Viewers label Seven ‘dreadful’ after wrong name is displayed to mark star’s death

Viewers have taken to social media to share their outrage after Seven News displayed the wrong name when announcing a star’s passing.

Seven News has been criticised by viewers after it displayed the wrong name when announcing the death of an Australian radio star on Wednesday.

Former Hey, Hey It’s Saturday star John Blackman died at the age of 76, it was revealed yesterday.

Channel Seven News in Brisbane was called out by viewers after displaying the wrong name. Picture: Seven.

The news program was announcing the passing of the Hey Hey it’s Saturday star but misspelt John’s surname. The news programme wrote the radio star’s surname as “Blackwood” instead of Blackman.

The error was spotted by viewers, who quickly took to social media to call out the mistake.

“Does anyone in TV news check anything at all these days? Words fail me,” tweeted a viewer.

A second viewer then replied: “Answer: No. They’re millennials. They don’t do stuff like that.”

“That’s dreadful! The bloke was iconic for our generation!” replied another annoyed viewer.

A fourth hit back at the network, saying: “That is a stunning mistake by @7NewsBrisbane re John Blackwood.”

“There is no excuse for this lazy form of reporting,” ranted another. “Happens way too often, people in the newsrooms are failing in their jobs.”

The Australian TV and radio legend, who served as Hey, Hey’s voiceover artist for the show’s entire run, had suffered ill health in recent years as he dealt with cancer.

John Blackman was a beloved star of Aussie radio with a career spanning decades. Picture: Supplied.

In 2018, he underwent a mammoth 12-hour surgery to remove a cancerous growth on his mouth and jaw, which saw most of his jaw removed. The cancer reappeared in 2022, and Blackman had to undergo yet more gruelling surgery: This time, to remove the top of his skull and skin from his scalp.

Entertainment reporter Peter Ford shared the news on the Seven Network on Wednesday, calling Blackman “an incredible man. In the past years, he has put up a huge cancer fight.”

“He was a beautiful performer on radio and television, in recent years, of course, he’s put up this incredible cancer fight,” he said.

Blackman got his start in radio in 1969 but found fame two years later when he moved across to television, serving as the voiceover announcer for Hey, Hey, Australia’s longest-running variety show. The Saturday night show ran from 1971 to 1999, before a couple of brief relaunches in the noughties.

Although he was rarely seen on screen, Blackman was a major part of the show, adding off-script banter to each episode and often chatting with host Daryl Somers directly live on-air.

As well as his long-running role on Hey, Hey, Blackman wrote several books, appeared on TV shows including Blankety Blanks and The Paul Hogan Show, and served as a radio host on stations including 3AW and Triple M.

Originally published as Viewers label Seven ‘dreadful’ after wrong name is displayed to mark star’s death