It always intrigues me when people say they don't listen to Triple J 'cause they "hate it".

"Oh, I don't listen to that", they say, screwing up their nose. "I hate what they play". Um, so you don't listen to it, but you don't like what they play?. "Yeah." What's your favourite record this year you think? "Animal Collective, for sure. Can't wait to see them at Meredith, the best festival." Merriweather? Feature album on Triple J back at the start of the year? "Yeah nah, I think it's shit".

The station has had a big year this year. According to Nielson SoundScan ratings, the Triple J average weekly audience rose to 1.3 million, the stations best in 8 years; their 'five city share" the highest in the past 7 years. Perhaps more encouragingly for bedroom bands, their Unearthed series of unsigned artists portion of their website has risen to "21,500 registered artists and has streamed 9 million tracks since the site started three years ago." Sceptics sneer but tell that to the kid with a MacBook and a day job. Who no longer needs to go to a studio, press discs, pay for artwork, be filtered through the industry and finally be played on the radio at the behest of a manager/CEO/svengali. The majors must be shaking their fists at the heavens. Or at least their A&R guys out the door.

Looking to 2010, the station is making some serious lineup changes. We alredy knew Robbie Buck was leaving the Breakfast team of Robbie, Marieke and the Doctor, to take up a position at 702 ABC Sydney. Last week we had the news that current Weekend Breakfast morning team of young 'uns, Tom Ballard and Alex Dyson, will be moving to the Weekday Breakfast slot. But what of Marieke and the Doctor?

Ms. Hardy is departing the station to return to her hometown of Melbourne and her writing. Already featured most prominently in The Age's Green Guide section lift-out, (not to mention being one time proprietor of the sadly missed Reasons You Will Hate Me blog) Hardy is already busy developing her own six-part series with ABC1. She will also be working with Andrew Denton's team on the second ':30 Seconds' series and will continue with ABC1's First Tuesday Book Club. Of her time at Triple J, she says:"My two years on breakfast have flown by in a giddy whirl of lowbrow banter, blurry mornings and offensively flirtatious interviews, relationship with my dear friends at triple j. I look forward to lurking around the corridors and refusing to leave in a dignified fashion, just like John 'The Last Goodbye' Farnham". Ghostly and sagged? Dear Lord, no.

The Doctor (aka Lindsay McDougall) will continue at the station as the new host of Triple J's Drive starting Monday 4th January, airing 3pm to 5:30pm weekdays. He replaces Scott Dooley, current Drive host who has decided to move on from Triple J altogether.