Annette Sharp: TV giant’s ‘stars’ a reminder of fading glories
THE sun has almost set on the golden years of free-to-air television in this country, as mourners at the funeral of former Nine Network boss Sam Chisholm were sadly forced to acknowledge on Friday.
Opinion
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THE sun has almost set on the golden years of free-to-air television in this country, as mourners at the funeral of former Nine Network boss Sam Chisholm were sadly forced to acknowledge on Friday.
Only a few faint rays remain of a day that was both lucrative and long and helped fill the deeps pockets of Packers and Fairfaxes, Murdochs and Stokeses, Gordons and Ramsays, Lambs and Pressers, Aspers and Sturrocks — those who, for all intents and purposes, might as well be called the traditional owners of the nation’s founding airwaves.
Chisholm, Australian television’s most powerful executive from 1975-90, nurtured and sometimes resurrected some of the most celebrated stars the industry created, among them Graham Kennedy, Brian Henderson, Mike Willesee, Bert Newton, Mike Walsh, Don Lane, Jana Wendt, Ian Leslie, George Negus, Richie Benaud and Ray Martin.
On Friday it was former Bandstand host Henderson and Midday Show maestro Geoff Harvey who represented Chisholm’s great “star factory” as they paid their respects to their legendary former boss at St Swithun’s Anglican church, Pymble.
Though both now are on walking canes, the mere sight of the men brought warm nostalgic smiles from those who recall how seriously Chisholm took his role. He knew better than most the success of Kerry Packer’s network came down to a handful of personalities and characters. On those bent backs, a legend was built.
Also paying their respects were executives from those heady days — legendary Nine news boss Peter Meakin and members of his once unstoppable Nine News team, Paul Fenn, Graham Thurston, John Westacott and Jim Waley — Nick Falloon, Nine’s former finance boss and now a Fairfax Media director, and intimates of Packer, Sam Gazal, Robert Whyte, Trevor Kennedy and publishing boss Richard Walsh.
The sight of Chisholm’s Nine Network former lieutenant and successor David Leckie (inset), still commanding yet brittle, on the fringes of the congregation, served as another reminder that the credits will soon roll on a glorious television era.