TRACY’S SECRET RADIO PLAN!
With talkback king Alan Jones under increasing pressure, the ACA star could take his job
She’s the undisputed queen of Nine, loved by millions of fans and a ratings winner for the network, yet Tracy Grimshaw has been reportedly holding top-level talks to quit A Current Affair and pursue her love of radio after 13 years at the helm.
Tracy, 59, refuses to sign more than a 12-month contract with Nine because she has been open about her desire to scale back
from the gruelling hours she puts in on ACA and the pressure that comes with such a high profile TV job.
And it’s veteran Sydney radio star Alan Jones, 78, who may become collateral damage in the pursuit of her dream as he comes under increasing fire for making offensive comments about women – and costing 2GB millions of dollars in lost advertising revenue.
“Tracy isn’t ready to retire fully, and she’s always loved radio, and I know she’s been in talks about leaving ACA,” one Nine insider confirms. “There will be a lot of jockeying for the ACA job, but Ben Fordham is definitely the frontrunner.”
MUSICAL CHAIRS
Of course, Tracy wouldn’t take Alan’s plum role on breakfast if he severs ties with 2GB – the prized breakfast slot would go to Ray Hadley, and Ben would probably move to Ray’s morning show, which would leave Ben’s afternoon slot open for Tracy.
“It’s all a bit of a crazy game of musical chairs! But that often happens in radio and TV when one major player moves on – it has a domino effect. And with Nine now in control of 2GB, it makes these moves not only possible, but almost seamless.”
Our insider says Nine CEO Hugh Marks is a huge fan of Tracy and would support her move to radio – if he can’t convince her to stay at ACA.
“The execs are very nervous about losing Tracy because she dominates the ratings and has done for years,” he says.
The moves have become much more likely since Nine merged with Fairfax last year and inherited 54.4 per cent of Macquarie Media, which owns
2GB in Sydney, 3AW in Melbourne, 4BC in Brisbane and 6PR in Perth.
With rumours that Nine, 2GB and Fairfax staffers will soon be moved into shared office space in North Sydney, the opportunities to use the stars of the new mega Nine Entertainment Co across radio, TV and print will increase even further.
Tracy, who is rumoured to earn $750,000 at ACA, would look set to at least double her pay packet if she made the move to radio, but friends of the TV star said last week money would be low on her list of priorities.
“She’s always been very well paid, and she’s not an extravagant person, so it won’t be about what money is on the table, but rather what she actually wants to do,” one of her mates says. “She wants to reduce her workload as she approaches 60.
“If she didn’t love working in the media so much, she’d happily walk away and fade out of the limelight. Tracy has a beautiful home where she keeps her horse and dogs, and spends a lot of time with her close circle of friends.
She’s just ready for a change.”