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Kerri-Anne confirms switch to Seven

Kerri-Anne Kennerley is headed to Seven, but not without some parting shots at Nine.

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Kerri-Anne Kennerley has finally confirmed her defection to the Seven Network, including her own primetime show.

But she has taken the opportunity to hit out at her former employer, Nine.

She told News Limited that network execs were under a high degree of stress.

“When people are under stress they don’t always do things as you would expect them to do things, and there’s no denying that those Channel 9 executives are under high stress,” she said.

“It’s on the record that they’re being chased by a bunch of banks who will need to resolve their financial issues.

She even likened the network to Italian cruise ship Costa Concordia, which was grounded last month.

“There’s a few parallels between (Nine) and the Costa Concordia – they veer off course, hit the rocks, try to right themselves and sink, and the captain gets off first – so let’s see how their year pans out.”

A TV survivor, Kennerley knows how to give quotes to the press that make their point.

Her remarks are also carefully timed for maximum impact, on the first day of the 2012 ratings season. In the Sunday Tele it is accompanied by a graphic of the Nine logo sinking into Sydney Harbour.

Harsh stuff.

She also admitted she had lost control of her show and that “the right decisions were not being made.” After 8 years with Nine she eventually learned of her show’s demise via the press and not management.

“I don’t think it’s too much to expect a little courtesy, no matter who you are.”

Seven has signed her for an appearance on Dancing with the Stars, as a guest host/reporter on other Seven shows including Weekend Sunrise, and her own an unnamed primetime show.

Kennerley was always expected to have a role beyond Dancing given that exiting Nine would be a point of no return.

“I can’t say much more about it because I would be shot at dawn. But it’s in the middle of the year, it’s not an interview show and is something I’m really looking forward to,” she said of her new project.

So far she hasn’t sighted her replacement, Mornings with Sonia Kruger and David Campbell, but remains pragmatic.

“I will eventually have a look, but all is fair in love and war and television – except wars have the Geneva Convention and rules of engagement and TV doesn’t.”

17 Responses

  1. She is absolutely right and she should know. Kerri Anne has been in the biz for over two decades, she has seen good management and bad management. NIne is indeed a sinking ship, their is no saving it it will take someone who is rich enough and who has enough passion for tv to bail it out and i dont see that at all they are stuffed.

  2. Whatever way you look at it she deserved better than to find out in the media about the axing. Chanel 9 is a sinking ship, no trusts their programming as they don’t give anything a fare go.

  3. She had a pretty good run with her morning show on Nine for about 10 years and in fairness to Nine, it was time to revamp things with that show, even though they still have the crap advertorials.

  5. she’s entitled to be bitter. her name was on the opening credits and her bosses didn’t have the decency to tell her what was going on. in the corporate world trying to advise your boss that they don’t know what they are doing can be your downfall. her replacements won’t last either. good luck to her on seven, hope she gets given a great show. i’d like to see her at 5pm-6pm with her own tea time chat show.

  7. While she might be right on the ball with her comments, I still found her quotes in the Herald Sun to be quite tacky. I’m no Nine lover (quite the opposite actually), but she shouldn’t have been so ruthless. She should have just come out and said that she was happy to be on Seven and leave it at that. If anything she makes herself look bad and vindictive and has taken the attention off her move to Seven and back on her former employers… Bad PR move!

  8. While she might be right on the ball with her comments, I still found her quotes in the Herald Sun to be quite tacky. I’m no Nine lover (quite the opposite actually), but she shouldn’t have been so ruthless. She should have just come out and said that she was happy to be on Seven and leave it at that. If anything she makes herself look bad and vindictive and has taken the attention off her move to Seven and back on her former employers… Bad PR move

  9. Just wondering what would happen if a TV network went under?

    I know in this case Nine entertainment would sell off the TV division to anyone willing.. but then what?

  10. Well, good for her, I hope she does well at 7 just to spite 9.
    Not that I care a fig for either her or ch7, but you just have to marvel at how Channel 9 has sunk to the absolute bottom of the pond, which is no mean feat when you consider how shallow the pond is these days.
    Two questions for the TV world:
    1- How oblivious is management at Ch9?
    2- Could they have destroyed Ch9 any faster had that actually been their goal?

  11. Gerald Stone wrote a book in 2007, “Who Killed Channel 9”, and it’s still as relevant today. The place is owned and run by beancounters (the dreaded private investment companies) and is in pretty dire financial straits.

    I worked there in the 60s when working in television was great fun, but I doubt there’s too much merriment around any of the channels these days. At the odd 9 (Melb) reunion, everyone feels the same and are glad they’re out of it.

  12. I read the story in the “Herald Sun” this morning, and I must admit, I was rather disappointed at her remarks.

    All I will say is I thought she had more ‘Class’ than that.

    Her comments do sound like ‘sour grapes’.

    Beyond that, I do wish her the very best with whatever she does next.

  13. Looking forward to seeing her on DWTS and other Seven projects. Must say she really put the boot into the Channel Nine bosses. Love the comparison to the sinking ship. Who knows by years end Nine may not even be around with all that debt and could be run by banks.

  14. I loved her comment when talking about her trip to South Africa… Gold

    “I loved it, seeing all those wild animals and having worked at Willoughby (Nine) I was very well placed to deal with them.”

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