Nine still silent on Samantha’s role at Today; allegations against Nine stars exposed in HR bungle
As a packed field of Nine bigwigs jockeyed for position at Royal Randwick on Saturday, Samantha Armytage was front and centre. And she has a summer spot in the Today stable.
What can we tell you that hasn’t already been said since we set the proverbial cat among the pigeons last week by revealing Nine’s top television bosses were secretly discussing ditching Karl Stefanovic’s Today show co-host Sarah Abo and replacing her with walking headline Samantha Armytage?
Well, just about anything really, because seven days on, the channel is still refusing to confirm for certain who will be fronting its perennially second-placed breakfast show in the new year.
But try this on for size: we can reveal Armytage will most definitely be in the presenter’s chair and co-hosting Today for a few weeks at the very least over the summer while the regular line-up is on leave.
Network sources told Diary that Armytage has already been locked in to reprise her fill-in presenter role this December after her successful stint hosting the show alongside Nine’s resident cloud watcher Dan Anstey during the same time frame last year.
The revelation all but confirms Armytage has already agreed to a contract extension with the station after Nine pulled off something of a coup and convinced her to change channels and ditch her hosting duties on bucolic dating contest Farmer Wants A Wife at Seven in favour of their own sexagenarian love completion, The Golden Bachelor, which finally premieres on Monday night.
As to whether she will fulfil Nine television Svengali Michael Healy’s not-so-secret, decade-long desire to pair her with Stefanovic in the hope the double act will propel Today to national ratings glory – and the premium advertising riches that go along with it – remains to be seen.
But she was very much front and centre in the lavish confines of the Directors’ Room for The Everest at Royal Randwick on Saturday as Racing NSW boss Peter V’landys played host to the country’s glitziest faces at the world’s richest race.
Indeed, there were so many stars from the Nine stable on track, Diary was left wondering who had been left behind to man the station’s North Sydney studios, with even outgoing Nine chair Catherine West making the most of her final freebies at the network before handing over to one-time deputy ABC chair Peter Tonagh at the company’s annual general meeting next month.
Abo was also in the room and at one point was spotted “deep in conversation” with Nine’s chief executive, Matt Stanton, though if she hoped that would elicit anything about her own future at the station she was doubtless left disappointed with the channel’s top boss previously saying he simply wasn’t across minor, low-level details like who would actually be hosting high-profile shows like Today.
All anyone knows for sure is that despite whatever has – or perhaps more accurately hasn’t – been said publicly about the potential reshuffle, Armytage is definitely up for a return to breakfast television. At least that’s what she’s been telling friends … just as long as the money is right.
Nine stars exposed in HR bungle
Highly sensitive files exposing the scandalous allegations levelled at a host of major Nine stars have been leaked in a catastrophic clerical stuff up by the media giant’s own HR department.
Diary can reveal the confidential documents, which detail serious accusations of inappropriate workplace behaviour, illicit drug use and unchecked bullying, have been inadvertently emailed to random staff members within the network who are completely unconnected with the complaints.
Senior network sources said the unsuspecting recipients were each sent files relating to different, individual allegations against specific on-air Nine personalities, and that the documents contained sensitive information about both the complainant as well as the subject of the complaint.
In one instance, a document disclosing a number of accusations colleagues made about Nine’s Brisbane sports anchor Jonathan Uptin – which have all been rigorously investigated and thoroughly dismissed by the network – were accidentally emailed to a Nine employee who not only worked in a different department but a different state entirely.
The documents revealed the popular on-air presenter, who was once considered a potential successor to Karl Stefanovic as co-host of the Today show, had found himself under scrutiny at the station after management received a complaint about his allegedly “erratic behaviour” during Nine’s anonymous, internal staff “engagement” survey back in 2023.
Uptin then became the subject of further internal complaints following an ill-fated trip to cover the NRL’s international season opener in Las Vegas in March last year.
The accusations were taken so seriously that Nine’s Queensland managing director Kylie Blucher asked Uptin if he would agree to undergo a workplace urine test – which he voluntarily agreed to do and subsequently passed without any dramas whatsoever.
