Mick Molloy to leave Triple M Drive at the end of the year

Triple M’s Molloy Drive show is coming to an end at the end of this radio ratings year.

Mick Molloy broke the news to listeners at the end of his program yesterday, but promised he’d “be doing radio again as soon as it’s appropriate”.

Molloy has helmed the syndicated Molloy Drive show solo since the start of this year. His previous co-host, Jane Kennedy, announced her departure from what was then Kennedy Molloy in January.

Molloy said the conclusion of the show was met with a bit of sadness on his end, but he’s also very proud of everything he’s done and achieved, as well as the incredible people he’s worked with over his 11 years with the network.

Most of all, however, he paid tribute to the listeners, who allowed and enabled him to do what he does.

“It’s been an absolute privilege and a pleasure,” he said, noting that of all his media projects and appearances, fronting radio is his favourite.

“I love doing this… I love doing it here. I love talking to Australia. I love taking the temperature out there in the electorate. It’s a huge thrill for me, and I’ll be forever grateful that I’m allowed to do it.”

Molloy said he’s had a golden run on Triple M, but it was time to leave his ‘spiritual home’ for other challenges.

The show’s anchor, ‘Dangerous’ Dave Williams, said Molloy was part of the DNA of the Triple M Network and he stood “head and shoulders above any other broadcaster on this network”.

After the first survey results of the year, the chief content officer of SCA – Triple M’s parent company – Dave Cameron told this writer said the show was ‘hilariously Mick’ and he believed the show could work long-term.

“I think sometimes you need to back-in talent when they have a vision for a show, and Mick’s vision was ‘Let me create this and bring in some friends of the show and see how it goes’,” Cameron told Radio Today after Survey 1’s results.

“So there’s a little bit of churn around that, there’s probably some trial going on, and obviously there’s Carrie & Tommy that have changed their offering on [the Hit Network]. There’s other new Drive shows, so there’s a bit of trialling going on, and we’ll just have to see how that plays out over the next few surveys.

“But it’s Mick’s vision and we back that in and embrace it, and it sounds good. It’s hilariously Mick, but we’ll just have to see how it goes.”

In the most recent ratings, Survey 6, Triple M had a 6.1% share in Drive in Sydney (down 0.4 points from the prior survey), 6.3% in Melbourne (up 0.5), 8.7% in Brisbane (down 1.9), 9.0% in Adelaide (up 1.4), and 6.0% in Perth (up 0.3).

SCA has not revealed the show’s replacement.