INSIDE MAIL: TV veteran’s car ride from hell with his wife after THAT Christmas party ‘incident’… and dark clouds for weatherman Stevie Jacobs’ restaurant

In our must-read Mail+ column, Steve Jackson and Peter van Onselen reveal what’s REALLY going on in the worlds of media and politics each week.

Road trip from hell for sacked Sluggo 

The temperatures in the red centre almost topped 50C earlier this week – but we reckon ousted Nine exec David Richardson would have been in for an extra roasting.

We revealed last week the legendary news figure’s short-lived reign as executive producer of the network’s Darwin news operations came to an abrupt end after he allegedly made an ‘inappropriate comment’ at the Christmas party on December 6.

TV figure David ‘Sluggo’ Richardson 

The veteran newsman, widely known as Sluggo throughout the TV industry, was summarily sacked without warning last Monday. Richardson only relocated to the Top End for the gig two months ago… and had just finished unpacking his boxes when he was sent packing all over again.

Inside Mail hears that, given he was still in his probation period, Nine refused to offer more than a couple of day’s severance pay and refused to help cover the cost of his move back to Sydney. It was simply a matter of, ‘You’re out, do not pass go, do not collect $200.’

Instead, Sluggo’s wife flew into Darwin late last week so they could drive home together through the vast Australian Outback by way of Tennant Creek and Moree.

Doubtless she subjected him to a brutal inquisition on what had warranted him being issued his marching orders so suddenly.

Word is he still doesn’t know – and Nine won’t tell him. Of course, we’re none the wiser either. All we know is it all sounds very sad for everyone involved.

But at least she’s talking to him!

Just a couple of hours after we revealed Sluggo had been rissoled at Nine, the excitable chaps over at some nameless news website (you know the one) got themselves all in a lather about our story.

Breaking news, they cried! (Despite it being published three hours later).

The piece was full of all sorts of facts carefully prised from our yarn between justifiers that ‘it is understood this’ and ‘it is understood that’… well, we’re glad they passed the reading comprehension component of our story! 

The part that really caught our attention, though, was a claim that they had reached out to the dearly departed Sluggo… but, according to what we’ve heard, a week on, he’s still waiting on that call – now, that’s one heck of a mobile phone black spot!

We’re all talking about Sam Armytage… but who’s watching

It’s certainly been a big year for bust-ups at Nine. Earlier this month we revealed the network’s latest marquee signing, Samantha Armytage, had split from her husband, Southern Highlands horse whisperer Richard Lavender, just shy of their fourth anniversary.

And she hasn’t even started working for 60 Minutes… yet.

The human headline has been at the centre of a publicity storm since signing with Nine in September after more than two decades at arch rival Seven.

And all eyes were on her after she slipped into the saddle on the Today show on Monday for a two-week fill-in stint alongside weatherman Dan Astley, while the A-team, Karl Stefanovic and Sarah Abo, are off making the most of the summer.

Well, perhaps not all eyes.

According to the OzTam ratings, most viewers have still been tuning into Sunrise – Sam’s old stomping ground – this week where new kid on the block David Woiwod has been co-hosting with Monique Wright.

Dynamic duo Monique Wright and David Woiwod have wowed viewers this week

It seems most people quite enjoy finding the Where’s Wally impersonator on their television sets each morning – and why not? He’s a likeable chap. 

So likeable, in fact, that Woiwod and Wright have been cleaning up at breakfast, winning by a whooping 979,000 to Today’s 754,000 in their total nationwide reach on Monday.

What’s more, the dynamic duo extended their lead the following day, claiming victory with 980,000 viewers to just 749,000. Yowsers!

But the real question we’ve been itching to ask (and so we did) is what Woiwod’s new colleagues at Sunrise make of seeing their old host Armytage on Today.

Well, turns out… not much.

‘It’s all been a bit of a trainwreck, all the publicity and dramas that they’ve cooked up around Sam, and yet people genuinely just aren’t that interested,’ one well-placed Sunrise source told us.

‘Everyone was talking about Sam being on Today… but no one was watching.  

‘Meanwhile, the ratings for Woiwod and Mon have been amazing – it shows people are ready for something fun and new. Sam’s very much yesterday’s hero.’ 

Everyone may have been talking about Samantha Armytage’s Today show debut on Monday alongside weatherman Dan Astley… but they’ve been watching Sunrise instead

Over the Harbour Bridge and across the other side of town at Nine’s North Sydney headquarters, they’ve opted to read the tea leaves rather than the official numbers – and who could blame them?