The veteran newsman remained off work for more than three months – from late June 2024 through until October 14 last year – as Nine reviewed all the claims and counterclaims being bandied about in the matter.
The unseemly saga ultimately cruelled Uptin’s chances of inclusion in the Nine Network team dispatched to Paris to cover the Olympics last July, with the sports presenter pulled from the roster just days out from the opening ceremony and replaced by then Brisbane news anchor Andrew Lofthouse.
Although Uptin was cleared of any wrongdoing by the months-long investigation, newsroom insiders believe the fallout from the probe may have cost him dearly, and could explain why he was overlooked for a promotion to the city’s lead news anchor following Lofthouse’s retirement in January.
Instead, the plum position went to Seven News import Joel Dry … though given co-anchor Melissa Downes’ enduring popularity in the Queensland capital, she could have just about been paired with anyone and the channel would still smash prime-time rivals Seven, the ABC and Ten’s ironically named 10 News+ (heck, even The Adventures of Paddington Bear beats them).
Another file accidentally leaked by Nine’s overworked human resources department relates to a high-profile Nine Radio presenter, with the sensitive details of that confidential complaint randomly landing in yet another different and entirely unconnected staff member’s inbox.
It is understood the circumstances relating to those allegations are still in dispute and being investigated by the network.
Revelations about the alarming data leaks come exactly one year after Nine chief Matt Stanton confirmed the media organisation was conducting a number of ongoing investigations into its own staff after the notorious Intersection review found an endemic “toxic” culture of bullying and harassment within the company’s nationwide newsrooms.
Stanton has since enacted a zero-tolerance policy for “inappropriate conduct” at the company and hired Enterprise Investigations to fully explore all the allegations unearthed by the independent report.
“There is no place at Nine for the abuse of power, bullying, sexual harassment or inappropriate conduct outlined in the Intersection report or for people who behave that way,” he said in a note to staff last October.
“We currently have a number of active investigations under way into issues raised by employees. No two cases are the same, and I’m sure you can appreciate these investigations need to be conducted in a manner that follows a just and proper process, which can take time.
“There will be change at Nine and individuals will be held to account for behaviour of this nature.”
Despite the strength of Stanton’s declaration, Nine insiders feared the HR data leak could undermine staff confidence in the company’s complaints process.
Although Nine acknowledged the error when Diary reached out last week, the network declined to discuss the matter in detail given the confidential nature of the allegations involved.
Understandable … it’s best they email something like that to a random staff member.
Media mogul on bail
Here’s one you won’t hear about on Sydney talkback station 2SM or any of its sister outlets: the man behind the country’s largest privately owned media radio network is currently on bail after being slapped with a serious criminal offence by police.
Diary can reveal Super Radio Network co-owner George Caralis has been charged with one count of assault occasioning bodily harm following an ugly incident that allegedly occurred on the Gold Coast in May.
The criminal charge has been listed for mention several times before the Southport Magistrates Court in recent months before bobbing up again just last Friday … and it goes without saying that he is innocent until proven guilty.
The looming courtroom battle comes at a difficult time for Caralis. He inherited SRN – which boasts more than 40 stations across NSW and Queensland – alongside his sister, Gold Coast lawyer Despina Priala, after their multi-millionaire parents, Bill and Pam Caralis, died in hospital within days of each other in July last year.
The sibling’s dual reign was initially met with much excitement within the radio industry amid widespread speculation they were keen to invest heavily in the business and transform their 2SM flagship into a genuine rival to Nine Radio powerhouse 2GB.
However, that task was made almost immediately more difficult after the station’s renowned morning show host, John Laws, announced his retirement last November … which was surprising, given next to nobody even realised he was even still on air.
Caralis and Priala replaced Laws with former Nine Radio host Chris Smith. They also enlisted Ten News presenter Ron Wilson to front 2SM’s breakfast show, only for him to beat a hasty retreat after just six months in July and be replaced by fellow former Ten News presenter Tim Webster.
