EXCLUSIVE
The country’s two biggest commercial TV networks are locked in a brutal ‘star wars’ as they try to convince their rivals’ best and brightest talent to switch channels.
Sources within Seven’s Sydney headquarters said the network has been forced to fend off Nine’s interest in at least half a dozen of its young gun reporters as the two broadcasters battle for ratings supremacy.
The attempted talent show comes as Seven launched its own attack on Nine’s ranks and convinced three of its top AFL panellists from its Footy Classified program to jump ship.
“We haven’t seen network poaching attacks of this magnitude since the 1990s,” a senior network insider told Daily Mail Australia.
“It’s super aggressive right now: there are fewer viewers, so the battle for eyes has never been more intense and the networks are doing absolutely everything they can to gain the upper hand.”
Seven insiders said Nine had focused mainly on its rising star female reporters in newsrooms across the country as part of an unprecedented blitz.
The revelations come amid reports that Nine was growing increasingly concerned about the “huge experience gap” between its own big-name news presenters and its next generation of stars.
Network insiders said Seven is award-winning Melbourne political reporter Sharnelle Vella topped Nine’s aggressive ‘hit list’ as it appears the issue is being addressed.
Vella has impressed news bosses with her hard-hitting stories in Seven’s nightly bulletin and her co-hosting duties on hit podcast Dead Bodies.
Seven’s award-winning reporter Sharnelle Vella is reportedly at the top of Nine’s ‘hit list’ as the network tries to convince at least half a dozen of its rival’s rising stars to jump ship
The versatile journalist has impressed with her hard-hitting stories on Seven’s Melbourne News, popular podcast Dead Bodies and exclusive interview with former CFMEU boss John Setka
She further proved herself as a top talent with her exclusive interview with former CFMEU boss John Setka for the network’s Spotlight program in August.
Sources said Nine had also targeted Vella’s highly regarded colleague, Cassie Zervos, who has become a fast-rising star in Seven’s Melbourne newsroom since emerging from the crime world of the city’s Herald Sun newspaper six years ago.
Across the country in Perth, sources said Nine had shown a keen interest in versatile young reporter Kate Massey, who has been with Seven for almost four years after cutting her teeth as a producer at Nine’s 6PR talkback radio station.
In the nation’s capital, national health editor Jennifer Bechwati, who was named Canberra’s Press Gallery Journalist of the Year in 2020, is also turning heads.
7News Melbourne reporter Cassie Zarvos’ reports have won her fans among news bosses
Sydney reporter Natasha Squarey is also on the hit list of young stars being targeted by rivals
Early riser Liam Tapper, who reports from Sydney for Seven’s national Sunrise breakfast programme, was also on the hit list, along with fellow Sydney news reporter Natasha Squarey and Europe correspondent Ashlee Mullany.
“Nine has a much bigger news department than Seven because it also has well-staffed shows like A Current Affair and 60 Minutes – so they have a bigger budget and more opportunities to offer young reporters,” said an insider.
“They’ve tried to take advantage of all the disruptions in the newsroom here to storm in and steal the crème de la crème of our young reporters and hopefully destabilize us a little bit at the same time.”
Seven declined to comment on whether the country had been forced to set aside a war chest to keep its best and brightest stars, nor how it planned to retain all its in-demand reporters.
Nine of them were equally tight-lipped about their plans, although one insider categorically denied that the network was poaching.
The backlash comes as the cash-strapped broadcaster continues to make cuts.
In Perth, Kate Massey is one of Seven’s most coveted rising stars
Young Sunrise reporter Liam Tapper (left) could not be wrestled away from Seven
Jennifer Bechwati has made a name for herself as a talented young reporter in the Canberra press gallery
Outgoing Nine boss Mike Sneesby took the ax to the media company’s budget earlier this year, cutting about 200 jobs as part of a $30 million budget cut.
The pain will continue as Sneesby’s acting replacement, Matt Stanton, announces a further $50 million cut from the company’s underlying costs this financial year.
The adjustments were expected to impact some of the network’s most prominent (and paid) stars, with some enduring the pay cuts while others would be replaced entirely by younger, more frugal options.
Daily Mail Australia previously revealed that every on-air personality within Nine had their contracts reviewed as part of a cost-cutting audit.
In contrast, sources within Seven claimed that their network had already completed the cuts and were not expecting any further cuts this financial year.
Instead, the channel wanted to invest its presentation programs in key ‘growth areas’, particularly AFL coverage.
Europe correspondent Ashlee Mullany has long been on Nine’s target list
Nick Riewoldt returns to Australian TV after moving to the US with his family two years ago
Two months ago, Seven managed to convince former Port Adelaide premiership winner Kane Cornes to defect from Nine’s Footy Classified and join AFL coverage from next year.
In a continuing series of coups, co-presenter Caroline Wilson revealed she would be switching channels alongside Cornes, before fellow presenter and sports media mogul Craig Hutchison recently confirmed he was also swapping Nine for Seven.
Seven announced last month that it had also lured St Kilda legend Nick Riewoldt back to television after the big player left a successful career at Fox Sports in 2022 and moved to the US with his young family of five.