The Queensland Clarion Awards celebrate quality journalism and reward media professionals whose commitment to excellence in media coverage best informs and entertains Queenslanders. The big winner in 2020 was Nine‘s US correspondent Tim Arvier who claimed three awards on the night for Broadcast Interview, TV News Report, and Journalist of the Year 2020.
The awards were in recognition of his journalism in the United States this year, in particular his live cross from the heart of the riots in Minneapolis. The 17 minutes of live television brought Australian lounge rooms the reality of what was unfolding on the streets of America.
Arvier and his camera operator Adam Bovino worked through bricks being thrown and tear gas fired all around them. Behind the scenes of the 17-minute live cross, Arvier spent time on the front line of the riots where he negotiated roadblocks, risked arrest and at one point was detained at gunpoint by police.
After his success at the Clarion Awards and covering some of the biggest US news stories of the last 10 years in a matter of months, Arvier spoke to Mediaweek about his wild 2020.
Arvier said that he was made aware of his Journalist of the Year win a tad early when he was asked to film an acceptance speech a few days beforehand. He was fast asleep when the award was announced describing it as a very odd way to experience an awards night.
“I actually thought my colleagues might have been prank calling and then realised it might actually be real.
“After sending through the acceptance video a few days earlier I started getting messages in the very early hours of the Los Angeles morning and replied to a few and then went back to bed.
“I assume the award is somewhere in the Queensland office for me when I get back in the new year and I hope it is not lost in the back of a taxi somewhere.”
When asked about how he felt about winning the award Arvier said that it is a funny feeling.
“I tend to think of awards nights as a really nice restaurant menu, what wins depends on the judge’s tastes on the night. Sometimes you think you have a really good chance and don’t win and other times you win more than you originally expected. It’s nice to be recognised and you never take anything for granted at those awards nights because there were some amazing entries like David Murray’s The Lighthouse podcast.
“I had a look back at some of the people who have won the award before and they are some of Queensland’s best journos, so it was really nice to be able to be on a list with those people.”
Arvier was glad that his cameraman Adam Bovino also got recognition for his work by winning a Walkley, acknowledging that he had it much harder than himself down on the ground.
“The work he did was amazing, the skin was rubbed off his shoulder after hours of live crosses and he still shot amazing pictures while getting tear-gassed for days on end.”
Arvier admits he hasn’t had much time to think about winning the Clarion Award due to being stationed in the US during such a frantic period in the news cycle with an impeachment trial, pandemic and an election just a few of the major stories.
“Ever since March/April it has just been absolutely non-stop, and the stories just keep going and going and you never really stop to think about anything for long.
“Something like Donald Trump’s tax return in an election year normally would be a massive story but six hours later we had all moved on to something else.”
Working on the other side of the world and producing content for Australian audiences means that Arvier works an interesting schedule.
“My down time is when Australia is sleeping in the mid-morning, and the day gets busy when the Today show starts which is 1pm my time (in LA). It is pretty busy throughout the rest of the day and by dinner time events have died down and I can write my script for the 6pm story on Nine News.”
Arvier has experienced something not many journalists get to do during their careers, he has been a frequent visitor to the White House for press briefings and has done so in a pivotal time in US history.
“I was here for a large part of April and when people look back at that period it may be looked at as when Trump burnt his presidency down.”
Arvier said one of the main highlights was getting to ask the President a question in the Rose Garden.
“It is rare for someone in the foreign press to get in there and ask a question. It is all a bit of a lottery and is about trying to catch Donald Trump’s eye. He likes to be the centre of attention, so I paid him a lot of attention and looked at him and I got to ask the last question, he didn’t answer it, but I got to ask it.”
During his time in the states, Arvier said that a lot has changed since he started going to the White House.
“My first visit was for the impeachment story, which I thought was going to be one of the biggest of the year and now everyone has forgotten about it.”
“The White House has changed a lot – at the beginning of the briefings there was social distancing and reduced numbers, but no one was wearing masks and then it was tightened up a bit, but now it is going back the other way again.”
Arvier described the US election as a non-stop and insane week, which would have been a lot easier if someone conceded.
“We did our first live cross on election day at 4:30am in Florida. We had an official Trump event to go to and stayed up for 24 hours and did our next live cross at the start of the State of Origin coverage.
“We then got straight back into our car and drove to the airport and had a 45-minute sleep, got on a flight to Philadelphia and slept for about another hour, then straight back into rolling coverage again. It just kept on going and going.”
