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The ''Hot30 Countdown'' was an Australian radio show hosted by
Mike Christian Michael Christian is an Australian radio presenter. Along with his co-host Mel Greig, he perpetrated a prank call to the hospital caring for Catherine, Princess of Wales, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge that contributed to the suicide of one ...
(MC) and
Mel Greig Mel Greig (born 19 September 1982) is an Australian radio and television personality. Career In 2011, she competed on the first season of '' The Amazing Race Australia'' with her sister Alana. In 2012, Greig began co-hosting the ''Hot30 Count ...
. It was broadcast on the
Today Network The Hit Network is an Australian commercial radio network owned and operated by Southern Cross Austereo. The network consists of 41 radio stations broadcasting a hot adult contemporary music format, as well as 6 digital radio stations. Histor ...
from the studios of
2Day FM 2Day FM (call sign 2DAY) is a commercial FM radio station broadcasting in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, on a frequency of 104.1 MHz, and is part of Southern Cross Austereo's Hit Network. History 1980s 2Day FM was one of three radio st ...
in
Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
,
New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...
to every
state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...
and the
Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (commonly abbreviated as ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) until 1938, is a landlocked federal territory of Australia containing the national capital Canberra and some surrounding townships. ...
following ''The Dirt''. It was cancelled on 10 December 2012, following the
death of Jacintha Saldanha Jacintha Saldanha (1966 – 7 December 2012) was an Indian nurse who worked at King Edward VII's Hospital in the City of Westminster, London. On 7 December 2012, she was found dead by suicide, three days after falling for a prank phone c ...
, and was replaced by '' The Bump''.


