EXCLUSIVECrushing blow for Erin Molan as Sky News Australia makes big decision about her TV show - after her breakfast radio program was axed

EXCLUSIVE

Erin Molan will part ways with Sky News Australia this week after the political news channel pulled the pin on her Friday night public affairs program. 

Daily Mail Australia can reveal the political commentator and one-time Channel Nine NRL Footy Show host has already hosted her final show at the News Corp-owned station and will officially finish up at the channel on Friday afternoon. 

Although network insiders suggested Molan was caught off-guard by the decision to cancel her show, Sky News Australia insisted they had ended their partnership with the host on amicable terms.   

Erin has been a fantastic member of the Sky News team over the past three years, and has worked incredibly hard for her viewers, passionately advocating on the issues close to her heart, a spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia.

We’d like to thank Erin for her contribution to the network.

Despite the fond farewell, Molan was believed to be a no-show at the stations low-key Christmas party on Wednesday afternoon. 

Daily Mail Australia has confirmed she presented her hard-hitting weekly news program, Erin, for the final time on Friday, November 29.

She will not be returning to the airwaves at Sky News Australia nor given the opportunity to farewell viewers.

Sky News Australia presenter Erin Molan will part ways with the political channel this Friday after the News Corp-owned station decided to can her weekly news and current affairs show

Network colleague James Macpherson featured on the program instead of Molan last week but viewers were told he was just filling in for her and the program was still billed as Erin. 

The decision to cancel Molans show comes just months after the breakfast radio program she co-hosted alongside comedians Dave Hughes and Ed Kavalee was scrapped by Southern Cross Austereos struggling 2DayFM station in August. 

The trio were replaced by the Hit Networks Jimmy Smith and Nath Roye, who agreed to bring their night-time The Jimmy and Nath Show to breakfast for the remainder of the year.

The cancellation of Molans two key hosting roles is understood to have come at a significant financial cost to the veteran journalist. 

Sources said she had been pulling in about $200,000 a year for her 2DayFM radio gig and a further $150,000 a year from her job with Sky News Australia. 

The 41-year-old journalist joined Sky News Australia in July 2022 after parting ways with Nine after 11 years at the network the previous December.

She debuted with her own program, simply named Erin, at 7pm on July 19, initially replacing fellow Sky presenter Sharri Markson on Sunday nights while she was on maternity leave, before her show was moved to 5pm on Fridays. 

Explaining her decision to change channels, Molan said she had been keen to break away from sports broadcasting and move into hard-hitting political coverage. 

Molan had been with the station for almost three years after defecting from Nine

Just because I can be silly and funny and all of those things, does not mean that I dont also have a real passion for politics or that I cant be credible in other spaces, Molan told The Daily Telegraph at the time.

I have always deeply loved news and it has always been my passion, I have just been waiting for an opportunity to delve into that.

As my show launches, I think that the perception that maybe I am just that sports chick or that chick from The Footy Show will change, Molan continued.

Being a host on television, it doesnt really matter what the subject matter is.

I have done entertainment, news bulletins, sport, Ive hosted ridiculous segments on The Footy Show.

None of those things make me any less legitimate in another space. The ability to do a lot of different things, to laugh at yourself and be silly but also to be serious and credible when required, I dont think any of those things are mutually exclusive. 

After cancelling her breakfast show, Southern Cross Austereo chief content officer Dave Cameron, who oversees the 2DayFM line-up, said the station would be announcing a full-time replacement in due course. 

It is understand Smith and Roye have since agreed to continue on in the timeslot on a permanent basis. 

Molans 2DayFM breakfast show, alongside comedians David Hughes and Ed Kavalee, was cancelled in August

The departing hosts, Molan, Hughes and Kavalee, issued a joint statement at the time thanking their audience for tuning in throughout their time on air. 

Weve loved our time together on 2DayFM Breakfast, however, due to some of our families living in different cities we are unable to commit to 2025, they said. 

So with a heavy heart we are moving aside so 2DayFM can find the team to take them forward in Breakfast

We are so grateful to Sydney for their support, and to double the number of listeners in three years is something we are immensely proud of, and we will miss each and every one of them.

The decision to axe the show soon proved a flashpoint after Molans News Corp colleague Annette Sharp penned an opinion piece in Sydneys Saturday Telegraph claiming that the decision to pull the pin on the hosts had been coming since October 2023.

With the expensive Hughes/Kavalee/Molan radio show struggling to make inroads in the breakfast slot and shedding about a third of its audience in the fourth and latest radio ratings (dropping from a 5 share to a 3.6 and finishing sixth behind 2GB, KIIS, WS, ABC, Smooth and Triple M), the writing was on the wall for the breakfast team whose appeal with 2DAYs traditional female audience has always been in question, Sharp wrote on August 10.

Hughes, Kavalee and Molan were robbed of a chance to farewell their audience as 2DAY swiftly switched to a music-only format on Thursday, which some radio insiders predict may attract better ratings.

The story attracted an almost instant rebuke from Molan, who remains a columnist with the Daily Telegraph, as she returned fire on the papers website less than four hours later. 

Sky News Australia host James Macpherson fills in for Molan on her show, Erin, last Friday

Dear Annette, she wrote in an open letter. 

Thank you so much for the interest you continue to show in my career. Just a couple of things, and I wont take long here, but when you dont give me a right of reply Im forced to do it myself.

Just a couple of facts you conveniently omitted in your piece… In 3 years we took our Sydney breakfast radio show from less than 200,000 listeners to over 400,000 listeners - that is incredible growth.

My weekly 5pm show, Erin, on Sky News is regularly the number 1 rated show on the network on a Friday.

I also write a column for this newspaper and for Stellar Magazine… both seem to be fairly well received.

Southern Cross Austereo asked me to stay - I said no. I may not be everyones cup of tea, clearly Im not yours, and thats ok but please reach out in future when you are unsure of facts.

Despite encouraging journalists to reach out to her for comment, Molan did not respond when approached by Daily Mail Australia on Wednesday.