When asked the difference between covering news in Australia and the US, Arvier told Mediaweek that the two key differences were the hunger for political news and the freedom of the press.
“For all the fake news and antipathy to the news that Donald Trump has whipped up, there is still an incredible appetite for political news, more than in Australia. Donald Trump has driven a large part of that and it is also far easier to work as a journalist over here in America than it is in Australia.
“In Australia, we are much more restrictive with the freedom of the press than in the States. I am not looking forward to moving back to Queensland because there is a government that is not very welcoming to the press at all and has sought to restrain press freedom, and the federal government doesn’t have a great track record with it either.”
News Corp Australia’s managing director, food and travel Fiona Nilsson (pictured) has released findings from Food Corp’s Trend Forecast Autumn/Winter 2021, and announced the launch of a new suite of shoppable integrations and media.
Everyday 80 million data points are generated by the 6.8 million* Australians who connect with News Corp Australia’s network of food brands, providing real-time information on what Australian’s are planning, shopping, cooking and sharing in food. This data is then analysed by the company’s senior editorial food experts to predict the trends that will shape the coming season, turning data into actionable insights.
Nilsson said: “As the largest food publisher in Australia being on top of consumer trends is imperative to our business. Harnessing the data we generate every day, from a search bar entry to each on-site click and social interaction, gives us deep and real-time insights into the Australian food consumer.
“The food trends identified in our Autumn Winter 2021 Forecast will allow marketers to align their content marketing strategies with what’s driving consumer behaviour around food.
“The launch of our new shoppable media platform means that our entire food network is now shoppable, making the consumer experience easier and even more effective for our advertisers.
“We are giving consumers the power to plan and shop wherever they engage with content across all of our on and off network channels, and enabling our clients to turn inspiration and awareness into action, with food content instantly shoppable via social media, video, display, print and more.”
The recipe to cart functionality on delicious., Australia’s Best Recipes and Kidspot Kitchen allows audiences to create dynamic, user specific shopping lists and convert straight to their shopping basket from any recipe page across these brands.
Food Corp has created three new opportunities for clients to convert online grocery shoppers as they consume content on these brand platforms:
Shoppable Media Links – this will enable commercial content to be instantly shoppable in environments outside of the three sites. A user can see a recipe created with delicious. on Facebook and then be able to click a link to add the recipe ingredients directly to their shopping basket list. Links can be used on all social platforms, YouTube and QR codes in print.
Sponsored Suggestion Module – an ad unit promoting specific products and price, linked contextually to recipes. This unit will follow the user into the shopping list and basket list to create additional opportunity to convert. It can be targeted by cuisine, ingredients, technique or any number of other attributes.
Shoppable Social Display – this is an evolution of Food Corp’s popular amplification product. When targeting a commercial video post across the Food Corp network, there is now the ability to create an instant ‘Shop Now’ button to add single ingredients or the full recipe straight to the users shopping basket.
Key Autumn/Winter 2021 season trends identified:
Nostalgia Remixed
The trend for nostalgia rolls on, growing ever-bigger with the latest phase being all about a yearning for yesteryear and old school reimagined. Nostalgia provides consumers with feelings of comfort. Some examples of rising retro ingredients and recipes across Food Corp are golden syrup, condensed milk, rice pudding and the meat pie.
Kitchen is Your Castle
Recent times and events have seen people spending more time at home, in particular in the kitchen. The kitchen has become their place to express a new found passion for cooking and baking. From pizza bases to swapping sourdough starters and pickling, preserving and fermenting, the desire to impress family and friends with new found skills is paramount, and no one wants to fail. There is a key call out here for homemade pastas with cooking from scratch having well and truly hit the mainstream.
The New Easy
“Quick and Easy” used to be inseparable terms. Now, in a new working from home era, fatigue has set in on lunches and dinners. In a shift of priorities, “Easy” has surged ahead of “Quick” and fuss-free is the new catchcry for home cooks. Consumers are looking for simple and easy recipes that require less concentration, and less panic cooking. This has sparked a rise in the ‘one pot, one pan’ phenomenon which is now extending further to ‘one bowl’ and ‘one tray’ with tray bakes seen as weeknight saviours such as the five ingredient chicken and mushroom pasta bake.
