Crikey hears that Gail Bartel has quit as manager of ABC Radio 891 Adelaide – reportedly headed to Australia’s lead contamination capital, the South Australian regional centre of Port Pirie, to work in community relations for miner and smelter Zinifex. Program director Graham Bennett will be filling her shoes in the interim, but speculation has already begun on the new, excitingly dumbed-down drive program on 891.

The new format is scarcely a rating winner. In this week’s figures, it just missed out by being 891’s lowest scorer by 0.1% in a reasonable survey for the ABC. Host Grant Cameron is scoring more than 2% below the audience his predecessor won in the last 2004 survey. Then again, no-one gets sacked in their first year at the ABC.