As Diary revealed a couple of months back, the changeover only fuelled simmering tensions behind the scenes at SRN, with the siblings’ rivalry and vastly different views on how to run their sprawling radio empire getting so heated they apparently stopped talking to each other.
Now, for the avoidance of absolutely any doubt, Caralis’ assault charge is not related to his sister in any way, shape or form … but that’s just about all we can say for now regarding the specifics.
After making inquiries about whether the newly minted media mogul intended to fight the charge, his lawyer Antonious Abdelshahied told us they would not be commenting on the case, before helpfully offering us a little free legal advice.
“I understand you are working on a story regarding the criminal charge that Mr Caralis is facing,” Abdelshahied fired off in an email.
“A number of other media outlets have already tried to cover the story but are unable to do so. Unfortunately, you will not be able to report on the matter (either).” Really? That’s odd … because we just did.
Basil passes torch
While all Nine’s big names may have been off and racing in Sydney at the weekend, Seven’s best and brightest stars were busy shooting off to the media organisation’s annual telethon.
The nation’s most-trusted newsman Chris Reason, Sunrise hosts Matt Shirvington and Natalie Barr, affable Sydney anchor Michael Usher, AFL commentator Campbell Brown and tireless entertainer Sonia Kruger all made the pilgrimage to the west coast capital for Seven West Media chairman Kerry Stokes’ cherished charity fundraiser, which has donated well in excess of $700m to help for sick and vulnerable children over the past six decades.
With the event’s regular master of ceremonies, Basil Zempilas, running the state’s tiny Liberal opposition team these days, hosting duties fell to local Seven sports presenter Ryan Daniels for the first time.
Zempilas was there, though, to cheer on Daniels from the crowd, as were all of Seven’s top news execs, including national news chief Ray Kuka and director of morning television Sarah Stinson, and even Southern Cross Austereo chairman Heith Mackay-Cruise.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the network’s one-time favourite son, short-lived national news boss and amateur astrologist Anthony De Ceglie, was not.
Pay gap peril
Nine has been running about like a cashed-up kid at the school canteen after pocketing a cool $1.4bn by offloading its final stake in its greatest growth asset, real estate listing business Domain, with outgoing Sky News Australia deputy head of programs James Birtles the top of its shopping list.
Diary hears Nine’s top news bosses happily agreed to pay top dollar to lure the one-time Today show executive producer back to 1 Denison Street to run A Current Affair alongside host Allison Langdon after former EP Amy McCarthy was informed she had made the decision to step down last month.
How much is top dollar these days? Well, we’re told Birtles will be on about $400,000 a year when he returns to Nine next January.
It’s probably a fair hit out given the fella is one of the most experienced and widely respected television newsroom leaders in the game … no matter what Nine’s own tabloid newspapers say.
Only snag is that word of the big budget signing has also reignited scuttlebutt about the network’s historic gender pay gap (think Karl Stefanovic and Lisa Wilkinson … or Karl Stefanovic and Allison Langdon … or Karl Stefanovic and Sarah Abo).
After all, we’re told McCarthy was only on $300,000 to do precisely the same job.
ABC homecoming
Well, that didn’t last long. Former ABC reporter Arianna Levy has gotten homesick and is returning to Aunty’s Brisbane newsroom just months after quitting the public broadcaster to go spin for Jim Chalmers.
Indeed, Levy’s blink-and-you’ll-miss-it sojourn in the Treasurer’s office was so brief, she didn’t even get a chance to update her LinkedIn profile before handing in her notice. And who could blame her?
Levy was one of the ABC’s most promising rising stars, having shone during her stints both in regional NSW and Queensland and as ABC News Breakfast’s roving Sydney reporter, before deciding to give the other side a crack in May.
Levy’s homecoming at the ABC’s South Bank headquarters in Brisbane has been welcomed by her colleagues – and the broadcaster’s top brass – who have always insisted she would be wasted in an anonymous comms role.
They’re not wrong and it’s always good to wrestle one back for the good guys.
