George Negus for Ten’s 6pm project

Journalist and television presenter George Negus has earned himself, according to the Sunday Telegraph, the title of ‘television’s oldest newsreader’ in taking on the role of anchor for Network Ten’s new 6.00pm news program to launch in the new year.

Negus, a veteran of TV current affairs dating back to This Day Tonight and the early days of A Current Affair and 60 Minutes, will leave his current position as host of SBS’ Dateline at the end of the year.

The 68-year-old (pictured, in 1981) has endeared himself to viewers and the network through his weekly commentary on The 7PM Project.

The new 6.00pm program (“It isn't really news, it isn't really current affairs," according to Negus) will be broadcast nationally and will sit between Ten’s existing 5.00pm news hour and a new city-based 6.30pm bulletin – representing Ten’s most aggressive attempt at news and current affairs in many years as it aims to regain credibility at the expense of Nine and Seven.

For Negus it gives him a chance to put a new perspective on commercial television news coverage:

"Over the years some of the comments I've made in regard to commercial news and current affairs have not always been flattering.

"It's put your money where your mouth is time for someone like myself."

Also joining Negus at Ten is former ABC journalist Chris Masters, who joins the network as a part-time “editorial consultant”.

Ten’s existing early evening programs, The Simpsons and Neighbours, will be moved across to the network’s new digital channel, 11, when it launches in the new year.

Source: Sunday Telegraph

Malcolm Gray

Former Seven National News reporter and presenter Malcolm Gray has died at the age of 66.

Formerly a journalist at regional station GLV10 in Gippsland in the 1970s, Gray moved to Melbourne’s ATV0 before joining HSV7 as an on-the-road reporter and newsreader – but it was in the mid-‘80s when he started presenting the weather forecast for Seven National News that he suddenly became a hit with viewers statewide.  Gray’s presenting of the weather with humour, where he was not immune to using the occasional large prop or shouting out greetings to nominated streets in various Victorian towns and suburbs, was in stark contrast to the more conservative weather presentation of rivals at National Nine News and Eyewitness News.

Gray continued to present the weather at Seven National News until 1987.

The Seven News team in Melbourne have placed a notice in the Herald Sun offering a tribute to their former colleague:

Our thoughts and support to the family of Malcolm Gray, a former colleague and friend of the Seven Network. Malcolm was a much loved and respected associate and will long be remembered for his great nature and memorable weather segments. Sincerely - Steve Carey and the 7 Melbourne News Team.

Source: Herald Sun

1990: October 6-12

‘It’s like losing part of the family!’
Hey Dad! star Simone Buchanan has confirmed that she has left the long-running comedy series.  “I haven’t re-signed,” she told TV Week.  “We filmed the last episode this week and I still have no idea what they are going to do with (character) Debbie.” For co-star Chris Truswell (pictured, with Buchanan), who plays Nudge in the series, has told TV Week that after six years it is hard to see her go.  “It’s like losing part of the family,” he said.  “I can tell Simone all my problems.  She is my sanity, in a way.  She is so intuitive.”

A couple of high-flyers!
It’s no wonder Steve Vizard’s and Michael Veitch’s Fast Forward flight attendant characters Daryl and Wayne (pictured, below left) are so funny – they started as a joke between the two actors.  “Steve and I used to do poncey voices in the corridors at Seven whenever we bumped into each other,” Veitch tells TV Week.  “Someone said, ‘You sound like two airline stewards’, and we thought it was a good idea for a skit!  They’re like comic book characters because they’re so unreal.  A lot of gay people get offended by them, which I think is fair enough.” Veitch stresses that the characters were never meant to be anti-gay.  “They are dreadful stereotypes,” he says.  “But then, so are a lot of the characters we do.”