Popular Today show star Sarah Abo

‘Look, sure, the numbers have been soft… but it’s non-ratings and there’s already people away on holidays, so you don’t want too read to much into that,’ one Nine insider tried to assure themselves as much as us.

‘If you’ve been watching this week, you’ve seen there’s a lot of energy to Sam and a sense of fun – she certainly lights up the screen and she’s a star.

‘Obviously, the temptation will be to put her with Karl in the new year but there’s no suggestion we would move on Sarah [Abo] – she’s really popular with our audience.

‘But the feeling is everyone is pleased… it should be no surprise – Sam has always tested really well.

‘She’s also got versatility – she’s got a journo background and when she was at Seven she did everything from breakfast TV to Today Tonight and Sunday Night – you never know where she’ll end up.’

Ahhhh, remember when we said she wasn’t at 60 Minutes… yet? 

Stay tuned for more drama on that front in the new year.  

Steve Jacobs burger joint gets crunched  

One-time roving Today show weatherman Steve Jacobs forecast a tidy little profit after expanding his business empire by bringing an eastern suburbs hamburger chain to Sydney’s inner-west a year ago.

‘We have put our hearts and souls into this place,’ he enthused on social media after opening the Bonditony’s Burger Joint outlet with business partner Tony Gosden in Enmore on December 13, 2023.

‘We have been down, been broken, have had setbacks, but we just kept powering on to make this the best possible venue we have dreamed it can be.

‘I expected a few mates to turn up for a drink and we were overwhelmed with the amount of people who showed up. The place was absolutely pumping.’ 

How promising.

One-time Today show weatherman Steve Jacobs launched his new burger outlet in Sydney’s Enmore with business partner Tony Gosden last December

The eastern suburbs burger joint was pumping at its launch but soon went dead 

Sadly, as we all know from experience, even the best of weather men (and we reckon no one’s a better cloud-watcher than Stevie) get things wrong from time to time – and locals tells us the place has been all quiet on the western front pretty much ever since. 

After all, there’s nothing Enmore hipsters hate more than Bondi w***ers continually ramming Bondi down their throats… whether it comes in burger format or not.

Little wonder, the eastern suburb’s enterprise was shuttered this week and had retreated to the city’s east, with a sign on the door saying: ‘Thanks for all the support. Gonna go back to just one store… less stress. Love Tony and Steve.’ 

Of course, as any entrepreneur will tell you, small business is tough… with none tougher than the hospitality game – so good on them for having a crack. 

We honestly hope there are plenty of bright days ahead for the enterprising duo.

PM’s economical call on backbench promotion 

Here at Inside Mail we aren’t so naïve as to think that merit is the guiding light when it comes to political promotions.

But surely in the wake of the horrendous economic numbers released in this week’s mid fiscal year budget update the Prime Minister is considering promoting one of his backbench PhDs in economics in the next reshuffle. 

Andrew Charlton with his barrister wife Phoebe Arcus

Speculation is rife in Canberra that Anthony Albanese will reshuffle his ministry before the next election, perhaps before the end of the year. 

He needs to make some changes following NDIS minister Bill Shorten‘s announced retirement from politics. 

We say that promotion should be Member for Parramatta Andrew Charlton. 

He was Kevin Rudd‘s senior economic adviser… but we won’t hold that against him. He’s also got a doctorate in economics from Oxford. 

With economic management likely to be the key determinant of which party wins government once the election campaign starts, surely such firepower on the Labor frontbench is a no-brainer? 

Gone but not forgotten as Sunday Night reunites 

They say good friends are hard to find, but it turns out it’s not so difficult if you had the good fortune to work on Seven’s now-defunct news and current affairs offering Sunday Night.

The weekly news show was unceremoniously scrapped in October 2019 after more than a decade competing against 60 Minutes when it went into a disastrous ratings nosedive from which there was no return and few survivors.

Fast forward half a decade, and the old team has got back together… at least for one night only as they enjoyed a Christmas reunion at the Tilbury Hotel in Sydney’s Woolloomooloo at the weekend.

The location was only 800m from where the program’s staff gathered to commiserate the demise of Sunday Night on the rooftop of the Strand Hotel five years ago.

The festive bash attracted a stellar line up of one-time Sunday Night stars, including host Melissa Doyle and reporters Steve Pennells, Denham Hitchcock and Alex Cullen. 

Sunday Nighters Denham Hitchcock, Steve Pennells, Melissa Doyle and Alex Cullen

Even legendary former Seven news and current affairs director Peter Meakin popped in for a pre-Christmas drink – and he never even officially worked on the show. 

