Hey Nine, Stick with Fergo!

Entertainment reporter Peter Ford yesterday suggested that Peter Overton is rumoured to takeover hosting National Nine News Sydney from Mark Ferguson.

Speaking on The Steve Price Morning Show on 2UE, Ford said that Overton was originally promised the job after Jim Waley and to keep Overton happy, he is paid the highest salary of the four 60 Minutes reporters.

With Mike Munro’s retirement, Nine now have to find a new person to fill the weekend newsreader’s chair from November. The seat must be reserved for former Nightline anchorman, Michael Usher with Ferguson therefore continuing to anchor the weekday News.

Overton enjoyed some success hosting National Nine News over summer and the op_inion highlighted this in January when Overton read the news for two weeks, he actually beat Seven on a few occasions.

At the time, I jokingly remarked that Mark Ferguson may have to watch his back but could this now eventuate into reality?

Unfortunately for Ferguson, he is beaten every night by former Nine newsreader, Ian Ross who fronts Seven News. Last night for example Ross had 480 000 viewers for Seven News and Ferguson had only 316 000 viewers.

Despite these ratings, Nine should stick with Ferguson as the anchorman for the news. He has the opportunity to front Nine news for the next twenty to thirty years and become the next Brian Henderson.

He is likeable, a family man and has a terrific television persona which comes across in his delivery and presentation and Ian Ross is not going to be fronting Seven News in five years.

Ferguson is still building up trust, loyalty and a relationship with his audience, since fronting the news in December 2004 and at the age of 42 he has a long career ahead of him.

Nine’s news figures are a concern for the network but Ferguson is not the problem.

The Sydney newsroom has had its share of controversy over the last twelve months with the ‘boning’ of weather girl Majella Wiemers and United States correspondent, Christine Spitteri. Nine has also seen Brad Schmitt, Adam Walters and Dale Paget depart Nine to become media advisors to the NSW Government and crime reporter Shawn Fewings has recently left the network.

With the departure of these six senior reporters, Nine has had to make changes to introduce new journalists which will take some time for the audience to develop a rapport with the new faces and voices.

Nine is tweaking its News and Current Affairs department with the axing of Nightline and Sunday, the latter program to be replaced with Sunday Morning News at 8AM, hosted by 60 Minutes reporter Tara Brown.

Might this decision to appoint Brown as host of the Sunday Morning News, be hinting at some more changes at the network?

Brown also presents The Gift so she may have to cut-down on her involvement with 60 Minutes or maybe she is leaving 60 Minutes?

With her first child due shortly, Brown might not have the time to travel around the world to report for 60 Minutes, so her role maybe reading the Sunday Morning News and fronting The Gift. With the solid ratings of 60 Minutes, news executives would not want to lose Brown and Overton which is why they would be reluctant to move Overton.

Nine should leave Peter Overton on 60 Minutes, appoint Michael Usher to the weekend news and retain Mark Ferguson as the Sydney anchorman because he is the best in the business.

Nine News personnel changes

Television veteran Mike Munro has today announced he will be retiring from television and leaving the Nine Network at the end of October

Munro’s announcement comes only three days after Nine decided to axe Nightline and Sunday in a rationalisation of the network’s news and current affairs department.

Munro has been hosting Sydney’s National Nine News on Weekends, This is Your Life whilst fronting Missing Person’s Unit. Perhaps Munro could have the buck passed from him to the next This is Your Life presenter by having the roles turned...

But who would that presenter be?

Bert Newton is an obvious chat show host that the network is not completely utilising but no other names from within the network spring to mind.

Missing Person’s Unit could be fronted by another member of Nine’s News department with Michael Usher now out of the Nightline hosting chair who also appears to be Munro’s obvious replacement on the Sydney Weekend edition of National Nine News.

Munro’s decision may have been made by the axing of Sunday and Nightline as Sunday’s host, Ellen Fanning may also find herself without a role at Nine.

Fanning might now regret not jumping ship at the start of the year to front 2UE Breakfast with Mike Carlton, which oddly is where she and Munro could end up, on talkback radio.

Fanning and Munro are both very talented journalists who would be more than capable of presenting programs on radio and the Sydney AM networks should enquire about their availability, if Munro is interested and Fanning does not have another role at Nine after this Sunday.

Nine will also be on the look out for a temporary replacement for 60 Minutes Tara Brown whilst she is on maternity leave. Peter Harvey, Ray Martin and Ben Fordham have been doing the occasional story for Nine’s flagship current affairs program.

Fordham would be the frontrunner for the gig unless the network wants to replace Brown with another female such as Fanning or A Current Affair’s Amanda Paterson.

With the closure of Nightline and Sunday there will be a number of staff that will be repositioned at the network. It is a shame that they have been axed but understandable in the current television climate and the pressures of commercial television.

Audiences can now access news on demand through Australia’s own dedicated news channel, Sky News which also now screens and AM, PM and Weekend version of Agenda, their Political Report meaning by the time that Sunday airs, only, once a week, some of the news is stale.

Internet savvy Australians are also accessing their news online and watching videos on-demand, choosing their own news and accessing it as they want it.

