Bitter broadcast News
Nine's Mark Ferguson and Peter Overton are said to have become 'bitter rivals' following the changing of the guard.
- Published by David Knox
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It can sometimes be very hard to achieve a smooth transition. But if we are to believe stories making the press today then Nine News in Sydney will keep making headlines itself, and could end up facing a very long year trying to rebuild brand loyalty.
The behind-the-scenes stories are upstaging those on screen.
According to the Daily Telegraph, Mark Ferguson and Peter Overton have become ‘bitter rivals.’
Ferguson, who fronted the National Nine News for four years, is now said to “loathe” his newsroom colleague, telling friends that he feels Overton has spent the past four years taking every chance to promote himself, dining with senior network executives and driving home his own news presentation ambitions.
“He feels that Peter has knifed him,” a source close to Ferguson told the newspaper yesterday. “They now struggle to be in the same room together. Luckily they don’t have to be, but Mark feels Overton has contributed to his sidelining.”
Overton, say sources, made little secret of his desire to move into the plum news role.
“Peter has always believed he was the best candidate for the job,” our source said. “He is an ambitious man and not exactly the same guy Nine’s promo people like to portray him as.”
Source: Daily Telegraph
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28 Responses
Tommyk, note “pretty much”… See the fact is they didn’t…
Tommyk, I never once said Nine had exclusively reported on the current situation in Gaza last night – All I merely stated was the fact that Nine had made an effort to mention it and report on it, unlike Seven…
Exclusive was Laurie Oak’s ‘Fuelwatch Scheme’ leak…
just for the record Spunkymonkeycaesar, seven and mike amor pretty much had world exclusive access to the gaza srip on monday and tuesday last week. 9 aren’t exclusive, just slower.
Oh, and Matt just putting it out there, it is possible to “magically watch two news bulletins at the same time” – It’s called news.ninemsn.com.au and watching the live stream of Nine News and Seven News on the TV…
Actually Matt I had one of my mates helping me with this one – We decided to do an in depth comparison of the two news bulletins, whereby we both wrote down key points of each bulletin and it’s reports. During the ad breaks we compared one anothers notes and Nine was the winner by far, covering far more important and newsworthy stories than Seven such as the tensions in the Gaza strip which Seven didn’t even touch on. Meanwhile, we recorded both the bulletins, so I got a chance later on in the night to compare my Nine News notes with my mates Seven News notes, and I still stand by my original comment that Nine News was far more impressive than Seven. The situation in Gaza is far more newsworthy to me, than how Aussies have supposedly got bad manners! So you’re pretty hypocritical when saying “don’t insult us”!
I’ve never watched Channel 7 news before … until now. So Peter got under Tom Cruises skin with his tough investigative journalism. Hahaha
And we don’t need a 2 minute story showing people at the beach, eating ice cream, and Denham Hitchcock lying on an ice rink every time its a hot day. Jesus !!
Tell me, spunkymonkeycaesar, which of the following did you do:
A) magically watch two news bulletins at the same time?
B) flick between Seven and Nine and not get a true representation of either bulletin?
C) watch nine news and then magically condense Seven News into a seven minute bulletin while typing a post on tvtonight at the same time?
or D) did you just get on tvtonight after Nine News finished and spout pro-Nine garbage when you couldn’t possibly have watched both bulletins and substantiated your anti-Seven claims?
Come on man, don’t insult us.
I’ve only just read this now, but I was watching Nine’s news tonight and thinking I much preferred Mark Ferguson to Peter Overton, and I realised it was because Overton comes across as pompous – just as “Bring back Mark” noted in the first comment above.
The presenter was never Nine’s problem. But I guess the ratings race means catering to what they think the majority of their viewers want to see. That means a sportsman retiring (one who plays a sport hugely featured on that network) gets four minutes of top billing. Who cares about the global financial crisis, people being killed in the Middle East, etc??? That’s a sad indictment of Nine’s priorities and perhaps also of their viewers.
I really need to switch to ABC.
Both Seven and Nine report the same stories. Flick between the two and they are matching each other word for word. It’s just that Seven is far more convincing. Nine seems tacky and cheap – the graphics, the background image, the music. Needs an overhaul.
Perhaps Nine should look to the U.S. for more ideas than just cricket intro’s. It seems to be where Seven is taking their cues from i.e. Sunrise.
My fix would be to upscale the whole set with more emphasis on a desk and set ala Brian Williams on NBC. Re-make the graphics without using Windows Movie Maker transitions and put Michael Usher as the anchor.
well newreading talent isn’t all that hard to find, the one thing that you need to be in newsreading is likeable. and overton has blown it in 3 days. fergo was always very likeable, and even more so now that he has been demoted.
9 has plenty of likeable newsreaders, overton is not one of them. his credibility is only worthy as a reporter not a newsreader.
i’m sure 9 will back down from this decision soon enough, which is the right thing to do, but unstability in news is recognised and usually shown in ratings.
