Horoscope segments set to take ‘a breather’ from Seven News
The highly-divisive horoscopes slot is one of a few Seven News segments set to be put on ice in 2025.
According to TV Tonight, the segment – which first launched in July – was a point of contention at a recent Seven News weekly meeting.
A Seven spokesperson confirmed to Mumbrella that some segments will be paused until the new year, though they did not confirm which specifically.
“During the holiday, non-ratings period some segments will take a breather as we take a look at how they could come back next year,” the spokesperson said.
“We have been trialling new things and will continue to do so in 2025.”
The horoscopes segment was introduced by Seven news boss Anthony De Ceglie – one of a few big changes that also included the addition of Australian comedian Mark Humphries, and former NRL star Willie Mason for a dedicated rugby league segment.
Appearing on Mumbrella’s one-on-one podcast back in August, the director of news and current affairs and editor-in-chief at Seven West Media defended the backlash, which was largely aimed at the inclusion of a horoscopes segment.
Mark Humphries
“Beating Channel Nine or Channel Nine beating Channel Seven is the definition of winning, right? But the truth is, there’s no point being number one if your audience is declining and there is no getting around the fact that the broadcast audience at 6pm for both Seven and Nine is declining,” De Ceglie said at the time.
“What we need to do is slow the rate of decline, which we have successfully started doing – both us and Nine.
Anthony De Ceglie
“But the only way we’re going to slow the rate of decline and actually start growing new audiences is by trying things. I don’t want to be in charge of a company which is just clinging on for dear life, [or] to an audience that’s gradually declining. I want to grow our audience.
“I think everyone in the industry now is starting to go, ‘You know what? Let’s be bold again and let’s take some risks because it’s not good enough to just cling onto the audience we have.’”
Humphries, who has been absent from the Seven News bulletin in recent weeks, is expected to return on December 20.
Listen to the full episode with De Ceglie here.
Keep up to date with the latest in media and marketing
Got a tip?
Neil Griffiths is the Managing Editor of Mumbrella. He joined the company in October 2023.
Linkedin
I wonder if they saw that one coming.
User ID not verified.
Many years ago a group of news executives from
NBC America toured the Seven Newsroom in Sydney. Over lunch they were regaled with examples of how the story lineup was determined and the cute tricks (like horoscopes and ‘funny men’). Towards the end of the meeting one of the NBN executives responded. “We work out which are the big stories on the day and do the best we can to cover them”!
User ID not verified.
Have your say