Wilko and Courts will begin their new show in January 2024. Photo: amplifyCBR.
amplifyCBR has announced that Wilko and Courts will return to Canberra radio next year as hosts of Hit 104.7’s breakfast show.
After a two-year absence from the Canberra airwaves, Neil ‘Wilko’ Wilcock and Courtenay ‘Courts’ Kneen will begin their new show on Monday, 8 January 2024.
This follows the news that previous breakfast hosts Ned and Josh had been axed from the station last Friday (27 October).
Wilko and Courts hosted sister station Mix 106.3’s drive show for more than three years and consistently held the top spot in the radio ratings surveys, a performance that Hit 104.7 hopes to see repeated in the hotly contested breakfast slot.
“I was already so excited to return home to Canberra after two years away, but to be coming back to my dream job with my dream on-air co-host? Well, that’s the cherry on top!” Courts said.
“I came to Canberra in 2015 as part of the workday line-up for Hit 104.7 and look forward to returning to the station, and I feel confident Canberrans will love Wilko and Courts as much, if not more, on our return to the airwaves.”
Talking about his return to radio in Canberra, Neil ‘Wilko’ Wilcock added: “I planned to be in Canberra for a couple of years, and as is the case with many of us, you blink and boom, it’s coming up on seven years! Canberra is now home, and I am stoked to get back to a show with my best friend and keep breakfast radio local in the Canberra region.”
On having Wilko and Courts join the Hit 104.7 line-up in 2024, amplifyCBR general manager Craig Wagstaff said: “As they have done for many years, Wilko and Courts are sure to again engage in a way that’s unique to them. They have a tremendous ability to relate and understand what’s important as they entertain and inform audiences across the Canberra region and fulfil, even further, our commitment to community.”
According to the latest Canberra radio ratings, Hit 104.7’s breakfast show was the third most listened to in the 5:30 am to 9 am slot, after Kristen and Nige on Mix 106.3 and ABC’s Canberra Breakfast with Adam Shirley.
Between July and September 2023, Hit 104.7 increased their listener share in the breakfast slot from 12.5 per cent to 13.5 per cent.
Ned and Josh’s show was the most popular breakfast show among listeners under 40 in the most recent survey.
The news of the unexpected departure of Ned and Josh from Hit 104.7 has sparked outrage from many in the community, and a petition has been created to show support for the duo.
“Last week, Ned and Josh went in to work to do their show. This was just like any other day for them and for us – the listeners. What no one, other than the amplify management, knew was that they would be locked out of the building immediately after leaving for the day and advised in text they were yesterday’s news,” the petition reads.
“These wonderful humans have bolstered and reassured us every morning for six years and have given so much of themselves to this community and charities we all love and support.
“We would like an apology from amplify management and the SCA board. They have used these young men as their puppets to gain a mass of love and support for their own financial gain.”
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