★★★★★ 0/5

Nine Melbourne to trial Tony Jones as News anchor

EXCLUSIVE: Nine sports presenter Tony Jones will front Nine News Melbourne for 2 weeks when Peter Hitchener takes a break -raising questions about the future for Jo Hall.

37
Leave a comment

EXCLUSIVE: Nine News Melbourne will move Sports Presenter Tony Jones into the hosting chair for two weeks when Peter Hitchener takes holidays later this month.

Jones will front the News at a time when Hitchener’s network contract is believed to be due for renewal.

But the move potentially overshadows longtime Presenter Jo Hall who has always been highly regarded as Hitchener’s weekend counterpart -particularly if the network begins to view Jones as Hitchener’s eventual successor.

Hall fronts the weeknight news during summer non-ratings and traditionally assumes the chair in Hitchener’s absence, with her weekend role having been assumed by Brett McLeod, James Talia, Alicia Gorey or Tim McMillan.

A Nine spokesperson said Tony Jones would be afforded a similar opportunity, timed to coincide with Seven News Presenter Peter Mitchell taking a break.

A Seven spokesperson could not confirm the dates of a break for Mitchell, but acknowledged one was due.

This year’s Easter non ratings, when rival Nine and Seven presenters traditionally take breaks, fell early in the calendar year. TEN News Presenter Mal Walden is also on leave for 3 weeks.

Jones is well regarded within Nine, frequently filing news stories outside the domain of Sport. Already working a full ratings year as Sports Presenter, Nine has opted not to wait until summer to trial him in the host chair.

However, it raises questions over where Nine sees Jo Hall amid industry stories on the visiblity of senior women on television and the network trying to shake off a longtime “boy’s club” image.

Michael Venus, Director of News at GTV told TV Tonight, “Jo has nothing to prove. She is our weekend presenter and will continue in that role. She’s one of the best in the business, but given the extraordinary depth of talent in this newsroom, it’s only natural that Tony would be given a go. He’s been with us now for 25 years and we see this as a great opportunity for him.”

The two weeks with Jones during ratings survey will give Nine a better understanding of its options should Hitchener’s contract not be renewed.

But such machinations must be handled delicately in television.

Last year Nine News in Sydney got a stinging lesson from the audience after the clumsy changing of the guard from Mark Ferguson to Peter Overton, with the network lagging behind Seven News for the remainder of the year. Since then Seven News Sydney Presenter Chris Bath has become the only solo female to front a 6pm weeknight bulletin, after being promoted from weekend presenter to weeknight presenter following the retirement of Ian Ross.

Unlike other states, in the competitive Melbourne market Nine News and Seven News regularly take turns vying for the nightly #1.

37 Responses

  1. Something i did’nt mention don’t be surprised if you might hear the name Dennis Walter thrown around if Peter decides to give it away.He would also do a fine job.

  2. There’s nothing wrong with Jo,and she won’t be going anywhere.Tony Jones having a chance in the main host job is fair enough.He will do well.Peter Hitchener always does a fine job.Better than there Channel 7 counterparts which don’t appeal at all,and there dress sense how casual can you go.It’s a little surprising that 9 has’nt just taken over them again and win everynight,as in previous years

  3. Also, if Nine promote an ad-free news bulletin, that would give them an advantage, and instead, could have sponsors for the news, sport and weather sections.

    Also…. on the subject….. I hate it when Nine do a break, then have the 2nd half of the news, with only 1 or maybe 2 stories, but just fillers amd news flashes… mostly these stories are irrelevant too. Surely there is more news and they could have more reports with all the reporters they have at TCN and GTV. (Couldn’t they do a world wrap-up report every night for 2 minutes by a reporter, since they’re not eager on having a European bureau???)

  4. I think it is time for Hitchener to go or possibly take the weekend shift. He is great in newsreading, not so much of a good interviewer, but he possesses the experience and trust not many journos have today.

    It would be wise for 9 to keep him. If he wishes to leave, it would be wise of 9 to also revamp its Melbourne news coverage (i.e. prioritise the sort of stories it wants and reshape its bulletin to one that is more serious, and at least has a national perspective, not just confined local ones.)

    It is also a pity that the only world news we get is the 5 second flashes. I wonder what a true journo like Peter thinks of news quality today at 9 (and 7, 10).

    Weekdays: News – James Talia, Sport – Tony Jones, Weather – Liv Nixon

    Weekends: News – Jo Hall and Peter Hitchener, Sport – Lisa Andrews, Weather – Dennis from 3AW

  5. Don’t really know who you’re talking about – live in Sydney.

    They should try a new schedule:

    6.00 State Based News
    6.30 Nine National News
    7.00 ACA

    It’s different but would have more local content on issues that are important and affects us

  6. In fairness to David, Media Spy’s news service The Spy Report didn’t pick up the story, from what I can see… I presume that as reporters, they (like David) want to ensure that their sources are reliable, and that Lucy probably didn’t give Spy enough details of her ID for them to take her comments (accurate though they may be) at face value.

    1. Lucy.. yep acknowledge your post, you’ll get no dispute from me about the power of the internet and anonymous tips. But I am comfy that the quotes and research via three networks doesn’t undermine the reportage. In the modern landscape (where there were a bunch of simultaneous Twilight interviews all branded as Exclusives) it’s debatable whether every journo needs to check every anonymous messageboard forum, Twitter comment or radio talkback call before being safe they have an actual Exclusive. Media Spy readers will surely be taking a lot more notice of your next tip tho. Cheers.

  10. @ Alex, your comments are spot on. Chances are Jo Hall doesn’t give a rats about Tony Jones being trialled, in fact she’s probably very supportive of it.

  11. OMG Tony Jones?
    What the hell? He is terrible!!!
    He can’t even deliver a proper news report…
    Watch ratings fall dramatically once Jones takes over!

Leave a Reply