Do we believe that… or has management informed him that he will no longer get the gig?
I can still see both him and Alicia doing the weekday news together. They seem to be pairing them up together a lot recently.
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I’m surprised Tony came out and announced the succession plan on radio this morning. You’d think Nine would want to do some big reveal when the time comes but now it’s ruined.
I do like it when Tony fills in for Hitch but IMO he does his best work on talkback radio. He’s also got Aus Open and Sunday Footy Show to keep him occupied.
Nah, TJ seems pretty genuine to me. I think he’s being honest when he says he doesn’t want it.
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I think he wants radio gig and also knows Nine will want someone younger for long term at 6pm
They’re not mutually exclusive though. He might have decided he didn’t want it only after realising he wasn’t going to get it anyway.
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Dougal Beaty no doubt (for weekends - although as I mentioned in the Seven thread, if Seven do go with a double header against him then he would definitely look like the weaker)
Yeah I definitely think now it will end up being Alicia weekdays and Dougal on weekends. When Brett comes back, he’ll be needed as a senior reporter during the week.
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I think it’s a good move revealing this all now and having TJ be the person to confirm it, if only because the speculation otherwise would be extremely tiresome and it places less pressure on all parties involved.
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On a random note, I vaguely remember reading somewhere that it was put into Brian Naylor’s contract in his last few years that he would get 15 (or something like that) weeks of annual leave a year.
This agreement would be very similar to that.
Happy to be corrected.
Other way around? Surely Brett would make a return to Oz to take up weekends, and Alicia’s relief. DB the fill in for both. I still think DB is fairly new and has a long way to to before a permanent 6pm gig.
Alicia is only 40 so good move. Will obviously be there for a very very long time.
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I think having Dougal on weekends instead of Brett makes Alicia look like the more ‘senior’ of the newsreaders.
They’re probably training Dougal up by having him fill-in on weekends. I think the days of bringing reporters back to read weekend news is over. Brett will probably just come back to report IMO.
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I guess the downside of a weekend role in Melbourne is the chances of getting the weekday role are pretty much zero in anyone’s career who is on the books today. Alicia will likely become one of the longest readers ever if she stays forever considering her age. Probably a 20-30 year block on that gig now.
That’s what Nine wants though. None of this merry go round presenter bullshit over at Seven.
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New nickname for him now - “Part time Pete”.
But seriously, I don’t think a 4 night a week main newsreader role has ever been done before in Australia? It’s an interesting move.
ABC News Queensland anchor Matt Wordsworth presents Monday to Thursday. So does ABC News Tasmania too with Guy Stayner reading Monday to Thursday.
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Given Nine’s ratings trajectory at the moment, I don’t think a “big reveal” would have made much of a difference. Viewers are familiar enough with Alicia Loxley, and on another note, I think many would be understanding of Hitch’s change.
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Ian Ross also at Seven @Radiohead.
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Did he? I don’t remember that.
Yes, he would work four days in Sydney then head up to the Gold Coast on his three days off.
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Sunday to Wednesday?
Sunday to Wednesday when Chris Bath was presenting Sunday Night but Monday to Thursday before that.