Christian radio says goodbye to three key players in production, tech and content.
Our sector is farewelling three long-serving members, as Phil McNab, Craig ‘Elmo’ Johnstone and Ash Wright all leave their roles in Christian radio for new horizons.
Phil McNab, a long-serving production manager with Hope Media Sydney, has said goodbye to his colleagues after working with Hope 103.2 for 21 years.
Prior to his long chapter with Hope, Phil worked in production roles with 2WS, 2GB and 2CH through the ‘80s and ‘90s, as well as working as a teacher with AFTRS.
Phil is now heading up his own company Sounds Kreative, which specialises in radio commercials, creative and production services.
Craig ‘Elmo’ Johnstone, who has worked for 10 years with Vision Christian Radio in Brisbane as radio content manager and sometime announcer / news reader, is returning to his homeland of New Zealand.
Elmo is joining the news organisation Stuff Ltd (stuff.co.nz) as the head of audio operations. According to Jocks Journal, Stuff has launched a new division to grow in the area of digital audio and is already making a splash, winning a prize at the New Zealand Podcast Awards.
Meanwhile in Perth, Sonshine 98.5 has farewelled Ash Wright after having him for 24 years as their broadcast tech director.
In that time Ash has been a key contributor to the Christian media industry, using his skills to assist many other stations around Australia, and developing IT solutions for broadcast engineering and listener engagement – including the highly popular ‘Profiler’ client and information management system.
Ash has accepted a position in Perth as senior software developer with the global media engagement software group, Broadcast Bionics.
Sonshine’s CEO Bevan Jones said while he was sad to lose such a key staff member, he was also proud to see Ash taking on bigger challenges.
“In fact I would have been upset with him if he didn’t take the global opportunity this role with Broadcast Bionics presents him,” said Bevan. “Thankfully for us, Ash has been training and equipping others in our organisation to take up his responsibilities.”
CMAA would like to extend our gratitude to Phil, Elmo and Ash for their years of dedication and invaluable service to the Christian media sector across the nation.