It is my sad duty yet again to bring you some bad news in the industry

It is my sad duty yet again to bring you some bad news in the industry, with the death of Ron E Sparks, a household name in the trade for nearly half a century. He was only 72... Another victim of cancer. He did his training in the country before getting to 2SM in the mighty 70s. Apparently, he arrived as plain old Ron Sparks but radio folklore has it that PD Rod Muir thought that sounded a bit ordinary. So he stuck an E in it. The E doesn't stand for anything, Rod just liked it. Ron E went on to 2UW as it was then, 2 Day FM, Nova and 2WS FM – an extremely long tenure in the tough Sydney market.

This month we also pay tribute to one of the great voices of sports broadcasting with David Morrow passing on recently. He was just 71... Like Ron E, much, much too early to leave us. He called rugby league on 9 for some years but it is his long period with the ABC that I remember him best of all. Morrow called the league, cricket, Olympics... If it moved he could call it. In those days it was like "if David's calling something on the ABC then all's well with the world". He was like a social barometer. His career is awesome lasting over fifty years.

News-talk still rules the radio waves in Sydney with 2GB holding top spot overall and Ben Fordham sitting high up the hill in breakfast while Super Ray does his thing with yet another number one in mornings. The drama appears now to be in the FM arena with SMOOTH still the main player, ahead of KIIS. SMOOTH is the number two rated outlet, overall, behind 2GB but to their credit Kyle and Jackie O are number one FM in breakfast, gearing up maybe for another challenge to Ben over the next couple of months. The big talk in recent times are the mass sackings – hundreds of jobs – at Nine Entertainment and 7 West Media. A fair swag of these redundancies involve workers in news and current affairs. And no one expects things to get any better in 2025. The traditional electronic media is fragmenting, under assault from increasing numbers of specialist platforms. It's not just here Downunder but is a trend right round the globe. One industry commentator was even heard recently on late-night talk-back, predicting that one of our major networks would go to the wall over the next twelve to eighteen months. This is dire stuff indeed.

My golfing buddy, Richard Cornford, has been telling me how he's visited a special family grave site in Botany Cemetery for many years. Still does today. Anyway, one day, a while back, he noticed that a large monument had been erected about two hundred metes away. He decided to head down there one afternoon to have a closer look and was amazed to find he'd discovered the burial place of one of the most famous sporting figures of our early days, Dally Messenger. Richard was standing there on this hallowed ground, the final resting place of Dally M. This bloke was so famous in his hey day that no one called him Dally: you simply referred to the great man as "The Master". Everybody knew who you meant. But as the years rolled by he noticed something rather unusual: he was the only person at the grave. He never saw anyone else there. This came as a shock. Where were the senior citizen groups visiting and paying homage to "The Master"? Where was the teacher leading a group of students to this famous piece of ground, recounting the stories of this greatest of rugby league legends? Never happened, nobody came. And this led us into long conversation about Australia, the nation that doesn't really give a stuff about its history. Of course, it doesn't help that it's hardly taught to our students to start with. What's wrong with this country? Why don't we treasure those who came before us? Does anyone go to the grave of Victor Trumper, the Prince of Batsmen, buried at Waverley Cemetery, Bronte? Anyone seen any long queues of tourists lining up to pay tribute to the greatest of divas, Dame Nellie Melba at Lilydale Cemetary in Victoria or how about our famous artist, Tom Roberts, at the Illawarra Churchyard, near Longford, Tasmania? No? Did any of our Paris swim team slip across to Manly Cemetary before flying out for the Olympics, to pause and honour the original 1500 gold medal freestyler Boy Charlton? If this were Britain or the USA you'd find hundreds of sightseers at these iconic sites. Many would stand there heads bowed in tribute. I've seen visitors to famous graves in the United States actually drop to their knees to honour these heroes. Australia, you've got me stumped.



I can report a bit of positive activity on the television front with your reporter really settling down and enjoying that local crime drama "High Country", an excellent complex plot which actually had an ending, pleased to report. The cast, led by Leah Purcell, was top class with the star playing a detective heading a missing persons enquiry up in Victoria's High country. Very good production values so I'm ready for Leah to come back for another round of crime solving. There's plenty of crime about down there. Roll on High Country 2.

I've expressed my concern about the job of Channel 9's Chief Sports Reporter from time to time so it's great to acknowledge a huge success in recent times, with the arrival of James Bracey. Extremely affable with an excellent handle on sport overall, the first thing you notice about Brace is that he owns the territory. He knows how to occupy centre stage, while never stealing the limelight from a guest. It's an artform. Doesn't matter who he's sharing the camera with – Chief News Anchor Peter Overton or legends like Brad Fittler and Andrew Johns – they all treat him as an equal. It's not easy to do this stuff at the pointy end of the trade and this bloke is good.

"Time is a traveller, Tenterfield Saddler, turn your head. Ride again Jackaroo,
think I see Kangaroo up ahead... Time is a medler, Tenterfield Saddler make your bed.
Fly away Cockatoo –down on the ground Emu up ahead."
&ndash (Peter Allen, 1970)
This is a mini-masterpiece by Allen who also wrote "I still call Australia home" and the show biz blockbuster "I go to Rio".