The show must go on

By Sue Javes

Todd McKenney's future at Mix FM was on a knife-edge when his misadventure at a park in Rushcutters Bay first made headlines. The initial sentiment at the upper levels of the Australian Radio Network was to suspend the budding new breakfast star, at least until his court case on possession of a prohibited drug was decided.

A passionate call of support from McKenney's on-air partner, Sonia Kruger, to chief executive Bob Longwell may just have swung the balance. Longwell's decision to back McKenney for now appears to have been vindicated by a strong flow of calls and emails from supportive listeners.

It's an interesting question as to when a radio identity's public transgressions or embarrassments are serious enough to justify them being taken off air. DMG Radio tore up Matthew Newton's contract within 24 hours of learning that he had been accused of assaulting his former girlfriend, Brooke Satchwell (his subsequent conviction was overturned on appeal). Perhaps it was an easier decision given that case involved an allegation of domestic violence and Newton's show on Nova had not even started.

2UE stuck by Alan Jones 20 years ago when he was arrested in a London toilet. The indecency charge was later dropped and Jones ended the year with a larger audience than at the beginning. The same station was less tolerant of now-deceased talk host Andrew Harwood in 1996 when he was accused of cashing his dead mother's pension cheques. The charges were later withdrawn but it took years for Harwood to get another radio show.

Media strategy consultant Anthony McClelland believes ARN was right to keep McKenney on air. "There should be a presumption of innocence, as for any Australian," he says. "If they had suspended him, it would have implied he was guilty of the allegation."

McClelland says the public is more likely to overlook misbehaviour if no one was hurt in the incident. "He hasn't been charged with assault or brawling. The only things hurt appear to be a fence, his forehead and his reputation."

But McClelland believes McKenney could suffer a public backlash if his explanation about spiked drinks and planted drugs is proved false in court. "If this turns all pear-shaped and he's found to have lied and to be guilty of the charge, it will come back to bite him and the station on the bum."

Many of the FM radio stations pride themselves on outlandish behaviour but Mix's internal mantra is "living the family feel-good life". Executives are on tenterhooks that having finally established a breakfast show with strong potential, they may see it forced off air prematurely.

Mix's rivals haven't exactly held back. Merrick and Rosso suggested McKenney could host Dancing On Ice next year while Wil and Lehmo preferred You're Convulsing With The Stars . Hamish and Andy asked callers to ring in with some of their own crazy excuses when seemingly caught red-handed. Akmal Saleh was off air on Tuesday but his co-hosts kept up reports that he had been sighted, unconscious, in various parks around Sydney.

"He's just our Wayne Carey or Lindsay Lohan for this week," says Wil Anderson. "It'll be forgotten as soon as Corey Delaney has another house party."

Jokes aside, Anderson hopes it won't affect McKenney's career, whether his story is true or not. "If they start taking people out of the entertainment industry for taking recreational drugs, well good luck - you'll have three people left."