Gerard Whately will call the track and field for Nine from Paris 2024. According to Phil Rothfield in the Sunday Terrorgraph, Fox and SEN provided clearance for him to cameo on Nine for the Olympics.
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Well, guess heās never going to Sevenās AFL now thenā¦ That previous, reportedly near-inked deal with former former CEO Tim Worner was pulled at the eleventh hour after he resigned from Seven and Warburton came in 2019.
Great news for Nine, Whateley and viewers. And to a lesser extent Foxtel and SEN from using one of their own and possibly plugging them.
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Good on Hutchy for letting Gerard do this.
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Heās a great choice.
The Olympics Athletics deserves an elite caller.
Canāt wait to see 9ās full coverage line up.
Whoās going to get the opening ceremony?
Imagine prime time will be hosted by Bracey, maybe with Langdon.
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I mean, Bruce was pretty elite when he called the atheltics
IMO they should use Tracy Grimshaw and Tony Jones IMO, but knowing Nine, they will probably use Karl and either Sarah or Langdon.
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No thanks. Neither of these people should be anywhere near the games.
I do concede that Tony Jones will have some role. Hopefully he can host in the hours people are sleeping or do some irrelevant interviews with athletes after their race in the mixed zone.
The ceremonies need to be reserved by the most prominent broadcasters at the network.
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Fairly sure Tracy is pretty prominent hosting a nightly current affairs program for over 15 years, and many years prior on Breakfast TV.
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Karl and Sarah highly likely for the cultural aspects of the opening ceremony.
Surely theyāll need some sporting expertise for the parade of nations.
She really isnāt a ābroadcasterā in a sporting sense. Iām sure she can do it. She really is not prominent on the network anymore and isnāt really known for broadcasting sport. She is more suited to interviews and profile pieces and she is currently not relevant to audiences these days. Move on.
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Eddie McGuire and Lelia McKinnon did the 2012 ceremonies Iām pretty sure.
I reckon we will see a combination of those two, Karl, Sarah, Ally, James Bracey and Todd Woodbridge. Probably two or three of those.
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Donāt think melbviewerās was criticising Bruce but rather expressing an opinion about the stature of commentator who should call Olympic athletics.
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Thereās too much trash in this sentenceā¦.
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Totally. Meant 9 needed someone of a similar calibre. I think GW is it.
Also good to have a Melbourne voice on Aths given itās a Sydney voice on swimming.
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Whoās doing swimming?
How?
Giaan Rooney, Ian Thorpe will be experts for swimming in Paris 2024.
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All of them are terrible
Whoās the ācallerā?
Naturally weād think back to London 2012 and their early releases so for for Paris 2024 have included them, but I wouldnāt be surprised if Karl Stefanovic, Leila McKinnon and Alison Langdon (not sure about Tracy Grimshaw?) have different roles to then or what weāre expecting.
For starters, thereās a new head of sport and plenty of new staff in WWOS vs back then. Not to mention the strategic decisions and changes (behind the scenes and on-air) that have occured since then. And look at the ID and synergy the department has now across sports units.
(e.g.)
Iād be gobsmacked if James Bracey isnāt front and centre in prime time (for the sessions), given that role on the Australian Open and NRL and for some years now. Otherwise A) he and his agent would be going āum, excuse meā¦ā. And B) youād be breaking away from his role/other sports and what viewers have become used to.
Same for Roz Kelly (hosts Ashes & CWC) and Nick McArdle (hosts RU) and both host on the Australian Open. Also Todd Woodbridge no doubt.
But given Brent Williams in charge now (plus his āFooty on Nineā / Craig Hutchison buddies) and how vital Melbourne is to their company as well, I doubt Nine will just have Sydney people front and centre. Not a good look for viewers and nationally. So like the Australian Open and Footy Shows expect Tony Jones to have a significant role, as well as Clint Stanaway.
Iād think Danika Mason lead reporting (Australian Open, NRL and Nine News).
And these people are also on other programs (Nine News, Sunday Footy Show and Tipping Point) so may have to work around those.
And this is only touching the surface, thereāll be other reporters, 9Gem (maybe off camera) hosts - could be like Australian Open such as Emma Lawrence and a large array of commentators (expect ex-Seven and freelancers - all the usual suspects).
And donāt expect such releases from Nine anytime soon either.
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Mat Thompson called the World Champs for Nine, so expect him to call the swimming in Paris.
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