Are Annabelle Williams and Ellie Cole working for Nine full time? If not Seven can sign either (or both) of them for Glasgow.
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Session timings which Iâve converted to AEST (Adelaide -30 min and Perth -2 hours). Pink indicates a medal session.
One channel will suffice?
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The athletics and swimming will be the highlight but it really is dire hours for these Games now.
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Thereâll be occasions where two channels will be required - namely the days when swimming and athletics overlap. However, Seven can probably get away with one channel for large stretches of the games and refer people to 7Plus if needed.
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Iâm assuming Matt White will feature on Sevenâs Comm Games coverage?
Wonder who theyâll announce as their hosts. Unsure if theyâll have a m/c feed running, given the reduced events and being in Glasgow (Gold Coast 2018 obviously different). 7Plus will no doubt play a big role.
But with Abbey Gelmi now gone (think that was the event she ended up going MIA at and there were rumours about her and Hamish McLachlan), a door has opened. I think they should ditch the dual-anchor set-up, which Nine also used for the Paris Olympics.
Most likely options:
Matt, Hamish, Mel McLaughlin, Johanna Griggs, Emma Freedman, Jason Richardson. Not sure if anyone else from 7Cricket or 7AFL would get a gig, James Brayshaw? Presuming Bruce McAvaney sticks to commentating athletics.
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Will be interesting to see who they get to do swimming, since that Basil is now the leader of the WA Liberals and a sitting MP, one would imagine itâs unlikely that he would be doing that part.
I agree - anchors are really on there to provide a link between events & highlights, as well as the odd interview. Flows much better with just one person imo.
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He did anchor Tenâs coverage of the event which was held in that city in 2014, so I wouldnât see a reason why he wouldnât do it again.
Also believe White never previously hosted a Commonwealth Games for Seven, just about the only thing he didnât get to do, as he arrived well after Manchester 2002 but had departed well before Gold Coast 2018 (with Nine having Melbourne 2006 and Ten having Delhi 2010).
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Didnât 7 also use Shirvo and Edwina Bartholomew for their last their last Comm Games?
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He did cover the Commonwealth Games at 10 though alongside Mel McLaughlin
Had anyone ever noticed Emmaâs interviewing style when talking to a jockey or similar on the horse racing coverage?
She asks a question then seems so invested in their answer, she is leaning in and looking closely at their faces and makes her own expressions as theyâre speaking.
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Wonder what happened to Emma Davenport? She was a producer and reporter, gained experience under Neil Kearney and took over from him. Was on numerous Seven major events from about 2016 to probably Tokyo or Birmingham. The likes of Emma Freedman have probably essentially replaced her now. This cap from Gold Coast CG:
The 2018 Commonwealth Games was, unknowingly at the time, Todd Woodbridgeâs final event as a Seven employee - though while the station televised Wimbledon that year, Woodbridge was actually working for the world feed.
It was just before that yearâs Championships that Nineâs AO rights were brought forward by twelve months (initially it was to take effect from 2020, but after Seven snapped up the cricket rights in April 2018, they reluctantly agreed to give up the 2019 AO).
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This actually didnât happen until later that year, originally Seven ambitiously planned to show both tennis and cricket in 2018 - 2019 summer.
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That was never going to work, this wouldâve meant one sport being shafted to a multi-channel.
Ultimately, common sense prevailed.
Re: Todd Woodbridge - I forgot that he also hosted a Fed Cup tie for Seven that was held in Wollongong a week after the Comm Games ended. Nineâs tennis rights also actually began taking effect with a Davis Cup tie involving Australia that September.
big blow for 7 & Aus, no Gout Gout for commonwealth games
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Iâd look at the situation this way: Stokes and Seven West Media spent a huge amount of money on an event they were hoping would feature Gout Gout. They promoted their âreturnâ to Commonwealth Games coverage by appealing to the pride Australians feel for their athletes, using iconic moments from past Gamesâeven ones that were never broadcast on their networkâto try to tie those moments to a sense of ânetwork pride.â This campaign was essentially launched off the back of a Logies loss.
Stokes is no longer a major factor at Seven, and by the end of this agreement, he wonât be at all. He has effectively sold out to a radio network whose board was just as desperate as he was to make a deal.
Stokes wonât take any blame here, because this is now entirely Southern Crossâ problem.
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Logies, was it really?
I imagined, after all the major sports Seven used to have but Nine have since got, they wanted to retain some element and the 2026 Glasgow Commonwealth Games was one of those? 2023 FIFA WWC (which was a masterstroke) and 2026 RLWC are others, apart from CA, AFL and a now scaled-back Supercars/Bathurst.
Gout Gout aside. Comm Games have shown they can still draw a good crowd here, if certain factors are favourable. Australian athletes and success, time of year, time zone, TV competition and the general vibe or hype leading-up. Obviously 2018 was huge being here in Australia, likewise 2006, but 2010 in India and 2022 in the UK were weak, the latter I feel was still COVID aftermath affected and coming off a delayed and surprising hit Tokyo Olympics which was hard to follow. And 2002 in England and 2014 in Scotland were probably in-between those pairs in terms of interest and success. IMO.
I think the jury is out and weâll have to just wait and see, wouldnât be writing it off yet. If Seven didnât go for it, itâd have ended up on Ten or likely another one on Nine for sure. 2026 is off to a great start in terms of international major sport though, albeit Commonwealth not quite the same level, with the Australian Open and Winter Olympics and might provide a bit of viewer adrenaline and heightened interest for later this year. Locals will always get around Aussies on the sporting stage no matter what it is. For Seven it should lead-in nicely to Q3 and Q4 including AFL Finals and RLWC and once Nineâs big guns have gone out of the way.
IIRC, Seven didnât send anyone to Manchester with all commentary and in-studio presenting being done remotely from either Melbourne or Sydney.
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Yes â if I remember correctly, the Glasgow Games promotions first aired during the Logie Awards, almost immediately after Seven lost Most Popular Sports Coverage to Nine. The two-game deal had actually been announced earlier that night during the 6pm news bulletin.
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