Gallipoli ratings war: Sam Armytage and Karl Stefanovic among the big names not heading to Anzac Cove
CHANNELS Seven and Nine are sending some of their big names to Gallipoli for the Anzac centenary commemorations. But others have been left at home. Here’s why.
TV
Don't miss out on the headlines from TV. Followed categories will be added to My News.
AUSTRALIA’S two biggest networks have ditched plans to send some of their biggest stars to Gallipoli to report live on the Anzac centenary.
Sunrise host Sam Armytage was scheduled to make a whirlwind trip to the peninsula this weekend, but was held back to cover the deadly storms that have lashed NSW.
Today’s popular Karl Stefanovic was set to broadcast live from Gallipoli, but was also told to stay home.
However, Channel 7 still boasts the most impressive media contingent, with big-name on-air personalities David Koch, Mark Ferguson, Chris Bath and Melissa Doyle all in Turkey to report live.
It is understood that the station has booked out an entire hotel in the nearby town of Eceabat to house its reporters and crew.
Koch said the importance Channel 7 had placed on Anzac Day came from the top: station boss Kerry Stokes.
“It’s just a reflection of the culture of the network,” Koch said.
“You look at the passion Kerry Stokes has for our history and the defence forces, what he does for the Australian War Memorial … I think it comes from him down; that sense of the importance of what our armed forces do has been engendered in us all.”
There have been suggestions that networks are sensing a type of Anzac fatigue from viewers, after Nine’s big-budget drama Gallipoli attracted disappointing ratings.
But Koch said this milestone went “beyond ratings”.
When asked whether he thought the absence of Karl Stefanovic and Lisa Wilkinson from his chief rival Today was a missed opportunity, he said that was a matter for Nine.
“Far be it from me to comment on someone else’s decision but, for us as a network, we have got to be there. It’s an important part of our history,” he said.
A Nine spokesman said the network had about 20 staff in Gallipoli to cover the event and that
Cameron Williams, not Stefanovic, would anchor from Gallipoli as Anzac Day “fell into the domain of Weekend Today”.
Williams suggested that Stefanovic’s absence reflected the nature of news where “priorities are shifting all the time”.
He said Nine’s coverage would focus on personal stories, such as him retracing the steps of his wife’s great uncle, a New Zealand soldier who died at Gallipoli’s No. 2 Outpost.
“Walking along those graves, it actually became very emotional,” Williams said.
“When you think about it, there must be the faintest trace of his genes in my two daughters. Here, you can feel that connection.”
Channel 7 will broadcast Australian services from 4.25am on Saturday, before switching coverage to 7 Two at 12.30pm for the Gallipoli services.
Nine’s coverage will roll from 4.30am-2.30pm on the main channel.
Originally published as Gallipoli ratings war: Sam Armytage and Karl Stefanovic among the big names not heading to Anzac Cove
Sign town is becoming ‘next Byron Bay’
Furious locals from an idyllic coastal town are worried they are becoming the “next Byron Bay”, with new parking meters charging $25 a day.
Netflix star insists he ‘didn’t wear prosthetic’
The star of Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story made a wild confession about one particular scene on the smash hit show.