Travel Through Food
There is no denying that our appetite for travel has not waned one bit. The culinary delights from around the world that people have missed out on experiencing this year have become the food they are now eating on their plates at home. Consumers aren’t only experiencing travel from the comfort of their own home as a form of entertainment, but they are also engaging with this content to be inspired to recreate those international experiences, with global soups and curries a standout here.
Source: *emmaTM conducted by Ipsos, 12 months ending June 2020, Fused Nielsen Digital Panel calibrated to Digital Content Ratings, March 2020. All people 14+ 7 caps.
Methodology: Utilising the extensive data available across Food Corp, combined with global and local food trend reports, industry experts and specialist knowledge within the Food Corp team; the Food Corp Trends Forecast turns data into invaluable and actionable insights.
This is 18% down on last year’s spend, largely due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the near total shutdown of large-scale drama production in March 2020.
The Drama Report uses data from industry to provide an overview of the production of local and foreign feature, television and online drama titles, as well as post, digital and visual effects (PDV) activity. All expenditure is allocated to the year in which principal photography began. PDV employs a secondary method of analysis, which is outlined in the PDV section below, and in the report. ‘Drama’ refers to scripted narratives of any genre.
Expenditure by Australian titles that started principal photography in 2019/20 accounted for 55% of the total expenditure, with $543 million generated by 74 Australian productions, down 32% on 2018/19’s record result. In total, 41 foreign projects (including PDV-only titles) generated $447 million in spend, an 8% increase in spend on 2018/19.
This year’s report provides an insight into the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Australian screen industry, which resulted in the near total shutdown of large-scale drama production in March 2020, and continues to present significant challenges for production and the wider sector both in Australia and internationally.
Screen Australia’s Chief Executive Officer, Graeme Mason, said, “Never in the 30-year history of the Drama Report have we seen an event like the COVID-19 pandemic. While we looked on track to celebrate a record year in many areas of the industry, the pandemic is estimated to have postponed around 26 Australian drama titles with total budgets exceeding $325 million. This large scale impact is unprecedented.
“Several challenges remain with many projects reporting increases in costs as they make necessary adjustments to work in a COVID-safe environment, while others are yet to resume work or get started for a variety of COVID-related reasons. This will also have a flow on effect as some productions slated to commence work in 2020/21 have not been able to, with dramatic changes in production schedules impacting the availability of cast, crew and studio space.
“Despite the hardships, I’m encouraged that our industry has been able to safely and markedly increase production activity and there are already positive signs that our sector will be able to bounce back. As a result of support from the Federal Government’s Temporary Interruption Fund (TIF) and Screen Australia’s direct COVID-19 funding we have supported a safe return to work on projects with combined production budgets of over $330 million. The TIF continues to fill a vital gap in getting productions back up and running and has now been replicated in many other countries.
“I commend everyone in the industry on their tenacity, resilience and ability to adapt and find ways to move forward in the midst of a global pandemic,” continued Mason.
GENERAL TELEVISION DRAMA
In 2019/20, $198 million was spent on 20 general Australian TV drama titles, with expenditure down 39% on last year’s record spend. 351 hours of content was generated and all titles had combined total budgets of $198 million. Series that entered production in 2019/20 included series 2 of ABC’s Mystery Road, Nine’s Halifax: Retribution, ABC’s Wakefield and series 2 of Network 10’s Five Bedrooms.
Across the general TV drama slate, hours, budgets, spend, and average cost per hour were the lowest in more than 10 years. Five general TV dramas that entered production in 2019/20 had their shoot interrupted due to COVID-19. Evidence suggests that seven general TV drama titles, with combined budgets of more than $45 million, were postponed due to COVID-19.
CHILDREN’S TV DRAMA
Twelve children’s dramas entered production in 2019/20, with a total spend of $46 million and generating 78 hours of content. This spend was 55% down on last year, with budgets also down by 52% and hours of content down by 51% on last year’s six-year high. One children’s TV drama that entered production in 2019/20 had its shoot interrupted due to COVID-19. Evidence suggests that two children’s TV drama titles, with budgets of more than $10 million, were postponed due to COVID-19.
ABC financed seven of the 12 titles in production, including animations Kangaroo Beach and Space Nova (which was also financed by Nine), and live action titles including First Day and the third series of Mustangs FC. NITV was the first-release broadcaster for the live-action series Thalu, which was also financed by the ABC. Five titles entered production that were financed by the commercial broadcasters including The Bureau of Magical Things series 2 (Network 10), The Gamers 2037 (Nine) and Kitty is Not a Cat series 3 and Tales of Aluna (both Seven). One title, Alphabet Street, was financed by Disney Junior.
