In Seven’s report John Laws and Ann Sanders were interviewed by M Usher
Never really got to see Brian doing his thing because he never really was used nationally, but I guess safe to say he was like Sydney’s version of Kevin Crease, there from the medium’s infancy across multiple generations. Not many of that era around now.
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Former Hendo colleague and longtime rival Roger Climpson might be the last “pioneering” Sydney TV newsreader still with us?
As a notable absentee from the reports we saw tonight (would’ve thought one of the networks would try and interview Roger if available), hopefully he’s currently going OK.
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“Television might always be evolving, but the greatest and most important reality program of all is the nightly news.” - Pete’s intro to their tribute report.
There’ll only ever be one Brian Henderson, however I think it’s possible that we’ll still be talking favourably about Peter Overton in 20 years time.
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I’ve seen plenty of tributes for Hendo today, but Ray Warren’s one that just aired on WWOS was by far the stand out. It brought a tear to my eye. I’ll try and find it for those who missed it.
EDIT:
Beautiful.
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Some classy words from Ann Sanders on last night’s Seven News report. Goes to show the respect that she and Ross Symonds had towards a rival newsreader, and that they also knew they had a huge task ahead of them when they co-presented the Seven News Sydney bulletin together between 1998-2003 (though Hendo retired at the end of 2002).
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Ann Sanders’ rivalry with Brian Henderson actually began in the mid-late 1980’s when she co-presented Ten Eyewitness News alongside Tim Webster.
She then would move to Seven and co-present first alongside Richard Zachariah, then with Roger Climpson in the early 90’s. She also had a stint of presenting solo for a few years (IIRC) before being partnered with Ross Symonds in 1998.
Going by that, Channel Seven literally threw almost everything to try and find a winning formula against Nine and Brian Henderson. But nothing prevailed, of course until a former Nine newsman joined (but that’s another story)
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Don’t know if Ann Sanders had taken Katrina Lee’s spot by this point in time, but wasn’t it Ten’s success at 6pm during the Early-Mid 1980s (especially around the 1984 LA Olympics, etc.) which resulted in Nine moving their 6.30pm bulletin to 6pm in/around 1985?
Richard Zachariah was Ann Sanders’ co-reader in 1988, while it was Roger Climpson in 1989.
The first half of the 1990s would see Roger Climpson present Seven Nightly News solo…and he did briefly enjoy some ratings success against Brian Henderson during the 2nd half of 1993. But National Nine News’ position in the Sydney market would strengthen in 1994 with a better promotional campaign, stronger lead-in/out programs and new reporters/behind the scenes personnel to replace those that had left in '93.
Ann would present the news solo for a few years after Roger’s retirement before being partnered with Ross Symonds from 1998-2003.
I’m not aware of them ever attempting the ultimate move - poaching Hendo, although it was probably too late in his career by 1997/98 when Seven signed up Ian Cook, John Collis and Darren Curtis.
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I think it was 1985 or 1986 that Katrina retired from TV and then Ann Sanders moved up from reporter status to weeknight news reader.
Don’t think I ever heard that one
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She didn’t retire and Ann Sanders had been the weekend newsreader and consumer reporter before she replaced Lee.
They tried to spin Katrina’s exit by telling the press she’d be Ten’s answer to Jana Wendt and would be devoting time long form current affairs. She’d be promoted as one of the faces of Page One, Ten’s answer to 60 Minutes.
Ten had attempted to poach Brian Henderson in 1987 when Frank Lowy’s Northern Star acquired the network from Murdoch. Newspaper reports suggested Lowy had dangled a rather large carrot in front of Hendo to get him to make the switch but he remained loyal to Nine. No doubt Packer was aware of his value to the network and was willing to pay to keep him. Ten ended up with Steve Liebmann instead. Ian Cook probably attempted to get Hendo over to Seven when he became News Director in the late '90s.
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Nine Late News tonight aired an old, 2006 segment (from the “50 Years of Television” celebrations) of Brian Henderson looking back on some of the biggest news stories of his career. Good to see further acknowledgement of his legacy by Nine, although it would be great if a new television special was produced in his honour.
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That voice takes me back to another time.
I thought it was a bit daggy to watch the same news service my parents did when I was a teen and was attracted to the flashier looking, ever changing offerings on Seven an Ten. By the time I was in my 20s I found his smooth tone very comforting and reassuring and stuck with Nine until he retired.
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I wish I had memories of him presenting.
I feel like we’re really missing someone of his authority and stature in the media today. The likes of Peter Hitchener and Sandra Sully are arguably exceptions and are right up amongst the ranks of the best newsreaders, but many of today’s newsreaders don’t have the same ‘pull’ as what Brian Henderson had. Why exactly that is, I don’t know. Maybe it’s just a sign of the times.
You can tell though that Nine are molding Peter Overton to eventually be the next Hendo of Nine News, but while I think he will end up having a very lengthy career at the role, his presenting isn’t comparable to that of Brian Henderson’s. No one will ever replace him.
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Most likely. The media landscape has fragmented considerably since Hendo presented his final bulletin.
One question which instantly comes to mind when assessing the popularity of newsreaders: If this person moved to a rival network (think Ian Ross or Alan Jones/Kyle & Jackie O on brekky radio), would they have the power to bring their audience over with them?
Although Brian Henderson remained loyal to Nine throughout his television career, undoubtedly he had that potential. Of the newsreaders currently on our screens, you’d have to say that Overton, Hitchener and Rick & Sue over in the West are probably the few newsreaders left in Australian TV who’d be able to bring an audience with them if they moved to a rival network.
This opinion is probably going to upset a lot of people, but I personally think Sandra Sully’s position in Australian TV news is a bit overrated. Now don’t get me wrong, Sandra is definitely a popular, high quality broadcaster who’s deserving of recognition. But she sometimes gets talked up almost to a point that you could actually be mistaken for thinking that Sandra Sully is the newsreader of Sydney’s highest rating TV news bulletin when in reality, it’s Peter Overton.
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I don’t disagree with this. I rate Sandra Sully as a presenter but I can’t watch Ten’s news offering anymore. Unfortunately Sully is let down by not being in the main 6pm game and being the face of a woefully under resourced, third rate news service. She is the last really familiar, long serving news presenter left at Ten and her profile has more to do with her presenting Ten Late News for years rather than being the person people overwhelmingly turn to for nightly news.
Having stated that, the role across all stations has diminished in respect and recognition over the past few years. We’ll never again see half a million viewers regularly tune in to watch any channel’s news in the way they did in the Hendo era.
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Well said.
It’s going to be rather interesting to see what happens to 10 News First (or whatever name they’ll actually be known as by then) at that point in the future when Sandra is no longer presenting bulletins for them. But that lengthy discussion is probably best had at another time and in another topic.
Yeah, Hendo’s peak in the ratings was probably around the same time that television as a whole peaked as a mass mainstream source of information and entertainment for Australians: Sometime around the Late 1980s/Early 1990s.
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