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Nine News begins new era in Melbourne

Alicia Loxley and Tom Steinfort debuted as dual anchors for Nine during the Australian Open.

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Alicia Loxley and Tom Steinfort last night made their debut as dual news anchors on Nine News in Melbourne.

Their first bulletin from Melbourne Park during the Australian Open, follows veteran Peter Hitchener moving to weekend news in 2024 after 25 years as a solo anchor.

The bulletin was also accompanied by a refresh in graphics, including in other cities, with a larger font soaked in Nine blue, and several split-screen crosses. Nine has also rebranded as 9NEWS in 2024.

The outdoor broadcast, sans desk, was on the noisy side, with a few minor tech issues and seemed to power through a long list of quick items. But a studio broadcast will be a better indicator of where things settle for 2024.

Their hosting marks a new era for Nine after recent wins by Seven, and follows on from Sir Eric Pearce (with Jack Little), Brian Naylor and Peter Hitchener.

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  1. As far as a new look went this was pretty poor, complicated by the outside broadcast nature of the presentation. Others have noted the key issues around what to do with the second presenter whilst the first is speaking – I have no idea what the solution is but I do feel one presenter works better.

    The sound quality was truly appalling with crowd noise overwhelming what was being presented.

    Also I think they had hoped for limited real news that night as they had a lot of pre-prepared lengthy packages about the tennis, the Queen Mary coronation and an in-show supermarket promo (again.) The actual intrusion of real news including the mentioned murder, continuing Israel/Palestinian conflict and American caucus discussion sat very awkwardly.

    I have more hope for when they return to the studio but this was very ill-considered.

    1. I imagine when they return to studio with more cameras they’ll split the intros up. Some with both anchors together and others on a single.

    2. Rick and Sue have been dual presenting on 7 News Perth for decades. They show both of them at the start and then switch the camera to the individual who is reading the intro for that story. Then before an advert or when switching to sport or weather they show both presenters again.

  2. I don’t mind Alicia….she’s paid her dues, but not a fan of Tom, and he hasn’t really sold himself as an Melbournian…..time will tell if he can handle the news anchor role.

      1. Yes and he was born and raised in Melbourne, so that’s some 25 years in Victoria before he went to Sydney. I think he was starting to shine at GTV-9 (around 2009/2010 – got to cover Black Saturday in Feb ’09), which is when Alicia Loxley (neé Gorey) started travelling to Sydney to fill-in across the board on national bulletins and breakfast, she’d been at GTV a little earlier than Tom I think the years prior.

  3. I’m guessing they’ll be back in the studio tonight with possibly even more promotion across Nine’s assets today especially after 5pm on-air, given last night’s rather disappointing ratings result (albeit very close), but a win is a win and a loss is a loss. On the other hand, a great network result for Nine with the Oz Open, the historic Sunday a glowing success.

  4. I prefer just one news reader. The silent one never knows where to look – other than follow the words on the autocue as the other speaks.
    Still, wish the pair luck.

  5. It was unfortunate last night’s top story was the tragic murder of a young doctor. It didn’t sit at all well with the “here we are having fun at the tennis” backdrop.

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