Perth radio industry rocked by 96FM breakfast host Dean ‘Clairsy' Clairs announcing departure on air today

West Australian

2 days ago

Bumper stickers all over town used to proclaim '96FM rocks Perth', but it was the radio industry itself that was rocked today when 96FM breakfast host Dean Clairs announced on air he was walking away from the coveted gig.
One half of the high-rating Clairsy & Lisa Show, Clairs has been a fixture on the airwaves in this State for more than four decades, but revealed in an exclusive interview with The West Australian it was finally time to unplug the mic.
'I've done breaky for 12 years straight – starting with seven and a half years at Mix 94.5 and four and a half years at 96FM – and I don't think I've got anything to prove,' he said.
Just like footy players, radio hosts very rarely get to leave on their own terms in what is a famously cutthroat industry, where careers live and die on the basis of ratings surveys.
So, in footy terms, what Clairsy has managed to do today is hang up the boots, fresh from kicking a goal after the siren to win the grand final.
'I'll take that. That works for me,' he laughs.
'Why not do this … while the station's f...ing rocking, when things are good … and what an absolute privilege to be able to go out when it's rating No.1.'
The success of 96FM in the ratings doesn't come without sacrifice, and Clairsy admits the 3.45am starts of a breakfast radio host started to hit different when he was on the wrong side of 60.
He says he's been fortunate to have the indefatigable Lisa Shaw as co-host since arriving at 96FM and reveals he and Shaw will announce his replacement on the show on Friday.
Clairsy's career in radio began in the 1980s, when, as a 17-year-old, he approached industry legend Gary Roberts for a job.
'I was banging on a voice trying to sound deeper to impress Mr. Roberts, because I was so scared I was actually shitting myself,' he recalls.
The advice he received was to head bush and get some experience, so the teen Clairsy found himself on the wireless in Merredin, where his first shift fell on the night Australia won the America's Cup.
As fate would have it, Clairsy would eventually end up working for Roberts, when the radio boss hired him to co-host 96FM's breakfast show with Shaw, following the legendary Fred Botica's retirement in 2021.
Now it's Clairsy's turn to pull the pin, although he's nearly had as many farewells as Farnsy at this point.
The host seemingly retired back in 2020, when he announced his departure from Mix 94.5's breakfast show.
And there's a good chance this latest departure won't be permanent, too.
'I love broadcasting, and I'll miss talking to listeners and stuff, so it doesn't mean I won't do that ever again, but I'm just not getting up early,' he admits.
Listeners shouldn't be surprised if they hear Clairsy's velvety voice filling the odd shift at the station if the opportunity arises, and the self-confessed music nerd hopes to indulge his passion for music with a podcast on the subject.
'I don't believe in the word retirement,' he acknowledges.