Channel Seven’s staffing bloodbath has taken a twist, days after reports claimed Mark Ferguson will be ‘shafted’ as the weeknight newsreader at Seven.
Previously, The Daily Telegraph claimed Seven bosses have ‘warmed’ to the idea of replacing Ferguson, 58, with the network’s weekend team, Michael Usher and Angela Cox.
However a Seven insider has since told Daily Mail Australia that this is not the case.
Instead, the source believes Seven bosses are set to axe Usher, leaving Cox to present the Friday and Saturday night bulletin alone.
Executives apparently hope to ‘save money and boost the gender balance’ with Cox as a one-woman show.
Seven is set to axe Michael Usher, leaving Angela Cox to present the Friday and Saturday night news bulletin on her own, the source said (Usher and Cox pictured above)
‘Beloved’ Mark Ferguson (pictured) remains safe in his current role, the source said
The insider also believes that, unlike prior reports, Ferguson remains safe in his current role.
‘Mark [Ferguson] is the ultimate professional and loved in the newsroom,’ the Seven source said.
‘It would be ratings suicide to replace Mark now, and it would be brave for a new news boss – who has no television experience – to replace the 6pm reader as his first move,’ they added.
The rumoured nightly news shakeup comes as the bloodbath continues at Channel Seven in the wake of the Bruce Lehrmann sex and drugs allegations that hit the network’s flagship current affairs show, Spotlight.
Seven confirmed last month that then-news director Craig McPherson – partner to Dancing With The Stars host Sonia Kruger – had suddenly left his position as network director of news and public affairs after nine years in the job.
He will be replaced by Anthony De Ceglie, who currently works as editor-in-chief for News Corp mastheads in Western Australia.
The rumoured nightly news shakeup comes as the bloodbath continues at Channel Seven in the wake of the Bruce Lehrmann sex and drugs allegations that hit the network’s flagship current affairs show, Spotlight. (Lehrman is pictured on Spotlight last year)
McPherson is the fourth executive to leave the network in April following the scandal over Spotlight’s lucrative deal with Lehrmann, who was found by the Federal Court to have raped Brittany Higgins on a civil scale.
Spotlight secured two exclusive interviews with Lehrmann last year in exchange for a year’s rental of a luxury unit, worth about $105,000, ahead of his defamation case against Network Ten and Lisa Wilkinson in the Federal Court.
In the month of April alone, the network lost McPherson, managing director James Warburton, commercial director Bruce McWilliam, and Spotlight executive producer Mark Llewellyn.
Seven also became the subject of a defamation case when Benjamin Cohen was wrongly named on Sunrise as the Bondi Junction killer.
The network settled the case out-of-court in April for an undisclosed sum.
In a media release last month, Seven West Media managing director and chief executive officer Jeff Howard spoke highly of De Ceglie.
Seven confirmed last month that then-news director Craig McPherson (pictured) – partner to Dancing With The Stars host Sonia Kruger – had suddenly left his position as network director of news and public affairs after nine years in the job
‘Anthony brings a compelling vision to the Director of News and Current Affairs and Editor-in-Chief of Seven West Media role,’ Howard said.
‘His absolute focus on news gathering and storytelling will underpin his approach, while his knowledge of digital and his innovative mindset will be just what SWM needs as we continue to build a better media business.’
Of McPherson, he said: ‘Craig has been one of Australia’s pre-eminent news leaders and we wish him all the best for the future.’
McPherson said he will take a break to spend time with his family.
Leave a Reply