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Seven News is the television news service of the Seven Network in Australia.
National bulletins are presented from Seven's high-definition studios in Martin Place, Sydney, while flagship 6pm bulletins are produced in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, and Perth. The network also produces Seven Local News bulletins for parts of regional Queensland. The news service is retransmitted via a number of regional affiliates, including Prime Television, the Golden West Network, Southern Cross Television and WIN Television in South Australia. It draws upon the resources of BBC, NBC, CNN, APTN and Reuters for select international coverage.
Peter Meakin is the current head of news and current affairs for the Seven Network, and since his arrival in 2003, Seven News has become Australia's highest rating television news service, leading the market in every major capital city, and is often the most watched program in the country.
History
Seven News, previously known as Channel 7 News, Seven National News and Seven Nightly News, is one of Australia's longest-running television news services, along with Nine News on the rival Nine Network.
Falling viewers numbers in the mid-1980s, particularly in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, led the network to relaunch both its programming and its news service, which was renamed Seven Nightly News, as part of the network's growing alignment (in terms of branding) with the US network NBC – taking on both the name and well-known theme music (The Mission, composed by John Williams) of NBC's flagship news program, NBC Nightly News. During the worst period of low ratings, Seven Nightly News was forced to move their main bulletin to 6.30pm because National Nine News was too strong in the ratings.
Shortly after the 1991 creation of the Seven Network as a company, a national populist current affairs program Real Life was launched, presented by former ABC reporter Stan Grant. It continued until 1995, when it was replaced by state-based editions of the current program Today Tonight, which airs in most markets straight after the 6pm Seven News. Today Tonight has since discontinued separate editions for Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane markets, which now receive a single east-coast edition.
The 2003 appointment of former Nine Network news and current affairs chief Peter Meakin has led Seven News to take a noticeably more 'local' feel, which has proved to be a ratings success in larger markets such as Sydney and Melbourne. A greater amount of locally-focused output is now incorporated, such as the 2005 Seven Listens campaign, which involved small, one-person studios at Westfield Shopping Centres for shoppers to discuss issues, in addition to a number of online surveys. Data collected from these surveys contributed to special reports on issues deemed to have been of importance to the public.
Ratings have gradually increased since 2004. Seven News was the top rating news service nationally in both the 2005 and 2006 ratings seasons, partly attributed to the success of television game show Deal or No Deal, which provides it with a significant lead-in audience.. In 2007 and 2008, the 6pm edition of Seven News completed a clean sweep as the most watched news bulletin across the five major capital cities.
Bulletins
National bulletins
Seven Early News
Seven Early News is a national news bulletin, broadcast live from Seven's Martin Place Studios from 5.30am to 6am, presented by Sunrise newsreader Natalie Barr and Sunrise sports presenter Mark Beretta. The main fill-in anchor for the bulletin is Simon Reeve.
The bulletin began from 14 July 2008, and draws upon overnight news stories from international sources as well as additional weather and financial news. The first bulletin was presented by Simon Reeve.
Sunrise
Main article: Sunrise (TV program)Sunrise is the network's breakfast program, aired weekdays from 6am to 9am and weekends from 7am to 10am as Weekend Sunrise. The show is broadcast live from the network's Martin Place studios, and is based on a mix of human interest, showbiz and entertainment alongside half-hourly national news & sport bulletins and weather updates.
The program is presented by Melissa Doyle and David Koch with newsreader Natalie Barr, sport presenter Mark Beretta and weather presenter Grant Denyer. Samantha Armytage and Andrew O'Keefe present Weekend Sunrise with Sharyn Ghidella as newsreader and Simon Reeve as the sport presenter and James Tobin as weekend weather presenter.
Seven Morning News
Seven Morning News is a national news bulletin produced from Seven's Martin Place studios and presented by Ann Sanders, who also reads news updates for The Morning Show. The half-hour bulletin airs at 11.30am on weekdays.
The bulletin was first broadcast on January 29 2001 and presented by Garry Wilkinson. Following his departure, Chris Reason took over until 2004 when Chris Bath began presenting the bulletin. Sanders presented the bulletin from 2006, when she swapped roles with Chris Bath (Sanders had originally been the Seven News Sydney weekend anchor from 2004-5, following Ross Symonds's retirement in 2003).
