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Meakin: Chris Bath will succeed Ian Ross

Seven news boss quashes all doubts, confirming Chris Bath will take Ian Ross' seat when he retires.

chris bathChris Bath, your chair is ready.

“When Ian Ross leaves she will be taking over the 6pm bulletin Monday to Friday,” Seven news director Peter Meakin told The Australian.

And those fifteen words puts to rest any speculation that Seven, and particularly Meakin himself, was hedging its bets as to who would follow the exit of Ian Ross.

Last week Bath took to the radio airwaves to make a strategic move, declaring the job was promised to her and that she didn’t have any reason not to trust Seven execs.

It followed Seven’s signing of Mark Ferguson and comments from Meakin that could be misconstrued.

So the clarity is a good thing. And it will also provide Sydney audiences with a very clear point of difference. Overton on Nine and Bath on Seven. Whilst Anne Sanders read the Sydney news solo between 95-97, Bath will be the first woman to now read the number one news bulletin in Sydney.

“This is not unprecedented. But, yes, it’s a comparative rarity on commercial TV,” says Meakin. “There’s a school of thought that there is a risk putting a woman on her own, largely because of female viewers not accepting female readers as authority figures.

“If you speak to any female presenter, they will universally agree they are more criticised than their male colleagues for their appearance.

“But I think we are bigger than that and I think Chris is bigger than that. She has been reading three days a week for some time now and … our audience has embraced her well and truly.

“A lot of thought has gone into this and I know our audience will back us.”

Jennifer Keyte read Seven’s weeknight news in Melbourne from 1990 – 1995, but it was a long way behind Nine at the time.

Meanwhile Juanita Phillips reads ABC’s weeknight news in Sydney. And we all remember what happened to Mary Kostakidis at SBS.

While Ross is expected to go at the end of the year, his contract allows for one more year. Seven would be hoping he honours it, but it does leave them with the unenviable task of keeping Ross, Bath and soon Ferguson, happy.

Expect any move to five nights for Bath to also impact on any continuation with Sunday Night, due to return later in the year.

Source: The Australian

5 Responses

  1. I don’t care for Chris Bath much, looks aside. She comes across as pushy and a bit cold.

    Good luck to her anyway, although she she shouldn’t get too comfortable given the volatile nature of the TV news-reading business.

  2. Lee Lin Chin has streaky grey hair. She’s the only female newsreader I can think of that has it. I can’t imagine anyone has anything bad to say about Chris Bath’s looks. She’s amazing.

  3. “She has been reading three days a week for some time now and … our audience has embraced her well and truly.” Well of course they’ve embraced her. He’s making it sound like she’s an alien from outer space.

    But it is a sad verity about people being critical of female presenters’ appearance. When was the last time you saw a female commercial news presenter with a grey hair, let alone completely grey? Never. And yet you can be as old as you like if you’re male.

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