Mike Carlton
Encyclopedia
Mike Carlton is an Australia
n media commentator and broadcaster. He formerly co-hosted the daily breakfast program on Sydney
radio station 2UE
with Peter FitzSimons
and later Sandy Aloisi. He is a columnist for The Sydney Morning Herald
, having been sacked from the position on 29 August 2008, for refusing to write his column during a strike by journalists at Fairfax Media
. He subsequently rejoined the newspaper in 2009.
Carlton is noted for his criticism of conservative public figures such as former Prime Minister John Howard
, former Foreign Minister Alexander Downer
and radio personality Alan Jones
, and for his criticism of conservative governments, including the United States' Bush
administration.
(ABC) in the mid 1960s. He has no tertiary education qualifications. His file reports as an ABC war correspondent
in Vietnam
earned him great admiration within the industry and a promotion to chief of the ABC’s news bureau in Jakarta
, Indonesia
. Garnering further accolades on his return with the pioneering 1970s ABC-TV current affairs program This Day Tonight
, he moved to his first radio program as host at Sydney commercial station 2GB
in the early 1980s. In the early 1990s he was a presenter for London's LBC
Newstalk 97.3FM, then under Australian ownership. At first he presented the drivetime
programme, but it was as presenter of The Morning Report breakfast programme that he came to prominence, winning a prestigious Sony Radio Academy Award
. This programme became required listening in London
and helped to change the station's financial fortunes. He later wrote a novel set at a London talk radio station called Off the Air, which became a best-seller in Australia in the late 1990s.
on the breakfast show in 2006. The ratings for the show gradually improved, however in mid-2007 they remained well behind the top two AM talk stations for the breakfast period
. Peter FitzSimons
left the show at the end of 2007, replaced by Sandy Aloisi from 2008. Carlton's former workmate, now rival, Alan Jones
continues to dominate the Sydney radio ratings
.
A long-running feud with fellow 2UE
broadcaster Stan Zemanek
, noted for his conservative views, had become a feature of Carlton's recent career prior to Zemanek's death in mid-2007. On 17 July 2007, Carlton made comments regarding his late rival. Responding to a listener's question as to why he wouldn't attend Zemanek's funeral, Carlton replied that it would be "an act of sheer hypocrisy ... I loathed him."
He continued: "I'd only go to check that he was actually dead." Carlton later apologised for the remarks, which had been the subject of criticism from fellow radio presenters and 2UE staff.
On 18 September 2009 Carlton retired from his long running 2UE Breakfast show after over 26 years on Australian morning radio citing an unwillingness to continue with early morning hours and a desire to spend more time with his family and newborn son. In his last two weeks on air Carlton received well wishes from former Prime Ministers Kevin Rudd and Paul Keating, Dame Edna Everage, Kathy Lette
, Michael Parkinson
, John Laws
and many others.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n media commentator and broadcaster. He formerly co-hosted the daily breakfast program on Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
radio station 2UE
2UE
2UE is a commercial radio station in Sydney, Australia owned by Fairfax Media. It is Sydney's and Australia's oldest commercial radio station, first broadcasting on 26 January 1925 on 1025 kHz AM before moving to 950 kHz in 1935 when virtually all Australian radio stations were assigned new...
with Peter FitzSimons
Peter FitzSimons
Peter John FitzSimons AM is an Australian journalist and author, based in Sydney. He is a former radio presenter and national representative rugby union player.-Early life:...
and later Sandy Aloisi. He is a columnist for The Sydney Morning Herald
The Sydney Morning Herald
The Sydney Morning Herald is a daily broadsheet newspaper published by Fairfax Media in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1831 as the Sydney Herald, the SMH is the oldest continuously published newspaper in Australia. The newspaper is published six days a week. The newspaper's Sunday counterpart, The...
, having been sacked from the position on 29 August 2008, for refusing to write his column during a strike by journalists at Fairfax Media
Fairfax Media
Fairfax Media Limited is one of Australia's largest diversified media companies. The group's operations include newspapers, magazines, radios and digital media operating in Australia and New Zealand. Fairfax Media was founded by the Fairfax family as John Fairfax and Sons, later to become John...
. He subsequently rejoined the newspaper in 2009.
Carlton is noted for his criticism of conservative public figures such as former Prime Minister John Howard
John Howard
John Winston Howard AC, SSI, was the 25th Prime Minister of Australia, from 11 March 1996 to 3 December 2007. He was the second-longest serving Australian Prime Minister after Sir Robert Menzies....
, former Foreign Minister Alexander Downer
Alexander Downer
Alexander John Gosse Downer is a former Australian Liberal Party politician who was Foreign Minister of Australia from March 1996 to December 2007, the longest-serving in Australian history...
and radio personality Alan Jones
Alan Jones (radio broadcaster)
Alan Belford Jones AO is an Australian radio broadcaster, former rugby union and rugby league coach and administrator.Jones hosts Sydney's most popular breakfast radio program, on radio station 2GB...
, and for his criticism of conservative governments, including the United States' Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
administration.
Early career
Carlton began his career as a giver and taker for the Australian Broadcasting CommissionAustralian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
(ABC) in the mid 1960s. He has no tertiary education qualifications. His file reports as an ABC war correspondent
Correspondent
A correspondent or on-the-scene reporter is a journalist or commentator, or more general speaking, an agent who contributes reports to a newspaper, or radio or television news, or another type of company, from a remote, often distant, location. A foreign correspondent is stationed in a foreign...
in Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
earned him great admiration within the industry and a promotion to chief of the ABC’s news bureau in Jakarta
Jakarta
Jakarta is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Officially known as the Special Capital Territory of Jakarta, it is located on the northwest coast of Java, has an area of , and a population of 9,580,000. Jakarta is the country's economic, cultural and political centre...
, Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
. Garnering further accolades on his return with the pioneering 1970s ABC-TV current affairs program This Day Tonight
This Day Tonight
This Day Tonight was an Australian Broadcasting Corporation current affairs program of the late 1960s and early 1970s.- Overview :...
, he moved to his first radio program as host at Sydney commercial station 2GB
2GB
2GB is a commercial radio station in Sydney, Australia broadcasting on 873 kHz, AM. It is one of Australia's most popular talk-back radio stations, and is the number one station in Sydney.-History:The station commenced broadcasting in August 1926...
in the early 1980s. In the early 1990s he was a presenter for London's LBC
LBC
LBC Radio operates two London-based radio stations, with news and talk formats. LBC was Britain's first legal commercial Independent Local Radio station, providing a service of news and information to London. It began broadcasting on 8 October 1973, a week ahead of Capital Radio...
Newstalk 97.3FM, then under Australian ownership. At first he presented the drivetime
DriveTime
DriveTime Automotive Group Inc., based in Phoenix, Arizona, is the largest used car seller and automobile finance company focusing on buyers with credit problems. The company has 88 dealerships in 36 U.S. metropolitan areas, and more than 2000 employees...
programme, but it was as presenter of The Morning Report breakfast programme that he came to prominence, winning a prestigious Sony Radio Academy Award
Sony Radio Academy Awards
The Sony Radio Academy Awards , started in 1983, are some of the most prestigious awards in the British radio industry. They are run by ZAFER Associates in association with the Radio Academy...
. This programme became required listening in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and helped to change the station's financial fortunes. He later wrote a novel set at a London talk radio station called Off the Air, which became a best-seller in Australia in the late 1990s.
Talk show host
In 1994 Carlton returned to Sydney to host a morning program on music station Mix 106.5. He then moved to the drive slot at 702 ABC Sydney. Building a large following and establishing a format that he has largely retained in the years since, he was then poached by commercial broadcaster 2UE. Carlton hosted 2UE's drivetime (3pm-6pm) program for a number of years, before moving to the breakfast timeslot (5:30am - 9am). In a move to improve ratings, 2UE management teamed Carlton with media personality, fellow Sydney Morning Herald columnist and longtime friend of Carlton's, Peter FitzSimonsPeter FitzSimons
Peter John FitzSimons AM is an Australian journalist and author, based in Sydney. He is a former radio presenter and national representative rugby union player.-Early life:...
on the breakfast show in 2006. The ratings for the show gradually improved, however in mid-2007 they remained well behind the top two AM talk stations for the breakfast period
. Peter FitzSimons
Peter FitzSimons
Peter John FitzSimons AM is an Australian journalist and author, based in Sydney. He is a former radio presenter and national representative rugby union player.-Early life:...
left the show at the end of 2007, replaced by Sandy Aloisi from 2008. Carlton's former workmate, now rival, Alan Jones
Alan Jones (radio broadcaster)
Alan Belford Jones AO is an Australian radio broadcaster, former rugby union and rugby league coach and administrator.Jones hosts Sydney's most popular breakfast radio program, on radio station 2GB...
continues to dominate the Sydney radio ratings
Audience measurement
Audience measurement measures how many people are in an audience, usually in relation to radio listenership and television viewership, but also in relation to newspaper and magazine readership and, increasingly, web traffic on websites...
.
A long-running feud with fellow 2UE
2UE
2UE is a commercial radio station in Sydney, Australia owned by Fairfax Media. It is Sydney's and Australia's oldest commercial radio station, first broadcasting on 26 January 1925 on 1025 kHz AM before moving to 950 kHz in 1935 when virtually all Australian radio stations were assigned new...
broadcaster Stan Zemanek
Stan Zemanek
Stan Zemanek was an Australian radio broadcaster who presented a popular night time show on 2UE Sydney and which was networked across parts of Australia via Southern Cross....
, noted for his conservative views, had become a feature of Carlton's recent career prior to Zemanek's death in mid-2007. On 17 July 2007, Carlton made comments regarding his late rival. Responding to a listener's question as to why he wouldn't attend Zemanek's funeral, Carlton replied that it would be "an act of sheer hypocrisy ... I loathed him."
He continued: "I'd only go to check that he was actually dead." Carlton later apologised for the remarks, which had been the subject of criticism from fellow radio presenters and 2UE staff.
On 18 September 2009 Carlton retired from his long running 2UE Breakfast show after over 26 years on Australian morning radio citing an unwillingness to continue with early morning hours and a desire to spend more time with his family and newborn son. In his last two weeks on air Carlton received well wishes from former Prime Ministers Kevin Rudd and Paul Keating, Dame Edna Everage, Kathy Lette
Kathy Lette
Kathy Lette is an Australian author who has written a number of bestselling books.Born in Sydney's southern suburbs, she first attracted attention in 1979 as the coauthor of Puberty Blues, a strongly autobiographical, proto-feminist teen novel about two 13-year-old southern suburbs girls...
, Michael Parkinson
Michael Parkinson
Sir Michael Parkinson, CBE is an English broadcaster, journalist and author. He presented his interview programme, Parkinson, from 1971 to 1982 and from 1998 to 2007.- Early life :...
, John Laws
John Laws
Richard John Sinclair "John" Laws, CBE , an Australian radio presenter, sometimes known as Lawsie, was from the 1970s until his retirement in 2007, the host of a hugely successful morning radio program, which mixed music with interviews, opinion, live advertising readings and listener talkback...
and many others.