Perennial crowd-pleaser Pennells, who now runs his own film and TV production company with several projects in development, told Inside Mail he had travelled to the Harbour City from Melbourne especially for the shindig and was blown away by the close bond they all still shared.

‘It was great to catch-up with old friends who also happen to be some best in the business,’ the five-time Walkley Award winning newsman said.

‘That show was magic – and it says a lot that the team still wants to get together after all these years.

‘That kind of genuine camaraderie and friendship is a rare thing in television. We catch up whenever we can.’

Awwww, we’re not crying, you’re crying!

Even former Seven news boss Peter Meakin (second from right) made it along to Sunday Night’s Christmas reunion party in Sydney on the weekend

Some notable absentees included former reporters Rahni Sadler, who is now working as a producer for the ABC; Matt Doran, who just finished up with the network after co-hosting Weekend Sunrise for the past five years; and Angela Cox, who was presenting Sydney’s 6pm news on the night.

Founding executive producer Mark Llewellyn

We couldn’t help but notice founding executive producer Mark Llewellyn was also mysteriously missing. Could it be he didn’t score an invite after tales of his well-documented, decade-old altercation with producer Paul Waterhouse – who was in attendance – once again resurfaced amid much scandal earlier this year?

Llewellyn was up north on a surf trip with his sons, Oscar and Archie, when we tracked him down to find out… only to assure us he had been asked along after all. 

‘It was actually Paul Waterhouse who reached out and sent me the invite,’ Llewellyn told Inside Mail.

‘Paul is such a good man and it really meant a lot to me that he went out of his way and did that – I wish I could have been there; I loved working with every single one of them.’

All’s well that ends well, it seems.

O’Keefe already stealing show as spin king 

There’s only one thing Inside Mail loves more than a good conspiracy theory – and that’s debunking a good conspiracy theory.

And boy did recently departed 2GB drive-time host Chris O’Keefe inspire a few after catching everyone off guard – even at his own station – while revealing he was stepping away from the microphone and journalism altogether live on-air last week.

Within moments of him breaking the news during his final show last Friday, theories about ‘the real reasons’ he was quitting the station were flying think and fast.

The award-winning newsbreaker is so good on-air there must be more to it, many surmised. Was it a dummy spit about not taking over rampaging Ray Hadley‘s morning show following the talkback titan’s retirement? No, it wasn’t.

Actually, let’s put this one to bed once and for all. According to our radio sources, there’s no smoke and absolutely no fire.

Chris O’Keefe and Yvonne Sampson

What Inside Mail can instead reveal is that O’Keefe has already signed up his first client at the fledgling political and media advocacy outfit he’s only just founded after agreeing to advise the Clean Energy Council. Gees, that certainly did not take long!

What’s more, we hear that gig alone is worth about $500,000 a year, which comfortably tops the $400,000 he was on at 2GB… and he’s still got scope to take on more clients!

He’s also staying true to his commitment to spend more time with his beloved wife, Yvonne Sampson, and young son Henry. 

We reckon that should well and truly explain why he’s made the leap from shock jock to spin king. Consider this case closed.

Teal’s poll position meaningless at a push 

Push polling is frowned upon amongst polling experts. 

Teal MP Zoe Daniel is under threat

Not only because the leading questions make answers provided all but meaningless in a research sense, it is also a tactic often used to influence how those polled actually vote (hence the term ‘push polling’) rather than provide an accurate reflection of how they intended to vote. 

Put simply, it’s influence peddling, and that’s just not cricket! 

That’s probably why Teal MP Zoe Daniel‘s supporters have used a push poll recently, claiming only ‘independents’ like her ‘are able to put the interests of their communities first, while party MPs follow orders’. 

Of all the Teals in the parliament she is the one under the greatest threat of losing her seat. Don’t just take our word for it. 

Recent (non-push) polling has her neck and neck with the former Liberal MP Tim Wilson as they fight to be the next MP for the Melbourne seat of Goldstein. 

Jason Morrison in the house at Nine’s HQ

While we’re busy myth-busting, here’s another one we can debunk.

Tongues were set wagging at Nine recently after former Seven Sydney news director Jason Morrison was spotted in the foyer at 1 Dennison St.

Was he there to audition for the role left vacant by the network’s dearly departed Sydney news chief Simon Hobbs? Well, no.

Former Nine and Seven Sydney news bosses Simon Hobbs and Jason Morrison

We don’t believe so… because he insists he wasn’t. 

The media jack-of-all-trades tells us he was in the building to talk television – but it wasn’t with Nine.

Instead, the one-time talkback radio veteran was there for a meeting about the potential acquisition of Southern Cross’s regional TV assets by a consortium he is fronting. 