‘This means I exist!’
When Fast Forward’s Jane Turner started sending up Alison Drower (pictured, above right), the MTV co-host took it all in her stride – though it presented a shock to her hairdresser.  “My hairdresser was horrified,” Drower told TV Week.  “She was more offended than me.  She said ‘My God, I hope people don’t see your hair like that!’”  But Drower takes the parody as a compliment. “I think it’s very flattering, particularly because it is a continual thing now, rather than just a one-off.  It’s for the show, too, and, hey, this means I exist!” 

Briefly…
On the eve of the debut of mini-series Shadows Of The Heart, star Jason Donovan (pictured, with co-star Sherrie Krenn) says the audience will see a new side to him:  “My role as a singer, and what I’ve done with Neighbours before, has always been fresh and wholesome.  This is certainly not the boy next door!”  Shadows Of The Heart also stars Jerome Ehlers, Josephine Byrnes and Marcus Graham.

James Valentine, host of ABC’s The Afternoon Show, has been given the green light to develop a new weekly “music program for adults.”  ABC currently has two rock music programs on air – Rage and Countdown Revolution – but the new project aims to appeal to the 25 to 40-year-old age group.

A busload of TV personalities took to the NSW Hunter Valley to propose a toast to the success of the upcoming Sprite TV Celebrity Dance Party, to be held later this month.  Among the stars to lunch at the the Victorian-style Kirkton Park guesthouse, near Cessnock, and then attending a wine tasting at the McWilliams Estate were stars Judy Nunn (Home And Away), John Orcsik (formerly of Number 96 and Cop Shop), Paula Duncan (Number 96, Cop Shop, Prisoner, Richmond Hill) and Bunney Brooke (Number 96, E Street).

John Laws says…
”It saddens me to report that the new series Embassy is close to being a second-class dud.  We’ve never been good at portraying our international neighbours on TV, and in Embassy the fictional country where our earnest-faced diplomats seems to be a laughable cross between Indonesia and Sri Lanka, with a trace of Fiji thrown in for good measure.  Unfortunately, it took only two episodes for Embassy to degenerate into the froth and bubble of an upmarket soapie.  What was obviously a bright idea has languished for want of a sharp-edged script and a bigger budget.”

Program Highlights (October 6-12):
Saturday:  HSV7’s day is dominated by football on the day of the AFL Grand Final.  After the overnight Football Marathon, at 8am HSV7 crosses to the traditional North Melbourne Football Club Grand Final Breakfast – followed by the Under 19s Grand Final at 9am and the Reserve Grade Grand Final at 11am.  At 2pm it’s the main event – the AFL Grand Final between Collingwood and Essendon, live from the MCG, to an estimate worldwide audience of over eight million viewers.  Coverage continues until 6pm, with a replay of the game at 9.30pm.

Sunday: Sunday night movies are Sudden Impact (GTV9) and Wall Street (ATV10).  HSV7 presents the first instalment of mini-series Jackaroo, starring Annie Jones and David McCubbin (pictured), and ABC presents Esso Night At The Opera, featuring Les Huguenots, the final performance of Dame Joan Sutherland.

Monday:  The second and final instalment of mini-series Jackaroo (HSV7).

Tuesday:  Brad Robinson presents a one-hour special, Torn Apart (ATV10), looking at the relationship bond between a mother and child and the systems that have been created by bureaucrats, the church, the law and the medical profession that have promoted systems which destroy this relationship – such as adoption, sperm donation, egg donation and surrogacy.  The special is followed by the first of the two-part mini-series Shadows Of The Heart, starring Jason Donovan, Sherrie Krenn, Marcus Graham, Josephine Byrnes, Barry Otto and Robyn Nevin.

Wednesday:  ABC presents the Australian Film Industry’s annual AFI Awards, from the World Congress Centre in Melbourne.  Films nominated in the awards include Blood Oath, The Big Steal, Flirting and Golden Braid.  ATV10 presents the second and final instalment of Shadows Of The Heart.

Source: TV Week (Victoria edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide.  6 October 1990.  Southdown Press.

