After a two-and-a-half years, two elections, one Covid pandemic and having covered countless local stories in the Victorian regional city of Geelong, K rock and Bay FM newsreader Lui Zacher is hanging up the headphones.
As Lui embarks on a new, yet-to-be revealed adventure, he’s told Radio Today it’s been a privilege to be part of a station that lives and breathes Geelong:
“The highlight of my time at K rock and Bay 93.9 would definitely be the culture in the building, the comradery across all departments is something I’ve never really seen at any of the stations I’ve worked at before.”
“Everyone understands each other’s jobs, and chips in to help each other out, which makes work so much easier.”
“It comes with a passion for being live and local – which I know is a radio cliche – but there are not many regional radio stations that have the luxury of broadcasting local shows from 6am to 6pm throughout the week and live shows on the weekend, and of course, K rock Football broadcasting every Cats game live.”
A standout moment for Lui was eliciting one of the more memorable news grabs from Scott Morrison, when the former Prime Minister paid a visit to Geelong.
Lui landed quite the scoop when – in the tradition of the Big Banana and Big Pineapple – he asked the PM what he thought about the idea of the City of Geelong getting a ‘Big Ute’ on a pole.
“How good are utes?” responded the PM, warming to the idea.
In a LinkedIn post, Lui said he especially wanted to thank News Director Rob McLennan and former General Manager Andy Mathers for giving him a go.
“Along with Andy and Rob, I would like to acknowledge Rachel Patterson, who’s taken over as General Manager. She’s already achieved great things and will continue to push K Rock and Bay FM into the future. I’ll be cheering on from afar.”
“I’d also like to shout out to my colleagues Rebecca, Adam, Cheandre and Will, as well as the entire programming and sales staff who were all part of the wonderful culture at Geelong Broadcasters.
“It truly is the best radio station to work at in Australia, and will continue to punch above its weight.”