Geez… Well it does appear “Sydney’s news is changing” as Nine has been promising all week throughout their promos of Peter Overton. It also appears that Nine is living up to their past promises in promos “most extensive”, and “most comprehensive”, as I was extremely impressed with Nine News tonight! There were far more news stories covered in Nine’s bulletin in comparison to Seven, including the tensions on the Gaza strip, which Seven amongst a number of things Nine did, didn’t even touch on… From the actual news coverage, weather and even the bushfire update at the end of the news it was far more comprehensive than Seven News tonight! – Hopefully this is a sign of things to come and expect from Nine…
Hmmm – interesting.
For a start four years in the job is a decent amount of time to put your stamp on it and try to lift the ratings. If there were other issues – then you would think these should have been addressed by the news production team.
I like Mark Ferguson as a newsreader, just as I like Peter Hitchener here in Melbourne. I do tend to watch the news that is presented by the person I prefer to watch – it is hard to imagine that the news items covered would differ that much between channels.
I also like Peter Overton, but see him much more as a reporter or interviewer, than a straight newsreader. So, I was somewhat surpised by their choice of him as a replacement for Mark.
As for alleged arrogance and self-promotion – really anyone who has aspirations to move up the totem pole has, at some point, got to make sure the decision makers are aware that they are interested. There are only a handful of such jobs around the country and I would imagine that many reporters/journalists aspire to reach the job of head newsreader.
It will be interesting to see how it all pans out and if any improvement in ratings eventuates or if, infact the opposite occurs. And will Mark be snapped up by anyone esle in the long term – or will he wait in the wings?
Well… Sadly, this doesn’t come as a surprise… Reminds me of the current rivalry between Chris Bath and Ian Ross. Fair enough to Fergo for feeling as though Pete has ‘knifed him’… I too would feel knifed. I can see why Nine opted for Pete as Fergo’s replacement, he’s one of our country’s most respectable, credible and highly regarded television journalists, is likeable, is supposedly good looking, is a family man etc etc… However Mark in my view, fulfilled the above criteria just as much as Pete… Other than the fact he is a tad less highly regarded due to a lack of exposure in comparison to Pete. Zambora too right you are when you described Mark as being “warm” – He has a cute teddy bear face. Pete does unfortunately come across as being smug, and arrogant, which isn’t as noticeable when he’s a reporter than a news presenter. He’s a fantastic news reporter but a very average news presenter and he should stick to what he’s good at!
I haven’t ‘created’ any debate. Those quotes are referenced to the Tele.
I had also heard some (note some) parts of this story previously elsewhere.
This week Nine’s anchors are valid news so I don’t detract from logging it. This rivalry story has been re-reported elsewhere too so I see I’m not alone.
Also, I’ve added comment about how the change may cause Nine more long term anguish. It could be a long year for them.
David, what a shame you’ve chosen to report on this piece of “journalism”…..
A “source close to Ferguson” sounds like it’s out of NW magazine….. yet you create debate like it’s all based on fact.
You’d make great copy for Today Tonight.
to quote one of the PR women in the wonderful show “Frontline”..
“this is television, everybody hates everybody, thats why we spend so much time promoting how well we all get on”
Echoes’blaBla ” Nine have handled this terribly”
Some transitions can be smooth and in the world of Tv where networks continually tell us (the viewers) that their TV news host connects best with the public, the network must get it right.
be interesting to see reaction from Sydney viewers on this site – those thatregularly watch Nine and those that dabble there once or twice a week.
Looking from Melbourne, Ferguson has some warmth, Overton just looks smug in same vein as Karl Stefanovic.i doubt i could watch Overton for longer than 5 min blocks.
re: pietro on January 15th, 2009 10:24 am It’s probably all a media beat-up. “There is no such thing as bad publicity”
ummmm, Yes there is.. this is a common misconception!
overton does not sound like a nice person if this keeps up it will be a disaster, no network will ever keep a half-liked anchor, their job is to be liked (and 9 has plenty of liked newsreaders).
this is probably the last thing 9 wanted to hear. they are putting a lot at stake for overton, and he is turning into eddie, arrogant and everywhere. i don’t even live in sydney and i am going to take mark’s side.
The difference of course is that overton doesn’t have a fanbase like eddie at all. can’t see 9 news improving for ’09 at all.
Really, Nine have handled this terribly.
Put the two of them on a greasy pole over a swimming pool and let them swing at each other with pillows – Perfect for Nine’s Celebrity Wipeout!
i rekon as soon as this gets into the public domain everyone will take mark’s side. i think many people can relate to his situation and “Peter has always believed he was the best candidate for the job,” he’s not exactly un-arrogant, easy not to like.
the second i heard of this i commented saying it will be a repeat of the jennifer keyte saga 10 years ago, my chances are looking good.
It’s probably all a media beat-up. “There is no such thing as bad publicity”
I can see this move backfiring spectacularly.
I feel so sorry for Mark. To be honest, I’m probably going to be switching off Nine News on weekdays as a result, not that I don’t like Peter – I just don’t think what they did to Mark was right – he wasn’t the reason Nine was losing!
Changing the presenter was a terrible idea, and it has been said by many. The newsreader is not the problem, Mark worked well for Nine News Sydney, it is the atmosphere and content of the news that is the problem. Seven news has a great feel to it which draws people in, their content is far more interesting.
Peter Overton creates a cold atmosphere and he comes across as too pompous.
Not to mention those terribly unprofessional ads they now use to promote him.