Down to a two-horse race for ABC’s News Breakfast host Lisa Millar’s replacement
Lisa Millar, who has co-hosted ABC’s News Breakfast show for five years, is a big loss, as she managed to deftly handle the challenges of a timeslot that demands both political gravitas and lighthearted banter.
It’s a fair bet that ABC news director Justin Stevens won’t attend the federal parliamentary press gallery Midwinter Ball next year. It’s not a happy place for him.
Last year, Stevens – fresh from sacking the ABC’s political editor Andrew Probyn a few days earlier – had to front up to the event and cop a public roasting from various speakers, including Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, over the controversial axing.
“Good to see the ABC here tonight,” Albanese said on June 21 last year, to cheers from the knowing crowd.
“You guys have had a bit of a week. No money for a political editor. No money for an arts division. But enough money for (ABC comedy show) The Weekly to have multiple episodes running a segment called, Albo’s F------ Dogs.”
Stevens had no choice to grin and bear it. What can you do when you’re the very obvious butt of a very obvious joke at a charity event?
So, as the day of this year’s annual ball dawned last Wednesday, Stevens must have comforted himself in the knowledge that the event couldn’t be as bad as last year.
After all, Probyn was picked up by Nine not long after he was dumped by the ABC, so everyone had clearly moved on from that unfortunate episode. Right?
Hmm, not so much.
Halfway through last Wednesday night’s proceedings, the winner of the night’s major award – the gong for the federal press gallery journalist of the year award – was announced. And wouldn’t you know it! The winner was Probes!
Diary’s spies looked across to the ABC table, and there was polite applause from the likes of chairKim Williams, and high-profile journos Annabel Crabb and David Speers. But was Stevens looking a little bit nervous? Hard to say. The lights were rather dim.
Probyn walked up to the stage to accept his award, grasped it tightly, and seized the day, but not in an uplifting Robin Williams kind of way. Returning to the events of a year ago, Probyn recalled how an incredulous Albanese had called him soon after he was made redundant.
“What the f..k is going on at the ABC,” the PM said, according to Probyn.
Roars from the crowd, of course. But surely there was some sympathy for Stevens somewhere in the room? The guy had schlepped down to Canberra in the middle of winter, only to be the butt of the night’s fiercest roast for the second year running.
What are the chances?
Of course, Diary is nothing if not diligent, so we felt obliged to ask the Prime Minister if he recalled using such florid language about the ABC during the infamous call with Probyn last year.
“Nothing to add on the Midwinter Ball, except to say the Prime Minister was pleased to support the press gallery raise funds for some terrific charities,” a spokesman for the PM said.
Quite.
Let’s hope Stevens is at least able to claim the cost of the ball ticket as a tax deduction.
Side hustle
Former Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has been keeping a relatively low profile since departing politics in December. But when Seven’s Spotlight decided to devote an entire episode to “what our leaders and experts did right and wrong during the Covid pandemic” … well, who ya gonna call?
Anna-stay-jaaaaa!!!
After all, who could forget her infamous secessionist cry at the height of lockdowns in August 2020: “People living in NSW, they have NSW hospitals. In Queensland, we have Queensland hospitals for our people.”
It was dumb then, and it’s even dumber in hindsight.
Palaszczuk’s appearance on the Spotlight special, hosted by Michael Usher, went off without any significant hitches – unsurprisingly, AP stood by her decision to lock the gates into Queensland and implement harsh lockdown measures during the pandemic.
But what really attracted Diary’s interest was the revelation that the former Labor premier – who has hired celebrity agent Max Markson in her post-politics life – earned herself a healthy little pay cheque to appear on Seven’s flagship current affairs show (which will, unfortunately, forever be stained by Taylor Auerbach’s frolic with the company credit card).
We contacted Markson to inquire about Palaszczuk’s fee for her Spotlight performance, but he was uncharacteristically quiet.
“I can’t discuss how much she was paid unfortunately, I’m bound by contractual information,” Markson told Diary.