We’ll keep you posted how that one shakes out. 

Tele probes probe into Tele’s Armytage probe

It feels like a while since we’ve mentioned Samantha Armytage, doesn’t it? That can’t be right, how churlish of us… but don’t worry, here’s something else that gave us a few chuckles this week.

Awkwardly, as you’ll recall, the Daily Telegraph’s executive ranks were all happily celebrating their upcoming front-page ‘exclusive’ on Sam’s marriage breakdown at Lachlan and Sarah Murdoch’s champagne-soaked Christmas soiree in Sydney’s Bellevue Hill a few weeks ago (what festive cheer!).

…only for us to break the news while they were still toasting their good fortune.  

The ensuing hullabaloo had the super-sleuth execs in at the Tele’s Holt St HQ pulling on their best gumshoes, dusting their story’s production history for digital fingerprints and slinging all sorts of allegations at each other… 

…only for us to then reveal all the details of the hopeless internal investigation last week.

So far, so simple. Even we’re keeping up.

But you might want to sit yourself down and take some notes because, trust us, things are about to get all very Inception.

Newly single Samantha Armytage with her estranged husband Richard Lavender 

We’ll try to step through it slowly:

Inside Mail hears the Telegraph has now launched a second hopeless internal investigation… into which staffer leaked us the details… about the Tele’s execs’ first hopeless internal investigation… into which staffer leaked us the details… about the Sam Armytage story.

Still keeping up? We hope you can follow the logic here… because we’re not even sure why they’re so convinced their own staffers were leaking anything to us to begin with.

But we’ve been regularly checking our emails in the hope they start doing so soon.

We’re currently taking submissions on hopeless internal investigations.

Nuclear reaction shows need for power play

Last week Peter Dutton released the costings of his nuclear energy policy, which are significantly lower than what Labor says the policy will cost to deliver. 

Opposition leader Peter Dutton

We are talking about a difference of more than $100b… not exactly small change! 

The discrepancy is because Labor is predicting higher economic growth in the decades ahead, which would mean higher energy usage and hence higher costs attached to the policy. 

The Coalition disagrees. 

The irony of the difference in calculations – which let’s face it is guess work by everyone – is that if energy usage is going to be higher not lower in the years to come, surely that’s a reason to think about going nuclear? 

To help ensure we can keep the lights on when the sun isn’t shining and renewables therefore fail us.

Relief as Seven and Nine news bosses off on holidays 

It’s known as the killing season – that brutal period between the end of ratings and the start of the Christmas break where television and radio bosses traditionally take the axe to unwanted staff.

You know, that time of year when otherwise settled stars – and producers in particular – decide they want to go off in search of all those exciting ‘new opportunities’ you read about in the staff-all emails.

Oh, and they suddenly realise they want to ‘spend more time with their families’, too. 

This season has been one of the bloodiest on record and with the two major commercial networks looking to make sustained cuts in the new year, it seems certain the blood-letting is far from over. 

But at least it seems there will be a reprieve.

Seven news supremo Anthony De Ceglie and Nine news top boss Fiona Dear

Channel Nine’s national news and current affairs director Fiona Dear is in the process of wrapping things up before going on leave at the end of the week.

Barring major emergencies, Dear will be off for four weeks – meaning it’s unlikely we’ll hear of any more major hirings or firings until at least the middle of January… at least after Friday that is. (There could be a few developments before then, we hear).

True to form, her counterpart at rival Seven, Anthony De Ceglie, will be the last one out and first one in… he goes on leave next week and will be gone a fortnight before starting back in early January. 

Not wanting to leave anyone out, we asked Ten what their top news boss was planning – and, you know, who they were – and they were too shy to tell us. 

Bah, humbug! 

Don’t worry though, Inside Mail will still be here for you throughout the festive break with all the latest behind-the-scenes scoops.

And finally…

Victorian MP Moira Deeming

We don’t usually discuss state politics in this column, but in the quest to find the most suitable dummy of the week we’ll make an exception. 

We’ve done it before! We briefly considered Victorian MP Moira Deeming, but the winner has to be the man she successfully sued for defamation, Victorian Liberal Party leader John Pesutto. 

Having won her case Deeming’s supporters are now putting her readmission to the Parliamentary Liberal Party to a vote, but she seems destined to lose and remain on the crossbench. By successfully suing her boss she undoubtedly won the battle, but looks set to lose the war, whether that’s fair or not.

That said, in defeat Pesutto is clearly the biggest loser, and his days as Liberal leader are surely numbered. The sharks are circling and rightly so. There are often no winners when the lawyers get involved, and that may again be the case in this instance.  

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