It’s not often an entire city hears one voice for breakfast every weekday for 32 mango seasons, but Townsville is different, and so is that voice because it’s Australian radio legend Steve ‘Pricey’ Price OAM. +After being on Townsville radio spanning over five decades, 32 of those years on breakfast radio (4TO which then became 102.3 MMM Townsville), Pricey announced on May 8 to his listeners that he will retire at the end of the year.

In typical Pricey form however, he won’t stay away long, he’ll be back in 2024 to work on some special projects across the region; he’ll just be able to stay in his hammock a little longer every morning! 

Pricey said it best, “This colourful lover of North Queensland, this rather strange character, this Pricey, has decided it’s time to go searching for Steve. It’s not retirement, its rejuvenation. I will never understand how I’ve been so truly blessed to be here.”

There is only one Pricey.

He’s been involved in radio since he was 17, and has been in Townsville since 1982, hosting breakfast for three decades. He’s visited Aussie diggers deployed around the world in Afghanistan and Jerusalem and has strengthened the shoulders of locals in times of crisis.

He has truly affected the lives of people in and around North Queensland for the better, with countless fundraising and community missions too numerous to count, while shaking hands and connecting with hundreds of thousands in friendship.

He was the first in the world to conduct an underwater radio broadcast (from Townsville’s very own Reef HQ), and he was on the ground in one of the darkest days in Australian military history – the Townsville Blackhawk crash in 1996.

In 2017 it was Pricey who flicked the switch from AM to FM. He was there when the station became Triple M, when the Townsville Suns tipped off at the ‘furnace (1993), when they became the Crocs at The Swamp! (NBL – 1998) and when the Cowboys ran into Stockland Stadium for the first time in 1995. 

In 2018 in recognition of his services to the community through his radio career, he was awarded the Medal of The Order of Australia (OAM) and last year he published his 200-page memoir called, THE PRICE OF PARADISE, which he describes as a love letter to NQ. 

SCA Chief Content Officer Dave Cameron said Pricey was not only a legend of Far North Queensland, but his legacy within SCA reverberated across all corners of the broadcast network.

“His approach to delivering localism sets the precedent for all our Triple M stations in their respective communities, and my many chats with Pricey often over the last few years has always given me great perspective and huge admiration on his ability to engage and connect with his incredibly loyal audience. We will miss you on brekkie Pricey, and thanks for the multiple mango seasons of radio brilliance!”  

SCA General Manager of Townsville and Mount Isa Shane Jurgens said in his 20 mango seasons with Pricey they had laughed, cried, and spent a many a long lunch together.

“Over this time Pricey has educated me on the importance of connection to this amazing community with everything we do on and off the air. He has played a huge part in our lives when we needed a laugh, when we needed a friend or when we needed someone in our time of need,” he said.

“Everyone needs a Pricey in their lives! You are a true legend of radio my dear friend and I look forward to many more long lunches … on you!”

Listen to Pricey’s farewell here: https://omny.fm/shows/triplem-townsville-breakfast/pricey-has-decided-to-stay-in-his-hammock-a-little

As for who will fill the seat that is so indelibly moulded to Pricey’s derriere; the news is that a new seat will be purchased, for the new voice of breakfast in 2024.