Veteran SA newsman Mike Smithson to share presenting duties with Rosanna Mangiarelli for weekend bulletin and new 11.30am weekday bulletin

Veteran Adelaide newsman Mike Smithson will take up a new presenting role at Seven as the local TV ratings war heats up.

Some 40 years ago in the old Channel 7 studio, legendary newsreader Kevin Crease eyeballed Mike Smithson and said “every minute you spend on air presenting is a privileged minute and make sure you treat it as such.”

That line stuck with the veteran newsman and he’s passed it on to subsequent generations of journalists.

“From that day, every time I step in front of the camera, I remember that,” Smithson shares. “I jump out of bed with the same enthusiasm I did 40 odd years ago, largely because of that advice.”

It was certainly top of mind as he joined Rosanna Mangiarelli on the weekend news bulletin Saturday night and as they share presenting duties on Seven’s new weekday 11.30am bulletin from Monday.

Seven’s Mike Smithson, with wife Fiona and dog Billie at home, says it’s a dream come true to be reading the weekend news bulletin. Picture: Tom Huntley

While Smithson says he’ll miss the day-to-day grind of press conferences, he feels he’s come full circle from reading that very first bulletin in 1984.

“I’ve had the best working life of anyone I can think of,” he says. “I’ve been able to travel as a foreign correspondent, been at the pointy end of news as political reporter for the last 25 years and all of that has been a dream come true. But fundamentally what I would like at this point in my career is to come back to presenting.”

All that’s left on his wish list is to form a memorable on-air partnership with Mangiarelli – whom he dubs as “just about the complete newsreader” – in the vein of John Riddell and Jane Doyle or Crease and Rob Kelvin.

National Nine News presenters Kevin Crease and Rob Kelvin. Picture: Trish Johnson

“I want to make this an ongoing success and I think we have the ability to do it,” Smithson says. “We’re great friends and we can deliver TV news in a slightly different way to the traditional model.”

The 64-year-old isn’t confident the new role will mean more time at home with his wife Fiona and their dog Billie (“she’s slightly higher than me in the pecking order at home”, Smithson jokes), but he is looking forward to daughter Emma, who he’s only seen once in the last year thanks to COVID, moving back to Adelaide with her partner Ben. Son Matt is still in Melbourne.

7News Director Chris Salter said the new morning bulletin was just another step in affirming Seven has consistently delivered to Adelaide more live and local news.

“We’re seeing more and more people working from home and turning in during the day so it makes sense to produce a local morning news to keep South Australians informed,” Salter says. “It’ll complement our local afternoon bulletin at 4pm and our flagship news hour at 6pm with Jane Doyle.

Seven news presenters Mike Smithson and Rosanna Mangiarelli.

“Mike and Rosanna will make a wonderful team – their experience is unrivalled.”

Seven has long won the ratings war in Adelaide, however with Ten News axing Rebecca Morse and their locally produced bulletin in August, its hold on the crown has started to look a little shaky this year with Nine starting to bridge the gap.

Last week’s average ratings showed Seven News with 96,032 viewers tuning in, Nine 90,074 and Ten 24,522. At the same time last year Seven was drawing 102,648, Nine 58,512 and Ten 42,544. Interestingly Nine’s January 31 Sunday bulletin attracted 94,302 viewers, compared with Seven’s 87,704 and Ten’s 24,926.

Nine News Adelaide news director, Jeremy Pudney said he was obviously pleased to see more and more viewers make the switch to Nine News, at a time where South Australians need local news more than ever.

“Both Seven and Ten opted to shift the presenting of bulletins to Melbourne during the COVID pandemic. At Nine News, we stood firm by our commitment to deliver live and local bulletins – every night at 6pm and weeknights at 5pm.”