SBS / ABC merger?

SBS Managing Director Shaun Brown has spoken defensively about proposals to the Federal Government to merge SBS and the ABC.

Former ABC chief Russel Balding is said to have lobbied politicians for the move.

"The fact is, it was being lobbied for. It was occurring, and nobody was raising it publicly," Brown has told the National Press Club.

"I think this would be disastrous and a great loss for Australian audiences and I think it ignores the reality that the ABC and SBS are very different beasts," he said.

Source: SBS News Read more...

Father of the Year

The Father's Day Council has named David Koch as its Australian Father of the Year.

"I’m absolutely stunned with the news!" Kochie said.

"When the Father’s Day Council explained that they were looking for someone who was just a normal bloke but proud of being a dad, I thought ‘that’s me.'”

I guess they'd overlooked all the fathering Bert Newton has had to do with his kids these last 12 months?

Press Release:

Sunrise co-host David Koch has been named the 2007 Australian Father of the Year.

The father-of-four was awarded the prestigious title at the annual Father's Day luncheon at NSW Parliament House in Sydney today.

"I’m absolutely stunned with the news!" Kochie said

"When I first discovered I had been nominated, I was hesitant; after all I don’t consider myself a perfect father! But when the Father’s Day Council explained that they were looking for someone who was just a normal bloke but proud of being a dad, I thought ‘that’s me’ and I’m delighted to have a role in promoting fatherhood in Australia.”

Previous Father of the Year recipients include Mark Taylor AM (1995), Slim Dusty (1999) and Ron Delezio (2006).

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Returning: 20 to 1

Back 7:30pm Tuesday September 11 on Nine.

Need we say any more? Read more...