In this weekโs On Background, News Corp staff to make way for the unveiling of Sky Newsโ rebrand, Sharri Marksonโs decision to steer clear of Pauline Hanson (for a time) is vindicated, and the ABC tries to find a new 7.30 boss.
Nothing to see here
In pre-modern Japan, ordinary people were often forbidden from looking their emperor in the eye. At times, he was said to hold audiences behind bamboo screens.
So it seems to be with Lachlan Murdoch โ the heir to the Sun King โ who is set to be on hand to open Sky Newsโ plush new Holt Street studios in Surry Hills (and announce the networkโs new name!) on Friday afternoon.
On Thursday evening, Sky issued an โareas closureโ notice to staff, telling those not invited to the august event, which will also be attended by the likes of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and NSW Premier Chris Minns, to stay out.
They wonโt be allowed access to the main foyer, cafe, or main stairwell from Thursday evening, all the way through until Friday night.
Organisers have also gone as far as disconnecting the cameras in the studio where the event will be held, so nobody can see in as they get ready for the big reveal. Or maybe itโs just to keep Lachie separate from the foot soldiers? Or is there insufficient catering?
Itโs a total lockdown, with all of Fridayโs on-air programming to be produced in Melbourne, instead.
Sky is, of course, being forced to rebrand after its naming licence holder, Comcast-owned British broadcaster Sky News, decided against renewing the latest decade-long deal that expires this year.
The name change is expected to come into effect in the middle of the year, but the company has chosen to kill two birds with one stone, and use the studiosโ opening party for the big reveal, one day after the station turned 30.
A Sky spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.
Along with Murdoch, the event will be hosted by Sky News Australia chief executive and former newspaper editor Paul Whittaker, with News Corp Australia boss Michael Miller also in attendance. There are rumours of News Corp chief executive Robert Thomson jetting in, too.
Skyโs Sydney studios were previously in Macquarie Park, northern Sydney, but were relocated to News Corpโs long-term Holt Street offices near Central Station in December. The premises are also home to The Australian, news.com.au and The Daily Telegraph.
Sky Australiaโs current licence deal was agreed while the British Sky News was still part-owned by News Corp.
One source with knowledge of the planned rebrand, who was not authorised to speak on the record, said in August that a proposal to rebrand Sky as Fox News Australia was rejected by New York HQ because of the latterโs polarising reputation Down Under, and the need for brand differentiation. The final decision needed ticking off by the companyโs Avenue of the Americas offices, the source said.
There has since been suggestions the word โAustraliaโ may also be excluded from the new name, to encourage the channelโs growing international audience to stick around.
Was Sharri right all along?
Here at On Background, we have something of a mea culpa to offer. It seems this column may have accidentally contributed to the inception of this weekโs dominant political story.
Last week, we brought you the definitive numbers behind Sharri Marksonโs prolonged snubbing of right-wing agitators One Nation amid an otherwise station wide love-in.
Maybe we struck a nerve, or maybe the bosses gave Markson a friendly nudge because on the very next show, last Monday, who appeared as the star guest? Pauline Hanson.
The move appears to have vindicated Sharriโs initial judgment, though, as Hanson proceeded to issue racially charged remarks about Muslims.
โYou say, oh, well, thereโs good Muslims out there,โ Hanson said. โWell, Iโm sorry, how can you tell me there are good Muslims?โ
While the comments were hardly a surprise, considering the last time Markson hosted Hanson was after she wore a burqa into the Senate (for the second time), the latest comments were so bad that after the interview, the host took time to tell viewers โas an Australian Jew, I donโt support what Pauline Hanson just saidโ.
Ray Hadley, Marksonโs next guest, urged the One Nation leader to apologise. Later, Matt Canavan did the same and even new One Nation recruit Barnaby Joyce didnโt back up Hansonโs words. Yikes.
Hanson partially walked back her comments on Wednesday before essentially retracting the quasi-apology.
