Seven has shaken up its Brisbane news team announcing Sharyn Ghidella and ex-TEN presenter Bill McDonald as hosts of its Sunday – Thursday bulletins, starting tomorrow.
Kay McGrath and Rod Young will move to Friday and Saturday evenings.
Ghidella, who joined Seven in 2007, will also front the locally-produced Today Tonight edition.
Rob Raschke, Director of News for the Seven Network said “Bill and Sharyn are both outstanding journalists who know news and the issues that matter to Queenslanders. They’ve spent years earning their dues as hard working reporters, and it’s exciting to see them together on 7 News.
“Seven is devoting more time, resources and effort to covering news and current affairs in Queensland,” he added. “We’ll work harder than ever to inform people about what’s happening in this great State.”
McDonald said, “It’s a dream come true to be joining Queensland’s number one News team and returning to where my career began.”
Ghidella added, “While others are cutting back on local content, Seven has taken the lead and is committing increased resources to reporting on important state topics. As someone who is very passionate about news and public affairs, it’s a huge privilege to be a part of it.”
State Producer of Today Tonight, Rodney Lohse said, “We have a hard working team that has broken significant local, national and international stories and we will double our efforts this year for this exciting new venture.”
The new local versions of Today Tonight are due to begin after Seven’s broadcast of the tennis ends.
Been watching Sharyn this morning on the flood coverage.
Bring back Kay is all I will say.
Seven Queensland (the regional affiliate of the Seven Network) has carried a local news bulletin for most regional Queensland markets at 6pm, with the Brisbane news bulletin at 6.30pm. Tonight, the local news expanded to one hour, with the local newsreader (Joanne Desmond) throwing to all stories (local news at 6 and repackaged 7 Brisbane state/national/international stories/Today Tonight nonsense at 6.30). There’s no sign of the Brisbane bulletin on multichannels either. Possibly the end of an era? We’ve had Brisbane bulletins for as long as I remember.
Rodney Lohse said, “We have a hard working team that has broken significant local, national and international stories and we will double our efforts this year for this exciting new venture.”
Double their efforts? How is this possible? Talk about hyperbole – not unlike a TT story. At least he controlled himself from committing to a 110% effort.
Congrats Sharyn… So happy we’ll see you and your professionalism on our TV sets more often!
Sharyn is terrible.. Looks very nervous and no confidence. Bill is good but by far the best female presenter around is Georgina Lewis. Atleast 10 have one thing right and I stress the one.
It will be interesting to see how viewers react because people are very ‘picky’ when it comes to preferred newsreaders. I don’t know why they need 2 newsreaders for a 30 min bulletin however. An hour bulletin yes, but 30 mins should be single presenter like Sydney. Having said that, Ten Sydney news has become seamless when Sully is presenting solo.
@laurie,I think it may be what we used to refer to as a word that may or not start with W that sounds like Yank.
I never watch Seven News Brisbane, they’ve had the same old ass presenters for decades now. It is Not appealing to 16-30 year olds when your newsreaders are twice the age of the target demo
But I do watch Ten News and I liked Bill McDonald, Ten were stupid to axe him. This is a good move by Seven and the oldies 55+ can still enjoy Rod and Kay on Fridays and Saturdays. Also props to Nine News Brisbane for having a young and attractive news presenter for their 6pm bulletin, maybe it’s discrimination but I’d certainly rather watch that than Rod with his Ron Burgundy moustache or Kay McGrath who has been on Seven News since I was born
@joey 69. Ten have been a traing ground for years. Jana. Eddie McGuire. Bruce Macavaney. All gone on to be leaders in there areas after leaving ten.
Can someone please explain why you need 2 people to read the news!!
I really like Kay and Rod, but I always look forward to Sharyn reading the weekend news, so am looking forward to her doing Sunday –
Thursday. Also think she will add a touch of class to TT. Bill is also a good newsreader, and glad to see him picked up.
“It’s a dream come true” Wow where have I heard that unscripted line before? Oh yes, that other ex-Ten news presenter joining Seven.
But seriously, I’m glad these guys are getting work after what Ten did to them.
Isn’t that the same arrangement that Chris Bath & Mark Ferguson have in Sydney?
And so the musical chairs games start happening on top of the hill again. i think it is a brave move that could back fire as the 6-7 pm time slot seems very un-stable at the moment for 7. 1 hr news or 30 min news and 30 min currrent affair? or 45 min news 1 or 2 extended stories. 9 will be rubbing their hands together.as for poor 10 they can hold their heads high as all their ex presenters are being picked up by the other networks. Sharyn.G, Bill.M, Kay.M, Helen K, Matt.W, Deborah.K and Jessica. R to name only a few. Take note if you want go places in TV land, get a job at 10, get sacked and watch your your self go places. Channel 10 the training station!!!!!!!
If Kay and Rod who win for seven in Brisbane can’t survive a shake up, you would suspect Peter Mitchell in Melbourne is a dead newsreader walking..
Kay’s an icon in Brisbane, while its good she’s still around, week nights won’t be the same without her.
Nice to see axed Ten presenters being picked up.
Im a little confussed. Kay & Rod had made Seven News Brisbane number one on the ratings. Why the shake up?. I really like Kay & Rod they do a great job. Might have to switch to a new channel for my news needs now.
Feel sorry for Rod and Kay, I really like them. The Sun-Thurs and Fri-Sat arrangement seems weird and I’m interested to see how the news will transition to TT.
So now we watch Seven News Melbourne for a reshuffling of the deck chairs.
If I were Peter Mitchell and a few others, I’d be worried.
A good combination! A focus on younger faces.
Hope Rod & Kay are happy?!
The transition to TT will be easier.
I just hope the content is more current affairs and less trashy!
Think a title change would work well to revamp the image!
So 7 news will become an extended today tonight?
Brave!
Excellent news!