Occasionally, if the Sydney studio is unavailable, the bulletin may be presented either out of the Melbourne or Brisbane studios. In this case, Rebecca Maddern or Sharyn Ghidella would present respectively.
Seven 4.30 News
The network's 4.30pm national news bulletin is presented from Seven's Martin Place studios by Samantha Armytage from Monday to Thursday, and Chris Bath on Fridays. Weather is presented from Seven's Melbourne studios by David Brown.
The 4.30 News was initially known as Target Iraq and presented by David Johnston. It was aimed primarily at covering news from the 2003 US invasion of Iraq. The Melbourne-based bulletin was retained following the initial invasion. Rebecca Maddern took over from Johnston as anchor following his retirement in late 2005 until production was moved to the network's Martin Place studios, to be fronted by Seven's United States Correspondent, Mike Amor. Samantha Armytage took over when Mike Amor returned to the US as Bureau Chief in October 2006.
Seven Late News and Updates
State-based updates are presented throughout the afternoon by reporters or presenters.
A three-minute summary airs at around 10.30pm on weeknights (subject to scheduling). The late bulletin covers major national and international news stories in brief along with a sports story and a national weather summary.
Sara Groen presents the late updates on Monday and Tuesday, with Samantha Armytage presenting on Wednesday and Thursday, while Chris Bath presents on Fridays. The national late news update is presented from Seven's Martin Place studios. Fill-in anchors include Sara Groen, Rebecca Maddern and Sophie Hull.
In 2007 and 2008, Seven Late News was revived in the form of a Friday night bulletin during the AFL season. The half-hour bulletin was introduced in 2007, broadcast at 10.30pm into Sydney and Brisbane. In 2008 the same bulletin was also shown delayed in Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth at the later time of 11:30pm (aired later on occasions). The bulletin had a similar format to the other national bulletins produced by Seven News.
As of 2009, the half-hour late bulletin is no longer produced by the network, with 10:30pm updates now presented on Friday nights.
Local bulletins
Sydney
Seven News Sydney is directed by Chris Willis and presented in high-definition from the network's national news studios at Martin Place by Chris Bath (Monday-Friday) and Mark Ferguson (Saturday and Sunday). Sports news is presented by Alex Cullen (weekdays) and Johanna Griggs (weekends) with weather presented by Sara Groen (weekdays). Matthew White presented weekday sport until September 2008, when he became the presenter of the east-coast edition of Today Tonight. It was announced in 2009 that Alex Cullen would replace White as the weeknight sports presenter, with Johanna Griggs presenting on weekends following the departure of Ben Damon.
At the end of 2003, the dual-presenter format for Seven News Sydney was scrapped. Between 1998 and 2003, the 6pm news was co-presented by Ross Symonds and Ann Sanders (who started reading the weeknight news in February 1995) - a combination which had struggled against the then long-time leading 6pm bulletin, National Nine News Sydney. Symonds has since retired, whilst Sanders presented the weekend bulletin from 2004-5 before being appointed as anchor of the national Morning News in 2006.
Seven News Sydney's attempts to boost ratings began in late 2003 when Ian Ross was appointed as main weeknight anchor. Mark Beretta was the sports anchor until mid-June 2004, when he took up the position on Sunrise and was replaced by Matthew White, who formerly presented Sports Tonight on rival Network Ten at weekends. The bulletin relocated to new street-level studios located in Martin Place in late-2004, allowing bystanders to watch the news bulletins being broadcast live. After two years of presenting the national morning news, Chris Bath returned to her former role as weekend news anchor in 2006. Ben Damon replaced Nick McArdle at the end of 2006 as weekend sports anchor. Chris Bath became weekday news anchor at the end of 2009, when Ian Ross retired on November 27.
News updates for Sydney are presented by Chris Bath (Monday-Friday) and Mark Ferguson (Saturday-Sunday) throughout the afternoon and the early evening, with national updates broadcast during the rest of the evening.
Ross presented his final bulletin for Seven News Sydney on Friday 27 November 2009. Bath took over as main weeknight anchor from Monday 30 November 2009. Former Nine News anchor Mark Ferguson took over from Bath as weekend news anchor on Saturday 28 November 2009.