1990: September 29-October 5

‘It’s a dream come true!’
Home And Away star Craig McLachlan (pictured) was hoping that his reduced profile on the series would make it easier to fit time in for his music career – but now it looks like the TV Week Gold Logie winner is going to be busier than ever.  The Seven Network is believed it be wanting McLachlan for an upcoming mini-series, The Battler, plus there are plans for a role in an upcoming movie, with the working title of Light Of Day, which producers hope can also secure the services of Mel Gibson.  “It’s a period piece, set at the turn of the century,” McLachlan told TV Week.  “Ever since I was a little guy film has always been the ultimate thing to aspire to.  It’s a dream come true.”

The challenge is on!
Following his recent resignation from the Nine Network, former Coast To Coast co-host John Mangos (pictured) is believed to have been offered a role at the Ten Network to front a weekly current affairs program with former 60 Minutes reporter Ian Leslie.  The new show, which could slot in against 60 Minutes, comes after Leslie was forced to step aside from reading Ten’s Sydney evening news after poor ratings and a recurring throat virus.  He has also suffered a setback when the documentary unit he headed at Ten was wound up as a cost-cutting measure – plus he had suffered personal trauma with the death of his mother.  Mangos, a veteran of 14 years at the Nine Network, suddenly found himself being a “personality without a profile” after the axing of Coast To Coast and with no other network projects in the pipeline.  The last straw came when the former US correspondent for the Nine Network was asked to co-host the weekly NSW Lotto draw.

The year of living drearily!
Comedian Anthony Ackroyd, currently appearing in ABC’s The Big Gig, has spoken to TV Week about his early, and short-lived, career as a public servant in his home state of Tasmania.  “All the world’s biggest losers were there.  I’d have these half-hour toilet breaks just so I could get away from it all and read a good magazine.  They must have thought I was constantly constipated.  After exactly one year I went straight back to social security!”  Ackroyd is finding The Big Gig to be somewhat more rewarding with his two characters, Addam the advertising executive (pictured) and Shakespeare. “Addam’s the coke-snorting ad-head with the deep voice who considers himself a creative genius,” he told TV Week.  And the Shakespeare character is proving to be popular with female viewers.  “I did a lot of Shakespeare theatre and it’s nice to be putting that codpiece on again.  The girls go crazy over it… I suppose the sight of those pert buttocks is just too much for them,” he says.

Briefly…
Derryn Hinch, who recently celebrated the 700th edition of Hinch At Seven, has decided to commit to the Seven Network for another two years.  Seven, he says, is the network at which he started and will end his television career.  Meanwhile, while he concedes that Sale Of The Century’s recent 10th anniversary specials gave his show a battering, he is pleased to see that another rival, Network Ten’s Neighbours, is showing signs of fading popularity.

E Street star Richard Huggett (pictured) has had to draw on past real-life experience to help him play the part of bad boy Sonny Bennett.  “I never actually did anything bad,” he tells TV Week.  “I was arrested a couple of times for drunk and disorderly.”  On one occasion he ended up in a padded cell.  “They wanted my fingerprints and I wouldn’t give them.  I kept telling them that I hadn’t done anything wrong, so they couldn’t arrest me.   I was climbing up on the bars and acting like a monkey.  Anyway they didn’t like it, so they put me in a padded cell with one window.”

Former Home And Away star Nina Coburn has filmed a guest role in the Seven Network’s Hey Dad! – and it is expected that producers have bigger plans for the actress as a potential replacement for cast member Simone Buchanan who has filmed her last episode for the series.

John Laws says…
”When, in a few months, we count up the TV successes of 1990, one name will – once again – stand out: Graham Kennedy (pictured).  Graham’s return to TV in recent years has seen him perform a succession of ratings miracles.  He gave Clive Robertson a start and a thorough beating with his late-night news and giggle show on Nine, and when that ended, because he didn’t want to be involved any longer, he switched to his latest ratings-puller, Graham Kennedy’s Funniest Home Video Show.  It’s now one of Australia’s most popular programs – and I’m convinced that it’s the personal appeal of Graham Kennedy which has enabled it to command such a dominant position.”

