Unthinkable sight on Australian TV screens during Channel 7 broadcast

As the world turned its gaze in one direction - Aussie television viewers were left wondering if they’d hit the wrong button on their remotes.

We’re used to seeing siblings like Cate and Bronte Campbell go for gold on Channel 7 but it was a very different Sister Act on the network’s broadcast as the Olympic action began in earnest on Saturday night.

In unthinkable scenes for what has been the home of the world’s premier sporting event for most of the past 50 years, Channel 7 screened a re-run of a Whoopi Goldberg film as our Aussie swimmers hit the pool in Paris.

Viewers who have habitually turned to Seven during the Olympics were left wondering if they’d hit the wrong button on their remotes as they were greeted by Sister Doloris instead of Bruce McAvaney.

Channel 7 broadcast Sister Act on Saturday night while the Olympics were getting underway in Paris.

Where was Bruce - the iconic voice who has covered the Games since 1984 and provided the commentary for moments like Cathy Freeman’s gold medal run at Sydney 2000?

Calling the action on the radio for the national broadcaster.

It was surely a bizarre situation for Seven, which has endured a rocky year in an increasingly challenging media landscape in Australia.

Channel 7 was the home of the Olympics for seven of the previous eight Summer Games with the London Olympics the only time that viewers had to go elsewhere in recent memory.

The network was reportedly keen on holding onto the broadcast rights but were outbid by Nine by more than $50 million, according to reports.

Nine’s bid to take the rights for the Olympics all the way through to the 2032 Brisbane Olympics came at the cost of $305 million.

Australian commentator Bruce McAvaney calls the action at the 2008 Games.

The Olympics have traditionally failed to deliver bang for buck for Aussie networks and the jury is still out on whether Nine’s gamble will pay off.

Seven’s gamble to surrender the rights is not off to a good start based on the choir singing that viewers tapped their feet to on Saturday night.

Adding insult to injury was the sight of former Channel 7 talent leading Nine’s coverage of the French spectacle.

Ian Thorpe — swimming’s No. 1 analyst — and Tamsyn Lewis-Manou were some of the first former Seven presenters to jump ship.

Nine flexed its muscle across the Aussie sporting media landscape, successfully recruiting SEN commentator Gerard Whateley to call the athletics in Paris.

The sight of Nine’s Olympics coverage opening with a boom with the Opening Ceremony along the River Seine comes at a time when Seven has been engulfed in public scandals.

Seven West Media is in the process of slashing headcounts at bureaus nationwide by 150 people following a drastic industry-wide downturn in free-to-air TV audiences and advertising revenue.

The network also suffered the reputational damage of Spotlight’s $200,000 Bruce Lehrmann tell-all interview saga, which ended with dirty laundry being aired in the Federal Court.

Channel 7 journalist Robert Ovadia was also last month sacked from the network following allegations of inappropriate behaviour after 23 years in the company

Of course it’s tough times for every media organisation in the country right now and Nine has also taken plenty of gut-punches this year.

The opening ceremony for the Olympic Games kicked off on Saturday. Picture: Odd Andersen/AFP

Nine Network paid $305 million for exclusive rights to the Olympics. Picture: Nine

Under siege Nine chief executive Mike Sneesby told staff he is “profoundly disappointed” after almost all journalists working for the company’s newspapers voted for a five-day strike on the eve of the opening ceremony, including 20 reporters on the ground in Paris.

Staff at the network’s mastheads, which includes The Age, the Sydney Morning Herald, Australian Financial Review, WAtoday and Brisbane Times, voted overwhelmingly in favour of strike action, beginning from Friday at 11am AEST amid ongoing pay disputes.

There has also been upheaval in Nine’s broadcasting newsrooms with anger surrounding a reported million-dollar handshake given to former news boss Darren Wick despite sexual harassment allegations against him.

An external review was announced into allegations Wick harassed up to a dozen women at the media giant.

At least they’re not airing Sister Act.

Originally published as Unthinkable sight on Australian TV screens during Channel 7 broadcast