Street Talk understands Nine and its bankers are in talks to sell Weatherzone and would like to see a deal worth as much as $50 million.

Sources said Macquarie Capital was helping Nine with the talks, and the discussions were focused on one particular Australian strategic buyer.

The business is expected to be viewed by potential acquirers as a data play. It is understood to make $4 million to $5 million a year at the earnings line.

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John Fitzgerald, 57, was arrested at his home in Breakfast Point, in Sydney’s inner west, shortly before 8am on Wednesday.

He has been charged with eight fraud-related offences including misappropriating money, obtaining money by deception and dishonestly obtaining financial advantage by deception.

After a lengthy interview with officers at Burwood police station, Fitzgerald was refused bail. He will appear before Burwood Local Court on Thursday.

His arrest comes more than two years after a major investigation was launched by the NSW Financial Crimes Squad into the alleged misappropriation of funds totalling more than $8 million, while he was an employee of the network.

The alleged offending spanned the period from December 2002 to March 2016.

Fitzgerald worked for Seven West Media for more than 15 years. By the end, he was controlling the group’s finance and television programming with a budget worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

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The latest extension of the format, which comes on top of a longer summer run and a string of international versions, was announced as ITV revealed first-half advertising sales that were slightly better than expected.

Advertising sales were still down 5pc on last year, but not as much as the broadcaster had previously forecast.

Overall revenue was down 7pc to £1.48bn as ITV’s production division also reported lower turnover, although this was blamed on the timing of new programmes. ITV America was particularly badly affected with a 44pc crash in sales.

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Here is how the Nine publishing title is explaining the changes to readers:

To make it easier to find the topics and insights that are important to you, we have changed the way we categorise stories on afr.com by introducing tags that label coverage in a more meaningful way.

Our redesigned section pages are easier to navigate and better showcase the depth and breadth of the Financial Review. You can deep dive into our content and feel confident you are up to date with the latest stories.

Simplified story layouts make it easier to focus on our unrivalled news coverage and analysis and our new feature article format makes your reading experience richer by highlighting the high-quality images from our award-winning magazines.

Our website is now consistent across all devices so you can be sure you haven’t missed any of the latest news during your commute.

We have also refined our website navigation to align our online and print sections. Spend more time with the news that is important to you with redefined sections.

• Stories from the News section have been split into Politics, Policy, and World
• Business is renamed Companies
• Real Estate is renamed Property
• Personal Finance is renamed Wealth
• Leadership is renamed Work & Careers
• Lifestyle is renamed Life & Luxury

Read more here.

On Instagram she said, “Hi @houseruleson7 fans. Thank you for your incredible, passionate support throughout Season 7, & congratulations to our Champions Pete and Courtney.

“I’ve got some news for you all. After a great deal of consideration, I recently sat down with the Network to ask to be allowed to step down as Host of House Rules. They have very graciously agreed for me to do that, which I’m incredibly appreciative of. As the show goes into preproduction for the next season, it’s the perfect time to hand over the role to someone who will take the show into S8.

“Reality TV production has been an eye opener, they are such enormous beasts with so many people involved, and I’ve had a great time over the last 7 years steering the ship, getting to work with many of my favourite camera crews as we criss-crossed the country… & having a blast playing Dress ups & experimenting with different looks…. with two of my best friends in Rosie Trindall (Stylist Extraordinaire) & Lisa Soames (Hair and Make up guru). It was a seriously fun part of working on the show.

“My role as host of Better Homes and Gardens, which everyone knows I’m crazy about, keeps me very busy. Hopefully now though, with a different work load, I’ll be in a better position to take up one or two of the great opportunities that come my way, especially with 7 Sport, which is such a passion for me.”

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It is understood the men had agreed to an offer of more than $1 million each, to film another season of the competitive cooking program – but remained at loggerheads with 10 over the length of their new contracts.

It is understood the judges’ representatives have been in discussions with Australian networks and streaming giants Netflix and Amazon Prime. Their proposed series would likely film in different countries (with a focus on India, where the judges are especially popular) to maximise its international appeal.

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Who is the next Matt Preston, the scribe or commentator who can talk food till the cows come home, or at least until they’re turned into beef tournedos in a red-versus-blue team challenge? Asks Valent in The Age.

We could hack ISPs to find out who’s visiting the website of MasterChef’s production house Endemol Shine, or we could simply throw a few hats into the ring here and now:

• Myffy Rigby, editor of the national Good Food Guide, is a strong and opinionated food communicator with a striking fashion sense. Move over cravats, come on down extravagant hats, stripes and polka dots.
• Presenter and food writer Melissa Leong also loves a fine frock; she’s cut her TV teeth on SBS’s The Chefs’ Line in which she’s drawn the best from both home cooks and chefs.
• Byron Bay-based author, chef, teacher and nutritionist Sam Gowing is a no-nonsense bolt of sunshine; she’d not only be able to tell contestants if their sauce was too thin, she’d be able to tell them how to fix it, and whether it ticked off all the food groups.
• Bright spark and crack food-and-travel freelancer Sofia Levin has created the eatcuriously hashtag on her popular Instagram feed to encourage diners to, let’s say, try Uyghur cuisine instead of Cantonese next time they want Chinese.

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New hosts could infuse the long-running cooking contest with a compelling reason to tune in. They could defuse the suspicion of a disconnect between the show’s “caring” ethos and the systematic underpayment of workers at Calombaris’s Made Establishment restaurants group. And they could shore up the all-important sponsorship arrangements with brands growing nervous about whether their association with the show might work against rather than for them.

Above all, it could offer MasterChef a chance for a fresh start.