Of most importance now is Public Broadcasting. The ABC is still committed to cutting edge, hard and objective journalism which must be retained as commercial television is driven by profits and ratings, unfortunately Nightline and Sunday could no longer be justified by these measurements, they were no longer rating and no longer profitable.

RIP Nightline & Sunday and Au Revoir Mike Munro.

Nine's advertising with balls

Nine might have won the first half of the year and as the old ‘still the one’ theme song is being warmed up the network has also launched an aggressive advertisement that ensures the networks balls are back in today’s Media and Marketing section of The Australian newspaper.

The clever four page or double sided broadsheet wraps around the Media and Marketing liftout with the cover saying, “In 2008 we’re Australian television’s leading network” accompanied by their results across all the demographics. Gordon Ramsay, Vince Colosimo, Karl Stefanovic and Lisa Wilkison, Shelly Craft, Charlie Sheen and Liz Hayes grace the cover in the circular balls that reflects Nines “we heart tv” 2008 campaign.

The front page also boasts about Nine’s success with 60 Minutes, Domestic Blitz, State of Origin, Underbelly, Two and A Half Men, The Today Show and Gordon Ramsay.

On the inside Nine previews the shows that the network is still to launch in 2008 which we expect to see after the Olympics. The new shows include the “fast-tracking” of The Mentalist starring Australian Simon Baker and Fringe, starring fellow Aussie Anna Torv.

There are also new episodes of Two and A Half Men and a second series for Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares USA plus Hell’s Kitchen and The Chopping Block minus Catriona Rowntree to round-out Nine’s obsession with Ramsay and food.

Two new Australian dramas will screen on Nine, Scorched starring Vince Colosimo, Georgie Parker, Les Hill, Rachael Carpini and Cameron Daddo plus Gold Coast based cop-drama The Strip.

On the lifestyle front a new gardening show titled Battlefronts is set to debut with Gian Rooney as host. This show will see neighbours competing against one and other with time and budget constraints in attempt to transform their garden whilst What’s Good For You has been given the green light for another series with Lisa Wilkinson taking over as host from Sigrid Thornton.

Hole in the Wall is hosted by Jules Lund with a swag of celebrities trying to shape their bodies into peculiar positions in order to get through the wall. This is rumoured to appear AFL and NRL stars in a battle of the codes. Whilst Temptation will be back on air, possibly as the new news lead-in?

Or are Nine developing a new show for the end of the day? Confidential reported earlier this month that Nine are considering a show to possibly be in the mix as a news-lead in or post news show with more of a focus on entertainment and celebrity. Could this be the rumoured Five Live? Or are we going to see a sort of Today Show at the end of the day, before the news which combines news, current affairs, lifestyle, entertainment and segments.

Richard Wilkins and Georgie Gardner are two names that spring to mind, more than capable of hosting possibly their own version of a Afternoon Show or perhaps if Sonia Kruger could be poached from Seven, she or Sarah Murdoch could front this type of program.

Nine’s daytime scheduele is also about to get a makeover, removing the midday movie to be replaced with The View and Ellen, two American talk/chat shows previously used by Foxtel’s W Channel or Ellen appears on WIN with Susie in place of Mornings with Kerrie-Anne.

The advertisement in The Australian also advises of new series of RPA, Primeval, 20 to 1, Rugby League World Cup, Summer of Cricket as well as more Domestic Blitz, Crime Investigation Australia, The Gift and The Waiting Room.

The back page of the advertisement has been reserved for The Strip featuring lead cast members Vanessa Gray flanked by Aaron Jeffery, Frankie J. Holden, Bob Morley and Simone McAullay. Nine will be hoping this show reseructs the previous failure of Canal Road so it can ad the program to Young Doctors, the Underbelly prequel and Sea Patrol III to be screened in 2009.

Media and Marketing also reports that The Block will be returning in 2009 which has been a previous success for Nine. Jamie Durie is no longer contracted to Nine, so there will be a chance for a new host with Gian Rooney possibly on trial with Battlefronts but Hole in the Wall Host Jules Lund would have to be the frontrunner for this one. Possibly Million Dollar Wheel of Fortune and Celebrity Singing Bee host Tim Campbell or Domestic Blitz' Scott Cam might be in for a run as host unless someone new is picked to front the show.

Local versions of Wipeout and Ladette to Lady are going to be produced and aired this year. Nine is calling for contestants by simply going to www.ninemsn.com.au and registering with a host yet to be announced, Jules Lund may perhaps front Wipeout.

Nine’s advertisement in Media and Marketing matches their current television campaign which is powerful and states “the best is yet to come”...

We will see Nine as the network is getting in early, before the Olympics at which time most people will switch over to Seven to watch the games whilst being bombarded with Channel Seven advertising for their post-Olympics schedules which we all ready know will feature Packed to the Rafters, Make Me A Supermodel to be hosted by the glamorous Jennifer Hawkins and Dancing With the Stars will be back with Larry Emdur rumoured to be the new host.

