In addition to 30 roles being disestablished, another 20 Today FM staff are under review following the abrupt closure of the Mediaworks talk station.
A confidential internal Mediaworks document leaked to media has confirmed that Today FM’s production and leadership host teams, which includes high-profile broadcasters such as Tova O’Brien and Duncan Garner, will be disestablished in order to “make significant fixed cost savings”.
In addition to these 30 roles, the March 2023 “change proposal” reveals that another 20 jobs at Mediaworks’ closed talk station Today FM could also be on the chopping block.
“If after consultation, your role is disestablished, we would look for redeployment opportunities elsewhere in the business,” the document stated. “If the proposal goes ahead, we genuinely believe there will be redeployment opportunities available for a number of employees, and we would fully consult with employees.” There is no further detail on whether new roles for the likes of O’Brien will be found, though Mediaworks’ long-term focus is on music radio.
And while not up for immediate disestablishment, Today FM’s 20-strong news team could also be in line for job cuts. The document has the roles listed as up for “review” with the hope that they can “keep this in-house for music brand news but also to drive a digital news content strategy”. That would ensure the remaining Today FM journalists produced news bulletin content for stations like The Edge and The Rock that are within the Mediaworks stable.
Today FM’s ratings struggles were not a mystery to those working at the station, but yesterday’s sudden closure still came as a surprise. The document also revealed the incredibly tight timeframe for staff consultation – just a few hours. It was proposed that all staff would be spoken to on March 30, with a feedback period concluding at 3pm. Just two hours were then set aside for consideration of this feedback before a “confirmation of outcomes” would be revealed at 5pm. Ultimately, it was shortly after this time that Today FM’s frequency carried a message confirming the station would not be returning, and that a replacement would be on air some time in April.
A “separate consultation and timeline” will follow for the “under review” news arm of Today FM. An employee told The Spinoff that it was their understanding that, for now, members of Today FM’s news team were expected to continue working as normal, while disestablished staff would not be returning to Mediaworks’ offices.
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The document also provided further insight into the struggling financial situation at Today FM, stating that in 2022, the brand was “meeting its business case for revenue and station costs” after $830,000 cash and $3.6m in “ratecard contra” was invested in marketing and promoting the station.
“Whilst the station was ‘washing its face’, this did not include any allocation for the cost of news,” the document said.
But: “In 2023 overall company revenue has been impacted as predicted. Q1 was down year on year and forecasting for April and May is following this trend. Today FM’s audience at 1.4 is causing challenges with sponsorships not renewing and insufficient reach to drive spot revenue.”
The brand needed time and “significant marketing investment” to break through and Mediaworks wasn’t in a position to invest further. “Existing brands could utilise the Today FM frequencies at no cost. Our analysis has shown that we could retain 75% of the Today revenue under this scenario with a significant cost saving,” the document stated.
The comments in the leaked proposal were echoed in company-wide remarks from Mediaworks’ interim chief executive Wendy Palmer. “While providing some incredible content and a highly engaged audience, Today FM needed time and significant ongoing investment in order to grow its listenership,” she told staff in an internal email yesterday. “This led the board to make the difficult decision to take Today FM off air and to continue to explore options for a news and digital audio strategy.”
Key staff at Today FM, including O’Brien, had touted a five-year plan that was put to them by recently departed station executives and it had been their expectation that Today FM would take time to settle into the media landscape. With the sudden resignations of those executives, that plan was instantly put in jeopardy.
“We came into this organisation with this promise of a long-term strategy,” O’Brien told listeners shortly before the plug was pulled on Today FM yesterday morning. “We were going to go for at least five years and that’s when we were going to start seeing results. They had our back, from the CEO, to the executive to the board. And when I met with the acting chief executive I could not get that same assurance.”