Sacked comic has last laugh as she takes on former radio bosses

Of all the mind-boggling moments George McEncroe encountered across two decades in radio – presenting or co-hosting programs on Triple M, Mix, 3AW and ABC Melbourne – a few stand out.

Consider the anchor who thought an on-air seance was a good idea. “You’ve got a dead sister – let’s try to communicate with her!” he told McEncroe without warning, referring to her beloved sibling who died just five years earlier. “I’d rather not,” she replied. “Then after the show, I got in trouble for not being a team player.”

She also got roped into a Valentine’s Day promotion called “tradie for a lady”, co-hosted a talkback segment called “When have you been shot?” (prompting the switchboard to light up) and earned a scolding for using the word “avuncular” on air.

But it was McEncroe’s 2009 sacking from the breakfast slot on Melbourne’s Mix (now called Kiis) that became part of industry legend. After her shift ended on April 1, her boss informed her she’d been fired to save money. “I really thought it was an April Fool’s joke and it took some time to convince me it wasn’t,” she says. By the time co-host Tom Gleeson returned with takeaway coffees for his on-air colleagues, McEncroe was already lugging her possessions through the car park. She couldn’t even allow herself a night of wine-fuelled self-pity because her first one-woman comedy show was scheduled that evening.

Which makes McEncroe’s return to the airwaves rather unexpected.

If your eyes glaze over at terms such as “innovation”, “technology” and “start-ups” … then Disrupt Radio, which launches nationally at 7am on Monday, June 26, could be a station for you. Take McEncroe’s show as an example: titled Moolah, it airs 9am to 11am weekdays.

“There’s no point starting a station called Disrupt if you just behave like a heritage media company.”

Steve Kyte, Disrupt Radio’s head of content, strategy and global

“Yes, it’s about money but it’s philosophical,” says McEncroe, who launched the successful female-only ridesharing service Shebah in 2017. “It’s about why we have cultural attachments to it, why our wealth gets equated with our value, that kind of thing. We’re on an ecological precipice and it’s about things like, ‘How do I afford a home?’ or ‘How do I even afford to have a family?’”

We’re in the Southbank offices of Disrupt Radio, where the bulk of its 25 employees work (it maintains a small corporate headquarters in Perth). The station’s distinctive red and black logo features an angled = symbol as its “i” – a sign of inclusivity and equality, according to founder, CEO and majority owner Benjamin Roberts.

“The last thing audiences want is another stale and boring money show by an old bloke in a suit,” Roberts says. “Moolah is here to revolutionise the way we talk about money. No more jargon or complex financial mumbo-jumbo. George isn’t your average finance presenter either – she’s a comedian, a mother, a visionary entrepreneur and talented storyteller. That’s why she’s great for the show.”

After Roberts got “integrated out” of Fairfax Radio in 2017, he spent two years travelling the world, investigating innovation across all forms of audio. Then he raised $3 million in capital and expects to add another $2 million over the next six months.

Disrupt will broadcast only on digital radio, technically known as DAB+, in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane but can be streamed anywhere in Australia using a smartphone, and will also run its own podcast division. Its biggest challenge may be the entrenched habits of AM and FM audiences, although content changes and the departure of popular presenters at major ABC stations have caused ratings to plummet while Spotify and its ilk are threatening music stations.

Still, the latest ratings survey provides a sobering picture of digital-only radio.

In Melbourne, almost 4.6 million people listened to radio in a typical week – mostly via AM or FM, with a growing proportion streaming or using DAB+. Five FM stations each accrue more than 1 million listeners per week while Smooth Relax, the top-rating digital-only station, accumulates just 133,000 weekly listeners. (Although 3AW – owned by Nine, which also owns this masthead – reaches 786,000 people weekly, it tops the ratings because its audience spends the most time listening, giving it the greatest market share.)

Yet in an encouraging sign for Roberts, almost 3.5 million metropolitan residents currently listen to unique digital stations such as TikTok Trending or Blender Beats. Nearly 90 per cent tune in via DAB+ while 30 per cent stream. (Of course, some use both methods.)

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Roberts is aiming for 100,000 to 150,000 listeners in the first six months but adds, “I don’t like to put a target on innovation because things like this need to be left to breathe.”

Among Disrupt’s other on-air talent are popular former ABC Melbourne weekends presenter Libbi Gorr, who hosts the 7am-9am Enterprise Breakfast show with a rotating cast including comedian Nazeem Hussain, consumer psychologist Adam Ferrier and social commentator Firas Massouh, with news updates from veteran TV and radio anchor George Donikian. (Activist and musician Bob Geldof will visit Australia to co-present with Gorr during Disrupt’s launch week.) Other slots will be hosted by former AFLW star Moana Hope, entrepreneur and former FM personality Jules Lund and academic Dr Sunil Badami, who has worked at ABC Sydney.

British media executive and former ABC Melbourne boss Steve Kyte – now Disrupt’s head of content, strategy and global – sees opportunity in building a station from the ground up.

“We want to reflect our contemporary audience back to them,” Kyte says. “Cultural, gender and sexual diversity are important to us.”

Another point of difference will be the music: roughly two songs per hour, around 80 per cent recorded by Australian artists and most released in the past five years. The programs will be shorter and more diverse and hourly advertisements will be capped at eight minutes.

“There’s no point starting a station called Disrupt if you just behave like a heritage media company,” Kyte says. “It’s almost the love child of Radio National and Triple J or Double J. It’s smart and progressive talk, there’s a lot of nutritious content but it also has a terrific sense of humour.”