The proportion of animated titles produced has declined over the last five years, with live-action titles accounting for around half of the yearly slate in the last two years.
shEqual launches with support from strategic partners in the advertising industry, government and beyond including: Clemenger Group, Respect Victoria, The Shannon Company, OMD Australia, Our Watch, Venus Comms, Marmalade, RMIT University and City of Melbourne.
Remarking on the broad support for shEqual, Ms Hill said: “I look forward to seeing advertising agencies and brands taking the shEqual pledge and committing to changing the advertising they produce, and how they do business. Advertising equality is a benefit to our community and a win for business.”
shEqual is supported by funding from the Victorian Government, with Minister for Women Gabrielle Williams MP launching the brand at the event. Reflecting on the launch, Ms Williams remarked: “The Victorian Government is committed to taking serious action on gender equality. shEqual represents a unique opportunity to work collaboratively with the advertising industry to achieve this outcome.”
CEO of Respect Victoria, Tracey Gaudry, also attended the event, said: “Respect Victoria is proud to be a strategic partner of shEqual and champion this leading initiative with the advertising industry. With 16 Days of Activism against gender-based violence commencing Wednesday, this is a timely reminder of the importance of taking action on gender equality, and the role we can all play – individuals, organisations, industry and government – to achieve a society where everyone is safe, equal and respected.”
Chris Howatson, CEO of CHE Proximity; Priya Patel, Managing Director of DDB Sydney; Martin Cowie, Chief of People at OMD Australia; and Neysa Goh, Head of Marketing – Oceania for the Puma Group joined legendary social commentator and event MC Jane Caro for a panel discussion on the future of advertising and equality.
The panel had much to say on how the industry is changing, the role of advertising in driving equality and the important role shEqual will play. “There are huge untapped opportunities brands should be looking at in how we celebrate women” said Priya Patel, Managing Director of DDB Sydney. Reflecting on advertising to women, who are the primary household purchasers, Chris Howatson, CEO of CHE Proximity said: “Change is a necessary requirement. Our role as advertisers, or as people who create brands and shape culture, is to shape [advertising] in a way that is motivating and desirable for our audiences.”
The show is currently releasing new episodes of its second season weekly on Disney + and is a safe bet to stay at #1 till the new season concludes, but even then it is not a given since the show was regularly at the top of the charts for almost 12 months after the conclusion of season 1.
The Crown has continued its ascent up the chart with the shows fourth season being released on Netflix, and normally it would probably be #1 but is facing unusually stiff competition from The Mandalorian.
The most notable new entry comes from Apple TV+ in Ted Lasso which stars Jason Sudeikis who also developed the show alongside Bill Lawrence (known for creating scrubs), Joe Kelly and Brendan Hunt. The show is based on a character of the same name that Sudeikis portrayed in a series of ads for NBC Sports’ coverage of the Premier League.
The plot of the story revolves around American college football coach Ted Lasso who has been recruited to coach an English Premier League team by the club’s owner in hopes that he will ruin the team. The show has already been renewed for a second and third season by Apple.
Netflix continues to be the strongest performing on the Digital Originals chart in both Australia and NZ with four entries on both charts.
Primetime News
Seven News 956,000/967,000
Nine News 837,000/822,000
ABC News 725,000
10 News First 287,000/174,000
SBS World News 157,000
Daily current affairs
A Current Affair 635,000
7.30 610,000
The Project 258,000/441,000
The Drum 162,000
Breakfast TV
Sunrise 256,000
Today 226,000
News Breakfast 193,000
Late Night News
Nine News Late 116,000
The Latest 85,000
ABC Late News 47,000
Tuesday TV
Seven: Home and Away slipped just below 600,000 for its second night of the week.
After 11 SAS Australia episodes of brutal physical and psychological training, the final five recruits – James, Merrick, Molly, Nick and Sabrina – were just holding it together physically and mentally as they entered the final stages of SAS selection.
