Seven disputes charity claims

The Seven Network has responded angrily to claims that it asked for $130,000 in costs to cover Olivia Newton-John’s Great Walk to Beijing fundraiser.

Seven claims it told Peter Court from Streetscope Research that production costs would need to be covered by sponsorship or it would provide coverage via a global feed.

It was told in December production costs would be covered by the charity if a sponsor was not found. The network also forwarded Sunrise and Olympic sponsors to help facilitate the process.

The comments follow today’s story in The Australian that say Seven’s sales director, James Warburton, told charity executives they would have to come up with the $130,000.

A network spokesperson said, “We have done everything we possibly could to support the cause. We’ve backed this from the start. We’re still backing it but the ‘spin’ on this about Sunrise’s ‘refusal’ and ‘demands’ is offensive.”