Game Changers: Radio

Andy Lee is a game changer. Alongside Hamish Blake (and producer Sam Cavanagh), he is half of the most successful show on FM in Australian radio history, Hamish & Andy.

Hamish and Andy started as a development show on Fox in 2001, and over the next four years refined their act on late nights and weekends before moving into the national drive slot on the Today network in 2006. Their ratings were astronomical. Highlights included 25 per cent of the Melbourne Drive market and a national audience of more than 2 million. With ground breaking ideas - like the Caravan of Courage and the Tall Ships Adventure - Hamish and Andy established themselves as more than just a radio show: they are one of the most potent media brands in Australia.

They have announced 2017 will be their last year on radio.

3:40 Talking about his TV project with Hamish Blake

4:25 Starting a radio show with his sister 

5:46 Being a jock and a nerd at school

6:50 Doing things because he likes them, not because he is good at them

7:20 Dropping  out of accounting at university 

8:50 Meeting Hamish

11:23 Knowing Hamish is the funniest person on the planet

12:57 Defining the program: not to be funny but to have fun

13:40 Describing Hamish as incredibly intelligent and tremendously dumb

15:28 Commercialising a friendship

17:37 Explaining how the relationship changed over time

18:50 Understanding ratings (and why they don’t matter)

19:26 Being rejected – all the shows that rejected their demo

20:04 Learning, and more learning  

20:57 Loving an air check

21:39 Defining and refining the craft

23:10 Reflecting on 10 years on one show

24:39 Making the unimportant important: Push the Button Pete 

27:22 Hosting a two-hour radiothon program

29:15 Being naive

30:16 Craig describing the competitive Drive market

31:50 Believing that pop music becoming popular contributed to their success

34:06 Describing the role of Program Managers on their development

35:57 Starting Pants-Off Friday

37:31 Explaining the relationship between talent and company

38:26 Why he won’t take no for an answer

39:20 Understanding the impact of 'no'

40:30 Craig discussing the influence the 'hand of God' had on the program

41:40 Understanding that failure can be funny too

44:22 Building trust with the audience through shenanigans

47:09 Picking experiments because they genuinely want to know what will happen

49:11 Remembering the dangerous pranks

52:50 Who will be the next Hamish & Andy?

54:38 What skills will new talent need to make it in radio/media these days?

56:11 What will Andy miss about the radio?