Will Goodings was already co hosting with her Friday to Sunday when he joined Seven in September last year.
Exactly. He was placed there at that time because they knew Janeâs time was coming to an end.
Tell me a reason why he was placed there if it wasnât because Seven knew Rosanna wouldnât be able to beat Nine and their male/ female team alone.
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Mainly itâs to get a head start on Seven. If Seven hadnât put Bec with Mike, there is no way conservative GTV would be brave enough to do this, especially with someone as green as Tom.
@David I think that the media is sexist. So, they probably did make all those decisions factoring in whether the anchor is female. However, I donât believe as a viewer, someone says âI wonât watch this bulletin because it is a weekday and it is being read by a female.â
I think there are too many other factors to consider for you to make that assumption.If Alicia had taken over solo, viewers probably would have turned to Mitchell. But, not because he is male, but because he is more experienced and has been doing it longer. For that reason (any many others), I donât think Tom will avert that either. What he does do, though, is contribute to an alternate format.
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If Seven didnât have Bec and Mike and say, just Bec, Alicia wouldnât have gotten the main gig. 100%. She should be thankful Seven have a double header on the weekend because without that she wouldnât have gotten the main role on Nine.
Just like Sydney. Thereâs no way Georgie will ever move into the main role alone if something ever happened to Overton. It would probably be Georgie and Charles C or even just Charles alone.
You clearly hate this view/ donât agree with it but itâs there. Itâs sad but itâs in existence.
Tom is there because Nine know Alicia alone isnât enough. Thatâs the only reason he is there. And why itâs so random that it is him. They needed a male and picked him out of a hat.
And wasnât Tom also the ring-in male when Today had Deb Knight and Georgie Gardner as hosts for that brief non-Karl period.
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Exactly. Nine wanted to appear brave and revolutionary by having two female presenters but then they had Tom âas the thirdâ because they knew it wouldnât work. And it didnât. Again. Itâs a fact. A sexist fact. A male is needed next to a female.
According to The Australianâs Media Diary, Peter Hitchener was told by management last week that these changes were happening, and the handover was going to be announced today, but was brought forward after the news was leaked.
Sources state that Hitchener does not want to read weekends, but management are still trying to convince him.
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If heâs really truthfully unhappy, 10 should snap him up and put him with Jen right now. Even if itâs just for 2/3 years it would massively strengthen that bulletin.
Also, the arrogance of Nine announcing him for weekends if he hasnât even agreed to it yet. Gross.
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Sad to hear this. Handled extremely poorly if this is the case, especially being with the network for 50 years.
As others have said here though, sometimes it comes a time when you need to step back and let some fresh faces take the reigns.
I am surprised though - I thought Nine would first see if Tipping Point helps the news out, and go from there. They are really pushing for an overhaul next year⌠could easily backflip. They need to tread carefully.
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It is sad. If it were me Iâd rather go out on a high then be relegated to weekends and left to wither away.
Thereâs also another aspect of the Media Diaryâs reporting which is worth highlighting:
Nine then hastily organised an all-newsroom Zoom meeting. Loxley and Steinfort were online as Nailon spoke to the broader team. The awkward silences were not a tech issue, according to a number of people on the call, as Nailon tried his best to ârev upâ the team about the changes.
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I can just imagine that. I know for a fact that the newsroom crew adore Hitch. Devastating.
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If this is true then this wonât end well at all. If they donât have the support of the news team behind them then Tom and Alicia have no chance.
Seven and Peter Mitchell with Mike and Bec are probably partying hard right now.
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I remember the cringy tag line⌠âNews that never looked so goodâ.
Just canât do that these days.
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Only Hitch can save this from destroying Nine and stopping the tabloids rip them apart further.
If Hitch says some words at the end of tomorrowâs bulletin then I think they have a shot next year, however if he chooses to remain silent then its over.
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What does he say though?
âYou may have heard over the weekend that Iâm finishing up on weekdays and a new team will join you next year. Donât worry though, you can still catch me on weekendsâ.
I just donât see him mentioning it doing any favours for anyone. Surely anything he says just inflames the situation as no matter how you look at it, itâs not a good look.
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I wouldnât be surprised if Hitch doesnât front-up tomorrow night (I hope Iâm wrong). Poor guy would be very overwhelmed at the moment.
They might have Tony, Dougal or even Clint tomorrow. Keep Alicia away, at least for the week.
Looks like Nine are losing this viewer, and I wouldâve stuck with them had Hitch left on his terms, and replaced by Alicia solo. I grew up with Peter Mitchell on Seven (wasnât my choice, my parents always liked him), but have always warmed to Hitch a 1000x more than I ever have with Mitch. I love how he embraces social media to connect, thereâs almost no else in TV in Australia that has embraced it as much as he does (for personal posts, not links to their work).
Guess Iâll be going to Grant Denyer and Deal. Kind of seems like the perfect time for Ten to make change (even though I think they should now stick to news).
This is Nine News Melbourneâs Ann Curry moment. And I never thought this would happen
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Whilst Iâm not surprised that this was the case given how this all unfolded in front of our eyes as the audience, this could really go badly for Nine if they donât explain themselves and justify this without offending anyone.
If they wanted to make any moves, it shouldâve always been consulted with Hitch on his terms before even thinking about making this decision. I still think Tom Steinfort is a bizarre choice given that thereâs a number of people whoâd do a better job than him and have a local connection (not to mention Alicia solo).
This could well be the Sharyn and Bill to Seven News Queensland moment for Nine News Melbourne.
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He would set the tone to the situation.
Basically repeat what he said in the press release.
"As you may have heard, itâs time for me to take a step back in 2024 so Iâll be moving to weekends next year and I look forward to working alongside Alicia and Tom who will be taking the helm on weeknights.
It has been, and continues to be, an honour reporting the news to you, and I hope youâll join me in my new timeslot from JanuaryâŚ" etc.
Silence speaks louder than words.
Heâs been active as per normal. Just silent on the situation.
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I donât think Nine deserves such niceness from him though. Heâs a better man than them so I believe he will do just that.
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