One of the longest and most successful overseas TV correspondent postings is over with the decision to end Hugh Whitfeld’s gig in London.
Seven’s European bureau chief will be staying with Seven. His new role will be national news desk director and foreign editor.
The Whitfeld appointment broke via an update from Seven’s new director of news and current affairs Anthony De Ceglie late last week. The news was reported in The Daily Telegraph today via Jonathon Moran and former Seven News social media guru Brenden Wood who now works at News Corp.
The changes also see a move into Seven News for former News Corp entertainment reporter Wenlei Ma who becomes Seven News entertainment editor.
Moran and Wood published the full list of roles who would report to the Seven News Desk under Whitfeld:
National News Desk Director and Foreign Editor – Hugh Whitfield (NSW)
Federal Politics – Editor Mark Riley, with Rob Scott, Isabelle Mullen, Ben Downie and Josh Martin
Business Editor – Amelia Brace (NSW)
Business Reporter – Jessica Page (WA)
Investigations – Alison Sandy
Health Editor – Jen Bechwati (NSW)
Consumer Affairs – Georgia Holland (QLD)
Tech Editor – Shaun White (NSW)
Aviation Editor – Blake Johnson (Melbourne)
Property Editors – Angelique Opie (NSW), Melina Sarris (VIC) Anna McGraw (QLD), Jasmin Teurlings (SA) and Alice Murray (WA)
Defence Editor – Rob Scott (Canberra)
Asia Editor – James Carmody (WA)
Entertainment Editor – Wenlei Ma (The Nightly)
The Daily Telegraph quoted the memo: “The 7News National News Desk will be home to a centralised team of journalists whose responsibility as expert editors in their round will be to deliver exclusive content beyond anything seen on television. The specialist rounds cover everything from Business and Aviation to Property and Asia.”
Canberra and Foreign Bureaus will also fall under the national news desk remit.
See also: Seven’s Hugh Whitfeld in relative calm of Birmingham as he tracks Aussie Gold
Whitfeld has been reporting from Europe for over a decade and has covered everything from the shooting down of Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 exactly a decade ago, through to the invasion of Ukraine, the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham and the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
Hugh Whitfeld covering the shooting down of MH17 in 2014
Wenlei Ma will increase the celebrity content on the channel with interviews with movie and TV celebrities. The trusted critic is currently the culture editor of The Nightly, reviewing TV and movies. She also records interviews with stars. A recent feature was a filmed inter with actor Austin Butler, star of The Bikeriders.
The moves at Seven News come after a raft of recent changes including the addition of a comedy segment with Mark Humphries, and a horoscope segment. Just last week the network sacked high profile Brisbane newsreader Sharyn Ghidella.
Whitfeld will work alongside Seven Sydney’s recently appointed director news Sean Power.
Power recently told Mediaweek’s Tess Connery: “Some of the most exciting opportunities for 7News lie in what the platform can bring audiences in the future.
“7News is such an incredibly strong new brand, it remains number one nationally, and when something big happens, we know people turn to 7News. They trust us to get it right, and to tell them what’s going on in their community. We will be continuing to bed that down, to make sure where the stories are, we’re there and we have the information.
“We also have the opportunity to champion things that need to change. I’m a real advocate for using our news broadcast services to highlight what is going on in our viewers’ lives, and using it where something isn’t right – using it as a tool to champion answers from the people who hold power. I don’t see enough of it in terms of where we are as a climate, I think there is too little scrutiny on those that have power concerning the decisions that they make in our day-to-day lives.”
See also: ‘News is the foundation of what I do’: Sean Power takes the reins of 7News Sydney
7News launching changes as Olympics begin
De Ceglie said in the staff memo: “I’m thrilled that Hugh, who has spent the past decade as Seven’s Europe Bureau Chief reporting on everything from war zones to Buckingham Palace, has agreed to come home and run this crucial new initiative. Hugh has operated at pace and often under intense circumstances in modern newsrooms driven by specialist correspondents and is the perfect fit to run our National News Desk. He will also take on the role of Foreign Editor, where his expertise will be used to comment and analyse world affairs.
“We plan to launch the desk during the first week of the Olympics, and Ray Kuka will take the lead until Hugh arrives back in Australia in September.”
Seven v Nine news ratings battle heats up
The latest news shuffle at Seven comes as the ratings war heats up.
Nine reported yesterday that its Monday night bulletin this week was its highest rating bulletin of the year across Australia and the 5 City Metro.
The Olympic Games broadcaster reported 9News was Monday’s #1 program of the night across the 5 City Metro with Total People and all key demos. The combined national bulletins achieved a National Total TV Reach of 2.239 million and a Total TV National Audience of 1.434 million (up 19.8% year-on-year). Its BVOD audience of 111,000 was up 79.0% year-on-year.
In a metro market breakdown, Nine detailed 9News was also the #1 news bulletin in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.
In Sydney, 9News recorded 43,000 more viewers than its nearest competitor.
In Melbourne, 9News recorded 91,000 more viewers than its nearest competitor.
In Brisbane, 9News recorded 59,000 more viewers than its nearest competitor.
While Nine was lifting in metro markets, Seven remained the #1 choice across Australia with the biggest combined metro and regional audience.
See also: Anthony de Ceglie’s ‘dream’ is a ‘unified’ Seven and new audiences