Ray Hadley has been mercilessly mocked after it was revealed the radio titan might be eyeing off another TV gig.
Daily Mail exclusively revealed this week the veteran broadcaster met with executives at Sky News within hours of announcing his retirement from Nine’s flagship 2GB station live on-air last Thursday.
And viewers wasted no time in mocking the potential move, recalling Hadley’s last televised stint on Sky.
The broadcaster helmed the short-lived current affairs show Hadley! on Sky that lasted only four episodes in 2010.
Sky’s then-chief executive officer Angelos Frangopoulos did not rule out a return for Ray at the time, but admitted that a ‘dedicated program’ was not in his future.
‘We look forward to working with him in the future but it won’t be in a dedicated program arrangement as it was last time. Ray has great talent and we wish him well,’ he said.
Viewers on the Media Spy forum were quick to remind Ray of his last attempt at TV, with one sharing a short throwback clip of the show.
‘Yep – only lasted four episodes IIRC,’ the poster commented. ‘Maybe ahead of its time? Probably would be a success these days as part of Sky News “after dark”.’
Ray Hadley has been mercilessly mocked after it was revealed the radio titan might be eyeing off another TV gig after announcing his retirement from Nine’s flagship 2GB station
Another tipped that Hadley would find his way on to Sky on either Friday or Sunday nights, knocking down presenter Paul Murray to four nights a week.
‘My guess is that Hadley’s new show will probably be either Friday Nights at 9pm or Sunday Nights where Paul Murray currently is,’ they suggested.
‘That’s if Paul Murray want’s to go down to 4 nights a week like the other presenters e.g. Bolt, Kenny, Credlin, Sharri, Rita. But we won’t actually find out until they announce their 2025 lineup in Mid-January.’
Replying to the claim, another viewer could not resist having a not-so-subtle dig at Sky.
‘They could do something really radical and give him an hour slot where he just talks for an hour and interviews other regular presenters and commentators, and for fun they could give it a right wing slant,’ they wrote.
Viewers on the Media Spy forum were quick to remind Ray of his last attempt at TV, with one sharing a short throwback clip of his short-lived 2010 show Hadley!
‘Yep – only lasted four episodes IIRC,’ one poster commented on a short throwback clip of the show. ‘Maybe ahead of its time? Probably would be a success these days as part of Sky News “after dark”‘
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‘Just to shake up the schedule a bit.’
And the shade throwing didn’t stop there, with another replying with: ‘Don’t forget ranting into the camera about lefties at “channel 2” until it looks like you’d pop a vein,’ they joked.
‘No one has done that before on Sky.’
Sources said Hadley arrived at news channel’s Sydney HQ for the covert chat after most of the broadcaster’s staffers had already headed home for the day.
He then spent more than an hour in deep conversation with the News Corp-owned network’s chief executive, Paul Whittaker, and head of programs, Mark Calvert.
Daily Mail exclusively revealed this week the veteran broadcaster met with executives at Sky News within hours of announcing his retirement from Nine’s flagship 2GB station live on-air last Thursday
Hadley will sign-off from his top-rating morning show for the final time on December 13 despite having about two years left to run on his multimillion-dollar deal at Nine.
Sky News insiders said the network was determined to lure the award-winning broadcaster – and his loyal audience – to the political news channel, with Whittaker personally rolling at the red carpet for the potential marquee signing.
Although it is understood Hadley’s contract precludes him from appearing on a rival radio network, sources said he could be free to join Sky News under the terms of the agreement as the television channel does not directly compete with Nine Radio.
Any deal between Hadley and the network would likely see him taking a break over the summer to spend time with his family before commencing on-air duties in the new year.
Sources said Hadley’s strong political views actually meant he had long been more in step with Sky News ‘s sensibilities than those of Nine and would be a natural fit for the network.