What will 2UE be like when John Laws leaves?

This post is all speculation and only my op-inion.

We saw the summer break meant a time for change at 2UE. Not only had Ken Sparkes the voice-over artist for four decades been shown the door but Stan Zemanek, ‘the king’ of night-time radio left the St. Leonards radio station to the Prime Minister announcing he was ‘rooting’ for him.

Now we enter a new year minus Zemanek and with a new voice over artist to complaints of loyal 2UE listeners. It’s a sign that the guard is definitely changing and with a summer schedule that pleased the accountant – cutting one day time shift from its day and adding an extra hour to the breakfast, drive and the combining of mornings and afternoons.

It’s a big year for 2UE. Will the Mike and Fitz breakfast experiment pay off? Will John Laws be heard on the radio more often than not and can a new night time presenter be found for evenings that will rival Brian Wilshere on 2GB.

Alan Jones may take a dive in the ratings after Chris Masters released Jones Town which could unearth the AM leader. One thing is for sure, the changes at 2UE are moving towards cleaning out its line-up.

Steve Price and John Stanley experimented with tag team broadcasting in breakfast while Mike and Fitz took lunch so they may be looking at combining their shows when the station considers the revamp post the John Laws era.

Southern Cross look keen to cut-costs noted with the shedding of news staff last year and the move to have three daytime shifts over summer instead of four. Tag team broadcasting would not assist cost cutting with two salaries needed instead of one.

Perhaps nationally syndicated shows may be the go for southern cross through daytime. Breakfast and Drive need to be local but John Laws is heard right around the country. 2UE could look at Neil Mitchell (the John Laws of Melbourne) doing a syndicated show that would include 2UE mornings.

Or perhaps Laws own 2UE rival, Steve Price. Price would be no stranger to Melbourne audiences and held number 1 in drive, which he is yet to achieve in Sydney. A move to the morning shift could see both Melbourne and Sydney audiences satisfied as well as Southern Cross executives.

Southern Cross have shown some signs for the future. A typical 2UE line-up in the post Laws era could look something like this:

6-10: Mike and Fitz
10-2: Tim Webster
2-6: Price and Stanley
6-8: Sports Today
8-12: Clive Robertson
12-6: Stuart Bocking