History

Beginning in 1996, the show was first hosted by
Ugly Phil Ugly Phil O'Neil (born Phillip Surridge on 14 March 1963) is a radio DJ/announcer. He was born in the United Kingdom, and lived the majority of his life in Australia. Before adopting the on-air name of Ugly Phil he was known on-air as Phil O'Neil ...
and Jackie O under the name ''Ugly Phil's Hot 30''. Brisbane-based announcer,
Kyle Sandilands Kyle Dalton Sandilands (born 10 June 1971) is an Australian radio host and television personality. He is currently the co-host, with Jackie O, of the weekday morning radio program '' The Kyle and Jackie O Show'' on Sydney's radio station KIIS ...
, was then moved in to host with Jackie O until the end of 2003. Labrat and Alexis took over the ''Hot30 Countdown'' from 2004 after Sandilands and Jackie O moved to the drive-time slot. A previously unknown announcer "Higgo" stepped in after Labrat took the morning shift on 2Day FM. Alexis and Higgo hosted the nightly show until 2005, when
Craig Low Craig Low (born 8 May 1985) is an Australian writer, producer, director & comedian. He is known publicly as "Lowie”. Early life Low was on born on 8 May 1985 in Helensvale, Queensland. His family grew up in the small community of Helensvale, ...
came in to host the program until mid-2006. Low occasionally included Carla Bignasca as co-host who was the
executive producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the making of a commercial entertainment product. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights o ...
of the show from the middle of 2006. ''Hot30 Countdown'' phased out the national promotion of the Black Thunders in early 2005, across the
Today Network The Hit Network is an Australian commercial radio network owned and operated by Southern Cross Austereo. The network consists of 41 radio stations broadcasting a hot adult contemporary music format, as well as 6 digital radio stations. Histor ...
.
Sam Mac Sam "Sam Mac" McMillan is an Australian television host, weather presenter, and entertainer. He was a 2019 Gold Logie Nominee and is currently the weather presenter on Seven Network's breakfast show ''Sunrise''. Career TV In 2010, Sam beca ...
and Bignasca hosted the show from late 2006 until early 2007. From early 2007 Tim Lee was announced as the permanent replacement to host the show with Bignasca. In February 2010, it was announced that Lee and Bignasca would be leaving the ''Hot30 Countdown'', with Lee relocating to Fox FM in Melbourne, presenting Mornings; while Bignasca expected to focus on television opportunities. Lee and Bignasca presented their last show on 12 March 2010.
Austereo Austereo was an Australian mass media company based in Melbourne. It was founded in 1980 by Paul Thompson, and operated 16 radio stations in metropolitan and regional Australia under the Today Network and Triple M brands. In 2011, the company' ...
announced on 10 March 2010 that
Charli Robinson Sharlene Marie Zeta Robinson (born 8 March 1981), known professionally as Charli Robinson previously as Charli Delaney, is an Australian television and radio presenter, most famously known as an original member of children's musical group Hi-5 ...
and
Chris Page Chris Page is a radio presenter, previously with Triple M Sydney. Page originally worked for NXFM announcer and then moved to SAFM. On 6 December 2009 Page moved to Sydney's 2Day FM, following the top rated Kyle and Jackie O Show. Page has fi ...
would be the new hosts. They commenced on 15 March, subsequently introducing a new show at 7pm, ''The Dirt''. Page left the ''Hot30 Countdown'' at the end of 2010, moving to Triple M's ''
Grill Team ''The Grill Team'' was an Australian breakfast radio show that broadcasts weekday mornings from 6 am to 9 am AEST on Triple M Sydney. It commenced broadcasting on 17 August 2009. On 21 December 2018, it was announced that the show would ...
'' in Sydney and Delaney became the first solo host of ''The Dirt'' nationally. In February 2011, Austereo announced that Matty Acton and Maude Garrett would be the new hosts. From 5 September 2011, it was announced by Southern Cross Austereo, the ''Hot30 Countdown'' would broadcast into syndicated channels as well as additional Today Network regional channels and with the merger it changed their Australian studio line to 13 10 60. Acton and Garrett also hosted a weekend music show on Southern Cross Ten which was launched as ''Hot30 Countdown TV'', airing Saturdays from 10am to 12noon and Sundays at 9am to 12noon. On 31 January 2012 Garrett revealed on the show that she was leaving on 10 February and it was announced on Friday 9 March that
Mel Greig Mel Greig (born 19 September 1982) is an Australian radio and television personality. Career In 2011, she competed on the first season of '' The Amazing Race Australia'' with her sister Alana. In 2012, Greig began co-hosting the ''Hot30 Count ...
(of ''Amazing Race Australia'') would be the replacement co-host. In November Acton announced that he was leaving the show to work at Sea FM on the
Gold Coast, Queensland The Gold Coast is a coastal city in the state of Queensland, Australia, approximately south-southeast of the centre of the state capital Brisbane. With a population over 600,000, the Gold Coast is the sixth-largest city in Australia, the nati ...
with Fox FM morning presenter,
Mike Christian Michael Christian is an Australian radio presenter. Along with his co-host Mel Greig, he perpetrated a prank call to the hospital caring for Catherine, Princess of Wales, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge that contributed to the suicide of one ...
(MC) replacing Acton in early December. ;Timeline of hosts
Sam Mac Sam "Sam Mac" McMillan is an Australian television host, weather presenter, and entertainer. He was a 2019 Gold Logie Nominee and is currently the weather presenter on Seven Network's breakfast show ''Sunrise''. Career TV In 2010, Sam beca ...
covered the period between Craig Low's departure in November 2006 and Tim Lee's arrival in January 2007.
Sophie Monk Sophie Charlene Akland Monk (born 14 December 1979) is an Australian singer, actress, model, and television personality. She was a member of the pop girl group Bardot, winners of the first season of '' Popstars Australia'' in 2000, and later re ...
was among a series of stand-in presenters who covered the period between the departure of Maude Garrett in February 2012 and the arrival of Mel Greig in March 2012.