But with production on the 2020 season of MasterChef due to start as early as October, the search for a team of new hosts to replace the original trio of Matt Preston, Gary Mehigan and George Calombaris has an edge of urgency.

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Having parted ways with MasterChef stars Matt Preston, George Calombaris and Gary Mehigan this week, 10 management deserve points for saying goodbye to the trio after 11 seasons due to a reported request for a 40 per cent pay increase. Seems more than a bit ambitious – indeed, many would say greedy – at a time when the show’s ratings have flatlined, advertising dollars are scarce, and Calombaris is in a world of pain over reports his restaurants underpaid hundreds of staff.

In considering what the Channel will do and where the show will go next, two major issues arise.

Firstly, most local and international celebrity chefs that routinely appear on the show and help boost ratings are all mates with Preston, Calombaris and Mehigan. Will the likes of Heston Blumenthal, Nigella Lawson and Shannon Bennett still want to appear on the 12th season of the show without that trio? Maybe money will talk and they can be lured back, but then again, maybe they won’t feel as motivated to visit with a new bunch of judges on board.

The second issue is that unlike many other reality television shows, Preston, Calombaris and Mehigan weren’t just judges on MasterChef, they were also the hosts.

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Netflix will always have another episode and another data-driven recommendation for you. They’re not just trying to cover every genre, they’re experimenting with fundamentals such as episode length. A handful of impressive recent comic dramas, including Bonding and Special, offered succinct 20-minute episodes that were purposeful in their brevity.

The first SVOD (streaming video on demand) age is now over, and SVOD 2.0 is looming. This will be the era of the massive entertainment multinationals and tech giants building moated streaming sites full of their existing and new original content. Apple TV+ brings the consumer electronics giant into programming this September, while Disney+ launches in America this November, with Australia to follow.

When we first looked at streaming services, the appeal was in the ease of availability. It was easy to imagine that one or two platforms would house everything you wanted to watch. A year from now that figure might be six, and it could yet grow. It’s like a country that’s broken down into rival states, each proclaiming their independence; that’s an interesting plot for a new show, but for companies and audiences alike, civil war doesn’t sound so promising.

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The Queensland mother-of-three was the first person eliminated from the Channel 10 reality show last night after the Champions tribe, led by former Olympic athlete and politician Nova Peris, voted her off instead of actor Pia Miranda.

It came after the group of athletes, including Olympians and NRL and AFL professionals, formed a “sports team” alliance without her.

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According to the astrophysicist, in the ten days between being confirmed as The Bachelor and filming duties commencing, Agnew not only had to temporarily put his life on hold and covertly share the news that he was about to become a reality television star with his family, but also complete the mammoth task of handing in his PhD.

“It was pretty full on,” the Melburnian says with a weary laugh.

Now in its seventh season, Agnew bears the heavy burden of reviving The Bachelor’s premise – and ratings – after it was brutally smashed last season by footballer Nick Cummins’ infamous decision to choose no one.

Season 7 of The Bachelor airs Wednesday 31 July via Network 10.

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Sandilands aka King Kyle has been spotted driving around the streets of Sydney in a Rolls Royce Phantom and Wraith.

The KIIS FM shock jock had reportedly been loaning them from Rolls Royce as he is in the market for another extravagant set of wheels.

A huge fan of automotives, Sandilands new purchase will add to a collection of more than 10 vehicles including a Bentley Mulsanne, a Rolls Royce, a Range Rover SVR, a Lamborghini Aventador, a Ferrari 458 Italia, a vintage Mustang, two Harley Davidson motorcycles, a John Deere farm tractor and a Polaris off-road ATV.

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“Adelaide is doing great,” he beams, having just returned home for the interview after Domain Review’s exclusive shoot in Sydney with photographer Nic Walker. “I’m loving the new challenge I have in front of me. It’s been so nice to take time off work to be with Natalie and our baby girl and to get to know her.”

But for every coo and cuddle happening at home, Goodes is well aware the headlines are emerging once again, picking up where they left off after he retired from the Swans four years ago. Following two premierships, All-Australian honours and twice winning the game’s highest individual award, it was a departure from the sport that was truly undeserved.

The abuse and booing Goodes endured towards the end of his 372-game career was exposed in a documentary comprising archival footage and screened on Network 10 this month. Ian Darling’s The Final Quarter was given the nod of approval by Goodes and revealed the intensity of racism on and off the footy field.

A new Goodes documentary will launch the Melbourne International Film Festival at the gala opening on August 1 and it stars Goodes and his family. The Australian Dream, written by veteran broadcast journalist Stan Grant, explores just what it means to be Australian.

“The Australian Dream for me is a companion piece to Ian Darling’s documentary of archival footage about what happened to me,” Goodes says.

“The Australian Dream features me, my wife and other Indigenous leaders opening up about the Australian Dream, what is it and what it means for us to live in a great country, but there is a little something that is not right too and we want to raise more awareness about it.

“The best thing about me agreeing to let Ian Darling make The Final Quarter is that it’s giving people a chance to listen to what was really said and what I said in that time in my life.

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Issues over ground availability and continued hopes that Channel 10 will agree to broadcast games on free to air next season have added to the original complications of accommodating one new team next season.

Clubs have been told the draw is at least a week away from being released, more than a month after the stage a year ago when the whole draw had been agreed and published.

Already grappling with myriad factors, officials designing the draw have sought to spread the blue-chip fixtures in a way to satisfy both Fox Sports and 10 should the latter sign a deal to show games and promote them to its whole audience.

For the previous two seasons games were shown one of 10’s subsidiary channels under a deal with Fox, but they received little or no marketing and returned meagre ratings.

Competition bosses hope a new free-to-air TV deal can be struck now that the structure of an independent A-League run by the clubs has been agreed.

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