The axe has fallen on some of radio's most popular broadcasters, including i98's Kerry Smith, in a cull at The Radio Network

[2NSW Sydney Radio Club (keitha) http://www.radio2doublev.org/]

The axe has fallen on some of radio's most popular broadcasters,
including i98's Kerry Smith, in a pre-Christmas cull at The Radio
Network.

Favourites across the network's stable of stations - from rock channel
Hauraki FM to Classic Hits 97FM - have been dumped in the latest round
of contract negotiations.

Among those to lose their slots are Classic Hits' veteran weekday
afternoon host, Pat Courtenay, ZM's afternoon rush-hour team, Tim
Homer and Mike McLung, Classic Hits' evening host, Andy Dye, and
Hauraki's "Duke of Rock," Thane Kirby.

Smith's contract was to expire next April but TRN told the former
actor and television presenter this week that it would not be renewed.

TRN chief executive Kevin Malone said he did not know when Smith would
finish, but a replacement had been found.

"There have definitely been some changes here," Mr Malone said. "We
thought it would be better to make the changes all at once so people
aren't looking over their shoulders for six months."

Pat Courtenay said he believed his dismissal was the result of a
personal conflict within the company and was not based on his
performance.

"The very top executives seem to me to have been pretty unaware of the
Machiavellian knife-wielding," he said.

Courtenay, whose radio career began in the late 70s, has been at
Classic Hits for two years. His programme was given a glowing review
in the Listener last week.

"It can look like a cull, the pre-Christmas massacre," Courtenay said
of the round of sackings.

"In my case, it is definitely personal, and nobody believes the
professional spin that's being put on it - that my style is not what
Classic Hits wants to go back to.

"One of the official lines is that I've burned off quite a lot of
female listeners."

Mr Malone said it was decided that the station could do better with
someone else in Courtenay's slot.

"There is some research that we have that [says] Pat is not as exactly
as female friendly as we'd like him to be on the air."

He said Andy Dye lost his job as a consequence of moving i98's popular
Love Songs programme to Classic Hits.

Hauraki had a new programme director who wanted to change the image of
the show and The Duke did not fit in with the format.