Seven sacks sport host Ben Davis
Also: Farewell to a great Queenslander, and how should media complaints work?
“It’s just business.” That, according to Ben Davis, is what senior management at the Seven Network told him when he was being sacked as head of sport and sport news presenter.
“Naturally I’m disappointed my contract with Seven News wasn’t renewed, but as it was explained to me, this was nothing to do with performance, ability, or talent – it’s just business,” Davis said on LinkedIn.
He added that over the past three decades he’d “had the privilege of being on the sideline of sporting history and welcomed into your home to share it”.
The self-described “kid from Corinda” is one of many well-known faces to disappear from Brisbane TV screens. Seven sacked weather reporter Paul Burt and newsreader Sharyn Ghidella last year, while Nine’s Andrew Lofthouse has retired due to ill health. Nine also slashed staff numbers at its Gold Coast bureau and lost a few high-profile reporters to state government media advisor gigs.
Davis’s sacking fits in with the theory — and, for the life of me, I can’t remember, or rediscover online, who posited it (although it was very recently) — that Seven is relying on audiences no longer caring who presents the news.
Is personal loyalty to presenters a thing of the past? Or was it never a thing at all? Is the news or sport “better” because of who announces it or — apart from them appearing respectable and having basic reading skills — does it not matter who is front of the camera?
I tend to go along with the accepted wisdom that personal following is worth something. Exactly how much it’s worth, though, is something the bean counters at the networks have to determine.
As for Davis, he’s been quoted as saying he’s confident of getting another gig, especially with the Olympics and Paralympics coming up.
Of course, he was the Drive presenter on 4BC from 2014-18. Perhaps radio beckons again …
New owner for Nine?
Millionaire Bruce Gordon is reportedly selling his NSW Norhtern Rivers regional television licences to the Ten Network, which pundits say will mean he can increase his stake in Nine Entertainment to above 15% and eventually as high as 25%.
This will give Gordon more sway over decisions made at the network. Given the talk lately about potential buyers for Nine Radio, I wonder how he views those assets …
Dear Aunty …
A court case which may or may not be resolved by the time you read this has put the spotlight on the way the ABC operates — or, perhaps, the way it used to operate.
I don’t intend to take a position here on the merits of the current case, but I do want to ask the question: How does the ABC handle complaints?
Things seemed to have unfolded very quickly in the first instance in the case now before a judge, and I know that that’s not always the case. Is bombarding the chair of the board with emails the best way to get attention and a result you want?
Meanwhile, isn’t it time the entire media complaints process was reviewed? Anyone who has ever questioned anything on radio or TV knows that the current system is designed to delay and/or deter people from raising legitimate cocnerns.
Even when complaints work their way through the system and are upheld, the penalties lack bite.
P.S. A man named Gizz “married” a car on Triple M. Not my thing at all, but preferable to making a game out of bad language.
Farewell, Betty Byrne
I was saddened to learn that Betty Byrne Henderson died earlier this month. She was a pioneering business owner, a philanthropist, patron of the arts and a friend to many — including me. May she rest in peace.
Disclaimer: Brett Debritz has had his finger in many media pies over the years, including jobs with News Ltd and Nine Radio and (largely unpaid) appearances on other networks.