4BC Mornings announcer Bill McDonald has announced his decision to leave 4BC, telling his Brisbane audience at the end of today’s program.
This is what he told his listeners as he sprang the news on them:
“Look, we’re always full of surprises here on Mornings, we like to keep you guessing and here’s another one for you to wrap up the week. That’s it for me, I’m calling it quits, I’m signing off not just for the week but for the last time today. I had 30 years in television and after that I wanted to have a go at radio and I have loved the last five years here at 4BC with all the great people in the team.
“I Got to call five gold medals at the Paris Olympics with Mark Levy in Sydney. What a blast that was. Well, it’s a little bit of a fuse. I love the Olympics as you know, so after a break, that’s what I’m going to do, chase my Olympic dream. There’s so much to do in the next five years in this city to get them ready for the Olympic Games and I hope to play or contribute in some way to that.
“So that’s it for me everybody on 4BC Mornings, thank you very much, particularly to our team. Most of all a massive thank you to you for listening and being a much loved part of my life. So I’m going to love you and leave you. Enjoy the footy over the weekend. Go Broncos. Go Lions. Go well everyone. Goodbye from me.”
You can watch video of his sign-off on Facebook.
Bill McDonald is a media identity well-known to Brisbane residents. Early in his career he worked as a sports reporter, but took on a newsreader role with Ten Brisbane back in 2003. He stayed on-air at Ten for almost a decade before moving over to Seven in 2013 for another five years hosting the evening news on the rival network. McDonald joined the team at 4BC in 2020, hosting a variety of different shows before landing the Mornings role in 2023 when Nine Radio changed strategy and replaced a networked Ray Hadley with a local host.
In the most recent radio survey, the Mornings slot saw a lift from a 4.3 share in Survey 4 to a 5.5 share in Survey 5. A lift, but still behind its only other news talk rival ABC Brisbane with a 6.7 share (also up from the previous survey, then recording a 5.3 share). This is reflective of the stations market position and Mediaweek notes that McDonald’s audience was higher than 4BC’s 4.8 average share.
The digital team at Nine Radio were quick to remove McDonald from the 4BC website. By mid-afternoon, his profile was taken down.
4BC website Friday afternoon 26/9/25
The decision to remove his profile is in line with recent efforts to keep the website current following criticism early this week by former Courier Mail arts editor and onetime 4BC producer Brett Debritz in his Mister Brisbane Substack. He noted that the website was still promoting talent who had left the station last year.
Nine has informed Mediaweek that the Mornings seat will be filled until the end of the year by Jason Matthews, a producer who has been working at 4BC since October 2024.