Stand up for your news rights

Nine’s Director of News in Melbourne Michael Venus says the decision to have newsreader Jo Hall stand in front of the camera on its weekend news followed a trial run the previous weekend, when the station presented a live link to mark the opening of the EastLink freeway.

“Because of the overwhelmingly positive feedback, we decided to take it one step further,” Mr Venus said.

“We had a significant ratings win, with more than 500,000 viewers watching us on Sunday night,” he said. “Having also won on the Saturday night, everyone seemed happy with the result and we certainly were. We hope our audience enjoyed what we offered them.”

But his rival, Seven Network News Director Steve Carey, unsurprisingly was quick to dismiss the idea, saying Seven had no plans to follow suit. “It looks uncomfortable and contrived,” he said. “It’s hardly novel or new, despite what Michael Venus might say. It’s old news as far as I am concerned.

“We don’t worry about set-led recoveries. We worry about giving people the best news service,” he said.

Seven News has just won the last three weeks of weeknights in Melbourne, but it follows a six week win by National Nine News before it. While Nine is still reeling from the poor lead in of its 5:30 shows, it has no plans to extend the new format to its weeknight bulletins.

Source: news.com.au