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Gina Rinehart wants more Bolt Report

"Mrs. Rinehart hopes that should Mr. Bolt’s time permit, that he would consider longer programmes on Channel 10."

As part of its Four Corners special last night, reporter Marian Wilkinson put written questions to TEN shareholder Gina Rinehart.

One of those questions concerned the TEN show The Bolt Report, hosted by News Limited’s Andrew Bolt.

Whilst she declined to be interviewed, answers were supplied by Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd.

Marian Wilkinson: There has been much speculation in the media about your role in hiring Andrew Bolt after you bought into Channel 10. Did you ask Lachlan Murdoch and or James Packer to hire Mr Bolt? If so, why?

Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd: “Andrew Bolt has a short programme on Channel 10 on Sundays. It is noted that his programme is very popular in country areas, yet unfortunately many country areas are unable to receive Channel 10. As stated previously by Mrs Rinehart, Mrs Rinehart hopes that should Mr Bolt’s time permit, that he would consider longer programmes on Channel 10.”

In February former TEN chairman Brian Long went on the record as saying, ”I want to make it clear that in all the time I have been chairman – which is as long as Gina Rinehart has been on the board – that neither she nor any other board member has sought to influence programming or editorial. That goes for either inside the boardroom or outside the boardroom.”

He also said Rinehart had not played any role in the hiring of the Bolt.

“Andrew was on our payroll prior to Mrs. Rinehart joining the board.”

So do those two statements still stack up? If Gina Rinehart is so arms-length from The Bolt Report as has been previously implied, why is she so keen to make the show longer? Shouldn’t that be a decision for Programming?

Meanwhile TEN today has denied media reports that Rinehart has increased her shares in the network:

In a brief statement it said, “The AAP report this morning that Gina Rinehart has increased her stake in Ten Network is wrong.

“As flagged earlier this month, Mrs Rinehart has taken up her entitlement in Ten Network’s capital raising. The ASX announcement from Ten Network this morning confirmed that.

Mrs Rinehart’s shareholding in Ten has not increased. The shareholding of Ten Network chairman Lachlan Murdoch has also not changed.”

22 Responses

  1. Finally a few people posting who actually geddit. AB just preaches to the converted. I have watched his show, but dislike his sneering approach and weak presentation style. I haven’t bothered watching for ages, like the other 99.5 per cent of the population. He has become a caricature of himself and largely irrelevant on a day to day basis. He is also too much of a leftie for me !!

  2. As predicted!! The more Bolt, the less viewers – it’s simple. He’s not a good journalist, he’s not a half-decent moderator, he’s not balanced, he’s not fair!! He should have no place in any media organisation that aspires to be accurate & balanced in news and current affairs. Of course his supporters will watch & read him because all he does is repeat the same mantra on the same issues over and over. Those of us who might happen to have differing points of view will never watch him because there is no chance of learning anything new or hearing a fair debate. Go Gina & Andrew- see if you can ruin Fairfax and Ten!

  3. Maybe Gina could call her cable channel “Dingo News” (alla Fox News) and have as much Bolt as she wants with Piers and Miranda doing backup vocals. Couldn’t think of a worse thing for this country than the deep north moving south!

    Has anyone watched Bolt? It’s hillarious he throths more than a car wash on a saturday morning. He starts the show with unhinged moral outrage and then has no where to go after that. It’s so staged and awkward, it’s cringe worthy. He’s like the class captain on a bender.

    If Gina gets her way bolt will end up hosting Masterchef with just as much disgust as he can muster. He’s a dill. The best thing about the Bolt Report is Kristina Kenneally’s appearances. Bolt can’t stand her, that’s obvious and she’s not afraid of him: sparks.

  4. Let’s see… the Frankenstein Monster had (what looked like) a bolt through his neck… now, if we could only get Gina to lie down on this slab…

  5. Maybe Gina could start up her own cable “News” Network channel. And make the right wing leaning Sky News Australia look like a Far Left News Channel. (I doubt Murdoch would like that)

  6. Gina Rinehart thinking what Australia needs is more Andrew Bold tells us everything we need to know about her agenda. Her interest in media is purely as a platform for her own propaganda.

  7. I’d say the problem is: Southern Cross Austereo. SCA controls a large amount of Ten affiliates in some way, whether fully owned, or as part of digital J/V’s (Tasmania, Darwin and VAST East/Central). If I remember rightly, those Ten affiliates which are fully owned by Southern Cross don’t air Bolt at the same time as metro areas: instead airing it and Meet The Press, in a late Sunday afternoon slot (4-5pm) leading into the national weekend newshour.

  8. ” his programme is very popular in country areas”. On what is this statement based? Do regionals do weekly/monthly/quarterly surveys now? SCTEN runs The Bolt Report at 4:30pm, which could explain the “popularity”, leading into the News. Then again, they sometimes don’t run it at all, if there’s a sports event up to 5pm. They never run it at 10am.
    Wonder if she heard the 5am news on 3AW when she was referred to as “a white elephant”.

  9. So this woman believes that if she buys into the network and gives Andrew Bolt a longer show, she will be able to get through to regional Australia on a channel that can’t been seen.

    To quote a certain network’s slogan – Seriously?

  10. What a disgrace that would be to have more Bolt. Saw his ad the other day, quote from him, “tune in as we ask, why our politicians are letting boat people drown”. What a stupid comment, Ten should be ashamed of themselves.

  11. The trouble with Bolt is that, he is a commentator and a bit of a wannabee that not many people warm to. I know the lefties get all wound up about him, but he has a marginal effect on people. I watched his show a couple of times and thought it was crap. I like to see a strong debate between left and right with a neutral umpire. Still what would have been hilarious was if he had been appointed editor in chief of the Age….there is still time he he…

  12. This woman should be stopped from having any more influence in the Australian Media. I for one will no longer watch Ten (not that I watch it that much anyway) as long as she has anything to do with it.

  13. “yet unfortunately many country areas are unable to receive Channel 10 … Mrs Rinehart hopes that should Mr Bolt’s time permit, that he would consider longer programmes on Channel 10.”

    If many areas are unable to receive Channel Ten (which is wrong, anyway, there’s Ten affiliates all around the country) then how does making Bolt’s program longer achieve anything?

    Maybe she should be buying into regional media if it’s regional areas she wants to target?

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