Yes it would. Seven had a problem with their weeknight team because it was considered too blokey when David Brown was appointed. Instead of fixing the main problem of Ferguson they instead shafted Jim for Mel, even though her presentation is poor.
Plus I was talking about his wife Chris Bath who was shafted for Ferguson. Seven don’t deserve either of their services after they were dumped for Ferguson and McLaughlin.
I guess it won’t be long until Jim also pops up doing opinion stuff on Today.
Ah ok, fair point
I agree he was treated poorly by the network and will be a big loss to the sport deparment.
This move also explains his absence on Weekend Sunrise in recent weeks.
Could Matt White move back?
To be honest. Jim would have been on a lot $$$ and Seven wouldn’t have been in the position to extended his contract in this environment. Expect an up and coming presenter on far less money to take over his role. I wish him all the best at 2GB.
Big loss for 7. Hopefully Michelle Bishop replaces him as presenter… wouldn’t be surprised if Matt White makes his way back to Seven too.
The question is… how much longer will seven keep presenters like Mel Doyle on the books?
She’s already been utilised on The Latest now and all seems to be fine, many happy. She’ll probably remain for a while as the main backup for Usher.
Don’t see why Seven would want to get rid of her
To be honest, I’m actually surprised that Jim Wilson didn’t leave Seven around three years ago!
Of course I was quietly hoping the role Jim would leave Seven for was to present sport on the weekend editions of 10 News First alongside his wife (again, the banter between Bathie & Jim during that short lived period they were together on Seven News Sydney was top shelf stuff) but at least joining the Nine Entertainment family opens the window for opportunities to be part of NRL coverage and dare I suggest it, perhaps even fill-in Sports presenting on Nine News Sydney. Sure, neither Cam or Erin are going to be replaced by Jim but after Neil Breen’s move to Brisbane, it wouldn’t massively surprise me if Nine were to pick Jim Wilson as a Sydney sport presenter before Rob Canning, Luke Dufficy and Danika Mason.
Michelle Bishop shouldn’t replace Jim Wilson. She should be replacing Mel McLaughlin.
Of course, I do agree that Michelle will likely be one of the candidates for the role of new Friday/Saturday night Sports presenter on Seven News Sydney although surely Ryan Phelan and Matt Carmichael are also in with a chance?
Yeah, I reckon it’s only a matter of time before Melissa Doyle leaves the network.
After all the roles she’s been shafted from since leaving Sunrise (Afternoon News, Friday/Saturday night Sydney news, and now only doing the odd bit of filling in on The Latest after Sunday Night was axed), I personally wouldn’t be unhappy if Mel left Seven in favour of focusing on her commitments to Smooth FM and as being ambassador to the GWS Giants and various other causes.
No, she’s most likely doing more than Angela Cox on the Latest. Seven is finally finding a spotlight to put Melissa Doyle in
The only issue with making Ryan Phelan the sport presenter on Friday and Saturday is that he would be working a 6 day week because of The Daily Edition, unless someone else could co-host TDE one day a week instead of him, although there aren’t really any suitable candidates for that role.
Therefore I reckon the Fri/Sat sport should go to Matt Carmichael or Michelle Bishop.
Yes she’s a great talent and Seven would love to keep her. But Seven is currently trying to reduce costs. She’s an expensive over head that is currently under utilised. She is currently only being used as a fill in presenter.
Another presenter that maybe lost is Ann Sanders.
Or they could just get rid of it, but thats an issue for another topic. Personally not a fan of Ryan Phelan taking over the job.
Think you mean Ann Sanders?
I never really liked Jim as a TV presenter, good luck with his new role though!
Only as a reporter though - his main role was meant to be hosting Seven’s Paralympics coverage.
If the Olympics/Paralympics weren’t postponed, Wilson might have delayed his departure until early September so that he could still have been involved with those events. However, he wouldn’t have turned down the offer - opportunities to host a drive show on the #1 ranked station don’t come around everyday
One wonders that since Mark Ferguson is apparently on a fairly high salary himself, Seven would be wise to boot (or demote) him from his current position and save themselves some money once his contract expires. He hasn’t impacted Nine’s ratings much at all in the past few years and it’s nothing short of embarrassing to see him remain when better talents like Chris Bath, Jim Wilson and Melissa Doyle walk or get shafted because of his presence.
Though I may question if the others mentioned have either?
And if Fergo is booted - what will happen to Seven’s western sydney audience? Though I know Seven News Sydney primarily focuses on Western Sydney news regardless, Fergo is a known figure there so I wonder if that may detract even more of their audience?
I know you also mentioned the possibility of demotion but it seems you would put “booting” first so just putting that point there.
Will Matt White return to 7 to fill Jim’s shoes?
Yep. Any ratings success Seven News Sydney has enjoyed in recent years (including the most recent burst in April) has been shortlived compared to Nine’s general dominance of the market.
I think Seven’s loyal Western Sydney audience will continue to watch the bulletin just as long as the content doesn’t change.
While the numbers can’t be posted here due to OzTAM restrictions, it’d be fascinating to know whether there’s actually any viewer differences with the 6pm news ratings in Sydney Regions 1 & 2 (which are South West & South + West respectively) compared to the others (North, North Shore, City)!
It’d be good but with all the cutbacks Seven have been making of late, I highly doubt this will happen.