Sarah Macdonald will return to present the Afternoons show on 702 ABC Sydney starting in March 2027. She previously hosted the station’s Mornings show from 2023 to 2024 and now aims to honor her late friend James Valentine, who led the Afternoons program for over two decades. Macdonald intends to bring a unique perspective to the role while respecting Valentine's legacy, emphasizing listener-focused content that provides respite from the relentless news cycle.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-06,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
Radio presenter Sarah Macdonald is returning to 702 Sydney in March 2027 to host the Afternoons program, a role previously held by her friend James Valentine before his death in April. Macdonald, who hosted Weekend Nightlife and Evenings before taking over Mornings in 2023, was unexpectedly axed from her position last year. Since then, she has been podcasting and writing a book. The station's other presenters—Craig Reucassel on Breakfast, Hamish Macdonald on Mornings, and Thomas Oriti on Drive—are set to continue their roles next year, with more lineup announcements expected later in the year.
Written for “Sarah Macdonald Returns To Radio” on 2026-10-06,
grounded in this article and the 1 other(s) covering the same event.
In short:
Broadcaster Sarah Macdonald will return to presenting 702 ABC Sydney radio next year, taking on the Afternoons show.
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Macdonald → return → show
Macdonald says her late friend and former longtime Afternoons show presenter James Valentine will inspire her take on the show.
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friend → say → show
Macdonald will begin presenting the show from March 2027.
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Macdonald → begin → March
Broadcaster Sarah Macdonald will return to 702 ABC Sydney in 2027 to take over presenting the Afternoons show.
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Macdonald → return → show
Macdonald presented the station's Mornings show between 2023 and 2024 and now will return to helm the show previously hosted by her former colleague and dear friend, the late James Valentine.
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She will begin presenting the show from March next year.
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Macdonald said she wanted to present a show that honoured Valentine's legacy, as he presented the show with his unique listener-focused style for more than two decades.
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"He's going to be the patron saint of the show," Macdonald said.
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"But it won't be James's show, I'm not James."
As fate would have it, Macdonald's first published story was an interview with Valentine, who was hosting a children's TV show on the ABC at the time.
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She said she got to spend more of the last year with Valentine, who died through voluntary assisted dying in April this year, and has since changed her outlook on life.
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"He's always inspired me as a broadcaster and as a person," Macdonald said.
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"I'll be inspired by his way of navigating the afternoon as a different space to the rest of the day.
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"Sometimes the news cycle is relentless and it's good to kind of take a breather from it."
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In the last two years, Macdonald has become a spokesperson for the growing number of Australians in the so-called Sandwich Generation, who juggle caring for their ageing parents and adult children who are delaying moving out of home.
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She has hosted the Club Sandwich podcast and presented an episode of ABC TV's Compass about the issue, which included her experience looking after her 93-year-old mother Robin and children Fergus and Georgie.
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Macdonald described coming back to 702 ABC Sydney as a homecoming she never thought would happen.
"It's a different place, I'm a different person," Macdonald said.
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Macdonald started out at the ABC as a cadet in 1994 before becoming a reporter for Triple J in the Canberra Press Gallery, later becoming a presenter in 1998.
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She started presenting 702 ABC Sydney's Weekend Nightlife in 2017, before presenting Evenings in 2020 and moving to the Mornings show in 2023.
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ABC director of audio Ben Latimer said he was looking forward to hearing how Macdonald would make the Afternoons show her own.
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"We've heard just how much 702 ABC Sydney listeners have missed Sarah, and I'm delighted she has agreed to return," Mr Latimer said.
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"She knew James well, she knows the audience, and she understands what the program means to them."
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James O'Loghlin and Kathryn Robinson, who have presented the Afternoons show regularly throughout 2026, will continue to feature as voices at the station.
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Craig Reucassel will continue to present Breakfast in 2027, while Hamish Macdonald on Mornings and Thomas Oriti on Drive will also continue to present their shows on 702 ABC Sydney in 2027.
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Macdonald → continue → 2027
The Aporia