Duchess of Cambridge prank call and cancellation

On 6 December 2012, the day after the then pregnant
Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge Catherine, Princess of Wales, (born Catherine Elizabeth Middleton; 9 January 1982) is a member of the British royal family. She is married to William, Prince of Wales, heir apparent to the British throne, making Catherine the likely next ...
, was admitted to
King Edward VII's Hospital King Edward VII's Hospital (formal name: King Edward VII's Hospital Sister Agnes) is a private hospital located on Beaumont Street in the Marylebone district of central London. Agnes Keyser, later known as Sister Agnes, established the hospi ...
for a severe case of
morning sickness Morning sickness, also called nausea and vomiting of pregnancy (NVP), is a symptom of pregnancy that involves nausea or vomiting. Despite the name, nausea or vomiting can occur at any time during the day. Typically the symptoms occur between th ...
, Mel Greig and Michael Christian rang the hospital pretending to be
Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...
and
Prince Charles Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to ...
. The prank worked, with a nurse,
Jacintha Saldanha Jacintha Saldanha (1966 – 7 December 2012) was an Indian nurse who worked at King Edward VII's Hospital in the City of Westminster, London. On 7 December 2012, she was found dead by suicide, three days after falling for a prank phone cal ...
, forwarding the call on to Catherine's private nurse, and Greig and Christian were able to obtain Catherine's medical details. The prank was condemned by a journalist writing in ''
The Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...
'', and the hospital announced they deeply regretted the incident and would be "reviewing
heir Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, titles, debts, entitlements, privileges, rights, and obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ among societies and have changed over time. Officiall ...
telephone protocols." Following the incident Saldanha was found dead in a suspected suicide. Following her death both Greig and Christian, took down their
Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
accounts. An executive producer for 2Day FM, told
TMZ TMZ is a tabloid news website owned by Fox Corporation. It made its debut on November 8, 2005, originally as a collaboration between AOL and Telepictures, a division of Warner Bros., until Time Warner divested AOL in 2009. On September 13, 202 ...
, "I advise you to stop trying to call them" as the hosts have been "ordered" not to speak to media. It was later announced that Greig and Christian would be stepping away from their duties. The company that owned the station released a statement reported by TMZ, which stated, "SCA and 2Day FM are deeply saddened by the tragic news of the death of nurse Jacintha Saldanha from King Edward VII’s Hospital. ..SCA and the hosts have decided that they will not return to their radio show until further notice out of respect for what can only be described as a tragedy." At a
Federal Court of Australia The Federal Court of Australia is an Australian superior court of record which has jurisdiction to deal with most civil disputes governed by federal law (with the exception of family law matters), along with some summary (less serious) and indic ...
hearing, it became known that Australian media watchdog
Australian Communications & Media Authority The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) is an Australian government statutory authority within the Communications portfolio. ACMA was formed on 1 July 2005 with the merger of the Australian Broadcasting Authority and the Austr ...
(ACMA) had prepared a confidential, preliminary report saying that the Radio Royal hoax 'broke law'. 2Day FM acted illegally by airing the phone call without consent. On 10 December 2012, Southern Cross Austereo, announced that the show would be cancelled effective immediately. On the following day both Christian and Greig were interviewed on TV shows and apologised for their part in the incident.


''Hot30 Jelli''

In November 2009, a
Digital Radio Digital radio is the use of digital technology to transmit or receive across the radio spectrum. Digital transmission by radio waves includes digital broadcasting, and especially digital audio radio services. Types In digital broadcasting syst ...
offshoot, ''Hot30 Jelli'', was launched. A joint venture with
Jelli Jelli is a San Mateo, California-based advertising technology firm, which develops solutions for the programmatic sale and airplay of radio advertising. The company was originally established as a provider of interactive music programming for ra ...
, the station uses a play list from current and previous ''Hot30 Countdown'' music, which is then voted on by listeners at the ''Hot30 Jelli'' website. The station has since been renamed Choose The Hits.


References

{{Reflist


External links


'Royal hoax pranksters off air for good' news article ninemsnReplacement ''The Bump Show''
on
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Replacement ''The Bump Show'' websiteReplacement ''The Bump Show''
on
Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
1999 radio programme debuts Australian radio programs 1990s Australian radio programs 2000s Australian radio programs 2010s Australian radio programs Music chart shows 2012 controversies 2012 radio programme endings