Hamish Macdonald is farewelling the ABC after 18 months with the national broadcaster in which he anchored flagship discussion program Q+A. He also regularly presented RN Breakfast, hosted the Reef Live event, filed for Foreign Correspondent and reported from the field during the 2020 bushfires.
Macdonald took over as Q+A host in late 2019 when Tony Jones stepped down after 11 years at the helm. He has overseen the move of Q+A to Thursday nights from its long-time home on Monday evenings, a change which has seen the show decline sharply in TV ratings and struggle to crack 300,000 viewers.
The first episode of Q+A in 2021 saw an audience of 280,000 Thursday night metro viewers. In the Monday slot a year prior, it was seen by 411,000 metro viewers.
Macdonald has only hosted sporadically in the last few months, with guest hosts such as Stan Grant, David Speers, and Virginia Trioli filling in. The last time Macdonald hosted the show was on June 24.
“I am enormously grateful for the opportunity I’ve been given to host Q+A and to work alongside wonderful, talented and passionate people,” said Macdonald. “I am really proud of what we’ve achieved together during these extraordinary times.
“I’d also like to thank the incredible Q+A audience for all they contribute to this program each week. It is, after all, their show. Their questions and stories from all corners of Australia are inspiring, revealing and clever – and it has been a privilege to receive and read them.
“I’m really excited to be moving on to a new opportunity, and working more with the ABC in the future.”
ABC’s director, news Gaven Morris thanked Macdonald for his time with the ABC.
“Everyone at the ABC thanks Hamish for the incredible job he has done,” he said. “At one stage during the lockdown he was presenting a live panel discussion program that wasn’t allowed to have either an audience or panellists in the studio. His experience and versatility came to the fore.
“Hamish has long been a part of the ABC family and we look forward to continuing that relationship when opportunities arise.”
With lockdowns continuing, Q+A will continue to be hosted where it’s possible to have a studio audience, with a rotation of ABC presenters.