From making $60 a day buying lunches and answering phones to the top of Sydney airwaves, Nina Hendy reports on the rise of Ben Fordham.
Nine Radio’s Ben Fordham entered the year by retaining the title of #1 breakfast show in Sydney. According to the second GfK metro ratings survey of 2022, 2GB's market share was up 0.5% to 14.3%, while breakfast held steady at 18.9%.
The secret weapon, he reveals, is his mobile phone.
Even the briefest chance meeting in a coffee shop ends up saved as a contact. He uses the key words function to give these often brief interactions some context.
It’s been a godsend for the busy radio host scrambling to line up last minute talent. For example, calling on a dog handler he met for 15 minutes more than five years ago. “Luckily, I was able to track him down when I needed a dog handler on air at short notice. When I put in enough keywords, the people I need pop up in my phone.”
A career in media seemed likely early on for Fordham. His parents ran a successful PR firm from home. “We were exposed to their strong work ethic from a really young age. And we were always listening in on a lot of their conversations and negotiations, which was an accidental education based on the fact that it was happening around us,” he says.
When his father (who passed away late 2019) had to go into radio stations, Fordham would tag along. He was hooked.
“I was fascinated by it, and I ended up doing work experience with Alan Jones when I was 15 or so. I had never heard so much bad language in all of my life. Not from Alan, but from the others who worked there. It was unlike anything I had seen before. I knew I couldn’t just go back to school and pretend like none of this had happened.”
Fordham asked for more work experience, and made himself useful where he could. He was offered a Sunday job in the sports department a year later, making $60 a day to buy lunches and answer the phones. “I was the shit-kicker in the radio station.”
He was learning from some of the best radio reporters in the country, writing stories and filing reports from across Sydney. After a year of working Sundays, he felt he had a handle on what was required of a radio producer.
Before long, he landed a cadetship in the 2UE newsroom after high school. His first boss in the sports department was Ray Hadley, who is now his colleague on 2GB. Fordham was in his element.
He spent some time in Canberra as a political correspondent at 21, fuelling his love of politics before being offered a job at Sky News, then Channel Nine in 1999, joining Nine News and Today as a reporter.
Fordham is still employed by Channel Nine, hinting that something was in the pipeline. He recently announcing that he won’t be returning to Nine hit series Ninja Warrior. “I was filming from 7pm through until 3am and then heading straight into the radio station. For the sake of my own mental fitness, I needed to give myself a bit of a reality check,” he says.
He’s constantly on the lookout for opportunities that lend themselves to forming a partnership between an advertiser and a radio show. “If there’s someone I know and I’ve built a good relationship with through the radio show, then it stands to reason that I would try and connect the two,” he says.
He recounts a story about ‘a mate with a gourmet butchery’ dropped off a ham to Joe Hockey’s house as a way to connect the two. When Joe discovered that this was an award-winning butchery who was a big promoter of Australian produce, he invited him to cook for dignitaries at an upcoming event. Next, he was invited to cook a barbecue at a golf course in New York, where he met Gina Reinhardt. More doors opened for the butcher.
“I make no apology for the fact that I look out for my advertisers. I’ve built great relationships with many of my advertisers. The longer someone advertises with you, the more you get to understand their business, and the more you get to know them.”
Fordham doesn’t pocket anything from brand alignments he brings to 2GB. “There’s no payments involved here. Obviously the radio station pays me based on my performance, and part of that performance would be ratings, and the other part of the performance is revenue.
“I’m connecting people all the time because I like the person involved, and I think they’re really good at what they do. I’ve always done it. The golden rule for me is just to be yourself.”
The goal is to bring value to both parties. “When you’re running a business, you can’t afford to be wasting money on ads. Ads need to work, and connect. You’ve got to make sure you’re looking after the people who are investing their money with you when you’re in media. No one can afford to be throwing money away on things that aren’t going to lead to a return,” he says.
These days, Fordham is making plenty of headlines of his own. And not all of them are positive. Like the time he fronted court when working for A Current Affair after he ‘displayed an appalling lack of judgment’ when breaching the Listening Devices Act.
He says: “I think Australians like people who’ve got some colour. Although I’m sure my bosses were thinking why did you do that?”
He rolls with the punches at times, and isn’t afraid to show emotion on air. When he was offered $50,000 during a flood telethon to pash Grant Denyer on air in March this year, he didn’t hesitate, making headlines around the world. “What am I going to do? Am I going to wonder what my bosses will think or how it’s going to affect my image? I exercised my judgment and I pashed him.”
When asked whether he’s chasing a key demographic, he says no. “I just want everyone to listen. I want the youngest boy and the oldest lady in Australia to listen in. That’s the ultimate goal for me.”
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