Ten’s morning news broadcast hits world record low
Network Ten’s Sarah Harris and Lachlan Kennedy had the unenviable task of co-hosting the annual gala of NSW journalism, the Kennedy Awards, on Friday night, which is no easy gig.
After last year’s PR disaster, which saw Financial Review journo Michael Roddan bounced from the event by organisers after describing the Kennedys as “the bogan Walkleys” during an acceptance speech, Harris and Kennedy (no relation to the late Les Kennedy, after whom the awards are named) were entrusted to restore a bit of class to the event.
Although they struggled at times to be heard over a persistently chatty room, Diary thinks the pair did a fine job. They even managed to be funny – happily taking the mickey out of themselves, and their network, for the less-than-stellar ratings that their shows command.
In a room full of extremely healthy egos, it was refreshing to be entertained by a couple of TV peeps who don’t take themselves too seriously.
Harris, who fronts midmorning chat show Studio 10, began her opening address at the Kennedy Awards by looking across the room of 500 people at Randwick Racecourse and declaring: “Wow, so this is what it’s like to have an audience!”
Kennedy, who hosts Ten’s fledgling morning news bulletin, which precedes Studio 10, had a bit more personal material to work with, following The Australian’s revelation last month that his new program recently drew just 44 viewers in Sydney, and 43 in Perth.
To plenty of laughs, Kennedy: “I’m the host of 10 News First: Breakfast – thank you all for watching.” It was a good gag, but in hindsight, it’s perhaps a bit sharper than even Kennedy himself realised, given the latest ratings figures that have just fallen into Diary’s lap.
Today, it can be revealed that Ten’s morning news bulletin, hosted by Kennedy and Natasha Exelby, has set a new world record for television viewership – or lack thereof.
According to official TV ratings numbers provided by research firm OzTAM, last Wednesday morning, 10 News First; Breakfast was watched by precisely no one in Perth. As in, not a single person in a city of more than two million people, watched the show.
It is of course possible that the ratings figure was a statistical blip. But when Diary put questions to both OzTAM and Network Ten about the veracity of the audience number, there were no denials.
An OzTAM spokesperson said the rock-bottom ratings result may have resulted “from small underlying viewing samples”. A spokesperson for Ten was surprisingly chipper.
“10 News First: Breakfast edition is maintaining its audience and increasing engagement as viewers become more familiar with the timeslot,” a spokeswoman said.
The phrase – “the only way is up” – is terribly overused, but we’re guessing it may get a run in the 10 News First: Breakfast newsroom on Monday.
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Trioli’s gold medal apology to Kyle Chalmers
Have you ever been at an airport when you’ve seen someone famous, and your internal dialogue is as follows: ‘Do I approach them and say something cringe-worthy, or do I leave them alone?’ That exact same scenario was faced by ABC Radio Melbourne presenter Virginia Trioli a week or so ago when she spotted swimmer Kyle Chalmers in the Sydney airport lounge.
Luckily for the media professionals of Australia, Trioli went with option one, and she strode over to Chalmers to deliver an apology to the Olympic champion on behalf of “my fellow journalists” whose coverage of the superstar’s out-of-pool “love triangle” dramas at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games had “made me deeply ashamed”.
Exactly how many “fellow journalists” Trioli had consulted before offering her collective apology on their behalf remains unclear. But there are many other members of the press who would argue that journalists have an obligation to report on personal dynamics within a high-profile team – be it a sports squad, or a political party – because there is a fair degree of public interest in the human element of stories, regardless of whether the details are uplifting or somewhat messy.
In her ‘analysis’ piece for ABC Online on the weekend, Trioli described her almost out-of-body experience when she sighted Chalmers in the terminal – and came dangerously close to looking like the self-appointed moral compass of Australian journalism.
“When I saw Olympic and Commonwealth Games gold-medallist and champion swimmer Kyle Chalmers last weekend in the Sydney Airport lounge I should have had the same reaction I always do when in the presence of our version of a modern god: astonishment battling goofy admiration, all the while trying not to stare,” Trioli recalled. “But not this time. This time I was battling a rising sense of outrage – and then the strangest feeling of all: a keen desire to somehow make amends.
“Before I even realised what I was doing, I was on my feet in the crowded lounge and was walking across to Chalmers and his small group. I heard my voice come out small and halting: I introduced myself and said I was from the ABC, and even from behind his mask I saw Chalmers’s jaw stiffen. He stepped back a little.
“The words tumbled out of me: ‘I just want to apologise to you on behalf of every other journalist who felt as outraged as I did at your treatment by some of the media in Birmingham: it was just awful that you couldn’t enjoy your amazing achievements and I want you to know that not all of us would have done that to you.’
“Chalmers blinked, and then managed half a rueful smile, almost managing to hide his anxiety that he was being accosted by a raving lunatic. ‘Yeah,’ he said, ‘it was pretty shitty.’
“I may have blathered on a little more, but Chalmers quietly thanked me, and I returned to my seat. A few minutes later his group gathered their things and made their way to their gate. And no, I didn’t take a selfie of the moment.”
Trioli, who hosts Mornings on ABC Radio Melbourne, went on to bag those reporters who dared to pursue the “love triangle” story, deriding them for doing “the work of a gossip mag”.
