6PR’s Gareth Parker to take over news director role at Nine News Perth

WA journalist and radio host Gareth Parker is set to take on the role of news director in the Channel 9 Perth newsroom.

Parker announced the news on his morning breakfast radio show on Monday.

“I’ll be leaving 6PR breakfast ... I am incredibly excited and proud to say that I’ve accepted a new job as the director of news for Channel 9 Perth, which is a huge opportunity for me personally,” Parker told listeners.

“I am looking forward to getting up the hill to the top of the Terrace and getting stuck into the newsroom.”

A date for when Parker will start in the new role has not yet been announced.

“I am not going to disappear immediately, there is still a bit to sort out with a move like this,” he said.

6PR has taken a massive hit in some of this year’s radio ratings surveys.

Parker’s 6PR breakfast show was the biggest loser of the survey in May this year, down a whopping 1.5 points to hold just 8.5 per cent of the audience pie — well behind its AM rival ABC Perth.

Last month’s survey showed Parker’s show managed just an 8.6 per cent share, still over two points behind the ABC.

Parker is a previous winner of the WA Journalist of the Year award.

He worked for The West Australian for over a decade, including almost four years as the paper’s State political editor.

Parker also served as the paper’s Melbourne bureau chief and as online deputy editor.

He joined 6PR, which is owned by Channel Nine, in 2017.