Well, that’s no fun!
We also contacted Palaszczuk, but didn’t hear back.
But Markson did confirm that Palaszczuk will be doing more paid gigs down the track and the Spotlight cameo was her first paid TV appearance since quitting politics.
“We’ve got a book deal on the way for her too,” Markson chirped.
An autobiography, presumably?
“I can’t tell you,” Markson said. “It won’t come out for another year or so. Books take time.”
Can’t wait!
In the meantime, the former Queensland premier is keeping busy with her duties as international ambassador for the Smart Energy Council.
Happy hour
News lovers, mark this down in your diary.
At 6.57pm this coming Friday, July 12, Seven’s national news bulletin is officially flicking the switch to vaudeville.
Yep, for three highly anticipated minutes, comedian Mark Humphries will do a comedy sketch. As part of the news bulletin.
As first reported by Diary last month, Seven’s rookie national news boss Anthony De Ceglie has hired ex-ABC comedian Humphries to make viewers chuckle for a few minutes every Friday. Apparently the end of the 6pm news bulletin is just the place for it!
We can now reveal that the satirist’s segment will be called “The 6.57pm News”.
We can also reveal that while many journalists at Seven are uneasy about sharing their on-air real estate with a comedian, the big bosses at Seven view the laughing matter as, well, no laughing matter.
“There’s been a lot of work behind the scenes, over weeks, to get this right,” one senior Seven insider told Diary.
“They’ve filmed several pilots; one of those focused on Julian Assange.
“There’s been a great deal of planning, work and consideration, involving multiple key stakeholders, that’s gone into this.
“There has been a fair bit of healthy scepticism but this has been well thought out. It’s smart and it’s funny. A chance to take a critical look at news, and a different way to tell important stories.”
All jokes aside, Diary wishes Humphries well. He’s a genuinely funny guy, with one of those bendy faces that is a comedic asset.
We just hope he lasts longer than Elliot Rhodes, the fictional “Friday night funnyman” made famous by the legendary ABC series Frontline in the 1990s. Frontline host Mike Moore (played by Rob Sitch) moved to have Rhodes sacked after just two episodes, on the grounds that he wasn’t funny.
Break a leg, Mr Humphries.
It’s in the stars
Humphries’ elevation – if you can call it that – to the arse end of Seven’s Friday bulletin comes at an interesting time for the network, and especially for long-serving Sydney newsreader Mark Ferguson.
Rumours persist that Fergo’s decade-long stint might be up for review, as news boss De Ceglie prepares to give others a go behind the 6pm desk during the Paris Olympics, which will be a ratings wasteland for Seven given that rival Nine has the advantage of being the Games’ Australian broadcaster.
Adding fuel to the fire are claims that Ferguson is not necessarily thrilled by some of the recent newsroom developments at Seven, including De Ceglie’s rumoured plan to incorporate an astrologer’s readings into the bulletin.
Expect things to come to a head in weeks, not months.
Ray’s record
Sydney talkback radio king Ray Hadley is on the cusp of notching up an extraordinary record. When the latest radio ratings survey is released on Tuesday, it will almost certainly show that Hadley has recorded his 158th consecutive win in his mornings timeslot. And if that does indeed happen, it means Hadley will have been unbeaten for exactly 20 years – an unprecedented achievement in the toughest radio market in the country.
The most recent radio ratings poll, released on June 4, revealed Hadley held a commanding lead over his nearest rival, enjoying a 15.3 per cent audience share in the mornings timeslot, well clear of smoothfm 95.3, with a 12.1 per cent slice of the market.
But Hadley’s magic milestone almost slipped by unnoticed, as the station had mistakenly thought that the 20-year anniversary would be reached when Hadley notched 160 consecutive survey wins, given there are eight ratings polls conducted each calendar year.
However, in recent weeks, some bright spark at Nine Radio twigged to the fact that a couple of surveys were cancelled during Covid, meaning this week’s survey will in fact mark two decades exactly since Hadley reached the top of the charts.