Trioli also posted her column on Twitter on the weekend, with the declaration: “I apologised to Kyle Chalmers: a few other journalists should too.”
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Absent friends
There was a bit of star power missing from the Nine Entertainment table at the Kennedys.
The network had double-booked on Friday night, with a postponed tribute to Nine veterans Liz Hayes, Tracy Grimshaw and Peter Overton – dubbed “A Celebration of The Years” – held at the Sydney Opera House at the same time as the awards.The function was to mark the 40th anniversary at Nine for Grimshaw and Hayes, and the 30th anniversary for Overton.
Many of Nine’s heavy hitters chose the Opera House over Randwick Racecourse, including CEO Mike Sneesby, board member Nick Falloon, Nine radio boss Tom Malone, managing director of publishing James Chessell, director of news and current affairs Darren Wick, director of morning TV Steve Burling, A Current Affair executive producer Fiona Dear, 60 Minutes executive producer Kirsty Thomson and Melbourne’s news director Hugh Nailon. Today co-host Allison Langdon emceed the event.
Other attendees included Richard Wilkins, Sarah Abo, Overton’s wife Jessica Rowe and the late Brian Henderson’s wife, Mardi.
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Bruce almighty
The standout moment of the Kennedy Awards was the recognition of Channel 7 commentator Bruce McAvaney with the outstanding lifetime achievement award. Over the course of his near 50-year career, McAvaney’s unmistakeable voice has been the soundtrack to scores of historic sporting moments including Melbourne Cups, AFL grand finals, rugby World Cups, Australian Open finals, and of course, unforgettable Olympic performances going back to the Los Angeles Games in 1984.
While McAvaney was not present in Sydney to accept his gong, he delivered a video message that was full of his trademark energy, and humility.
The 69-year-old singled out the “encouragement of the female voice” in Australian sports broadcasting as one of the most significant developments he’d witnessed in the media industry over the past five decades.
“You always try to leave a bit of a mark and whether or not that has come to pass is for others to judge.
“And as you get older you get more of an opportunity to help those who’ve come in after, just as you were given words of wisdom as you were coming up through the ranks. To see them succeed and possibly surpass you is a fabulous feeling. Again, that kinship is one of the great pleasures of working in the industry.”
McAvaney nominated Cathy Freeman’s gold medal win in the 400m at the Sydney Olympics as his career highlight.
For those who’ve forgotten, here’s how he saw the closing stages of that race.
“Freeman’s got work to do here. There’s about 150 to go. Guevara and Merry are right up. It’s gonna be a big finish. Into the straight Graham leads. Freeman runs up to her. Merry inside. Cathy lifting. Goes up to Graham. Takes the lead. Looks a winner. Draws away from Graham and Merry. THIS IS A FAMOUS VICTORY! A magnificent performance. What a legend. What a champion.”
Good on ya, Bruce.
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Shy Guy
3AW afternoons host Tom Elliott is still scratching his head over Victorian Opposition Leader Matthew Guy’s woeful on-air performance last week.
The embattled leader, who has been dominating the Victorian headlines solidly for two weeks over the “donor scandal” involving his former chief of staff Mitch Catlin, refused to answer a series of straightforward questions put to him on-air by Elliott, prompting a barrage of angry calls from listeners – one of whom labelled the interview “a train wreck … that reminded me of the interview Prince Andrew gave on the BBC”.
Last Monday, Elliott secured the first one-on-one exchange with Guy since the donor scandal broke, and although it remained the central political talking point in the media, the Liberal leader wasn’t interested in shedding any fresh light on the matter.
Elliott: Did you think the scheme was a bad idea when you heard about it?
Guy: Did it take place?
Elliott: No it didn’t take place.
Guy: Doesn’t that answer your question?
Elliott: Well not necessarily because according to The Age it was the donor that said I won’t do it, it wasn’t you, so I’m just saying do you think it was a bad idea, just yes or no?
Guy: Well the mere fact that nothing took place should answer that question.
Elliott: So you thought it was a bad idea?
Guy: Thank you Tom, what else would you like to talk about?
When Diary contacted the radio host to ask about the interview, the 3AW broadcaster said “it stands out in recent history” as one of the worst he’s experienced.
“We told his people in advance that I will ask those main questions so it wasn’t like it was a surprise for him,” Elliott said.
“He just didn’t want to answer them. Irrespective of people’s political stripes, they hate it when politicians refuse to answer questions.”
Oddly, the audio of the interview audio was even tweeted out by Elliott’s direct rival, ABC Melbourne afternoons host Raf Epstein, who wrote: “Questions @MatthewGuyMP didn’t answer from Tom Elliott”.
During the interview, Guy also took a shot at The Age, which broke the story of the donor scandal. “Would you believe everything you read in The Age, with great respect?”
Guy appears to be making a habit of shooting the messenger – last month he took a swipe at Sky News Australia, when promoting his emissions reduction target scheme, which aims to cut emissions by 50 per cent by 2030. Guy said the scheme seemed to “trigger a whole bunch of people on Sky TV”.
But it seems Guy’s media style hasn’t gone down that well with his own team – less than 48 hours after the Liberal leader’s horror interview with Elliott last week, his communications director Lee Anderson quit, reportedly after a disagreement with Guy’s new chief of staff, Nick McGowan, with the questionable 3AW interview believed to be a catalyst for his departure.
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