The ABC's Something In The Air goes part way there. Raw FM went some of the way and the US sitcom NewsRadio had lots of fun with the concept. Insider is talking about TV shows with a radio announcer as the central character. The latest is to be Shock Jock, which will screen on Foxtel's TV1.
TV1's outgoing chief executive, Marie Jacobsen, says the central character will be a cross between New York's infamous Howard Stem and The Larry Sanders Show.
Shock Jock will fulfil part of TV1's licence charter to provide original Australian material as part of its schedule, and is the brainchild of comic performer Tim Ferguson (Ten's Unreal TV).
When Insider read the synopsis, which talks about its lead character, Barry Gold, being a talk radio sensation who has risen from country jock to big smoke pop icon in the 1980s (a time of greed, high-flying egos, long lunches and phenomenal music), I thought Ferguson had written a role for himself. But, no, he will play a supporting character - the weatherman - and act as co-writer and associate producer.
As well as this new sitcom, TV1, the definitive retro channel on Foxtel and Austar, is also planning a Tonight Show with Bob Downe as host.
