Helen Kapalos quits Today Tonight for Sunday Night
Kapalos
Channel Seven presenter Helen Kapalos has resigned from Today Tonight to move to the network’s flagship current affairs program Sunday Night as a reporter, starting this week.
As Kapalos moves across Today Tonight summer host Nick Etchells will continue for the next fortnight at least, as the show seeks to secure a permanent host.
However it brings into question the fate of the tabloid news program less than a year after speculation emerged that Seven would scrap the show in favour of a one-hour news bulletin.
Senior sources inside the network have reportedly claimed the network is now contemplating the one-hour news bulletin once again, as Channel Nine extended its national news bulletin from 30 minutes to an hour across the country at the start of the year.
Seven has responded by extending its news bulletins to 40 minutes and cutting Today Tonight to 20 minutes in Melbourne and Sydney where Nine is winning larger audiences for its extended news program.
A spokeswoman for Channel Seven said the network wanted to remain flexible with the length of the news bulletin, extending it to a full hour to provide extra news coverage when needed. However she said there are no plans to implement a one hour news bulletin in place of Today Tonight at this time.
Kapalos said she was proud of her work on Today Tonight but the move to Sunday Night, where she will be a senior correspondent, was to return to her first love of reporting. Kapalos will also feature on Seven News, Sunrise and The Morning Show, Channel Seven confirmed.
“I’m very proud of what we accomplished at Today Tonight during 2013. However, moving forward I would like to play to my strengths as a journalist.
“This new role allows me to focus on my interest in investigative reporting, nationally and internationally. I’m grateful to have the full backing of the network and look forward to contributing significantly to Seven’s News and Public Affairs departments.”
During her role as host Kapalos floundered in her coverage of the Labor Party leadership spill, as she flitted from headline to headline without an autocue or script in what was described as an on-screen death.
Days later she started recording video blogs and updating them to Facebook, inviting viewers to meet the Real Helen.
Channel Seven also announced today that former Channel Nine chief of staff Denham Hitchcock would move to Seven as a reporter on Sunday Night.
Nick Chan, Seven West Media’s group chief operating officer said: “Helen has put in a good year on Today Tonight, and we thank her for that. We understand her decision to get back to her first love, reporting. Helen will join Sunday Night and Seven News programs – and we congratulate her on that appointment.”
Well done for once – this is the first balanced story I’ve seen Mumbrella do on Kapalos.
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Good move Helen.
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