ACE radio chief executive Mark Taylor had dropped the Melbourne broadcaster from his firm’s regional stations on the basis of a survey showing listeners preferred songs. 

“Sometimes research is wrong and we haven’t had this strong reaction at the other stations where we’ve taken it off,” Mr Taylor said.

“Albury-Wodonga really liked the show and no-one’s more pleased than me to put it back on because I was the one that put it on in the first place.”

Elliott said he was “thrilled” to return to 2AY’s airwaves from 3pm Monday.

“I’m looking forward to getting back on air there, I enjoyed broadcasting to Albury-Wodonga, we always got a lot of calls from up there,” he said.

Elliott questioned the value of 2AY doing an “FM-style music show” and the methodology of relying on the research.

“Most surveys people start with the result they would like and tailor it to achieve the result they want,” he said.

“You can get music all over the joint now.

“You can get any music you want on your phone, but you can’t get discussion about issues.”

Ebden resident Robert Hawkins, who liked to listen to Elliott while feeding his birds, is delighted at the backflip after having switched to ABC radio.

“I like the talkback because you know what’s going on,” he said.

“What do you learn listening to music, listening to Tom Elliott you know what’s going on in the world.”