Thanks for that! Any details on who is filling-in for whom during this week (21/10 - 25/10 0 on the News Channel?
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No one different from what Iāve noticed in the guides - Dan is listed for Thursday & Friday mornings at this point, and Kathryn is doing what appears to be her now usual role of doing Friday afternoons.
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Thanks once again ā¦ this thing about Dan being on Th/Fri mornings is a complete misnomer as it has hardly eventuated all year, particularly in the second half of the year. Youāre right, Kath usually gets the afternoon slot on Friday, and then itās usually Lorna (Fri morning) and Kath (Thurs morning), as happened last week. Interestingly, Kath also fills-in on Radio, so last week after Thurs morning TV, she fronted up to fill-in for Andy Park on RN Drive in the afternoon! Sheās got a strong work ethic!
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I see that Brad has kindly updated the News Channel Presenterās list. And it may be the planned schedule, but the reality is far different ā¦so some statistics to back up the rhetoric.
For the period 10 March to 20 October this year (last 32 weeks), the number of mainly 3-4 hour sessions delivered by the main daytime presenters are:
Kath 104, Ros 89, Gemma 71, Lorna 57, Ruby 46, Dan 40.
Not to labour a point, but it appears obvious to me that Kath is held in reserve, knowing that she has the intelligence and versatility to cover most contingencies, and yet her name appears nowhere on the schedule? This includes her replacing scheduled presenters whenever a major breaking story is evolving ā¦ Gaza war, Trump shooting, Trump rally, IT crash, etcā¦
This holding in reserve arguably one of the ABCās best presenters to fill holes is a very strange strategy. Like many others on this forum, I am a big fan of Kath, but am disappointed that she does not receive any formal recognition as an āanchorā, when in effect she is the ABCās most prolific female presenter.
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Kath is a great journo, but obviously isnāt seen by ABC management as the ābest female presenterā
Itās not like she doesnāt appear regularly, by your stats sheās appeared 104 times, which is very good for a fill-in presenter. Maybe sheās been offered roles but doesnāt want to take them?
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For the record, anyone can edit the presenter lists.
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whoās counting this??
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I presume the user is for some reason.
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I think the ABC know that Kath is an excellent presenter, and that is the very reason she is used as a safe pair of hands to plug holes ā¦ because as those stats reveal there are so many holes to plug!
Iām sure Kath has been offered various roles, particularly the News Breakfast host, but she is not going to accept roles which involve leaving her family in Sydney. Last year she held Weekend Breakfast together almost single-handedly with a rotating number of different co-hosts in the second half of the year, and was a regular host on The Drum before itās demise (and was the obvious heir apparent!). So through circumstances, at the beginning of this year Kath found herself without a substantive role which is why all her work this year has involved just news reading.
My stats ā¦I started noting early this year when it became apparent that the scheduling was becoming erratic. Quite simple to just note the presenters in the morning, afternoon and early evening. Easy when you only watch ABC/SBS ā¦and the commercials for sport!
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Because Johanna was on maternity leave, so they needed someone to fill the plug anyway, sheās a regular fill in on that program.
Not true, sheās actually a frequent fill in on ABC Radio Nationalās Drive show so thatās where she might be if she isnāt on TV
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Yes, Johanna was on maternity leave, but then Fauziah took at least 3 months leave to look after her dying mother presumably in Malaysia. Kath was a regular fill-in on Weekend Breakfast, but since Jo and Fauziah reunited (9/10 Mar), she has only filled in once (26/27 May). So for the entire 32 week period Kath has filled-in only once ā¦
And yes, Kath has done some filling-in for Andy Park on RN Drive, but only 7 times in that period:
all week 22/4 - 26/4 and twice last week (Wed/Th). ā¦ miniscule in comparison with her TV news reading.
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Iām sorry but why do you track Kathās every movement at the ABC? - itās kind of creepy imo
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It would seem from your numbers that she does have a substantive role though if sheās the most prominent newsreader on the channel - itās not as if ABC management is failing to make use of her talents.
And frankly I doubt she cares. She gets paid to do the work she enjoys, deals with none of the extra stuff that comes with being tied to a specific show (ratings, strategy meetings, PR, office politics, performance reviews, contract negotiations etc etc), apparently has a high degree of flexibility to work when she wants to work and gets to work across a a huge variety of shows/teams.
Seems like a pretty good gig to me, the only downside being that she isnāt mentioned in a presenter list on some random online forum apparently.
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One that anyone can edit if they felt that Kath should absolutely be there just because she fills in here and there when needed.
She didnāt have a role for many years - she just filled in. Only last year did she have a permanent role with The Business.
Fairly sure she just filled in for Julia Baird who was on extended leave.
Agree - especially with the tally of how many days she (and others) have presented.
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I think itās fair enough to acknowledge that a fill in presenter does more than her fair share of filling in. I find in interesting that some of the appointed people in these roles are absent quite often.
Itās a public broadcast, not sure how thatās creepy. Bit of a double standard given how a certain ABC Melbourne presenter is often ridiculed for being away so often.
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If I may wade inā¦ I think itās the tallying of how many days each presenter does that may be seen as a bitā¦ eccentric, shall we say? I agree that Kath is:
a) very good
b) appears more than the so-called regular hosts and
c) deserves her own slot if she wants it.
But none of us really know the whys and wherefores behind the decision making process at Ultimo so itās probably a foolās errand to speculate, esp. when it potentially involves peopleās lives. Just my 2 cents worth.
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For me personally itās all about the why? For what purpose is it necessary to keep track of when presenters are on?
I just donāt see how this information would be useful or relevant for future use.
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I wonder if Dan will be back on Thursday. He appeared on The Project tonight. Albeit no mention of ABC in his appearance.
He wasnāt representing the ABC on The Project. He was there as an indigenous affairs analyst.
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