1233 ABC Newcastle Radio disappears as we listen...

1233 ABC Newcastle Radio 'becoming a regional station before our very eyes...'
 
   Very sad today to listen in from the car [and ironically the app] as Carol Duncan signed off with the always brilliant weekly music program curated by co presenter Mark Tinson, ahead of 1233 feed of the Test Cricket coverage alongside continuing app programming!!

   When my work brought me back to a Hunter focus from Sydney I thought I'd struggle to switch 'old man radio' from 702 to 1233 and it's parochial content, but that quickly evaporated as it became one valuable place to be across the context, stories and focus of my mission field!! This despite the atrocious AM reception in my car and the km's travelled to Merriwa/Scone etc...

   The Abbott Government broken promise of "no cuts to the ABC..." is par for the course and is a disastrous continuation of unfair load shifting... Yes, few media outlets have escaped cuts in the changing technological landscape BUT the government specifically promised NO CUTS!!

   Then comes the ABC decisions as to how to absorb the $50 million... favouring the shift to new media is one thing, gutting effective outlets is crazy!! Axe-ing so many staff and only one on air presenter sucks!! James Valentine is entertaining BUT the program will not deliver live Newcastle music, local interest stories or Carol's own brand of humour and insight!!

   I have enjoyed twitter conversations, special interviews, the music show and the general notion that if something was happening in the Hunter we could hear about it driving in the early afternoon getting somewhere the story mattered!! Thanks Carol Duncan!!
   I am sure Carol will bob up elsewhere soon but my radio will switch to bluetooth iTunes a lot more now... I hope we bump into each other at 'The Making of Midnight Oil' which opens in Newie Feb 19th, not that an afternoon audience will hear anything about that now!!