Robyn Williams to leave ABC's The Science Show after 51 years

Robyn Williams, a long-serving broadcaster at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), the country's public broadcaster, will leave the science programme The Science Show in December after 51 years. The ABC says it wants to refresh its science programming, and the show is the longest-running on the network to have had the same host throughout.

Williams began presenting the programme in 1975, when he was 31. He is now 82. The ABC's announcement referred only to "the next generation" and did not name a replacement. ABC insiders have said Williams would prefer to keep going indefinitely, but Guardian Australia understands management wants a generational change. The ABC has offered him the chance to make several science documentaries in 2027 and to stay on the payroll for another year.

"These 51 years have been exciting and an enduring pleasure, as well as a lot of hard work of course," Williams said. He added that he would be making other plans for 2027, still focused on Australian science and still within the ABC.

ABC managing director Hugh Marks said Williams had brought clarity, insight and wonder to major scientific questions, and that through the show he had nurtured generations of curious minds and left an enduring mark on Australian public life.

Other changes at the ABC

The announcement comes a fortnight after ABC financial journalist Alan Kohler, 74, said he was retiring after three decades. He will also step down in December, and delivered his 4,035th finance bulletin on Wednesday evening. In May, on Kohler's podcast, Marks said the ABC "has trouble stopping things" and needs to move away from preserving every legacy format to make room for modern content. He later clarified that he had been speaking hypothetically with no particular programme in mind.

Williams has also reported on the climate crisis, which featured on the first programme, and presented investigations into asbestos and medical malpractice. He was made a Member of the Order of Australia in 1988 and an Officer in 2020.