did Kerry Stokes make a generous personal donation? He’s usually very generous donating millions to the Perth telethon 
I doubt it. The Perth event gets a lot more attention by the network than the Melbourne Appeal.
Another factor at play could be the reduced hours and resources Seven are now providing. A midday start for the televised broadcast is not good enough, especially when you now have a three hour football match in between.
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Even with the reduced hours, at least Seven still gives Victorians a better deal with the RCH Good Friday Appeal than we get from Nine and their Gold Telethon for Sydney/NSW audiences which (pre-pandemic, of course last year it was a reduced show) only replaces Today Extra and the 12pm-4pm programming! I can understand why they don’t pre-empt primetime but geez, I think we can survive without the 11.30am/4pm news + Hot Seat on the Queen’s Birthday Public Holiday!
You have to remember (and keep in mind) that this appeal is in the DNA of most Victorians and has been an annual Good Friday event for 90 years.
Also, Seven have been reducing the hours on the appeal long before covid.
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Could it run 9am to 8pm then have the final hours (8pm to 11pm) as the footy match and then another hour leading up to midnight?
Having the footy right in the middle seems a bit inconvenient.
At the moment, why can’t they just start the appeal at 9am, as they use to? The event even ended early tonight at 11.30. Usually goes until midnight.
Might be worth sussing out if GTV9 / 3AW / The Age want it 
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I want more Peter Mitchell and Tim Watson on the appeal next year.
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It was understandable that the amount raised last night was lower than 2020 due to COVID.
However with Run for the Kids taking place in August, the final tally for this year could reach as high as $19 million.
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You have to remember the Government added almost 3 million to it this year. The real telly would have been below 15million.
Hopefully next year is an improvement.
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$17.1 million is still a great result overall considering the past year Victoria had.
The Appeal should be aired nationally. Air it on 7TWO for interstate viewers. What is there for Seven to lose? There will probably even be a few more donations made, raising more funds. It is a National and International Hospital after all.
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Yea I do not know why Seven does not air it Nationally.
What does seven got to lose by airing it Nationally? More funds could be raised by Interstate viewers if they do it
I think its a big mistake on Seven’s part by airing it in Victoria only
Because it’s a local appeal made for Victorians. Other cities and regions have their own hospitals and appeals etc. Soon as it goes national, it takes away the local aspect of it. Plus viewers in other parts aren’t interested in seeing local “so called” channel Seven celebrities from Melbourne. Keep it local with maybe a live stream on 7Plus for any one interested in the event outside Victoria.
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Same goes for the Telethon on TVW-7.
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As they have in previous years. But if they funded the hospital adequately, would there be a need for an appeal to the public and corporate donors?
Not singling out the RCH, all public hospitals need to fundraise on top of their government funding, so is it just too simplistic to say they’re being underfunded by government?
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Was it just me or did the telethon broadcast feel really ‘flat’ yesterday?
While I understand COVID-required changes (namely not being at the Convention & Exhibition Center and not having a studio audience for the night show) impacted how the telethon could be broadcast this year, their impact was very noticeable.
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It was lack of audience and buzz that you can usually hear
Completely agree. Some changes I would propose for future years:
• return to the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (if it’s not being used for coronavirus vaccinations by that point). The NEP studio just doesn’t live up to expectations.
• break the day into the following sessions: Morning from 9am-12pm (break for thirty minute news at 12pm), afternoon from 12:30pm-4pm (break for AFL at 4pm followed by news at 7pm) early evening from 7:30pm-9:45pm, and later evening from 9:45pm-12:00am
• more of Sam Mac in the phone room
• no AFL hosts on the panel, except for Tim Watson and Jacqui Felgate since they’re part of Seven News
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Really.???
Being a huge footy fan myself, it was great to see them on the panel and giving their insights on the game, but thinking from the bigger picture, I think it makes more sense to exclude them given that the football talk may drive away a lot of viewers who aren’t interested in AFL and would prefer to hear about the appeal and see the various entertainment acts.