How many music decision-makers crop up on the 50 Most Influential People in Australian Radio?
Radio Today has just published its annual list of the 50 Most Influential People in Australian Radio. Needless to say, the lineup is peppered with music decision makers from across both commercial and public broadcasting.
Leading the way at #36 is Chris Scadden, triple j Head of Music. He’s been at the station since 2003, first as program director and as manager since 2010. A staple name on the list for years, Scadden successfully led the triple j team in the launch of its second radio station, triple j Unearthed.
One spot down at #37 is triple j National Content Director Ollie Wards. A new entry to the list this year, Wards oversees the content on national broadcaster triple j, which has enjoyed strong ratings throughout the year.
Another new entrant, tieing at #48, is Peter Clay, Head of Programming at Nova 96.9 and the smoothfm network. Clay was an instrumental in establishing establishment of smoothfm in 2012 and has since taken the station to #1 FM in Melbourne.
Rounding out the music names (and the entire list) is Irene Hulme, Head of Music & Entertainment Partnerships, Hit Network, and Rex Morris, Head of Music Operations, Triple M Network.
As two of SCA’s most influential music decision-makers, Hulme was a key player in the launch of the Hit brand, particularly Adelaide’s Hit 107. She’s was also behind the creation of Hits and Old Skool as well as RnB Fridays.
Morris is charged with managing music content across the entire Triple M network. He is also the Owner and Director of Resonate Broadcasting which owns stations in Australia and Hawaii and was the former content director at B105, Fox FM, and Triple MMelbourne and Brisbane.
Lastly, a notable mention goes out to Paul Jackson at #18, Group Program Director, NOVA Entertainment. While overseeing much more than just music, Jackson was responsible for nurturing Sam Hunt’s country crossover hit ‘Body Like A Back Road’ on Australian commercial radio. Since then, the track has been heavily adopted across commercial andcurrently sits at #12 on the TMN Hot 100.
Head over to Radio Todayto see the full list of the50 Most Influential People in Australian Radio.