Sydney radio listeners said an emotional goodbye to Angela
Catterns in her final stint in the breakfast slot on ABC radio this
morning. But although it’s well known that Catterns is leaving 702 for the fame
and fortune of the private sector at the new DMG FM station in Sydney,
it’s still a mystery who the ABC will choose to replace her.

James Valentine moves from afternoons (1pm to 3pm) to be the temporary
stand-in replacement for Catterns. Valentine – who also has a sizeable
deal to write kids’ books – could very well get the gig. He’s offbeat
and has done well standing in for Catterns in the past year or so.

Simon Marnie who does weekend breakfasts and lifestyle for 702 might
think he’s earned the gig, but he doesn’t turn listeners on. He’s
largely known for the weekend food and wine segments and his slightly
lightweight tone – not really the pace needed for the brekkie shift Monday to
Friday.

So who will replace our Angela in the 702 roster for permanent announcers?

The betting around Ultimo is that Libby Gorr is a contender. She has
moved from the invisibility of overnights to filling in for Tony Delroy
(in the 10pm to 1am shift) while he’s away. But that’s considered
to be queue jumping by some ABC types.

Others predict it will be Morag Ramsey, who replied to Tuesday’s rave
about the Catterns move. To nitpick that the ABC shouldn’t be chasing
popularity is pretty Adelaide. Ramsey, who’s Mike Carlton’s partner,
got it right. ABC listeners have as much right to be entertained as
listeners to commercial stations and Crikey readers.

The other big dilemma facing the ABC is whether Catterns’ listeners
will stay with the ABC. After all Catterns was an ABC
person through and through. As one middle-aged woman said this morning, she started listening to
Catterns on Triple J, listened to her when she was at ABC Lismore
through a freak of nature and radio reception and then listened to her
again at 702. But she said she wouldn’t be listening to her when she
goes to Easy Listening 2CH.