Ten has a new Aussie drama themselves, Rush starring Underbelly’s Rodger Corser and Callan Mulvey plus former Water Rats star, Catherine McClements. Actually Corser joined Water Rats in the last episode of the drama as Detective George Newhouse to replace the departing Steve Bisley. McClements is no stranger to acting as a cop and neither is Corser who played Detective Steve Owen in Underbelly whilst Mulvey changes character as he previously has played criminal roles in both Underbelly and Home and Away.

Half time: Nine ahead by 1 goal over Seven

Instead of trying to go back and recap each week of July that I have missed I have decided to give an overall rundown of Australian television through the first half of the year and the first few weeks of July as I have missed a lot. The last series of Big Brother on Channel Ten, but does the show have a future? Nine’s half-yearly lead, The Today Tonight hosting merry-go-round plus new shows such as Wipeout and The One becoming a success for Nine and Seven respectively.

Despite the absence (so far) of Kath and Kim, Thank God You’re Here, The Chaser and no new Chris Lilley mockumentary there have been some quality shows in the first half of the year.

July has seen Nine claim the half yearly lead with the most successful new bunch of shows whilst also having the most number of flops. Underbelly, Domestic Blitz, Ramsay, David Attenbrough and now Wipeout becoming very successful new programs for Nine whilst 60 Minutes has come back and Two and A Half Men has been a surprise success at 7pm. CSI and the second series of Sea Patrol also delivered very good ratings for the network.

Mediocre success for Celebrity Singing Bee, Fire 000 and Search and Rescue which could be given a second instalment like The Chopping Block, while the State of Origin series drew huge audience numbers with the third match, the highest ratings for Origin ever.

Nine have experimented more than the other networks with some spectacular failures such as My Kid’s A Star, Moment of Truth, Million Dollar Wheel, Monster House and Canal Road.

Seven, who are only slightly behind Nine have had stable success with Seven News and Today Tonight leading the charge. Deal or No Deal delivers huge audience numbers to the news hour which has been accredited to their News success.

To date, Seven have had no new stand-out shows except The One which has created headlines. Rather Seven have had success with the reliable programs, RSPCA: Animail Rescue, Australia’s Got Talent, Border Security, The Force, Medical Emergency, It Takes Two, Grey’s Anatomy and Desperate Housewives despite the two American dramas taking a slight dip in their ratings this year.

Battle of the Choirs has not stopped 60 Minutes but had moderate success for Seven while Gladiators debuted strongly at almost 2 million viewers before hovering around the million mark.

The second series of City Homicide has been returning very healthy ratings which have been up and around the 1.5 million mark. Whilst All Saints has also been returning strong figures for Seven reflecting the current quality of Australian drama with Packed to the Rafters still to debut after the Olympics.

It looks like Prison Break and Lost have now run their course whilst Grey’s spin-off Private Practice has disappointed audiences almost as much as Lipstick Jungle’s abominable results, making Cashmere Mafia look a little more acceptable than this attempt at the new Sex and the City.

Ugly Betty has lost its way for Seven after debuting very strongly in 2007 while Dirty Sexy Money, Samantha Who and Bionic Woman have failed to excite. An odd scheduling move was made by Seven screening the second season of The Rich List on Saturday nights saw the program halted after it rated with around 1.4 million people in 2007 in the Monday 7:30 slot unlike the not very funny, Out of the Question hosted by Glenn Robbins being commissioned for a second series.

Over on Ten it was a great start to the year with So You Think You Can Dance Australia flying out of the blocks and performing well for the network. The Biggest Loser accompanied this series well while NCIS and Bondi Rescue continued to deliver strong results for Ten.

Rove has had mediocre results while Good News Week returned to our screens also performing OK without being outstanding but the talk so far has been about Big Brother bombing leading to Ten’s decision to cancel any future production of the series.

Marred with controversy, perhaps the time has come to put Big Brother on the backburner as the reality TV bubble may have now burst as we are filled with these factual documentaries and now thankfully the Australian drama genre is coming back.

ABC1 has once again produced quality programs that are starting to rival the commercial networks. Despite the absence of The Chaser and Chris Lilley, The Gruen Transfer and The Hollow Men have filled the void which will both have second seasons.

Spicks and Specks has once again been successful but its ABC News which is getting more and more viewers, perhaps we are starting to get over tabloid journalism and want real, hard news once again...

Which is where we look at daytime TV with The Today Show starting to find a place again for Nine providing a good fight with Sunrise. That is where the daytime line-up (which is again about to be tweaked) ends for Nine and Larry Emdur and Kylie Gillies, The Morning Show beats Morning with Kerrie-Anne Kennerly every day while 9AM with David & Kim are continually losing audience numbers.

While Nine lead at half-time there is still a long way to go with the Beijing Olympics now on the horizon, the networks will turn their attention to their post Olympic schedules making the year a close contest for Nine and Seven.

the OP_inion will be back...

...from July 19
On holidays and a lot to catch up on... Lipstick Jungle bombing... Two and A Half Men...Wipeout... Origin ratings and a whole lot more thoughts and opinions on the TV ratings plus Alan Jones cancer, no Merrichik and Rosso at Nova and Kate Ritchie for Young Doctors... back soon