My apologies, yes he has
I kinda feel like dumping Nine myself and I’m not even in Melbourne. What a disaster.
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If Peter Mitchell wasn’t the anchor of Seven I’d be switching. Can’t stand him. Bec & Mike are a brilliant duo.
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You wouldn’t go to 10?
Considering there will be no 6PM news next year, no. Jen is good but the bulletin just doesn’t match Seven/Nine. I still watch the 5PM portion some days though.
Without going way off track (and from the 10 thread), if they did have a 6PM offering next year with Jen+Stephen I’d give it a shot - they’d be the most experienced team out of the three networks.
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As bad as it stands, people will sulk for a bit - it’s natural - and then get over it/back to their jobs and producing content.
Wouldn’t be the first newsroom not to agree with a management decision, won’t be the last.
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Fair enough. I guess the ones who really can’t handle it will just leave.
Exactly - especially if The Australian’s reporting is correct about him not supporting the decision.
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That’s a bit dramatic. Newsrooms are a professional environment, staff will get on with their jobs and do the best they can to win back the viewers. If anything, this change will breathe new life into the newsroom.
Nine News in Perth has and will always be a basket case as long as Rick and Sue are still at the helm at Seven News Perth.
No matter how much Nine throws at STW, whether it’d be an experienced news director or news reader, or experienced journalists, they’ll never find the formula to topple their rivals at TVW.
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Tell that to the ABC News room. Four major high profile journos have gone in a matter of months. Even newsrooms have their issues.
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Because of management or presenters leaving? I understand people would leave if they were unhappy with management, but I’ve never heard of someone leaving because of a roster change for a presenter.
It’s more than that though. It’s how it’s been handled. You never know. Loyalty is a powerful thing. I once had a boss that I would have left with if she was ever let go. I know Hitch technically isn’t their boss but he sure is the leader of Nine News.
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There was always going to a be a difficulty when changing from a long standing anchor to the new team which is why I advocated for an on screen message from Hitch at the end of the rating year. But now we know why that wasn’t going to happen. But for a company that is in the business of selling, Nine have really opted for a strange strategy. While, it’s unfortunate that they couldn’t get Hitch on board, I’m not sure, going ahead anyway and making the announcement months in advance was the solution. Surely there were “softer” options. It will all come down to public perceptions and so far the look is not good. Now there are more reasons for loyal Nine viewers to join the other Melbournians who have already changed the channel at 6pm.
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I just can’t get past how they’ve named Hitch for weekends if he hasn’t even agreed yet. Just astounding.
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Who also remembers the time when the once-dominant Brisbane duo of Bruce Paige and Heather Foord were quietly broken up in 2008/09?
In 2006, Brisbane was Nine News’ strongest market losing only a handful of weeks, but just two years later it would lose every single ratings week at 6:00pm - and as part of a management overhaul at QTQ:
- Foord was moved to Extra, and Melissa Downes (then presenting solo on weekends) was promoted to Foord’s position;
- Andrew Lofthouse was lured to the network from the ABC to read the weekend bulletins with Eva Milic;
- Garry Youngberry became the new weather presenter, replacing Frank Warrick;
- Wally Lewis returned to his position as weeknight sports presenter after being on and off for the preceding two years after a health scare;
- just six months into 2009, Paige “retired”, with Lofthouse assuming his position alongside Downes on weeknights.
On another side note, who remembers the treatment that Mike London copped when he was pushed aside to weekends in the 1990s to accommodate Paige’s return to weeknights?
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I still can’t believed they showed Emmy & Tim the door at the end of 2017. They were great, I really enjoyed them.
Either way this whole announcement could have been handled more gracefully.
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Leaked? As in Loxley and Steinfort being recognised by passersby while doing a photoshoot on Friday? I hope it was just coincidental.
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They may have appealed to younger viewers, but not to the wider Perth audience. I also remember at the time a new managing director (Clive Bingwa) had just been appointed and it was his intention to overhaul STW’s 6:00pm news.
It is to my knowledge that Tim McMillan began his Nine career in Melbourne, and also had a stint in Sydney in 2011, before returning to Melbourne in 2012 and then relocating to Perth in 2013 (at the time I did not know he had Perth heritage).
From what I can gather, Michael Thomson (who racks up six years as STW anchor next January) might be the longest-serving (and uninterrputed for that matter) anchor Nine News in Perth has had for quite some time. Unless, of course, they decide to cut him loose beforehand.
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clearly said by someone who has never worked in one 
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