Radio Is A Potentially Deadly Line Of Work…

Having spent a little bit of time behind a microphone myself, I can personally vouch for the fact that many radio hosts spend their time on air legitimately fearing for their lives. I remember the time I played a 12 minute extended remix of Meat Loaf’s ‘I Would Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That) and refused to leave the building for the next 12 hours lest an irate RRR listener, worked up by the Jim Steinman madness I’d inflicted upon their ears, glassed me outside the studio.

And it seems I’m not the only broadcaster in the country scared of being murdered on air – apparently there are some successful folk on the wireless (I’m talking about men and women who have an audience of more than ten people) who feel terrified too!

Which radio star refuses to broadcast from a studio with windows, for fear he’ll be shot by a sniper? The high-profile presenter’s paranoia was revealed by rivals when ABC Evenings’ Andrew Daddo was casually handing over to Nightlife host Tony Delroy.

An aside – there are Daddos working for ABC Local Radio? I love it!

They were discussing the lack of light in Delroy’s studio when Daddo’s last guest for the night, word expert Kel Richards, who had worked with Delroy at another station, remarked: “There was the staff on-air person who would never work in the studio with the window because he was convinced there was a sniper in the building opposite.”

The Daily Telegraph has helpfully compiled a list of potential sniper-phobes.

&middot John Laws
&middot Kyle Sandilands
&middot Mike Carlton
&middot Philip Clark
&middot Steve Price
&middot Ray Hadley
&middot Alan Jones
&middot Chris Smith
&middot Marty Sheargold
&middot David Oldfield

If you’d asked me a year ago who I thought it could be, I would have said Kyle Sandilands. His notorious caffeine binges would have left him feeling on edge and vaguely paranoid at the best of times, and when one considers his cock-jockey behaviour whenever a microphone is popped in front of him, it seems logical he’d have been the most deserving of an on air assassination attempt.

HOWEVER! Times have changed, kids, and I have apparently let Kyle’s oafish ways steal my heart a little, so I’m going to go with David Oldfield or perhaps Alan Jones.

I heard Alan Jones used to go to the industry showcases of Idol contestants (back in the day, mind you) and sit at a table by himself loudly muttering “What a tremendous evening for music! What terrific Australian talent!” to nobody in particular. But most people I know are liars, so it’s best to take everything I pass on with a pinch of salt.

MORE: Which radio star fears death by studio sniper?