Channel 7 identify caption company Ai-Media is behind Rebecca Maddern and Mike Amor leak

Channel 7 employees have been cleared of leaking viral footage of Rebecca Maddern and Mike Amor after investigators identified a key detail.

There’s been a major development in Seven’s investigation into the culprit behind leaked footage of newsreaders Mike Amor and Rebecca Maddern slamming tennis star Novak Djokovic on Wednesday.

As reported by The Australian, all Channel 7 employees have been cleared of leaking the savage hot mic recording, with an external company identified as the source due to one key detail in the video.

Melbourne anchors Maddern and Amor made headlines on Wednesday when they were caught slagging off on Djokovic amid his visa kerfuffle before the 6pm bulletin.

Mike Amor and Rebecca Maddern didn’t mince words in their off-air studio discussion.

The video saw Maddern and Amor repeatedly called Djokovic an “a***hole”.

“Whatever way you look at it, Novak Djokovic is a lying, sneaky a***hole,” Maddern said.

“That’s it, I mean he’s an arsehole. He got a bulls*** f*****g excuse and then fell over his own f*****g lies. It’s just what happens, right, that’s what happened,” Amor said.

As speculation swirled surrounding who could be behind the leak — from theories it was a disgruntled colleague, mischievous audio director or even a sneaky PR ploy — Seven’s internal investigators honed in on one small detail in the recording, leading them to caption company Ai-Media, which provides captions for the hard of hearing as required by legislation.

Seven has determined it was not one of their own employees who leaked the clip.

The Australian reports high-level discussions have occurred between Seven and Ai-Media, after a timestamp visible in the footage – which does not appear on internal Seven video outputs – led bosses to the company.

According to the publication, staff interviews and thorough IT network tracing is underway to determine who recorded and distributed the video. Ai-Media chief executive Tony Abrahams is reportedly leading the investigation.

The timestamp in the corner of the clip was the biggest clue in the investigation.

On Wednesday morning, Seven Network Director of News and Public Affairs, Craig McPherson, said in a statement: “The illegal recording was of a private conversation between two colleagues.

“It was an underhanded, cowardly act in breach of the Victorian Listening Devices legislation the perpetrator of which will be accordingly dealt with when found.”

Channel 7 managing director Lewis Martin followed up on 3AW radio with the assurance that it was “being looked at thoroughly”.

“We are going to have an outcome. What has happened here is illegal.”

It is understood the investigation will be finalised today.