The introduction of Joel Dry to the show has done nothing to dint 9News’s dominance of the 6pm timeslot.
According to The Sunday Mail, 9News, the bulletin that has been read solo by Melissa Downes for most of this year since the departure of Andrew Lofthouse, is performing equally well now that it’s a double-act again.
Nine claims an average leading margin of 55,000 viewers a night over the competition at Channel 7.
Noting that Melissa now sits to the right of Joel (which is on the left of the screen from the audience perspective), when she used to sit to the left of Lofty, The Sunday Mail’s Georgia Clelland asks: “What’s the about?”
Well, it’s a big thing in TV land that was the subject of a question addressed a few weeks ago on the British podcast, The Rest is Entertainment, with Marina Hyde and Richard Osman.
They noted that there’s strong symbolism in who sits where when there is more than one person on screen.
On American chat shows, such as The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, it’s usually the host who sits to the left of the guest (on the audience’s right), while in British shows, such as The Graham Norton Show, it’s often the other way around.
Australia seems to follow the British model. You’ll notice it in other pairings, including Karl Stefanovic and Sarah Abo on Today, and I would not be surprised if it’s insisted upon in some stars’ contracts.
Placing Downes where she is indicates that she is the senior reader. As she should be.
The big question now on Mt Coot-tha is: Will the return of Sarah Greenhalgh to the Seven News desk alongside Max Futcher — which was foreshadowed a few weeks ago but reportedly happening tonight — make a difference to the ratings?
Scooter stupidity
I’m indebted, as I often am, to Popbitch for drawing attention to the fact that Brisbane isn’t the only city that has a problem with people doing stupid things on e-scooters.
British TV presenter Jamie Laing was apparently “spotted riding through Notting Hill (where else) on a Lime while shouting into his phone, held out in front of him on a speaker”.
The item continues that Laing, who rose to fame on reality show Made in Chelsea, slowed traffic to a crawl because he “was riding slap bang in the middle of the road. Finally, an irate taxi driver started screaming at him, but he just carried on oblivious”.
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at The Wrinkle and Radio Bert, you can buy me a coffee.
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Worth a look
For no particular reason, I’ve decided to share some of my current favourite things on the internet:
Check out the X posts by the Japanese ambassador in London, Hiroshi Suzuki, who travels around the UK accompanied by a Paddington Bear toy and seems unrelentingly positive about everything he encounters.
Sick of those click-bait “I didn’t want to make this video…” videos? Check out Danny Sapko’s satirical take on that phenomenon here.
I’m not the first, nor will I be the last, the recommend The Rest is History. At the moment, Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook are telling me things I didn’t know about World War I.
Kris Marshall of Beyond Paradise and Death in Paradise fame has done a tasting of classic Australian snacks for BritBox. Spoiler: Arnott’s should put him on the payroll.
P.S.
This wasn’t in Brisbane, but I can think of similar incidents — particularly when it comes to people who bought inner-urban apartments trying to close down long-standing music venues.