Program Highlights (September 29-October 5):
Saturday:  HSV7 presents the last Saturday night AFL replay of the season with the Preliminary Final.  The finals schedule was forced to be extended a week due to an earlier drawn game, pushing the Grand Final to a rare October appearance.

Sunday:  HSV7 crosses to Mount Panorama, Bathurst, for the Tooheys 1000 – featuring 55 drivers from seven countries.  The telecast starts at 8am and continues through to Seven Nightly News at 6pm.  ABC presents live coverage of the VFA Grand Final in the afternoon.  Sunday night movies are The Living Daylights (HSV7), Arthur 2: On The Rocks (GTV9), Big (ATV10).

Monday:  ATV10 presents late-night coverage of the Uncle Toby’s Australian Indoor Tennis Championships, from the Sydney Entertainment Centre.  Late-night coverage continues each night to Thursday as well as two-hour coverage on Tuesday to Friday afternoon.

Tuesday:  A special edition of Beyond 2000 (HSV7) looks at the increasingly important role of science in sport, examining the pursuit of optimum human performance.  Olivia Hamnett guest stars in ABC’s GP.

Wednesday:  David Franklin, Leone Carmen and Adrian Lee guest star in The Flying Doctors (GTV9).

Friday:  ATV10 presents live prime-time coverage of the final night’s play of the Uncle Toby’s Australian Indoor Tennis Championships.  And on the eve of the 1990 AFL Grand Final, Drew Morphett hosts HSV7’s annual Football Marathon, starting at midnight and running through to 8am Saturday morning, featuring the Grand Finals of 1966, 1967, 1972, 1977 and 1989 as well as the greatest marks and goals from the past 25 years.

Source: TV Week (Victoria edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide.  29 September 1990.  Southdown Press.

Regional Victoria to go digital by May 2011

The conversion of analogue to digital television continues with the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Senator Stephen Conroy announcing that all analogue television services in regional Victoria will be switched off by 5 May 2011.

The switch-off will affect local transmissions of ABC, SBS, Prime, WIN and Southern Cross Ten in the regional markets of Ballarat/Western Victoria, Bendigo/Central Victoria, Shepparton/Goulburn Valley, Gippsland/La Trobe Valley and Albury/Upper Murray.  The Mildura/Sunraysia region has already made the transition to digital-only transmission.

In the latest Digital Tracker survey, covering the period April to June this year, approximately 76 per cent of households in the regional Victoria market (excluding Mildura) have converted to digital and 95 per cent of households are aware of the pending switchover from analogue.

In converting transmission infrastructure to digital-only transmission, some smaller transmission sites, including Bonnie Doon and Howqua, will be switching off analogue services later this year, while the areas of Hopetoun, Lorne, Jeeralang/Yinnar South and Boolarra will switch off analogue in February 2011.

Households that will not be able to receive digital television via normal terrestrial transmission, or currently rely on self-funded analogue transmission facilities that will not be converting to digital, will be eligible for access to the satellite-based VAST service, providing access to programming from all networks including the new digital multi-channels.  VAST will also include a local news channel.

Households who need to switch to VAST may be eligible for government subsidies, and those on pensions, carers payments or other forms of income support may also qualify for assistance in converting to digital TV through the Household Assistance Scheme.

Regional Victoria is the third market in Australia scheduled for analogue switch-off, following from Mildura/Sunraysia in June this year, and Regional South Australia, scheduled for 15 December.

The Melbourne metropolitan area will lose analogue transmission by the end of 2013.

Information on the digital TV transition, including details on how to access the Satellite Subsidy Scheme or Household Assistance Scheme, can be found at the Digital Ready website or telephone the Digital Switchover Taskforce on 1800201013.

