Rove's sweet reason for moving to breakfast radio

It’s been six years since Rove McManus had an Australian hosting gig.

Given that he has spent the last four years living between Los Angeles and Australia, news that the long-time TV presenter accepted a position on Sydney’s airwaves came as quite a shock to those within the industry.

But agreeing to head 2Day FM’s breakfast show alongside The Bachelorette’s Sam Frost is a decision he made with his young family in mind, the 41-year-old told News.com.au.

Trading in long flights back and forth for 4am wakeups, the popular media personality is wanting to settle into a less chaotic, family-oriented lifestyle with his wife Tasma and one-year-old daughter, Ruby.

“It’s the absolute perfect timing.

“The network [Southern Cross Austereo] reached out with the opportunity to come in and talk about the idea of doing something with them and the more I thought about it, the more I liked it.

“I’m looking to have a bit more stability than just sort of ping-ponging all over the world.

“With a young family it kind of felt like it would be nice to just put down some roots.”

Rove and his new co-host Sam Frost certainly have their work cut out for them with their show’s launch just a week away on November 9. Although Rove is a seasoned TV professional, neither he nor Frost have experience in hosting radio, making their impending debut even more daunting.

There’s no doubt it’ll be a tough gig, lining up against radio giants Fitzy and Wippa, and Kyle and Jackie O.

“What I want is to have a fun show, a show that feels like you’re listening to friends. And just to connect with the audience.

“I’ve got a lot of friends out there who will soon be competition but that’s the nature of the beast. But I genuinely feel there is an audience out there, despite the fact it is a very tough market, there’s still a place for us to find our voice among that and for it to be something that people are receptive to and it works in our favour.

“I’m very aware that there is no tougher market than breakfast radio in Sydney but that’s part of what makes it exciting.”

Thanks to everyone for the warm welcome to the Sydney radio airwaves. Equal parts excited and terrified. And thanks to fan Rosie for putting this together.

A photo posted by Rove McManus (@rovemcmanus) on Oct 6, 2015 at 2:12pm PDT

The pairing of Frost and McManus does seem a little out of left field, but 2Day FM is throwing its weight behind the star-studded pair following the ratings slump that has plagued the station since the 2013 departure of Kyle Sandilands and Jackie Henderson.

Promising lineups of Sophie Monk, Jules Lund, Mel B and Merrick Watts in 2014, and Dan Debuf and Maz Compton this year proved unsuccessful in reclaiming the station’s former top spot.

Perhaps McManus and Frost will be the unlikely pair to turn things around.

Will you be tuning in to Rove and Sam Frost’s show?