7 News

The story of Seven News is similar to the story of the net in general. • It has traditionally lagged behind Nine News in the key markets of Sydney and Melbourne. • … A succession of news teams and different styles (such as standing up) failed to dent the decades-long dominance of market-leader Nine. • Seven's fortunes started to change in 2003. • … The retirement of Nine's highly successful two Brians (anchors Brian Henderson in Sydney and Brian Naylor in Melbourne) and a mishandled succession plan prompted a flurry of defections of on-air talent and top management to Seven. • … Seven poached former Today newsreader Ian Ross to front its 6pm news in Sydney. • … "Rosscoe" has proven extremely valuable to Seven, presiding over a sharp rise in ratings in the key evening news hour block and a remarkable reversal of fortunes. • … The network that struggled for decades to come near Nine in news now regularly thumps it.

Seven News presentation, in line with the network in general, has traditionally drawn inspiration from NBC, with whom it has shared an affiliation for many years. Seven has used the signature NBC News theme "The Mission" since the mid 1980s, including its own variations. Its newscasts were also titled "Seven Nightly News" from the mid 80s to the early 2000s. Seven has aired the NBC Today Show in the early hours of the morning since the mid 80s. Perth has been a particularly strong market for Seven. TVW-7 is the oldest station in Western Australia. Seven News regularly triples the audience of its 6pm rival, Nine News Perth (the lowest-performing Nine station in the country).