{"id":2262,"date":"2026-02-03T14:42:02","date_gmt":"2026-02-03T03:42:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/radioindustrynews.com.au\/?p=2262"},"modified":"2026-02-03T14:42:02","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T03:42:02","slug":"james-valentine-farewells-702-abc-radio-sydney-after-25-years-on-afternoons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/radioindustrynews.com.au\/index.php\/2026\/02\/03\/james-valentine-farewells-702-abc-radio-sydney-after-25-years-on-afternoons\/","title":{"rendered":"James Valentine farewells 702 ABC Radio Sydney after 25 years on Afternoons"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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After an extraordinary 25 years behind the mic on Afternoons<\/em>, James Valentine will farewell 702 ABC Radio Sydney with a special two\u2011hour retrospective program this Friday afternoon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI won\u2019t be coming back this year to the microphone and the Afternoons program\u201d James said \u201cit\u2019s time for me to retire\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis decision has been hard for me to make but I need to focus on getting better and  being with family and friends and making sure I\u2019m giving my health my best shot.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis coming Friday, Jen Fleming, long-time producer of the program and myself want to present a retrospective; the best of Afternoons, to capture what we\u2019ve made in those 25 years.\u201d James said as he announced the program on Monday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Across the week, James\u2019 loyal audience is invited to share favourite memories, moments and stories on the 702 ABC Radio Sydney Facebook page. These will be reflected on during Friday\u2019s special broadcast as the station celebrates the legacy of one of its most loved presenters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ABC Managing Director Hugh Marks said James\u2019 contribution to the ABC has been remarkable and enduring. \u201cJames is one of the great creative forces in Australian broadcasting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe has an extraordinary gift for turning everyday moments into joyful, smart and surprising radio, and the connection he has built with his audience over decades simply cannot be overstated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re proud to celebrate everything he has brought to the ABC, and we wish him strength and support as he focuses on his health.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

James began his media career in the mid\u20111980s, hosting cartoons on ABC TV\u2019s The Afternoon Show<\/em>. He went on to work across several ABC television programs before moving into radio at 666 ABC Radio Canberra. He then moved onto the Mornings<\/em> program in Sydney.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2001, James found what he describes as his true home at the ABC when he began presenting Afternoons<\/em> on 702 ABC Radio Sydney, then known as 2BL. He has held the role for more than two decades, with a brief detour presenting Breakfast<\/em> in 2022 and 2023. In 2024, James announced he would be stepping away from the program to receive treatment for oesophageal cancer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The James Valentine Afternoons: Retrospective<\/em> special program will air on 702 ABC Radio Sydney at 12.30pm AEDT on Friday 6 February, and across NSW at 1.30pm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

James will also step away from his ABC Jazz program Upbeat<\/em>, where he has shared his passion for jazz with audiences since the program launched in 2020.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After an extraordinary 25 years behind the mic on Afternoons, James Valentine will farewell 702 ABC Radio Sydney with a special two\u2011hour retrospective program this Friday afternoon. \u201cI won\u2019t be coming back this year to the microphone and the Afternoons program\u201d James said \u201cit\u2019s time for me to retire\u201d. \u201cThis decision has been hard for me … Continue reading “James Valentine farewells 702 ABC Radio Sydney after 25 years on Afternoons”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2262","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-australian"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/radioindustrynews.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2262","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/radioindustrynews.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/radioindustrynews.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/radioindustrynews.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/radioindustrynews.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2262"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/radioindustrynews.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2262\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2264,"href":"http:\/\/radioindustrynews.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2262\/revisions\/2264"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/radioindustrynews.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2262"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/radioindustrynews.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2262"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/radioindustrynews.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2262"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}