Glenn Dyer writes:


The tips continue to emerge from the ABC that Max Uechtritz is
a goer to replace Sandra Levy.

This rumour about Uechtritz is a bit
odd given that it’s just over a year since he bolted from the ABC for
the bigger salary at Nine where he upset former colleagues and
supporters like Russsell Balding by bagging the ABC’s coverage of
certain news stories and events.

Uechtritz’s successor as head
of ABC News and Current Affairs, John Cameron, wasn’t sighted at the
Levy farewell on Thursday evening, but was represented at the gathering by
a senior executive. His absence was noted and commented upon.

The fact that Levy was on the panel that appointed Cameron established her supremacy – a point reinforced by her resistance to
breaking into scheduled programming to broadcast news coverage such as the
calling of the Federal election a year ago, or the return of the nine
dead military people from the Nias Sea King tragedy earlier this year.

Perhaps John Cameron was merely making a point that he wasn’t sorry to see Ms Levy leave the ABC and head for Nine.

From
the TV side there’s a tip that Denise Eriksen, the head of General
Factual Programming, seems to be making a run but the decision is a
while off and head hunters were only engaged late last week. I’d be
having a saver on Lynley Marshall, the head of new media and digital.

Levy’s
departure from the ABC has come at a difficult time as TV management
were moving into the commissioning phase for next year: that has
already seen a new telemovie idea approved from the creator of Mother
and Son, Geoff Athenden. But without Levy’s ideas and direction, the
resulting programming mix might suffer.