Melbourne
Seven News Melbourne is directed by Steve Carey and presented by Peter Mitchell (weeknights) from Seven's Broadcast Centre Melbourne, located adjacent to Etihad Stadium in the Docklands precinct. Weekday sport and weather are presented by Sandy Roberts and David Brown, with Tim Watson and Rob Gell presenting on weekends alongside news anchor Jennifer Keyte. Rebecca Maddern is the fill-in anchor for the nightly 6pm bulletin, with Michael Felgate or Leith Mulligan, as the fill-in sports presenters.
Seven News Melbourne scrapped the dual-presenting format in 2000 when David Johnston and Anne Fulwood (a partnership which only lasted from mid-1999 to late 2000) were replaced by Peter Mitchell. He had previously held the role of the weekend news presenter for over thirteen years. Jennifer Keyte was appointed as weekday news anchor in 1990, becoming Australia's first solo female primetime commercial news presenter. In a network reshuffle in 1996, Jennifer Keyte terminated her employment after the Seven Network attempted to pair her with David Johnston. She returned to Seven Melbourne in August 2003, assuming the role as the weekend news presenter, succeeding Jennifer Adams.
Dylan Howard was the previous sport fill-in presenter until he was sacked from the network in November 2008 over an AFL medical record controversy. Leith Mulligan replaced him.
Production of the Melbourne bulletin moved to the Docklands precinct in March 2002. Beforehand, it was produced at HSV-7's headquarters, located in Dorcas Street, South Melbourne.
Following decades of coming in second place to Nine News Melbourne, Seven News Melbourne dead heated in 2007, winning 20 out of 40 ratings weeks. This was subsequently followed by a series of advertisements and promos which have touted Seven News Melbourne as Melbourne's New #1. Despite a poor start to 2008, Seven News Melbourne won 25 out of 40 ratings weeks, officially becoming Melbourne's leading television news service.
Afternoon news updates for Melbourne are presented by Rebecca Maddern or another reporter, while Peter Mitchell presents news updates though the evening. Jennifer Keyte presents all weekend news updates.
Brisbane
Seven News Brisbane is directed by Rob Raschke and presented by Kay McGrath and Rod Young (weekdays) from Seven's Brisbane studios, located at Mt Coot-tha. Sport is presented by Pat Welsh and Shane Webcke. Ben Davis and Rohan Welsh are sports reporters who also fill in the presenting role. Weather is presented by John Schluter.
On weekends, Sharyn Ghidella presents the news (alongside her Weekend Sunrise commitments) with Pat Welsh or Shane Webcke on sport and Talitha Cummins on weather. Liz Cantor presents a beach report on Friday and Saturday evenings. Previously, Tracey Challenor presented the weekend news for many years until her resignation in February 2007.
In October 2002, Rod Young moved from ABC News in Brisbane to co-anchor with Kay McGrath. She had presented Seven News Brisbane solo for the previous nine months following the retirement of Frank Warrick. Their dual presenter format has proved to be successful. Following a couple of lean years coming second to Nine News Brisbane, Seven News Brisbane regained its ratings lead by 2007, helped by the recruitment of ex-Nine weatherman John Schluter.
News updates for Brisbane are presented by Kay McGrath, Rod Young or Sharyn Ghidella throughout the afternoon and the early evening. Sharyn Ghidella, Talitha Cummins and Patrick Condren are fill-in news anchors, with Ben Davis, Shane Webcke or Rohan Welsh presenting sport, and Talitha Cummins or Liz Cantor presenting the weather. Former Nine Network host of Extra, Jillian Whiting, first filled-in on Saturday 17 January 2009.
The bulletin is also simulcast on local radio station 96.5 Family FM and across central & remote areas of eastern Australia, on Southern Cross Central.
Adelaide
Seven News Adelaide is directed by Terry Plane and presented by Jane Doyle and John Riddell, with Bruce Abernethy (Thursday to Monday) and Chris Dittmar (Tuesday and Wednesday) presenting sport and Melody Horrill as weather presenter. Graeme Goodings is the weekend news presenter.
Previously, Graeme Goodings presented on weeknights and John Riddell on weekends, until it was found that Goodings had bowel cancer. Goodings and Riddell agreed to swap roles in 2004; both Goodings and Doyle had been presenting Seven News Adelaide together since 1989, which had proven a success.
Prior to December 27, 1987, the presenters and crew of Seven News Adelaide produced Ten News Adelaide (then known as Ten Eyewitness News). However, as the television industry was consolidating in Australia, these news services had each become associated by ownership with inter-state news services being broadcast on opposite frequencies; therefore, to simplify network interaction, their respective networks agreed to swap channel assignments and network affiliations in Adelaide. Graeme Goodings and Mike Smithson were some of the local personalities that changed stations.
