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The news was received with shock by ABC staff, including Media Watch host Paul Barry who said on X: “I can’t believe this. I’m hearing that #ABC has dumped Sarah Macdonald from ABC Sydney. IMHO she’s brilliant, one of the best things on radio. WTAF?”
The national broadcaster has also revealed ABC investigative journalist Linton Besser has been named as the host of Media Watch.
ABC investigative journailst Linton Besser has been named as the new host of Media Watch.Credit: Dallas Kilponen
Besser takes over from Paul Barry, who has hosted the show for 11 years and presents his final program on December 2. Besser will start on February 3.
“What an opportunity,” said Besser. “It’s daunting and sobering and it’s not a small thing to follow Paul Barry into anything, but I’m really excited. What an opportunity [new executive producer] Mario Christodoulou and I have.”
Besser joined the ABC in 2013, and has worked across Four Corners, 7.30 and Foreign Correspondent. In 2018, he was appointed the broadcaster’s Europe correspondent, covering Brexit and the early COVID-19 outbreaks in Italy. He also worked at The Sydney Morning Herald, covering transport, planning and investigations. He has won four Walkley Awards and his investigation into the Murray-Darling Basin Plan led to a royal commission in 2018.
Media Watch is one of the ABC’s top-rating programs, consistently pulling about 500,000 viewers each Monday.
The announcements come ahead of the national broadcaster’s 2025 content and lineup announcement at its annual upfront presentation on Thursday afternoon.
Chris Oliver-Taylor, the ABC’s chief content officer, believes 2025 will have the “most comprehensive slate for all Australians”.
The ABC has also announced new scripted drama, The Family Next Door. Based on best-selling Australian author Sally Hepworth’s novel, it tells the story of Isabelle (Teresa Palmer), who moves into a small seaside town where her drive to solve a mystery casts suspicion on four neighbouring families. A murder mystery straight out of the Liane Moriarty playbook, the series hopes to emulate the success of shows such as Big Little Lies, The Perfect Couple and Apples Never Fall.
According to chief content officer Chris Oliver-Taylor, previously director of production for Australia & New Zealand at Netflix, believes the ABC can earn a lot from the streaming giant’s adaptation model. “If you can connect something to IP, a book’s a great way of doing it in drama. You have that in-built audience there who love the book and then will come along for the journey.”
More to come.
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Find more of the author’s work here. Email him at thomas.mitchell@smh.com.au or follow him on Instagram at @thomasalexandermitchell and on Twitter @_thmitchell.