Source: DBCDE, Regional TV Marketing

1990: September 22-28

Cover: Tom Cruise

On the brink of madness!
In a chilling coincidence, actor Terry Serio was discussing with TV Week his latest role as a would-be mass murderer in GP just hours after five people were shot dead at a block of flats near TV Week’s Sydney offices.  “It doesn’t take much to push a person over the edge,” Serio told TV Week.  In GP, Serio plays the role of Jesse Watts, a man whose business has collapsed in the recession and is driving taxis just to make ends meet.  His moods get progressively worse.  He has a gun and has thoughts of using it.   He blames his problems on his wife (played by Saskia Post) who turns to Dr Robert Sharp (John McTernan) for help.

Emergency call to Matron
A Country Practice creator and producer James Davern has been having secret talks with former cast member Joan Sydney to try and lure her back into the series.  The talks were sparked by news that cast member Mary Regan, who replaced Sydney as the town’s hospital matron, is planning to leave the series.  But a spokesperson for the Seven Network said that talks were taking place but that Sydney has decided not to come back to the show.  “She wants to stick to theatre and film roles,” the spokesperson said.  Sydney’s most recent role was in the Melbourne Theatre Company production of This Old Man Comes Rolling Home, co-starring with Alex Papps, Roger Oakley, Anne Phelan and Beverly Phillips.

What a night… if only I could remember!
It should have been a day that he would never forget, but for Wheel Of Fortune host John Burgess it became a day he can hardly remember.  Just days before heading to Adelaide to tape the first four Celebrity Wheel Of Fortune shows, Burgess injured an ankle playing tennis, leading to an infection which, if left untreated, could have led to septicaemia.  Defying doctor’s orders, Burgess (pictured, with contestants Lorrae Desmond, David Hookes and Jeanne Little with hostess Adriana Xenides) flew from Perth to Adelaide to attend the taping but was so “spaced out” on medication that he barely remembers anything that happened while taping those four shows.  “So how I got there, I don’t know and how i did those television shows, I don’t know.  It must have been pure adrenalin.  I don’t remember a thing about the first show and very little about the second,” he told TV Week.  At least the pain of the injury was eased slightly by the news that Celebrity Wheel Of Fortune and its Saturday night partner, Celebrity Family Feud, have debuted to hit ratings, winning the battle against Hey Hey It’s Saturday in Sydney and Brisbane, and coming a close second in Melbourne.  But Celebrity Family Feud host Rob Brough is staying cautious.  “Hey Hey has been around a long time and we have only been a success for one night.  We can’t be compared to them yet,” he told TV Week.

Briefly…
Two new characters have moved into Network Ten’s E Street.  Zac Spencer (Daniel Knight) and his sister Nikki (Melissa Tkautz) are dumped by their mother and left in the care of George and Martha Sullivan (Les Dayman and Cecily Polson) and are a couple of kids you’d never want to encounter.  “Nikki is everything I don’t want to be,” says Tkautz. “She smokes and she’s really the sort of girl most parents would be horrified to have their daughters associating with.”

Actor Marcus Graham is in line for a role in the new mini-series Tracks Of Glory, being produced by Perth-based Barron Films, which follows the story of black American world champion cyclist Major Taylor who comes to Australia at the turn of the century to revive national interest in the sport.

Another Daddo is about to make his mark on television.  Lochie Daddo, 20, (pictured) has been hosting ABC’s Countdown Revolution for the past few weeks, following the abrupt departure of hosts Mark Little and Tania Lacy, and is tipped to win the job permanently.

John Laws says…
”The decision-makers at the ABC are becoming a little difficult to follow these days.  There seems to be a kind of uninspired confusion within the corridors of power about what exactly is going to happen to certain high-profile programs.  Or maybe it’s cleverly planned confusion.  For instance, is children’s educational TV really going to be axed, as suggested some weeks ago… or was that shock announcement a piece of sly politicking aimed solely at loosening the Federal Government’s purse strings?  Were we really to believe that the ABC’s weekend news bulletins would be nationalised, as suggested in one announcement?  Yes we were – but then we weren’t, because the “decision” was merely broadcast to gauge the reaction and the idea was hastily dumped when the anger of viewers in regional centres became apparent.”

