I wanted my ears tortured I’d have gone and listened to a Casey Chambers CD. The fact that these morning crew WANKERS have paid jobs proves how many dumbasses there are out there…
Mark should have swapped with Mike Jeffreys 2CC with personality!
sexynotsmart said :
Jennifer Byrne just has a sexy voice, that makes watching First Tuesday Book Club less a show about information on books and more of an experience.
Woody (Newbie)
Can’t we get a ‘I’m sorry – another user already has that name’ thing for The RA? Two Woodys, two nyssas – maybe it’s time for me to create a rálph sock puppet account.
Can someone make Scott Dooley GTFO of TripleJ studios. He’s shit!
And for some Canberra content, he is worse than Wil Anderson. Yes, he is *that* bad!!!
Roadrage77 said :
Is there something about me I don’t know?!
If you want intelligent conversation, try talkback. Not music.
I hope you’re not talking about the John Laws/Alan Jones variety of “talkback”.
I listened to 106 about a week ago on the drive to work, it was the best show I have ever heard on a Canberra radio station, as all they did was play music, and Lisa and Mark were nowhere in earshot. A breakfast show with just bouncy music and no crappy announcers would be a great idea, and would probably be cheaper for the station anyway.
What frequency is 2CA on?
AussieGal83 said :
About a thread a week.
Oh, and 1053 AM.
Overheard said :
GOLD!
There was an aarticle in teh CT last week about Parton quitting to spend more time with his kids. He says he’s thinking about entering politics (most likely as a Lib) in the next election (i.e. not this year). As others have said in earlier threads, he lost me going on about his own kids all the time. I have kids too but if I rang him to tell them about them everyday I think he’d get annoyed.
BTW: Sorry for spelling in above post! Damn this inability to check spelling…..
BerraBoy68 said :
As I mentioned in another thread, I pretty much turn off my spelling/grammar monitoring chip on posting boards like these. However, Gungahlin Al, if you’re reading this, you may be heartened to hear that I got onto one of the sponsors on this very site and got up them about the rent for this woeful error in their very glossy advertising: ‘Apartment living at it’s finest’.
Less than three hours later they replied: “Thank you for alerting our attention to this grammatical error.”
I refrained from pointing out that it wasn’t really grammatical.
No more from me on speling, puncturation or grandma. Premise.
As for radio, tune in to Artsound 92.7FM (90.3FM in Tuggeranong) tomorrow (Thursday) from 5.30-6pm and keep me company!
fnaah – “I hope you’re not talking about the John Laws/Alan Jones variety of “talkback”.”
Is there any other? Again, everybody in this town thinks they’re media experts. At least Jones and Laws do it, and do it well.
Lawsy is retired! Isn’t he?
Colin_Dixon said :
I don’t claim to be a media expert, but I know a couple of trumped up self indulgent wankers when I hear them. The only thing those clowns do well is whip up a bunch of mindless morons into a frenzy. Their succcess is a horrible indictment on our society.
Parton was OK, but that girl was stupid and the minute she comes on i’m stabbing the channel buttons.
I do much prefer Scotty and Nige on 104.7, they are actually very funny. Better than that horrible syndicated show 104 have on during evening drive-time. God they are crap, one of them has a voice that should never be heard on radio. Lukily there’s always Hack on Triple J.
I heard that after years of marriage, he is finally allowing his wife to accept a posting in her position (as whatever she does) and that they are moving abroad…
I used to only listen to my death metal on the way home from work, but listening to that blonde Lisa woman quickly made me come around to listening to it on the way to work as well.
Who?
ant said :
I’m with you there, I’m sure he has a bloody clothes peg on his snout.
2CA is woefull in the morning! That guy that reads out the “jokes” is terrible, his jokes worse. Most of the jokes aren’t funny, or older than time itself. Music is OK.
I always found Mark Parton to be terrible, Lisa was tolerable but no Mensa candidate.
I like Mike Jeffereys (sp?) on 2CC in the morning but rarely get to listen to him as I am at the mercy of my work collegues and whatever they prefer to listen to (usually the horse racing).
@ Pesty, the clothes peg analogy is spot on! He just sounds vile, it’s difficult to listen to him. And they’re not funny, so thank god for Hack.
Danman said :
Danman do you really think he is “allowing” her to accept a posting in her position? He never came across as a domineering person.
I used to listen to Mix 106.3 as my station of choice and don’t think he talked about his kids too much. Sure he used to talk about them, but it wasn’t everyday.
Mark always had something to say about local stories and national issues, covering the topics that were important to locals and Australians. I found him to be very intelligent, although sometimes opinionated but not overbearing, and he was witty. He made you laugh and cry.
He was a lot more real than many of the other radio announcers on Canberra radio which is a real shame to have lsot someone that was so switched on and seemed to actually care.
And after listening to the new breakfast program this week can’t help but think things have turned sour for Lisa. Look at the woeful fundraising attempt on Monday morning…..not one call!
And the “Who’s on First” segment where a listener wins a prize and they didn’t get a call for that either!
Guess the management must be happy with their decision. LOL.
I heard them say this morning thay had reached their target of $10,000, which is pretty good. Just proves Canberrans are generous.
But what does sadden me is that you guys get the knives out on the new Mix team. I thought another good qulity of Canberrans is we give people a fair go. They’ve only been n air 1 week (i think), so give them a chance. Yeah, the show sounds different, but its like everything in life. It takes a while to get used to. Considering it the first week, I think they sound good.
Woody, I’m sure management at 106 were put in a tough spot when Mark resigned, but I think they made the right idea in Cam. Friends of mine say he has been on 104 for a while so he knows Canberra really well.
Anyway, people are entitled to their opinions. But I will always stick with 106 because since I moved to canberra 7 years ago, i feel they do alot for the community.
Fair go indeed.
I do recall though Parton’s replacement has already had a go at breakfast radio once before on 104 and was beaten in ratings.
Woody you say that he was more real than most of the radio announcers on Canberra radio.
I don’t think there is anything ‘real’ about trying to win a popularity contest on FM radio. If you want real go to the community stations like 2XX.
AngryHenry
It sounds like you’re speaking from experience. How was your time at 104?
Holden Caulfield said :
Very well put.
Danman do you really think he is “allowing” her to accept a posting in her position? He never came across as a domineering person.
Hearing and believing are 2 different things.
In his statement he tendered on air that its what I heard.
Belief is up to the individual – in any case I dont give a toss, got tired of listening to him winge about his kids not walking the dog…..
Didn’t realise this thread was still going. Since everyone else is having their two cents’ worth on what’s on, this is something I just put somewhere else, so at the risk of repeating myself:
Artsound FM have two hours of music from 10am to midday, interrupted only by news on the hour and the odd station ident or tasteful sponsor’s announcement. It will be a bit elevator-y for some, but worthwhile checking out if you like uninterrupted music. 92.7FM and 90.3FM in the Tuggeranong Valley.
Disclaimer: I’m an (unpaid) volunteer announcer on Artsound FM.
Maybe something for those who (like me) just want to put the stereo through the wall when some presenters open their mouths. (Won’t say which since I’ve now joined the ranks of the on-air bozos!)
Overheard said :
Ah, spit. That should have included ‘Monday to Friday’ in there.
Woody (Newbie)
Can’t we get a ‘I’m sorry – another user already has that name’ thing for The RA? Two Woodys, two nyssas – maybe it’s time for me to create a rálph sock puppet account.
Woody, it’s just because we’re special and everyone wants to be us, or didn’t you know that?