After unsuccessfully trying to evade a hostile Hunter Force, the recruits were held captive and subjected to painful stress positions and disturbing noises, all designed to break their mental resolve ahead of facing interrogation. Molly was the first and only of the top five to quit the Screentime torture chamber – “I just can’t stop shivering, I’m in so much pain right now.” Despite the remaining four completing the course, Chief Instructor Ant Middleton asked James to hand in his number, telling him it’s “just not your time” and it “just wasn’t enough” but he should hold his head up high. Very harsh. But Merrick, Nick and Sabrina all passed selection, agreeing this was the hardest thing they will ever do.
As the last reality TV franchise standing, SAS Australia was a clear ratings winner again with 737,000 watching.
Seven is now using the UK series as a Christmas stocking filler with 250,000 watching the launch episode which followed at 8.40pm.
Nine: A Current Affair dropped from 682,000 on Monday to 635,000 on Tuesday.
RBT pulled in 361,000 at 7.30pm.
The final episode of season four of Australian Crime Stories was on 344,000 winning its timeslot.
10: The Project reported on health care workers, Donald Trump and spoke with Bernard Fanning with 441,000 after 7pm.
An Ultimate Emergencies episode of Ambulance Australia was then on 270,000.
A new episode of NCIS followed with 280,000.
ABC: Outback Ringer did 382,000 followed by a 90-minute 2018 doco on motorcycle champ Wayne Gardner with 333,000 staying with the channel.
SBS: The penultimate episode of Addicted Australia had 180,000 watching at 8.30pm.
The lead-in had the channel’s biggest audience – 215,000 watching Great British Railway Journeys.
TUESDAY METRO | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ABC | Seven | Nine | 10 | SBS | |||||
ABC | 12.8% | 7 | 20.2% | 9 | 16.4% | 10 | 11.0% | SBS One | 5.3% |
ABC KIDS/ ABC COMEDY | 2.7% | 7TWO | 4.2% | GO! | 2.7% | 10 Bold | 3.5% | VICELAND | 1.4% |
ABC ME | 0.6% | 7mate | 2.4% | GEM | 3.3% | 10 Peach | 2.9% | Food Net | 1.2% |
ABC NEWS | 2.0% | 7flix | 1.7% | 9Life | 2.6% | 10 Shake | 0.6% | NITV | 0.1% |
9Rush | 1.2% | SBS World Movies | 1.2% | ||||||
TOTAL | 18.0% | 28.5% | 26.3% | 18.0% | 9.2% |
TUESDAY REGIONAL | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ABC | Seven Affiliates | Nine Affiliates | 10 Affiliates | SBS | |||||
ABC | 12.2% | 7 | 19.1% | 9 | 14.3% | WIN | 10.5% | SBS One | 4.4% |
ABC KIDS/ ABC COMEDY | 2.5% | 7TWO | 5.6% | GO! | 2.6% | WIN Bold | 4.0% | VICELAND | 1.3% |
ABC ME | 0.6% | 7mate | 5.6% | GEM | 4.8% | WIN Peach | 3.1% | Food Net | 0.5% |
ABC NEWS | 1.5% | 7flix (Excl. Tas/WA) | 1.8% | 9Life | 2.5% | Sky News on WIN | 2.7% | NITV | 0.2% |
SBS Movies | 1.7% | ||||||||
TOTAL | 16.9% | 32.1% | 24.3% | 20.2% | 8.1% |
TUESDAY METRO ALL TV | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
FTA | STV | ||||||||
88.3% | 11.7% |
16-39 Top Five
18-49 Top Five
25-54 Top Five
Shares all people, 6pm-midnight, Overnight (Live and AsLive), Audience numbers FTA metro, Sub TV national
Source: OzTAM and Regional TAM 2018. The Data may not be reproduced, published or communicated (electronically or in hard copy) without the prior written consent of OzTAM
“It’s been an unbelievably challenging year. I’ve been very proud of how the music community has come together and what ARIA has been able to do working directly with government to get support for the industry,” Rosen said, referring to the government’s Restart Investment to Sustain and Expand (RISE) fund.
“Despite all of it, the artists were still putting out great music, making sure that Australians stayed entertained through the difficult times.”
In the report, entitled “That Was Unexpected!,” he cited the return of sports and the elections as driving ad revenue despite the coronavirus pandemic. His team estimates that TV station advertising rose 22.9 percent in the latest period, pay TV companies’ ad revenue increased 12.8 percent, and cable networks spending climbed 2.3 percent, while broadcast ad revenue fell 13.2 percent.