Hadley declined to comment last week when Diary sought comment from him – he was understandably reluctant to count his chickens before they officially hatch on Tuesday – but you can bet that Nine’s bosses, who have had a tough time of late, will be popping the champagne corks alongside Hadley on Tuesday morning.
Karl sinks
Today show host Karl Stefanovic might struggle to jag too many interviews with members of the Aussie Olympic swim team in Paris, if the word out of The Dolphins camp is on the money.
In the first episode of News Corp’s Matty and the Missile in Paris podcast, swim champ James Magnussen told Fox Sports’ Matty Johns that Stefanovic’s recent barbs directed at US Olympics legend Michael Phelps – the Today show host called the American sports great an “absolute tosser” – had not been well received by the Australian swim team.
“I can tell you from within the inner sanctum that they are furious about it,” Magnusson told Johns in the podcast, which went live on Sunday morning. “America doesn’t need more motivation heading into the Olympics. But above and beyond that, Matty, it’s disrespectful.”
When contacted by Diary on Sunday, Stefanovic couldn’t care less about the brouhaha.
“I don’t think anyone’s losing sleep over a bit of fun,” Stefanovic said.
Maybe, maybe not.
But it will be interesting to see the on-air interactions between Stefanovic and Australian swim team members if they get pipped by their American rivals in a final.
Stefanovic and his Today co-host Sarah Abo will be hosting their show from Paris in the week leading up to the Olympics opening ceremony, and throughout the Games fortnight.
Couch vacancy
Who will replace Lisa Millar, who last week announced that she was ditching the comfy couch on ABC’s News Breakfast program for the dust and dirt of hit show Muster Dogs?
Millar, who has co-hosted the news program for five years alongside Michael Rowland, is a big loss, as she managed to deftly handle the challenges of a timeslot that demands both political gravitas and lighthearted banter.
Millar was adept at flicking the switch between the two, which is no small feat.
As for her successor, Diary understands it’s down to a two-horse race.
The favourite is Bridget Brennan, a Dja Dja Wurrung and Yorta Yorta woman who has been filling in for Millar while she has been travelling around the country filming Muster Dogs.
The second contender is the lesser known Emma Rebellato, who has also featured regularly on the program in recent months.
Millar will continue to co-host the news breakfast program until August 23, and will juggle that commitment with the filming schedule of Muster Dogs as well as guest presenting roles on Back Roads, filling in for regular host Heather Ewart.
Millar’s announcement last week was met with many public messages of support from her loyal viewers, as well as her long-time ABC friend and colleague Leigh Sales, who posted on Instagram: “The one thing I know after 25 years working with this woman is whatever she delivers is done with quality, warmth and integrity.”
Midwinter Sales
Speaking of Leigh Sales, several loyal Diary readers have been asking: what is the former host of the ABC’s 7.30 program up to these days?
Last week marked two years since Sales, one of the public broadcaster’s biggest stars, signed off from the current affairs show with a teary farewell, before embarking on a well-earned six-month break from on-air duties.
Sales has anchored Australian Story since the beginning of last year, which has allowed her more time to devote to Chat 10 Looks 3, the popular podcast she co-hosts with fellow ABC personality Annabel Crabb.
Sales also wrote a book last year on the art of storytelling.
On Friday, Diary messaged Sales to ask if – two years on from her departure from 7.30 – she was working on any special projects with the ABC in the second half of 2024.
Indeed she is!
Sales has been shooting The Assembly, a six-part series that follows a group of autistic student journalists as they prepare and interview six of the nation’s biggest names, including the Prime Minister.
Sales acts as a mentor to the students as they prepare to interview a person of note.
According to the ABC press release, the format is based on a French series Les Rencontres du Papotin and the BBC series The Assembly, which have featured interviews with French President Emmanuel Macron, and actors Antonio Banderas and Michael Sheen.
The Assembly will hit our screens later this year.
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