Nine’s nightly news facing falling ratings but its succession plan remains in limbo

Melbourne’s long-serving news anchor Peter Hitchener is the subject of growing speculation that he will soon retire but there is a danger in simply moving him on.

Nine news presenters Peter Hitchener and Alicia Loxley are suffering a decline in ratings. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

It is the elephant in the room at Nine’s Melbourne headquarters: when will its premier newsreader, Peter Hitchener, hand over the mantle to heir apparent, weekend news anchor Alicia Loxley?

The drums have been beating in recent months, as Nine’s 6pm Melbourne news bulletin has lost the ratings battle every week this year to arch rival, Seven.

It’s unfortunate timing for the much-loved Hitchener, 77, as he celebrates his 50th year at Nine, and his 25th year presenting the station’s main weeknight news bulletin.

Things came to a head with a Sunday Herald Sun story earlier this month, which questioned whether Hitchener’s career milestones this year might signal that “the time is right” for him to “step away as news anchor in 2024”.

In response, the newsreader embarked on a social media frenzy in recent days, seemingly to tell all and sundry that he is going nowhere.

In one post last week, Hitchener said the article was the first he’d heard of his “so-called retirement”, and that he hoped to continue “for a few more years”.

He uploaded a photo of himself in an Instagram Story message, pointedly stating: “Looking fresh … Feeling the best I ever have and loving life to the max!”, as well as saying: “50 years, and just getting started! I won’t stop till I drop.”

When The Australian caught up with Hitchener last week, he was also upbeat — and again exhibited no appetite for any imminent retirement.

“I’m very happy in the role at the moment and for as long as that is the case I’m very happy to be here, I love the team,” he said.

“If I can keep working I shall plan to do so.”

He stopped short of saying that he would continue newsreading for life — leaving open the possibility of another industry role.

“I plan to continue doing something in the industry, especially in the news business, because I’ve been doing it pretty much since I left school,” he said.

The story of Seven’s ascension to news supremacy in Melbourne is more complicated than simply saying that Hitchener’s popularity is on the wane. A detailed analysis by The Australian of the official OzTAM ratings shows that the news decline has occurred across both weekday and weekend news bulletins.

Hitchener reads the news from Monday to Thursday, while Loxley reads the 6pm bulletin from Friday to Sunday.

Hitchener’s ratings have fallen from a nightly average of 271,000 Melbourne viewers in the year to July 18, 2022 to 242,000 for the same period this year: a drop of 11 per cent. This compares to the now-dominant Seven weeknight news, anchored by Peter Mitchell, whose ratings have remained relatively stable at an average of 276,000 viewers this year, down only 3000 viewers, or 1 per cent, on last year’s numbers.

This change has seen Seven extend its lead for the full 6pm news hour so far this year by 26,000 viewers: from just 8000 in 2022 to 34,000 so far.

But this only tells half of the story. For the Friday to Sunday 6pm bulletins, when Loxley hosts, the story is equally bleak for Nine, which has lost its lead over Seven for the combined three nights this year.

Loxley comes up against Mitchell on Fridays and Seven’s joint presenters, Mike Amor and Rebecca Maddern on weekends.

Nine’s Friday to Sunday ratings for the 6-7pm news hour to July this year have averaged 222,000, down 12 per cent on the 252,000 viewers that the bulletins averaged to this point in 2022.

By comparison, Seven’s Friday to Sunday bulletins for the three days have averaged 241,000 this year — down 3 per cent on the 248,000 they averaged to this point in 2022.

This means that Loxley’s three 6pm bulletins on Friday to Sunday nights now trail Seven’s by an average of 19,000 viewers per night across the news hour after Nine actually had an average lead of 3000 viewers on the same nights last year. It all leaves plenty to ponder for Nine’s Melbourne news chief, Hugh Nailon, in coming months.

Some Melbourne news insiders believe Nine’s drop-off is attributable to the gradual loss of seniority among its reporters recently, rather than putting it all down to the station’s news anchors.

There is a growing belief that the Melbourne newsroom is missing experienced hands like reporters Brett McLeod (now one of Nine’s European correspondents) and Laura Turner, who recently left Nine.

A number of Nine’s current reporting team in Melbourne are understood to be under 30, adding to a perception, of inexperience.

By comparison, Seven has maintained plenty of experience in its news team, with veteran Melbourne reporter Nick McCallum, along with Paul Dowsley, Blake Johnson and state political correspondent Sharnelle Vella maintaining strong individual profiles and followings in the Melbourne news market.

There is also a belief in some circles that the Nine Melbourne bulletin’s reliance on a nightly “colour” item — fronted by resident news comedian Allan Raskall — is starting to fall flat.

In recent times, Raskall has done everything from dressing up in costumes to promote Disney on Ice, to rubbing his face with hummus, to give the news bulletin light and shade. Seven has largely ditched its own nightly colour item in recent years.

Nine declined to comment.