The Today Network’s national drive time duo, Hamish Blake and Andy Lee are the most listened to radio show in Australia, holding the number one spot in each capital city market and reaching over 2.7 million listeners.
Since launching their national drive show on Fox FM in January 2006, Hamish & Andy have taken radio where no other show would dare to go. They boys have broadcasted live from Afghanistan with the Australian troops, from an open-air bus whilst driving around Sydney, they hit up Beijing for the Olympics, and created The People’s flavoured ‘Gravy’ potato chip.
They’ve pushed a car out of a plane, sailed a Tall Ship across the Bass Straight, embarked on three Caravan of Courage journey’s - most recently in America - perfected the art of ‘Ghosting’ and conducted what is believed to be the world’s first BYO Pool Party. The list of shenanigans goes on.
After just one ratings survey, Hamish & Andy claimed the number on FM position in their timeslot and to this day have held that position which is a testament to their broad appeal. Hamish & Andy met at Melbourne University in 2001 when they were both studying commerce – quite poorly. They fell in love with radio and promptly created their own community radio show plus a TV show called Radio Karate. In August 2006, Hamish & Andy launched Real Stories for Network Ten and became weekly regulars on Rove. This is when Hamish found his love for Ten’s Thank God You’re Here and both boys began appearing on Spicks and Specks. In their first year on Fox FM Hamish & Andy reinvented the possibilities of radio broadcasting and started an annual tradition with Caravan of Courage. Their initial adventure saw them drive a caravan across Australia from Perth to Brisbane in an attempt to ‘Hug Australia’, broadcasting from caravan parks in remote towns, and inviting listeners to join them along the way. In 2008 their second mission, ‘Who Dares Dar-Wins’ they headed straight up the middle of the nation, from Melbourne to Darwin. 2009 was the groundbreaking Caravan of Courage America, ‘Yes We Van’, starting in Miami and ending with a welcome party in LA.
Hamish & Andy have competed in the Australian Grand Prix Celebrity Challenge, were ‘Backstage Hosts’ for the 2007, 2008 and 2009 Annual TV Week Logie Awards, hosted the ARIAs in 2008, plus presented at the Victorian Bushfire Appeal concert Sound Relief in 2009. From hosting awards, to winning awards! The 2007 Australian Commercial Radio Awards (ACRAs) proved very successful, with Hamish & Andy winning Best Networked Program, and Best Music Special for their interview with Robbie Williams. At the 2008 ACRAs their show won Best On Air Team, Best Networked Program and Best On Air Promotion for Caravan of Courage 2. At the 2009 ACRAs they were again awarded Best On Air Team and Best Networked Program, plus claimed Best Station Promotion for their Tall Ships adventure. / In November 2008, Hamish & Andy launched their CD Unessential Listening. Their double album of radio show highlights and pranks went Platinum in the first month, and scored them an ARIA for Best Comedy Release. In 2009 Hamish & Andy syndicated their show to Tasmania and overseas for the first time to New Zealand and Dubai. They also exported a Christmas special to the UK. The boys are now syndicated to 37 regional stations in Australia and heard on a total of 62 stations in total.
To celebrate their new listeners in Tasmania, the boys took off on a voyage from Melbourne to Tasmania onboard a Tall Ship, broadcasting live from the middle of the Bass Strait each day. Hamish & Andy and their crew, plus eight lucky (or unlucky) listeners, fought eight meter waves and violent sea-sickness for seven days and only just made it to Van Diemen’s Land. Hamish & Andy’s Tall Ship Adventure was a huge success online, smashing attracting 9.3 million page impressions and over 100,000 unique browsers on Hamish & Andy’s web site during the week of their voyage.
Their Podcast is the number one Australian Radio Podcast and in March 2009 Hamish and Andy launched the very first radio iPhone Application, which saw their average 400,000 weekly Podcast downloads jump to 1 million downloads (WC 30 March 2009), and now sit on an average of 800,000 Podcast downloads per week. The official Hamish & Andy facebook page sees over half a million fans follow their antics. Wherever you are, you can tune into Hamish & Andy weekdays between 4pm and 6pm on Melbourne’s FOX FM, Sydney’s 2DAY FM, Brisbane’s B105, Adelaide’s SAFM, Perth’s 92.9, Canberra’s 104.7 and Newcastle’s NXFM or check out www.hamishandandy.com.au
