Kate Ritchie is making a major career move as Nova Entertainment unveils a significant shake-up across its Sydney Breakfast and national Drive line-ups.
Announced on Friday, Nova revealed that from Monday, February 9, Kate will move to co-hosting Fitzy, Wippa & Kate as a national Drive show, marking her return to the prime afternoon radio slot alongside Ryan ‘Fitzy’ Fitzgerald and Michael ‘Wippa’ Wipfli.
Speaking on the new Drive program, which will be broadcast live from 4pm to 6pm every weekday across Australia, Kate said, “I’ve absolutely loved my time with the boys on Sydney Breakfast and I’m thrilled we now get to share our show with all of Australia. My morning alarm is ready and waiting to be set for packing school lunch and doing drop-off again with the beauty of entertaining our loyal listeners on their drive home. It’ll be an exciting evolution for all of us.”
The move from Breakfast to Drive comes as part of a broader revamp at Nova, which also sees chart-topping artist and television presenter Ricki-Lee Coulter step into the Sydney Breakfast slot alongside award-winning broadcaster Tim Blackwell. Their show, Ricki-Lee & Tim, will broadcast live from Sydney from 6am to 9am each weekday.
As for Ricki-Lee and Tim’s former co-host, Joel Creasey, the network confirmed he will be moving to a new and “exciting” Nova project which is yet to be revealed. However, rumours have circulated he could be given his own full-time gig in Perth.
Nova Entertainment described the changes as the right moment for a “new sound” across key timeslots, with Group Programming Director Brendan Taylor praising the strength of the new line-ups.
“Ricki-Lee, Tim & Joel have been a consistent number one show in their timeslot, and now is the right moment for a new sound for Sydney,” Taylor said. “Ricki-Lee and Tim are perfectly positioned to bring something exciting to Sydney Breakfast.”
Following the Drive show each weekday, Ricki-Lee and Tim will also host a one-hour national program from 6pm.
The move is set to be one of the most talked-about radio shifts of the year.
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