From TV to NRL: Why Kerry Stokes’ prized executive has joined V’landys

It’s hard to argue that the closest thing Western Australia has to royalty is King Kerry (Stokes). So given his appointment (some would say anointment) of young prince Anthony De Ceglie just over a year ago to run the news department at Seven Network, media watchers were understandably stunned by the announcement that he is swapping TV land for sports.

It’s Perth’s own version of Prince Harry’s royal estrangement and escape to the US.

Anthony De Ceglie is leaving behind a fair bit of baggage after his stint at Seven.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

While his stint as head of Seven’s news operations has been short, De Ceglie is leaving behind a fair bit of baggage that watchers of Seven News won’t forget in a hurry. The introduction of a comedy spot and a nightly horoscope segment may have been shortlived, but they have left their mark.

De Ceglie’s alternative programming innovations at Seven, such as fortune-tellers and celestial sign readers or that weekly bit of satire, were widely panned. Although history doesn’t record whether Stokes appreciated a Friday night chuckle or what his future held, both were ultimately dropped.

Presumably, Stokes was undoubtedly less impressed with the ratings slide that Seven News has experienced during De Ceglie’s reign.

De Ceglie had previously been editor-in-chief of Stokes-controlled newspaper The West Australian, and had clearly impressed the proprietor to such a degree that he was parachuted in to run news and current affairs for the Seven Network.

In addition to helming The West Australian, he launched national digital paper The Nightly and created sports streaming platform Streamer.

That said, De Ceglie was brought into Seven in the wake of the Spotlight scandal – allegations that its former producer Taylor Auerbach had spent $10,000 on a corporate credit card to order two Thai masseuses to his home after a boozy dinner with former Liberal staffer Bruce Lehrmann.

De Ceglie orchestrated a massive shake-up of senior personnel, including the departure of long-time on-air personalities, centralised Seven’s news team and oversaw mass redundancies.

With De Ceglie now taking on the role of running the new Perth-based NRL club, the Bears, the crystal ball at Seven News most likely didn’t signal to Stokes his decision to bow to another king – the bloke who rules the NRL – Peter V’landys.

Seven West Media chairman “King” Kerry Stokes.Credit: Trevor Collens

The messaging from the Seven camp on Thursday was that while Stokes was disappointed at De Ceglie’s departure, the whole affair has been cordial enough.

The sharemarket had a different spin on the issue – taking a more bullish position on De Ceglie’s exit from the fold at Seven News. The price of Seven West Media shares rose 6.5 per cent against an otherwise flat broader market. (De Ceglie won’t be too disheartened by the investor response, given Seven West shares have been trading at 16¢ a piece.)

And regardless of what investors or media watchers think of De Ceglie’s tenure at Seven, V’landys clearly thinks of him as a promising hire.

“To succeed in Perth, you need a well-connected local who knows how to get things done and has a can-do attitude,” he said in a media release on Thursday.

“Anthony is a brilliant operator with a proven track record and a genuine West Australian, and I am excited about what he can do for us as we grow rugby league in the WA market.”

But if De Ceglie thought cleaning up Seven’s news and current affairs departments was a tough job, this may just be a curtain-raiser for the challenge ahead.

Introducing rugby league to a state made up of dyed-in-the-wool AFL supporters will test every single connection De Ceglie has, along with as many innovations as he can muster.

Maybe a tarot card reading is in order, which could be broadcast in conjunction with sports betting advertisements. Or perhaps a satirical segment on the knock-ons, ball fumbles and missed kicks.

The Market Recap newsletter is a wrap of the day’s trading. Get it each weekday afternoon.