Program Highlights (September 22-28):
Saturday:  HSV7 crosses to White City, Sydney for the semi-finals of the Davis Cup tennis between Australia and Argentina. 

Sunday:  ATV10 crosses to Sydney Football Stadium for the State Bank Big Game – Winfield Cup Grand Final.  After Ten Evening News with Mal Walden, Ted Egan presents ATV10’s new documentary series, This Land Australia, with the first episode featuring the grape-growers and wine-makers of Hahndorf and the Barossa Valley in South Australia.  Sunday night movies are Cocktail (HSV7), Short Circuit II (GTV9) and Avenging Force (ATV10).

Monday: Football’s “night of nights” as HSV7 presents live coverage of the Brownlow Medal count from Southern Cross Hotel in Melbourne, hosted by Bruce McAvaney.

Tuesday:  In Beyond 2000 (HSV7), Maxine Gray tries out a new device that acts as a second set of lungs, making scuba obsolete.

Wednesday: Former Matlock Police and The Sullivans star Paul Cronin guest stars in Nine’s The Flying Doctors.

Thursday:  Annie Jones guest stars in ABC’s new drama series, Embassy.  While in Skirts (HSV7), Tina’s (Antoinette Byron) involvement with a heroic, handicapped man dissolves into disaster.

Source: TV Week (Victoria edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide.  22 September 1990.  Southdown Press.

Veronica Overton-Low

The WA TV History blog reports that Veronica Overton-Low, a former TV presenter in Perth and Adelaide, has died suddenly from a heart attack.

Overton, 66, was an actress and had performed at Perth channel TVW7 before securing a job at rival channel STW9 not long after it launched in the mid 1960s.  She was initially hired for administrative tasks as well as appearing on The Channel Niners Club and Christmas pantomimes, presenting the weather report, reading voice-over announcements and appearing on the weekly religious interview program Seek The Truth – all for a very modest wage.

She also made regular appearances at promotional events for STW and later appeared on daytime programs as well as The Jeff Newman Show and became a producer for The Breakfast Show.

After leaving STW9 in 1970, Overton went to Adelaide’s SAS10 to host the morning show Earlybirds with Fat Cat.

With husband John Low (now deceased), Overton ran a talent agency for radio and television.

She also maintained a love of the theatre and directed and appeared in a number of local productions for the Roleystone Theatre Company, recently appearing in its production of My Fair Lady.

Source: WA TV History, WA TV History

Johnny Young for ARIA Hall of Fame

Johnny Young, the 60s pop star who created a generation of stars with the long-running Young Talent Time, is to be inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame as recognition of his contribution to the Australian recording industry.

Born in the Netherlands but raised in Perth, Young was a chart-topper with songs including Cara-Lyn and Step Back and wrote several hits that went on to become ‘60s anthems, including Smiley and The Real Thing.  He also hosted a pop music program, Club 7Teen, for Perth’s TVW7. 

In the late ‘60s, he featured on Melbourne-based pop music programs Go!! and Happening before starting Young Talent Time – a talent quest and variety series cast with junior performers.  Young’s adaptation of the Beatles song All My Loving served as the closing signature tune for Young Talent Time.

Under Young’s guidance, Young Talent Time created stars from child performers like Jamie Redfern, Tina Arena, Jane Scali, Sally Boyden, Debbie Byrne, Phillip Gould, Karen Knowles and Dannii Minogue.  The show won TV Week Logie awards for Best Variety/Music Program in 1972, 1974, 1975 and 1976 and in 1982 won a special Logie for sustained excellence in television.  His chain of talent schools, started in the late ‘70s, continue to operate across Australia today.

