Tony Martin's New Weekly Blog




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Following on from the dubious, but resounding, success of 'Lolly Scramble', comedian Tony Martin returns with another collection of tales from his life outside show business. You'll be both amused and appalled as Martin establishes his own junior detective agency, discovers his parents are censoring bare breasts from the National Geographic, has his braces repossessed by the government, ruins several plays in an attempt to find a girlfriend, gets caught two-timing his local video shop, mars an awards night with a burst of foul language, attends a racist dinner at an Indian restaurant, allows cameras to enter every bodily orifice, and returns to his hometown to discover that his grandfather is not the man he thought he was.

Triple M rocked by ratings slide
Michael Lallo June 24, 2009

MYF Warhurst and Peter Helliar are facing the axe after their Triple M breakfast show scored its worst-ever ratings in the latest Nielsen survey, dropping 1 point to 3.2 per cent. The station's overall audience share slipped 0.6 points to 4.3 per cent — the lowest in its 20-year history. The result prompted former announcer Peter Grace to make a stinging attack on Guy Dobson, executive director of Triple M parent company Austereo. "Triple M's problems go all the way to the top," he said. Until last year, Grace hosted a 1980s music show on Triple M. "I was the only guy who went up in the ratings, so they fired me," he said. "Triple M seems to pay a lot of money to a lot of people to maintain its low ratings."

As recently as 2005, Triple M was Melbourne's top-rating FM station. But after a series of controversial sackings and music format changes, it slid. In 2007, the station axed its popular Get This comedy program, headed by Tony Martin, prompting aggrieved fans to picket the studio. More recently it changed its format from "rock music" to "music that rocks" and included pop artists such as Pink on its playlist.

"I think they should call it the 'We Don't Know What We're Doing' format," Grace said. "Every time Triple M goes down in the ratings, they respond by lowering the bar. "Their idea of comedy is to just say the word 'vagina' for the shock value. I don't think I've ever heard as many poo jokes and dick jokes as I have on Triple M over the past couple of years." Grace said he felt sorry for Warhurst, whom he described as "one of the best women to emerge in Australian media over the past decade … (Triple M) took a popular, nationally known figure and buried her in a backwater."

Triple M boss Ben Amarfio declined to respond to Grace's comments, but said he was bitterly disappointed with the station's ratings and could not guarantee that Helliar and Warhurst would continue. "We can't sit back and watch (the ratings) continue to fall," he said. Warhurst and Helliar could not be contacted and Dobson declined to comment. In other ratings news, 3AW surged 3.5 points to 16.8 per cent, reclaiming the No. 1 position from Fox. 3AW topped the football ratings, followed by 774 ABC, Triple M and SEN. Vega, once the radio industry laughing stock, stunned its competitors by climbing 1.1 points to 4.9 per cent, putting it ahead of Mix and Triple M.

Article from The Age




R.I.P RICHARD
5 September 1976 – 6 December 2008

Tributes have poured in for former Sunday Mail columnist, radio anchor and writer Richard Marsland who died suddenly on the
6th of December 2008.

He was aged just 32.

The entertainer - who started his radio career on SA-FM alongside comedian Greg Fleet and Footy Show host James Brayshaw -
was found dead in his car at Ship Rocks Falls at the foot of the Dandenong Ranges in Victoria.

His death was understood not to be suspicious.

Read more on news.com.au

The Get This Wiki sends their condolences to Rich's family and friends.
Head over to the Marsland Memorial page which has links to news articles and tributes to
the best damn panel operator in the radio industry.

A new Get This podcast has been created as a tribute for him. Search for "Richard Marsland" on the iTunes store to find it.

Richard Marsland Lives: Podcast 163