‘Good news’ corner
In an age when the media is combating the unchecked rise of artificial intelligence, it was left to a mere mortal to say the smartest thing in the room at Nine’s annual Upfront presentation in Sydney last week.
The company’s managing director for publishing, Tory Maguire, told advertisers that the latest research entirely dispelled any concerns that placing ads next to hard-hitting stories on conflict, politics or crime could have a negative impact on brands.
In fact, quite the opposite – they actually received an added boost from being associated with credible journalism.
“Trust is the key word in publishing. In a world overflowing with misinformation, the credibility of our journalism is not just valuable – it is vital,” Maguire said, before citing the ThinkNewsBrands study.
“Let’s address the question of brand safety head on. The evidence is clear: advertisers do not inherit negativity from being alongside news, even the hard stuff, on any platform.
“Global and Australian studies consistently show that brands in trusted news environments achieve stronger cut-through, stronger recall, and stronger outcomes. People don’t see news as good or bad, it’s either trusted, or it’s not.
“In today’s world, truth and trust are fragile.
“Social media is an unregulated, unaccountable, free-for-all. Misinformation spreads in seconds.
“And that makes journalism with integrity – real journalism – more important than ever.”
Forget the on-air television and radio types walking the floor and pressing the flesh (and they were all there), we reckon this message made Maguire the star of the show.
Hayu, Seven needs help
If you build it, they will come … at least that was the advice in Kevin Costner’s Field of Dreams.
But that was the late ’80s and this is now and, when it comes to playing catch up and trying to get in on the subscription streaming market, Seven just isn’t so sure.
As international streaming services like Netflix, Disney and Apple TV continue to lure audiences away from traditional domestic broadcasters with their big budget slates of global hits, Seven’s top brass fear they simply don’t have the cash to build up their own catalogue of must-watch pay TV content.
Unlike Nine, which has been heavily investing in its subscription streamer Stan for more than a decade, Seven decided to adopt a wait-and-see-approach and are now desperately waiting to see how much such dillydallying will ultimately cost them.
Word is Seven chief Jeff Howard is now resigned to the fact the business is so far behind the game the only option is to buy a subscription platform from someone else – though, it turns out, that’s not cheap either.
We hear he had been talking to global media giant NBCUniversal about acquiring its fringe subscription platform Hayu but they wanted too much money for the service and the deal ultimately collapsed.
The revelation comes amid speculation NBCUniversal might be tempted to “revive talks” about buying into the Australian media market if and when Seven West Media’s proposed merger with national radio network Southern Cross Media is finally completed.
Sports ‘shocker’
Forget headline writing, there seems to have been more head-scratching going on over at the Sydney Morning Herald of late.
First, the inner-city tabloid was forced to issue a grovelling correction last Wednesday after a page one header pronounced: “(Treasurer Jim) Chalmers drops plans to index $3m super threshold”.
The problem was Chalmers had actually done the exact opposite, with the paper’s correction noting as much, confessing the Treasurer had in fact “agreed to index $3m super index threshold”.
Hey, it was a 50-50 call … and they took a punt.
Just two days later, it was the punters who were outraged after another clanger appeared in print, this time in a screaming headline on the front page of the tabloid’s form guide section that proclaimed: “(Jockey Tyler) Schiller out to repay Hayes team on Briasa after rocky road to Everest.”
“The headline is saying Briasa is trainers Ben, Will and JD Hayes’ horse but it’s actually trained by Michael, Wayne and John Hawkes,” one gobsmacked reader told Diary.
“Both surnames start with H but it’s like mixing up Winx with Phar Lap in the racing world.”
We were happy to take their word for that … but it turned out we actually didn’t have to.
Not long after we got off the phone, we noticed another reader had tweeted a pic of the offending splash to the paper’s new national sports head, Neil Breen, describing it as an “absolute embarrassment” and claiming the standard of the news sheets’ sports coverage had “dropped since the racing journalists were retrenched”.
“Admittedly … that is a shocker,” Breenie replied.
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