Far from it. Think it would more be like
Peter Overton & Georgie Gardner or Peter Overton & Deborah Knight.
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Well this came out of nowhere really (apart from the scoop from @BrekkyTVFan earlier)âŚ
Iâm not sure about this to be honest. It screams some sort of desperation to throw Tom Steinfort, who is known for 60 and Today more than Nine News into such a prestigious role with Alicia. As many have said, I wouldâve probably preferred that they got Brett McLeod back to host with Alicia and send someone else to Europe, or just Alicia solo given that she can handle the bulletin with ease.
Even if the truth was that Hitch wanted to scale back further, it seems odd not to have him reveal it directly and frankly to the audience, but rather through a press release. Just seems really odd altogether.
I think Nine have really jumped ahead of themselves here. When Seven won against them from about 2008 to 2012 I donât think they even had thought about shoving someone like Jo Hall to weeknights in place of Hitch. They persisted with Hitch and he took back the crown in years. Whatâs changed since then?
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Nineâs new line up will begin in the new year. Will it be safe to say that theyâll start when the Australian Open begin on Sunday 14 January? Or hype them up (to Melbourne viewers) in cross promotion ad nauseam and start late January when the Australian Open concludes?
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Pete and Deb would be a great pairing - Georgie is at her best solo.
Highly unlikely to happen of course, it would take Seven moving to a double header and seeing an uptick in ratings for Nine to even consider making such a move.
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The âI love this jobâ comment from Hitch suggests to me that he didnât want to leave or scale back his 6pm weeknight roleâŚ. If the decision was his, I think he would have been allowed to announce it on air and the press release would have been centred around him, not Alicia and Tom.
I find it really sad that a 77 year old who has had the privilege of doing a job he loves for a very healthy wage is not enjoying retirement. Also quite selfish too to not be making way to give younger journalists the opportunity he had decades earlier.
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Heâs currently almost 78 years old and not in his early 60s.
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The difference is clearly Hitch is getting closer to retiring so Nineâs decided that (rightly or wrongly) now is the time to fully transition to Alicia but have Tom join her.
Much prefer TVtonights angle on this story. Wasnât too impressed with Blackboxs headline grabber yesterday.
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Interesting take from David in the comments which could explain why Nine didnât shine the light on Hitch:
A few points. Malâs tweet came later not when the post was penned at short notice around 11:30am. Other media incorrectly claimed he had been âdumpedâ and variations thereof. I also included references to his longevity which were not in the Nine release and advised Nine they needed to send a Hitch quote, which they subsequently supplied. But the bottom line is this⌠Hitch does not like to be the news. Hitch likes to report the news. I know this from years of talking with him, I doubt the Daily Mail has even met him. If Hitch prefers to bow out by elevating his successors, because thatâs the humble gent he is, who am I to get in the way? Much better to celebrate his achievement with an interview (those discussions were already in train with Nine). Youâve criticised me for not cloning other (incorrect) media but I always run my own race and there is often a context which is not always apparent
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Casual ageism aside, you say that as though he has all the power. Nine management could have pulled the trigger at any time, particularly when contracts were up for renewal.
It just so happens theyâve chosen now, presumably based on the freefall in ratings at 6pm.
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Indeed. As a reply to the disrespectful criticism from @Sully.
Exactly. Tell the story rather than be cluckbait.
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Clearly a doomed strategy. Relegating Hitchâs decreased schedule to the last paragraphs and elevating the successors to the headline of the media release didnât work. All the media headlines still seemed to focus on Hitch anyway.
The missing part here is why do they need 2 newsreaders? They havenât explained that. So for 50+ years they had one newsreader and now they need 2. Why?
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Because they donât believe Alicia can hold the audience solo. Bringing in another reader helps strengthen the bulletin. Especially going up against Mitch on Seven.
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Because 7 has been ushering in Bec and Mike and Nine are scared this duo will find success once theyâre eventually on weeknights
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Iâm still seeing this as a PR opportunity lost, lumping both announcements in together. Would have been better to give Hitch his own announcement and build interest for the new team later. I donât see how Hitch could be that averse to being âthe storyâ if it was a benefit to the station and the bulletin. He was after all king of Moomba - hard to beat that for being the story.
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Thatâs harsh, Iâm sorry obviously wasnât my intention. Usually Knoxy is quite meticulous in digging deep and thinking outside the square, often voicing opinions, but there was very little to no comment from him, rather just regurgitating the media release. Was just a query, was never meant to come across as anything else 
Not sure this really needed to be brought into MS though.
I have read similar comments about Rick and Sue in Perth before. Peter Hitchener clearly enjoys his job, as do Rick and Sue.
Why is it selfish for any of them to want to continue doing a job they love? Some people have long careers. It doesnât make them selfish. They worked hard to get to where they are and as long as they are happy and management is happy then they can keep doing it.
In this situation ratings were starting to become an issue and that is very likely what triggered it. I agree that the right thing to do would have been to allow Hitch to announce it but it is done now and heâs still going to be around so at least that is something.
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It is a bit of a shame that it has come to this for Pete.
He has been a great newsreader for many decades, but sadly didnât get to bow out on his terms (so it seems)âŚ
Does remind me of other great footballers/cricketers etc who probably stayed on for a bit too long and didnât retire on their terms.
He will still be a legend no matter what though.
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