It’s been the one incident to make global headlines off the back of Novak Djokovic’s controversial entry into Australia for better or for worse.
Leaked footage of news anchors Rebecca Maddern and Mike Amor’s expletive-laden rant about the tennis professional had left bosses at the Seven network outraged, apologetic and scrambling to find the culprit.
But now one senior Seven executive has expressed the view that the publicity from the leak was a benefit to the station rather than a detraction, according to The Sydney Morning Herald’s Private Sydney.
Outlook: Seven executive says the publicity from the leaked footage of Rebecca Maddern and Mike Amor ranting about Novak Djokovic has been ‘wonderful’
The executive reportedly believes that the publicity has in fact been ‘wonderful’ for the network, especially for Maddern after she recently moved from Nine to 7Melbourne.
The positive viewpoint from some Seven executives regarding the publicity from the leak has correlated with the station’s recent boost in the TV ratings.
Seven enjoyed a ratings uplift on Wednesday – the night after the off-air expletive-laden rant where Maddern referred to Djokovic as a ‘lying, sneaky, a***hole’.
Ratings hit: Seven enjoyed a ratings uplift on Wednesday – the night after the off-air expletive-laden rant where Maddern said Djokovic was a ‘lying, sneaky, a***hole’
Wednesday night’s bulletin saw an increase of 40,000 viewers in comparison to Tuesday night.
More viewers tuned in to 7News see if Maddern or Amor would address the leak during the Wednesday 6pm news bulletin – which they did not.
The 6pm Wednesday bulletin had 301,000 viewers from across Melbourne tuning in. In comparison, Tuesday’s bulletin at 6pm had 261,000.
Follow up: More viewers tuned in to 7News see if Maddern or Amor would address the leak during the Wednesday 6pm news bulletin – which they did not
Seven’s 6:30pm news on that same night still retained 291,000 viewers.
The ratings still fell short to Nine news, who usually dominate the TV ratings for news in the major metro cities.
It was still an unexpected boost in viewership for Seven and comes as the network traced the culprit of the leak to a staffer at closed captioning company Ai Media.
The staffer who leaked the video was subsequently sacked from the company after an internal investigation took place.
Caught: The network traced the culprit of the leak to a staffer at closed captioning company Ai Media. The staffer who leaked the video was subsequently sacked from the company after an internal investigation took place
A statement from Ai Media read: ‘As a result of the investigation, Ai-Media has identified that an employee working remotely due to the COVID-19 outbreak was responsible for the unauthorised distribution of the content.’
‘Appropriate action has been taken with regard to the employee responsible.’
The company CEO Tony Abrahams said Ai-Media has also reassured the Seven network that the company has taken action to ensure no future leaks.
‘We are Australia’s leading provider of captioning services and we understand the importance of our work in making media accessible and inclusive to a wider audience, while safeguarding the confidential information of our customers,’ he said.
Security: The company CEO Tony Abrahams said Ai-Media has also reassured the Seven network that the company has taken action to ensure no future leaks
‘We have long standing and strong relationships within the media industry in Australia, and value our relationship with the Seven Network with whom we have been working with for over five years.
‘This is the first such incident in Ai-Media’s 19-year history and enhanced controls have since been implemented to ensure it cannot be repeated.’
In the video, Ms Maddern called Djokovic a ‘lying, sneaky, a***hole’ while preparing to present the station’s 6pm news program.
Amor added: ‘That’s it, I mean he’s an a***hole. He got a bulls*** f*****g excuse and then fell over his own f*****g lies. It’s just what happens, right, that’s what happened.
Ms Maddern has since apologised to her bosses for bad mouthing the world number one.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Channel 7 for comment, in relation to this article.
Rant: In the video, Ms Maddern called Djokovic a ‘lying, sneaky, a***hole’ while preparing to present the station’s 6pm news program
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