Game Changers: Radio

Hamish Blake is a game changer. Alongside his best mate Andy Lee (and producer Sam Cavanagh), he is one half 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.

Hamish & Andy will wind up in 2017, and you can expect to see Hamish and Andy on TV in future.

1:27 Remembering his entry into radio

2:13 Talking about being a grown up

3:40 Joining the dots of the radio family tree: Hamish, Ryan Shelton, Sam Cavanagh, Jules Lund, Andy Lee and Wippa

6:40 Explaining his start in radio (SYN FM)

8:28 Adding Monty Diamond to the family tree

9:06 Discussing his first job at Total Skate in Sydney and working alongside other great employees like Tom Piotrowski

10:10 Recording a trial on a VHS and walking into a radio station with Andy and Ryan

11:27 Craig Bruce hearing the first Hamish and Andy trial and knowing that they have something

12:18 Describing his love for radio (but never dreaming that he would actually do radio as a career)

12:54 Designating Andy as the one who pushes for success

14:10 Describing his own career in cycling terms as 'slipstreaming' behind Andy

14:35 Pursuing his passion and deciding to delay uni

16:28 Saying goodbye to did Ryan Shelton

16:35 Giving advice for those who are starting out in radio

17:58 Acknowledging his apprenticeship with with Matt Tilley, learning to write and be part of a team

20:35 Craig describing Hamish and Andy’s desire to learn via air check

22:15 Explaining how knowing the “rules” of radio intimately allows you to work out how to break them

23:35  Craig Bruce on Hamish and Andy filling in on breakfast on 2Day in 2004

26:25 Explaining how big news stories can prevent you from doing what you’d like with your show

27:18 Explaining why Hamish and Andy wouldn't work on breakfast radio

27:58 Describing what happened when he was asked to go to Adelaide to do Breakfast

29:03 Defining the difference between Breakfast and Drive

29:20 Identifying the philosophy of Hamish and Andy

32:16  Discussing personal and professional growth between 2005 and 2010

33:01 Recognising the Commonwealth Games coinciding with their first Drive program was a gift

34:58 Explaining how they ended up doing 'Friday’s for Free'

37:02 Running with 'Pant’s Off Friday'

38:39 Reacting to Sam Cavanagh's thoughts on Game Changers: Radio in Season 1

39:40 Recognising the more fun you have in studio the funnier the program sounds

40:10 Sharing the most important lesson of how to make something work on air

41:07 Explaining the craft of comedy, and knowing that if the idea is funny enough it doesn’t matter where the gag ends

41:47 Recalling how Andy entered the Cleo Bachelor of the Year competition

42:30 Relying on the audience to work out where a story goes next

43:30 Craig Bruce talking about Hamish and Andy's unique on-air tone

45:00 Sharing philosophy on publicity and how some stories make it

46:00 Recognising the young man’s game of the Hamish and Andy show

46:43 Explaining the magic recipe of great radio

47:45 Recognising the importance of friendship in making their comedy work

48:40 Thanking those pivotal to their success

49:20 Discussing the ratings, starting on an 11 and going to 12.1

50:04 Expressing shock at how people said yes to their crazy ideas

52:27 Understanding the importance of loyalty

53:30 Explaining why the show ended in 2010

55:39 Describing the stress of trying to make TV and radio work at the same time

56:49 Explaining the new contract

1:00:20 Reaching the end of Hamish and Andy

1:02:50 Remembering wearing hairnets in a spa in the Chile desert

1:03:50 Creating new ideas

1:05:05 Asking whether or not it is going to be a good memory.