Channel Seven is spending big renovating its offices in Parliament House with a new TV studio -including a flashy desk set-up – after axing about 150 workers amid financial woes.
Seven’s offices at the Press Gallery in Canberra have turned into a construction zone for the parliamentary winter break, with ‘warning’ signs fixed to the doors and tape over the handles and locks.
Staffers have been told to use the West Australian newspaper’s suite down the hall until the renovations are complete.
Daily Mail Australia understands Seven’s floorspace is almost doubling in size after it bought the office next door from rival Network Ten years ago during its own budget cuts.
While the costly refurbishments are underway, dozens of loyal staffers from across the Seven West Media empire have been left jobless amid what the network now describes as a ‘cost reduction program’.
Staff across editorial, television, marketing and sales teams have been axed, with a number of high-profile – and highly-paid – TV presenters already chopped.
One high-profile victim was long-serving Brisbane newsreader Sharyn Ghidella, who was sacked over the phone while at a hair salon preparing for an upcoming network promotion.
Pictured: Long-serving Brisbane newsreader Sharyn Ghidella, who was sacked over the phone
A Seven spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia the Press Gallery renovations were organised well before the network fell into financial strife.
‘The renovation of Seven’s Parliament House office has been in the works since early 2022, long before the current cost reduction program,’ they said.
The situation is so dire the network’s billionaire owner Kerry Stokes will fly into Sydney from Perth next week and take up residence on the executive floor of Seven’s Eveleigh headquarters.
It is understood that he will take a hands-on approach as the troubled network attempts to arrest months of damaging headlines and internal turmoil – and his impending arrival has done little to ease staff concerns.
Seven’s title as the country’s most popular free-to-air network largely spiralled in the wake of the Bruce Lehramnn Spotlight saga, when former producer Taylor Auerbach began slinging allegations at his former employer in the Federal Court.
He alleged the network had reimbursed Lehrmann for drugs and sex workers while trying to seduce him into doing an exclusive interview on Spotlight.
The network repeatedly refuted those allegations, but the damage was done – Seven has now been struck with a wave of leadership turmoil and financial cuts.
Seven’s offices at the Canberra Press Gallery are being renovated (pictured)
Seven Press Gallery offices have ‘warning’ signs on the doors and tape over the handles and locks (pictured)
Among those to depart recently include director of news and current affairs Craig McPherson, managing director James Warburton, commercial director Bruce McWilliam, and Spotlight executive producer Mark Llewellyn.
Replacing Mr McPherson was Anthony De Ceglie, who previously worked as a newspaper editor and had no experience in television, was promoted to the top editorial position at Channel Seven in April.
Veteran journalist Robert Ovadia also left the network after ABC Four Corners made inquiries about the alleged toxic culture in the Seven newsroom.
Ovadia allegedly took images from a female producer’s personal Instagram page and turned them into a ‘caricature’ before sharing them with her, Daily Mail Australia previously revealed.
He has now filed a claim with the Fair Work Commission against both De Ceglie and Seven, and is seeking compensation and to be reinstated to the job he held for 23 years.
There are also rumours that long-standing news presenter Mark Ferguson – who is reportedly on a salary of up to $750,000 – could be in the firing line, with presenter Angela Cox turning heads with a rare series of solo appearances this week.
Kerry Stokes (pictured with his wife Christine Simpson Stokes) is flying to Sydney to deal with the ratings issues
Seven’s long-time Sydney newsreader Mark Ferguson (pictured) could also be in the firing line
Meanwhile, Ms Ghidella was reportedly axed from the network’s Brisbane bureau because she was on a much higher salary than her co-host Max Futcher.
‘When you work in TV for as long as I have, not a day goes by when you aren’t expecting the proverbial tap on the shoulder… After 38 years, my shoulder tap has finally come,’ she wrote on social media.
‘It wasn’t quite how I expected it to end at Channel Seven.
‘I was actually sitting at the hairdressers for work, when I got the call informing me, that after 17 years with the network, my time was up.
‘While somewhat saddened by this decision, there is also some sense of relief. As has been widely reported, the past couple of weeks in TV has, sadly, been a miserable affair.’
Secret internal ratings figures obtained by Daily Mail Australia revealed that in just two weeks, Seven News Brisbane has shed a significant 29,000 viewers.
The ratings freefall put Seven some 88,000 viewers behind Nine’s Brisbane news on Monday – whereas on Monday, July 8, prior to her axing, Seven was just 60,000 behind.
