Nine to launch This Afternoon into live daytime TV battleground
Nine newsreader Mark Ferguson is to return to daily TV as part of the team behind the network’s new show This Afternoon.
Ferguson was moved from anchor of National Nine News to the weekend slot at the beginning of the year. He will now be one of a trio helming the new Nine news show which starts on Monday and will run daily from 4.30pm for an hour, extending what was previously a half hour news slot.
According to an announcement from Nine: “This Afternoon will bring viewers across Australia the top stories of the day and the best in current affairs. When the big stories break, viewers will find them first on This Afternoon. But it won’t all be about the news. This afternoon will also have the latest entertainment stories, topical talking points and live interviews.”
Ferguson will be joined by radio presenter Katrina Blowers and ABC radio host Andrew Daddo.
The move comes just days after it was announced that Nine’s head of news and current affairs John Westacott is leaving.
Nine’s Director of Network News Mark Calvert said: “If you want to be informed as well as entertained, This Afternoon will be the program to watch. “We’ll bring viewers right up to date with the day’s top news stories as they’re unfolding, debate the big issues facing Australia, and help families deal with what life can throw at them. We will also be having a bit of fun with the stranger stuff that happens in the world.”
This Afternoon will be up against Seven’s News and M*A*S*H, while Ten has The Bold And The Beautiful, followed by its 5pm news show. In a nod to the rival lineup, Calvert said of This Afternoon’s presenters: “They’ll be bold, and at least one of them is beautiful.”
While it’s unclear whether Antiques Roadshow, currently in the 5pm slot, will survive the shuffle, the move sees the early evening battle switch to live television. Ten will launch The 7pm Project at the end of next month.
The late afternoon period is a crucial one for the networks. Nine will be hoping that a slight increase in audience will put Eddie McGuire’s Millionnaire Hot Seat, which runs at 5.30pm, in a better position to catch Seven’s Deal Or No Deal, which tends to pull in about 200,000 more viewers.
The inherited audiences from these shows often define the fate of the the networks’ evening schedules.
Nine’s last big live daytime project was the ill-fated The Catch Up, which was the brainchild of former magazine editor Mia Freedman. It was taken off air almost exactly two years ago following the departure of Eddie McGuire as Nine’s CEO.
Tim Burrowes founded Mumbrella in 2008. He worked on Mumbrella until 2021. At various points he was editor, content director and editor-at-large.
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Nine + news = FAIL. It’s over, go home, take your private equity, and just go.
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when is it starting?
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Hi Helena,
Next Monday.
Cheers – Tim
Good to see Mark Ferguson in the chair, bad it’s a chair in this new ‘entertaining news’ program. I hope Nine casts all my doubts and cynicism aside.
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Bring back Simon Townsend’s Wonder World to the 4:30 slot…..or maybe kids don’t watch FTA TV anymore!
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Bit harsh with the whole fail comment Sydney.
Get over it and build a bridge you moron.
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No one who is serious about news, debate and serious coverage watches commercial TV news anyway. It doesn’t say much for people’s viewing habits if the strength of the afternoon slot’s ‘inherited audience’ can define prime time viewing numbers. Shouldn’t that be largely determined by quality programming choices? Don’t people use their remotes?
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Being a discriminate viewer I dont follow the argument that people dont switch channels after 4.30pm.
I watch what I want regardless.
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Why bother when SBS is the ONLY free to air news worth watching?
If you have half a brain you DON’T watch 7, 9 or 10 T.V. news, or their cats up trees / let’s trash another awful neighbor / teenage mud wrestling high school girls ‘current affairs’ shows.
Even ABC opened with a report on some dude grabbing pollies’ wives boobs at a Canberra ball last week. [This in a week when Iran was on the brink of revolution for crying out loud!]
….. and don’t start me on Eddie, Burt or the other ‘personalities’ who frequent the quiz slot. Give me SIMPSONS repeats any day! over these tired old farts!
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thanks Tim 🙂
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We haven’t watched channel 9 morning show since Steve Leibman and team left, it has gone to 3 mins of news then heaps of giggling and rubbish. Instead we find channel 10 at least give only news, finance and weather which is what people want before heading to work, not stupid celebrity nonsense. Channel 9 lost us a long time ago, and do they really think by dragging back Millionaire we will then watch their news, it’s channel 7 most nights and channel 10 at 5pm.
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