The decline in national TV ad spending came in better than Nathanson’s expectation for a 6.6 percent drop. And overall, TV ad revenue even edged up to $11.01 billion, the analyst calculated.
For the current fourth quarter, he said “we expect growth to continue, at a 2 percent clip.”
Hodge joins Gemba after nearly nine years at Octagon, one of the world’s largest sport and entertainment marketing practices. In his most recent role as Head of Planning and Strategy (APAC), Hodge was responsible the creative and commercial strategy for all Octagon clients across the region.
Hodge will take the reins of the Marketing Strategy team at Gemba – a team that helps leading brands shape and manage their investments in sport and entertainment. This team counts Toyota, Coca Cola, McDonald’s, Sanitarium, Westpac Group, adidas and Transport for NSW among its clients.
Andrew Condon, Managing Director of Gemba, said: “We are thrilled to have found someone of Adam’s calibre. He’s a quality leader who buys into our vision for the industry and our group of companies. Adam has a brilliant feel for how fans engage with their passions and a proven ability to translate this into quality work for his clients.”
Adam Hodge: “I’ve admired and respected Gemba for many years and have always been impressed with their insight-led creative thinking. I’m looking forward to working with the exceptional team here and with some of the world’s most innovative and exciting brands. The revised business and management structure places Gemba in a very strong position for ongoing growth – which I’m excited to contribute to.”
Gemba provides insights, strategy and communication services to the sport and entertainment industry. With offices in Sydney, Melbourne and London, Gemba’s clients include FIFA, World Rugby, City Football Group, Cricket Australia, Football Federation Australia, Toyota, Coca Cola, McDonald’s, Sanitarium, Westpac Group, adidas and Transport for NSW.
Ramsey, who was described by his peers as fearless, courageous and relentless in his pursuit of a story, spent much of this year in a nursing home on the south coast of NSW.
His 56-year career in journalism began in 1953 as a copy boy and included a stint as the deputy editor of The Australian, and a lengthy period writing a weekend column for The Sydney Morning Herald.
In 2017, Ramsey’s mark on journalism was recognised when he was admitted to the Australian media’s hall of fame.
“Ramsey didn’t much care whether people loved him or hated him – each category was oversubscribed – but Ramsey’s journalism meant nobody could survive to lunchtime without having read his column,” The Australian newspaper’s editor-at-large Paul Kelly wrote at the time. “For 50 years he stalked the halls of power, driven by a compulsion to expose self-interest in the public interest.
In late 1973 Ramsey was forced out of The Australian – he was told to transfer to The Sunday Telegraph and refused.
Ramsey had three children with his first wife Jeanette; with his second wife, journalist Laura Tingle, he had a daughter.
Ramsay and Tingle, the ABC 7.30 program’s chief political correspondent, were married until their divorce in 2017.
See also: Fearless, courageous, uncompromising: journalist Alan Ramsey dies, aged 82
Dennis was named Best Daytime Star while Neighbours won Best Daytime Soap in the UK Inside Soap magazine awards overnight.
“This is a very special prize during what has been a hard year for many people and a big thank you to our UK fans who have stuck with us through thick, thin and COVID,” said Dennis, who is the only remaining original cast member from the first episode of Neighbours in 1985.
The long-running soap notched another milestone on Monday night when its 8,500th episode aired.
The awards recognise the best in unscripted and non-fiction programming from around the world across 21 genre-specific categories.
MasterChef Australia is nominated for the Lifestyle Competition category against Nailed It! Holiday!, Making It and Beat Bobby Flay while Love on the Spectrum is up for DocuReality against Jay Leno’s Garage, Cheer and Taken At Birth.
Eureka Productions are also nominated for Netflix series Dating Around.
Molloy, co-host of Channel 7’s The Front Bar cricket specials, airing on Thursday, and December 3, padded up for practice on Tuesday, while reflecting on his favourite cricket memories.
As a boy, he watched ABC-TV’s one camera cricket coverage. “Every second over, you wouldn’t see the ball delivered, caught, or anything,” Molloy said. “It was primitive.”
Molloy is a cricket traditionalist.
“I don’t want to sound like an old bastard, but I love test cricket,” he said. “I can’t believe we make all this time for one days and T20. For me, test cricket is the epic nature of the game. The other stuff is like UFC compared to heavyweight boxing.”
The Front Bar cricket specials, co-hosted by Molloy, Andy Maher and Andy Lee, will feature guests Merv Hughes and Tim Paine.