During the AFL season, Seven News Adelaide does not air at the regular time on Sundays if there is a twilight match involving Port Adelaide or Adelaide, in which case the bulletin is usually delayed until half time and shortened to 10–15 minutes.
News updates for Adelaide are presented by Jane Doyle, John Riddell or Graeme Goodings throughout the afternoon and the early evening. Jessica Adamson, Simon Reeve and Mike Smithson are frequent fill-in presenters, in addition to Mark Soderstrom and Caroline Kelly (fill-in sport and weather presenters).
Perth
Seven News Perth is directed by Shaun Menegola and presented on weekdays by Rick Ardon and Susannah Carr, with Basil Zempilas presenting sport. Emmy Kubainski or Sally Bowrey present the weekend news with Adrian Barich presenting sport. Sally Bowrey is the fill-in weather presenter.
Long standing Seven News Perth presenter Jeff Newman announced his retirement from television on July 1, 2009, and retired from his role on Monday August 10, 2009. He has been replaced by former Nine News Perth weather presenter Natalia Cooper, who began her new role during September.
In 2005, Rick Ardon and Susannah Carr celebrated a twenty year anniversary as a news reading duo. They are one of the longest serving dual news anchor teams in the world and their dual-presenter format of Seven News Perth has been highly successful. Seven News Perth has led in the ratings for decades, well ahead of Nine News Perth by as many as 100,000 viewers.
News updates for Perth are presented by Rick Ardon or Susannah Carr throughout the afternoon and the early evening. Emmy Kubainski, Sally Bowrey or Paula Voce are fill-in presenters for the Perth news service, with Adrian Barich presenting sport in the weeks before and following former sports presenter Chris Mainwaring's death. Mainwaring read his last sports report on September 22, 2007. Yvette Mooney was the weekend news presenter until she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2007 and subsequently departed from the network in June 2008. Chris Young is the current sport fill-in.
Regional Queensland
Seven Local News bulletins are broadcast each weeknight with separate editions for Cairns, Townsville, Mackay, Wide Bay, and the Sunshine Coast. They are followed by Seven News Brisbane, in place of Today Tonight.
In early 2004, Seven Local News was re-introduced in the Townsville and Cairns sub-markets as a result of regulations regarding local content on regional television introduced by the Australian Broadcasting Authority (now the Australian Communications and Media Authority).
The most successful edition of Seven Local News is broadcast on the Sunshine Coast. In early 1998, WIN Television launched a competing service publicly stating that it would beat Seven in the ratings within six months. At the end of the 1998 ratings season, after a new station head had overseen a comprehensive re-vamping of the program and its external promotions, Seven Local News had actually increased its audience share by six ratings points.
Reporters and camera crews are based at newsrooms in each of the five regions with studio presentation for the Cairns, Townsville, Mackay and Wide Bay bulletins pre-recorded at studios in Maroochydore. The Sunshine Coast edition of Seven Local News is broadcast live. News editing is undertaken by the local newsrooms, and sent to the main Maroochydore studios for transmission.
On March 5, 2007, Seven Local News bulletins commenced production and broadcasts in a widescreen standard-definition digital format. Seven Local News was the first regional news service in regional Queensland to convert to widescreen.
The bulletins are presented by Rob Brough, with Joanne Desmond co-anchoring the Cairns and Townsville bulletins. Yvonne Sampson presents the sport, with Livio Regano presenting the local weather.
See also
References
- "AM - Peter Meakin changes channel". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 2003-02-11. Retrieved 2007-03-19.
- "Year in review" (PDF) (Press release). Seven Network. 2005-11-28. Retrieved 2007-07-01.
- "Seven dominates television in 2006" (PDF) (Press release). Seven Network. 2006-12-03. Retrieved 2007-07-01.
- Brown, Rachel (2004-07-04). "Bulletproof Waley wouldn't dare to quit". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2007-07-01.
{{cite news}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - Knox, David (2008-07-11). "Early News to boost Sunrise". tvtonight.com.au. Retrieved 2008-12-10.
- Chris Bath to replace Ian Ross at Seven News, ebroadcast.com.au, 9th November 2009
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