When Ray Hadley hangs up his microphone for the final time next month, he will have dominated the airwaves in Sydney‘s fiercely contested morning radio timeslot for more than two decades.

But just as contested will be the looming battle to replace him.

Hadley’s departure, at the end of the year’s gruelling ratings season, will give Nine’s top brass the summer to settle on the host’s ultimate successor at its flagship 2GB station.

Insiders said several names are already being discussed in hushed tones within the radio network’s executive suites – though they know replacing Hadley will be no mean feat.

His morning show, which is syndicated across more than 30 outlets, and has taken out top spot in every radio survey since 2003.

Its dominance has made it one of the network’s most profitable programs and a much-needed cash cow at a time of dwindling advertising revenue across the company.

Sources told Daily Mail Australia it meant there would be no room for missteps in appointing Hadley’s heir – and that the network’s execs would be hunting for a ‘radio person’ who already had ‘runs on the board’.

Ben Fordham

Ben Fordham is likely to be the short-priced favourite – having earned a sleep in

When the bookies start giving odds on Hadley’s replacement, 2GB reigning breakfast show host Ben Fordham is likely to be the short-priced favourite.

The tireless talkback presenter has repeatedly shown he is more than capable of winning over a crowd.

He was given the almost impossible task of replacing 2GB’s all-powerful Alan Jones four years ago and has since proved a runaway success at retaining the station’s critical early morning audience.

Before that, the Walkley Award-winning journalist regularly topped the ratings while fronting the outlet’s drivetime slot for more than a decade and has demonstrated his news-breaking chops with stints on Sky News, A Current Affair and 60 Minutes.

Is there anything this father-of-three can’t do? Well, perhaps, enjoy a sleep in.

Insiders suggested Fordham might well feel it is about time he was allowed to hit the snooze button on his alarm clock and push for a move to the coveted mornings slot.

The only drawback? The internal shuffle would just create further headaches for Nine Radio execs who would then have to replace him at breakfast.

Still, this is the one to watch.

Chris O’Keefe

If you looked in Fordham’s shadow, you could well find fellow energetic Nine journo Chris O’Keefe busily plying his trade.

Another well-respected newsbreaker who has won plenty of fans within the company’s executive ranks, O’Keefe is a Walkley Award-winning journalist who has also successfully straddled both television and radio at the media giant.

As a television news reporter, he impressed as Nine Sydney’s state political editor before switching formats.

O’Keefe has since excelled behind the mic after replacing Fordham at drivetime and is in a strong position to stake a claim on Hadley’s prized timeslot.

Of course, if Fordham ended up moving to mornings, it would be more than likely O’Keefe would once again follow in his footsteps and wind up on-air at breakfast.

Whatever happens at 2GB, you can be assured, the young dad’s name will be in the mix.

Chris O’Keefe (left) is a clear frontrunner for the job. Radio personality Jason Morrison (right) has oodles of experience

Jason Morrison

If Nine’s execs are looking to go with experience, it would be hard to find someone with more talkback hours under their belt than Jason Morrison.

He kicked off his lengthy media career at 2GB as a cadet reporter all the way back in 1989 at the tender age of 17.

Sure, but was he any good?

Well, with in just 10 years, he had been appointed the station’s director of news – the youngest person to ever hold the role – and been giving a weekly newspaper column. So he probably wasn’t too bad.

Like Fordham and O’Keefe, Morrison is a veteran of 2GB’s drivetime slot, having hosted the show between 2008 and 2010, when he was regularly spotted on billboards throughout the city as part of an advertising blitz built around him.

He was also Alan Jones regular fill-in host at breakfast during the golden age of talkback and, according to industry legend, even out-rated him during one extended stint before defecting to rival 2UE.

Morrison eventually left radio for the glitz and glamour of television during an eight-year run as Seven’s Sydney news director before taking some time out with his young family last year.

His name has been back in the headlines again in recent weeks following revelations he is being pursued by Sydney’s 2SM as its new owners plot to take the station from radio minnows to major players.

Liam Bartlett

When it comes to having a big radio presence, few can compete with the booming baritone of Liam Bartlett.

The award-winning journalist is a favourite among executives across all of the country’s commercial networks – and was even a headline act at the national broadcaster for a while – due to his hard-hitting, take-no-prisoners approach to interviews.

This year, the father-of-three made headlines for his master-class interview with billionaire former media baron James Packer – conveniently located on the rich lister’s yacht off Tahiti – and for breaking the ‘fake gun shots’ scandal enveloping the ABC.

Liam Bartlett with James Packer

Like Fordham, Bartlett is well-known to a national audience from his long-running stints at Nine’s flagship news shows 60 Minutes and A Current Affair, as well as on Seven’s upstart rival Spotlight.

After leaving 60 Minutes for the second time five years ago, he enjoyed a successful stint at 2GB’s sister station 6PR in his hometown of Perth before being lured back to bright lights of television.

Sources said he enjoyed a strong relationship with Nine Radio boss Tom Malone while the duo worked together at 60 Minutes and that he shouldn’t be ruled out of contention.

Indeed, insiders said the veteran broadcaster’s imposing figure had been seen boarding a flight from Perth to Sydney on Thursday morning. Coincidence?

Jonesy and Amanda

The award-winning combo of Brendan Jones and Amanda Keller could well emerge as a wild card option for Malone, who has never been afraid of taking a risk.

The duo have proved an extremely popular pairing for Sydney’s WSFM with their Jonesy and Amanda breakfast show over the past two decades. They continue to attract the station’s best figures.

A move to lighter entertainment at Nine Radio’s 4BC outlet in Brisbane was effectively declared a failure when high-profile trio Laurel Edwards, Gary Clare and Mark Hine were giving the chop in September – but the world is full of surprises.

Jonesy and Amanda would be an out-of-the-box move – but the world is full of surprises

Besides, Jones and Keller are currently said to be in the midst of ‘awkward’ contract renegotiations with their bosses at the Australian Radio Network and might consider it time for a change to a network that truly appreciates them.

And while fans enjoy the double-act’s light and breezy – and very funny – conversational banter at the moment, insiders said they were both extremely talented and experienced radio personalities who were more than capable of transitioning into a harder hitting talkback format.

Would they want to do that?

Again, the world is full of surprises.

Mark Levy

Well, these names are all well and good … but what do they really know about rugby league?

What 2GB really needs to do is replace Hadley with someone as well versed in hard-hitting footy as much as hard-hitting news and current affairs.

At least, that’s what Daily Mail Australia readers have been arguing all morning.

For that reason, when it comes to the readers’ choice, the name at the tip of everyone’s tongue on Thursday has been Mark Levy.

Reader’s choice: Mark Levy

The fan favourite currently hosts the network’s Wide World of Sports program six nights a week – and while a move to mornings would almost treble his workload, Levy has never shied away from a challenge.

As Levy’s fans rightly point out. It would be unwise to pigeonhole him as simply a sports commentator – 2UE made that mistake with Hadley, prompting him to jump ship to 2GB and the rest, well, as they say, is history.

After all, Levy won plaudits – and an award – for his live, rolling coverage of the tragic Westfield Bondi Junction stabbings earlier this year, proving he is more than capable to tackling breaking news.

Will the readers prove right? Only time – and Nine’s nervous execs – will tell.