Channel Seven has thrown its hat into the ring in its bid to win the ratings war taking place on Sunday night.
Seven have reportedly “poached” a key member of Channel Nine staff as they pitted Spotlight against rival current affairs show 60 Minutes, the Daily Telegraph he stated on Monday.
Gemma Williams has been brought in to replace Mark Llewellyn as Spotlight executive producer after Nine branded her a “rising star”.
The hire is in an effort to revamp Spotlight following the fallout from Bruce Lehrmann’s controversial interview on the network.
Gemma, 25, has media in her blood – her father is A Current Affair executive producer Grant Williams.
Seven have reportedly ‘poached’ a key member of Channel Nine staff as they pitted Spotlight against rival current affairs show 60 Minutes. Gemma Williams (pictured) has been brought in to replace Mark Llewellyn as Spotlight executive producer after she was called a “rising star” at Nine.
It comes after the Channel Seven staff bloodbath took a turn last week, days after reports claimed Mark Ferguson would be “displaced” as weekday news presenter.
News Corp previously reported that seven bosses had become “excited” about replacing Ferguson, 58, with the network’s weekend team Michael Usher and Angela Cox.
However, a Seven source told Daily Mail Australia this is not the case.
Instead, the source has been reliably informed. Seven bosses are set to fire Usher, leaving Cox to anchor the Friday and Saturday night bulletins alone.
Executives hope to “save money and improve gender balance” with Cox as a one-woman show on weekends.
Gemma, 25, has media in her blood – her father is A Current Affair executive producer Grant Williams.
The hire is in an effort to revamp Spotlight following the fallout from Bruce Lehrmann’s controversial interview on the network. Spotlight host Michael Usher pictured.
Nine will pit Spotlight against rival current affairs show 60 Minutes (pictured)
The insider also believes that, unlike previous reports, Ferguson remains secure in his position.
“Mark (Ferguson) is the ultimate professional and loved in the newsroom,” Seven’s source said.
“It would be ratings suicide to replace Mark now, and it would be brave for a new news chief, who has no TV experience, to replace the 6pm reader as his first move,” they added.
Seven denied the claims when approached by Daily Mail Australia.
The rumored nightly news shake-up comes as the bloodbath continues at Channel Seven in the wake of Bruce Lehrmann’s sex and drugs allegations that hit the network’s flagship current affairs show Spotlight.
Seven confirmed last month that then director of news Craig McPherson, partner of Dancing with the Stars presenter Sonia Kruger, had suddenly left his role as the network’s director of news and public affairs after nine years in the role.
It comes after Channel Seven’s staff bloodbath took a turn last week, days after reports claimed Mark Ferguson (pictured) would be “dumped” as weekday news presenter.
Seven is set to ax Michael Usher, leaving Angela Cox to present the Friday and Saturday night news bulletins on her own, a source has claimed (Usher and Cox pictured above).
He will be replaced by Anthony De Ceglie, who currently works as editor-in-chief of News Corp’s Western Australian mastheads.
McPherson is the fourth executive to leave the network in April following the scandal over Spotlight’s lucrative deal with Lehrmann, who was found by the Federal Court to have raped Brittany Higgins on a civil scale.
Seven confirmed last month that then director of news Craig McPherson (pictured), partner of Dancing With The Stars presenter Sonia Kruger, had suddenly left his role as the network’s director of news and public affairs after nine years in the position.
Spotlight secured two exclusive interviews with Lehrmann last year in exchange for a year’s rent on a luxury unit, valued at about $105,000, ahead of her defamation case against Network Ten and Lisa Wilkinson in the Federal Court.
In the month of April alone, the network lost McPherson, CEO James Warburton, Chief Business Officer Bruce McWilliam and Spotlight executive producer Mark Llewellyn.
Seven also became the subject of a defamation case when Benjamin Cohen was wrongly named in Sunrise as the Bondi Junction killer.
The network settled the case out of court in April for an undisclosed sum.
In a press release last month, Seven West Media CEO and CEO Jeff Howard praised De Ceglie.
“Anthony brings a compelling vision to the role of Director of News and Current Affairs and Editor-in-Chief of Seven West Media,” Howard said.
“His absolute focus on newsgathering and storytelling will underpin his approach, while his digital savvy and innovative mindset will be just what SWM needs as we continue to build a better media business.”
Of McPherson he said: “Craig has been one of Australia’s most accomplished news leaders and we wish him all the best for the future.”
McPherson said he will take time off to spend time with his family.
