Jonathan Coleman nicknamed Jono (born 29 February 1956 in Hackney, London, England), is an Australian television personality, radio announcer and writer and performer of comedy.
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Coleman's broadcasting career started in the late 1970s in Australia when he was chosen a member of the reporting team for the popular afternoon children's TV magazine show Simon Townsend's Wonder World, created and hosted by journalist Simon Townsend.
This was followed by several years as a DJ and presenter on the ABC's youth radio network Triple J, including a stint as co-host (with Ian Rogerson) on the popular Sunday afternoon comedy program Off The Record, a program that featured the talents of comedy group The J-Team, which included comedians Lance Curtis and Angela Webber.
In 1988 Jonathan Coleman and Ian 'Dano' Rogerson began hosting a new music programme on The Seven Network. Saturday Morning Live was broadcast from Sydney, nationally from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. every Saturday morning. The programme was a mixture of music videos, live performances, interviews with musicians and performers, location items and comedy performances (usually in character by Jono & Dano). The show was immediately popular and soon became the most watched music programme on Australian television.[1]
For the second season of Saturday Morning Live in 1989 the producers decided to expand on the comedy aspect and introduced a cast of comedic performers to work alongside Coleman and Rogerson. The new format was not successful and in mid 1989 the comedy component was dropped and the emphasis on music (in particular live performances) was re-established. To appeal to a younger demographic two young actors from the Seven Network teen drama Home & Away were recruited onto the show. Emily Symons and Mat Stevenson co-hosted the new Saturday Morning Live as well as presenting occasional location reports.
Just as the programme was re-establishing its audience and the ratings were improving the Seven Network suddenly axed Saturday Morning Live in December 1989. This would be the last time Jono & Dano worked together as a double act on television.
In 1992, Coleman worked as an announcer and sidekick on the Lifetime game show Born Lucky hosted by former one-time Wheel of Fortune and Entertainment Tonight's Bob Goen.
In 1996, Coleman appeared in an episode of the ITV sitcom Is It Legal? as a DJ on the fictional station Hounslow FM.
Coleman's UK radio career began at BBC GLR, before moving to Virgin Radio in May 1993, presenting the Sunday - Thursday evening show from 7-10pm. In July 1993, he co-presented the Breakfast show alongside Russ Williams, where he remained until October 1997, moving to the drivetime show upon Chris Evans' arrival at the station.
Coleman was fired from Virgin Radio in early 1998 and moved to London's Heart 106.2, presenting the Breakfast show. He co-hosted the show with Harriet Scott from mid 2002.
In early 2005 , despite his breakfast show contributing to Heart 106.2 becoming the most listened to commercial radio station in London, he was axed, moving to sister station LBC 97.3, where for a short time he took over the weekend mid-morning show from 10am-1pm.
On 25 July 2005 Coleman took over the 3-5pm Afternoon show on BBC London 94.9 and from 17 October 2005, he took over the Breakfast show from Danny Baker, co-presenting with JoAnne Good. In late 2006, he had left BBC London and the UK to be near his 81-year-old mother Sylvia, in Sydney, Australia.[2]
Coleman reunited with Rogerson in 2009 and now presents "The Jono & Dano Show" between 4-7pm across Australia on the 'Classic Hits' network (part of Australian Radio Network) and regional stations. The show emerged following the demise of "The Jonathan Coleman Experience", a show he hosted with "RockWiz" presenter, Julia Zemiro.
Since returning to Australia, Coleman also became a regular reporter for Channel Seven's morning news program Sunrise, for which he had previously appeared presenting entertainment news from London. His regular segment was reviewing movies. He now presents entertainment news for Mornings with Kerri-Anne on the Nine Network.
He has also presented many television programmes for the BBC and appears regularly for many international television crossovers from the United Kingdom for Australian television. Coleman also wrote for Punch magazine titled Coleman's Bowls. He currently writes a weekly column for the national newspaper Daily Star.
He has also appeared in the British television programmes, Celebrity Fit Club, Celebrities Under Pressure, I'm Famous and Frightened! and Have I Been Here Before?, and provides the voice of the narrator for the children's show The Koala Brothers.
Coleman has also provided many voice-overs and narrations for many products both in Australia and internationally for companies such as Tooheys, Foster's, Qantas, the Australian Tourist Commission, and BBC TV, as well as in-flight programs for Qantas, Air New Zealand and Britannia.
His earlier Australian television work included regular appearances on children's show Simon Townsend's Wonder World as a reporter and regular TV appearances with his partner Ian Rogerson such as Saturday Morning Live . He also worked on radio in Sydney with him as the duo Jono and Dano with Ian Rogerson.
Jonathan Coleman is also the voice of the popular Australian 70s and 80s music radio program "My Generation", heard on the Australian Radio Network stations Gold 104 (Melbourne), WS-FM (Sydney), 4KQ (Brisbane), Mix 102.3 FM (Adelaide), Mix 106.3 FM (Canberra), and more than 85 other radio stations throughout Australia.
In 2007, he filmed a cameo for long running Australian soap opera Neighbours, which he was one of the witnesses at Karl and Susan Kennedy's wedding.
On 2 August 2007, Coleman was suspended indefinitely from Sunrise for revealing the supposed end to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows on air. He later said that he had not read the book and the Seven Network released a statement regarding his actions.[3] Sunrise announced that their viewers would decide whether he would be fired.[4] He kept his job with 70% of the vote.
He lived in North London from 1990 until his return to Australia in 2005. He now resides in Sydney, and is married with two children.