In 1990, Young was inducted in the TV Week Logie Awards’ Hall of Fame.

Young, 65, is now back in Perth presenting the breakfast program on radio station 6IX and is still performing.

The ARIA Awards’ Hall of Fame presentation is to be held on 27 October, hosted by Julia Zemiro. Also to be inducted this year are John Williamson, The Models, The Loved Ones and The Church.

Source: Daily Telegraph, Wikipedia, Johnny Young Talent School, Australian Television Information Archive

Eleven says ‘hello’

While the Nine Network’s new digital channel, GEM, has stumbled at the first hurdle and failed to make its planned debut yesterday, Network Ten has started its promotion for its new digital channel, 11, which is due to launch in 2011.

The new channel already has a website and is ready to communicate with its target audience, 13 to 29 year olds, via Facebook and Twitter. 

Ten is certainly presenting a confident approach in 11 and promoting it with the intention of getting the audience enthused about the new channel – something that Nine failed to do with GEM.

Spearheading 11’s prime-time line-up will be The Simpsons and Neighbours, joining other series including Nurse Jackie, Dexter, Supernatural, Dollhouse, Smallville, Melrose Place, 90210, Futurama, Sex And The City, The Office and The Cleveland Show.  The network has also put out the call to aspiring Australian producers to pitch innovative program ideas for the new channel.

11 is expected to be launched early in 2011 via Network Ten stations in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth.  It is not known yet if or when the new channel will be broadcast by regional affiliates Southern Cross Ten, Darwin Digital Television, Ten Mildura and Tasmanian Digital Television.

Source: TV Tonight, 11

Kerry O’Brien signing off from The 7.30 Report

After fifteen years as host of ABC’s The 7.30 Report, Kerry O’Brien (pictured) has decided it is time to move on.

In a statement issued yesterday, O’Brien said:

"Quite simply it’s time for a new chapter.  I’ve been in the pressure cooker of daily current affairs hosting and interviewing for 21 straight years including six years at Lateline, and it’s been something of a marathon.”

"It has been an absolute privilege to work with some of the most talented and dedicated professionals in the business, and I leave with confidence that the 7.30 Report will be at the heart of ABC News and Current Affairs coverage for years to come.”

"This has been a great year for the program, and it’s good to leave on a high note.”

O’Brien, who took over as host of The 7.30 Report when the state-based editions were replaced with a national edition in 1996, is planning to leave the program at the end of the year and take on a new role at the national broadcaster in 2011, though details of such have not been announced.

ABC general manager Mark Scott paid tribute to O’Brien’s contribution to the broadcaster, which included six years as host of Lateline before taking on the role of hosting The 7.30 Report:

“As the ABC approaches its 80th year, few journalists have played such an important role, for such a long time, with such integrity and distinction, as Kerry O'Brien.  On behalf of all of his colleagues, I want to thank Kerry for his tireless commitment to the best in ABC journalism through his leadership at The 7.30 Report.”

Some of O’Brien’s political interviews on The 7.30 Report have created headlines, particularly during election campaigns – this year eliciting an admission from opposition leader Tony Abbott that not everything he says on the campaign trail is “gospel truth”, and earlier this year copped an outburst from former prime minister Kevin Rudd after being questioned over the failure of the Copenhagen climate change summit.

This year O’Brien also scored an interview with US president Barack Obama.

In a career that dates back to 1966, O’Brien has also worked on ABC current affairs programs This Day Tonight and Four Corners, has served as a North American correspondent for the Seven Network and presented current affairs programs Public Eye and Face To Face for Network Ten.  He has also been host of many election nights, State and Federal, for ABC.

ABC’s director of news Kate Torney has said that a replacement host for The 7.30 Report is to be announced in due course.  Some of the names speculated as possible successors to O’Brien include Chris Uhlmann, Tony Jones, Leigh Sales and Virginia Trioli.

Source: The Age, ABC, Celebrity Speakers, The Australian