โAnd I am not going to apologise โฆ I will have my say now before itโs too late,โ she said.
Pretty awful stuff all around. Good thing Sky doesnโt hold a grudge, though. Hanson was back on Sky on Wednesday night. And guess what? On Background has confirmed she and her One Nation crew even received an invitation to their big bash as well.
Markson was approached for comment.
Costello: Back in the game
A week is a long time in modern media, what with the 24-hour news cycle and all that.
But still, itโs been less than a year since former A Current Affair reporter Seb Costello exited Nine, following a review into how he ended up chasing a male interview subject into some womenโs toilets, and heโs already back on his feet.
It was the second Nine exit for a Costello to make headlines in less than 12 months, after his father, former federal treasurer and then-company chairman Peter Costello stepped down days after an altercation with a reporter for The Australian at Canberra Airport.
Just six weeks after Daily Mail Australia announced a new column under his name, On Background can reveal Costello jnr has been appointed a senior reporter with rival outlet the Herald Sun.
Editor Sam Weir officially announced the appointment internally on Thursday after Costelloโs byline began running in News Corpโs Melbourne tabloid last month as a freelancer. Heโd already filed a front page story on Monday. But a leftover column from the man the Mail had dubbed โMelbourneโs ultimate insiderโ still went online at the digital publication a day later.
7.30 job hunt proves a hard slog
It has been more than two months since the ABC announced wunderkind former 7.30 chief Joel Tozer as the new executive producer of its flagship investigative program, Four Corners.
Tozer begins work on Four Corners on Monday. But the talk of the ABC is the fact they still havenโt managed to fill the top 7.30 job heโs set to vacate.
There is word the headhunting process has come up empty-handed so far. Commissioning editor of 7.30 Patricia Drum will be the showโs acting boss in the meantime.
The show has been a breeding ground for talent, on and off-air. The ABCโs current overall news boss Justin Stevens held the showโs executive producer gig before he was appointed to the top job in 2022.
Under Tozer, the showโs nightly average audience rose by 5 per cent to 789,000 in the 2025 financial year, and continues to rate well.
With host Sarah Ferguson not going anywhere and a newly minted political editor in Jacob Greber, it isnโt exactly a product a new boss could play around with.
An ABC spokesperson said: โThis is an important role and the ABC is running a thorough and competitive process which is still ongoing, delayed slightly by the timing falling over summer and coverage of major news events.โ
Siobhan McKenna, still a Mel-ebrity
Life is probably a lot quieter this year for Siobhan McKenna, Lachlan Murdochโs former consigliere, fixer and general right hand.
She signed off from her various jobs running his private company Illyria last year, as well as her role as chief executive of broadcasting for News Corp Australia, which by the end mainly just meant being chair of Sky News. It is probably a relief she doesnโt have to attend any more Sky events, having been referred to by one friend as a โtealโ with heavy Labor-links in a profile by this masthead in October.
But it seems McKenna still has time to stay connected. Victorian Premier Jacinta Allanโs diary entries show McKenna is one of a crack team of Mel-ebrities on the organising committee for this yearโs Melbourne NFL Game. There is plenty of pressure to get the big game right, as only a lucky few cities are handed one by the powerhouse US football code to show off their stars abroad.
McKenna did not respond to a request for comment.
Alongside McKenna in the team, there is also Lord Mayor Nick Reece, AFL boss Andrew Dillon, Eddie McGuire (of course) and local Disney boss and Western Bulldogs president Kylie Watson-Wheeler among others.
Allanโs diaries also show News Corpโs Thomson still holds some love for his home state. He found time in December for a cup of tea with the premier alongside News Corp powerbroker and Rupert Murdochโs niece, Penny Fowler, at the Herald & Weekly Times offices in Southbank.
As it is with News Corp, the pollies always come to them.
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Calum Jaspan is a media writer for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, based in Melbourne. Reach him securely on Signal @calumjaspan.10Connect via X or email.From our partners
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