Award-winning broadcaster Virginia Trioli has told her ABC Radio Melbourne Mornings audience that she will be leaving the show in two weeks to take up a new role hosting a prime-time ABC arts program.
The move will see Trioli host a high-profile interview series in 2024 that takes the audience into the world of major arts luminaries.
The respected journalist and broadcaster has been a prominent voice for the ABC’s local radio audiences in Melbourne since 2019 and has thanked listeners for their company each weekday, particularly given the challenges faced by the Victorian community during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Well-known to ABC audiences as the founding anchor of ABC News Breakfast for 11 years, as well as being a regular stand-in host on Q&A, Trioli will present her last Mornings program on ABC Radio Melbourne on Friday 15 September. Her replacement on Mornings will be announced tomorrow on her show.
The ABC’s Managing Director, David Anderson, said he welcomed Virginia’s move to the ABC’s expanded arts coverage next year. “Virginia has had a long association with the arts, stretching back to her early years in broadcasting. Her knowledge and undisputed passion for the arts will give our new arts line up a significant boost in 2024,” he said.
Mr Anderson said the ABC’s commitment to the arts remained unwavering. “No other Australian broadcaster offers the depth and breadth of arts coverage that the ABC does,” he said.
“Virginia’s new show will complement the already large suite of programs that focus on the arts which can be found on all our platforms – from ABC Radio, RN, ABC Classic and triple j to ABC TV and ABC iview,” said Mr Anderson.
“Being asked to present Mornings on this wonderful station has been a privilege and a joy,” said Virginia Trioli. “I started just as bushfire smoke filled our city, we then headed into the dreadful Black Summer fires and then straight into Covid, and this show and station turned up in every sense of that word for a Melbourne and Victorian community that needed companionship, information and compassion more than ever before. The huge audiences we drew attest to that.
“But after many years of daily broadcasting, and almost two decades of rising for the toughest alarms the ABC has to offer, life circumstances require me to work and live differently now. I’m thrilled to return to my first love of arts coverage and to be a part of the ABC’s new cultural strategy.”
“My thanks to the many ABC Melbourne colleagues I’ve been so lucky to work with – but most importantly, my deepest thanks always to our amazing radio audience who welcomed me so warmly: only we will ever understand how these last four years have felt,” said Trioli.
In 2024, the ABC is set to cement its status as Australia’s home of the arts, with exciting new offerings, increased investment and unrivalled coverage across screen, audio and digital. Trioli will begin her role as host of the new arts program next year.
“In 2024 we will be showcasing a brand-new series on ABC TV and ABC iview, celebrating some of the luminaries of the art world in an exciting new format. Virgina’s new show will form part of our expanded Arts coverage right across the ABC in 2024. Virginia will also continue with her wonderful Podcast You Don’t Know Me,” said ABC Chief Content Officer Chris Oliver-Taylor
“Virginia has been incredible since she returned to ABC Melbourne, a wonderful host, engaging and inquisitive interviewer, never afraid to ask the hard question and set the daily agenda, but as sad as we and all her audience are that Virginia has decided to step away from her Mornings show, we are thrilled that she is staying with us at the ABC,” said Oliver-Taylor.
“Virginia Trioli leaves an indelible mark on the Mornings program. Months after she took over as presenter, we were plunged into a pandemic with multiple lockdowns,” said Acting Manager for ABC Radio Melbourne, Mary-Jane Fenech.
“Virginia ensured that our audience was carefully guided throughout this period by giving them a voice in a time of uncertainty and delivering the facts with calm and consideration. She has always led the conversation in Melbourne with intelligence, integrity, and heart, whilst holding those in power to account.”
“We will greatly miss her at ABC Radio Melbourne but look forward to seeing what she does next on ABC TV,” said Fenech.
For more information about the ABC, visit: www.abc.net.au for details.
Image: Virginia Trioli – courtesy of The ABC