TV takeover: Who will replace Jane Doyle as the host of 7NEWS?

Jane Doyle will be a difficult act to follow but someone is going to have to step up and take her place at the 7NEWS presenter newsdesk. Here are her most likely replacements.

Jane Doyle is retiring from 7NEWS. Picture: Naomi Jellicoe

Now that Jane Doyle, the much-loved and respected doyenne of 7NEWS, is retiring, everyone is asking who will fill her spot behind the newsdesk.

We’ve asked industry insiders and here’s how it’s looking:

ROSANNA MANGIARELLI

The clear frontrunner for the coveted role, Mangiarelli has been viewed as Doyle’s heir apparent for several years.

Warm and engaging, Mangiarelli presided over the network’s top-rating current affairs program Today Tonight for 12 years, before moving across to host its 4pm news bulletin.

Following the departure of Jess Adamson in June 2020, the popular presenter took over the weekend newsdesk – which she now shares with Will Goodings – in a clear sign she was being groomed for bigger things by station bosses.

Mangiarelli, who got her start in TV in Port Pirie in the late 1990s, has been a favourite with Adelaide audiences for almost two decades and appears poised to fill the big chair left by SA media icon Doyle’s retirement.

Rosanna Mangiarelli when she was hosting Seven’s Today Tonight. Picture: Supplied

MIKE SMITHSON

The 7NEWS stalwart and political guru is synonymous with the station and is undoubtedly one of the state’s best-known media faces who’s not currently presenting full-time.

Until Will Goodings’ appointment at the end of September, Smithson had been co-hosting the weekend bulletins with Mangiarelli for the past two years.

But Seven was at pains to assure viewers he was still be “a key part on Seven’s plans moving forward” with a new role to be announced in coming weeks.

Very experienced and extremely comfortable in front of the camera, Smithson will surely be on the station’s shortlist.

Gallery: Adelaide news queen’s legendary career in pictures

VIEW GALLERY

Seven stalwart Mike Smithson Picture: Supplied

WILL GOODINGS

There’s no disputing Goodings’ pedigree, with his father Graeme a beloved Seven newsreader from the 1980s until his retirement in 2014.

7NEWS news director Chris Salter said it best recently: “News is in Will’s blood. He lives and breathes it and cares deeply about the issues affecting South Australians”.

Six weeks ago, Goodings was appointed Seven’s weekend presenter alongside Mangiarelli, taking over from Smithson in a move industry insiders said was a “sign of things to come”.

Previously a sports presenter for Channel 10, Goodings is also a fixture on the radio airwaves as co-host of FIVEaa’s top-rating breakfast show with David Penberthy. Could breakfast radio and weekday news reading be a bridge too far for the new father, who only welcomed his first child last month?

We’ll have to wait and see.

Current weekends presenter Will Goodings. Picture: Tom Huntley

AMELIA MULCAHY

Could the bubbly weather presenter make the big step up to newsdesk? It’s happened before – see Brenton Ragless and Kate Freebairn – so don’t discount the possibility.

Now a veteran of 13 years with Seven, including the last nine presenting the weather segment, Mulcahy has spent time producing bulletins, reporting and has previously read afternoon or evening news updates.

A popular personality around town with radio experience and as a sought-after MC, the glamorous Mulcahy has the profile to take on the role and become the station’s face of news.

Channel 7 weather presenter Amelia Mulcahy Picture: Supplied

ELSPETH HUSSEY

It’s been a rapid rise for the highly regarded and ambitious Hussey, who joined the station just eight years ago.

In the time since, she’s worked both as a general reporter and news presenter, anchoring the morning, afternoon and evening bulletins, including 7NEWS’s Weekend Early Edition. She also contributes to travel and lifestyle show, Discover With RAA Travel, making her one of the station’s most versatile performers.

Away from the camera, she’s built her profile through regular work as an in-demand corporate MC across a range of events, including as the Crows’ match-day host at Adelaide Oval.

Hussey’s clearly an emerging star, but some TV insiders suggest a promotion to the weekday newsdesk might be too soon at this stage.

Seven’s star on the rise Elspeth Hussey Picture: Supplied

Lastly, who is to say that there won’t be two presenters behind the newsdesk. We’re thinking it would have to be Mangiarelli and Goodings, seeing as they have been having a test run since teaming up to co-host weekend bulletins. Should that happen, Smithson could return to fill the weekend void. Stay tuned!