Perth Breakfast Host Turns His Alarm Clock Off

After more than four decades hosting Perth’s mix94.5 breakfast show, New Zealand-born radio announcer Fred Botica, 66, will be able to have a sleep-in ahead of a new shift in the afternoon drive program.

Botica is a former signwriter who “fell into radio by accident” in 1969 on pirate station Radio Hauraki and in 1986 moved to Perth where he dominated the ratings for 15 of his 21 years with mix94.5, rubbing shoulders with the likes of Sir Bob Geldof, Rod Stewart and Neil Young.

The famously camera-shy radio man – he conceals his face in photo shoots to maintain anonymity and because of a “fascination with the theatre of the mind” – plans to relaunch with renewed vigour.

“When you go on holiday, it’s amazing how the layers peel away from your day-to-day things and you can start thinking in fresh terms,” Botica says.