The popular presenter has come under fire over his upcoming hosting role, while the man he replaced could be facing an uncertain future.
Also in this edition of media McKnight:
- FIFA World Cup ad breaks debate
- Spidercam falls at soccer match
- Kyle Sandilands vs ARN – The settlement
- Molly Meldrum health fears
- Doctor Who cancelled – Rob’s Rant
You can watch the video version of MEDIA McKNIGHT in the YouTube player below:
ROBERT IRWIN IN, DOCTOR CHRIS OUT?
Robert Irwin has been named as host of the 2026 Logie Awards, and the reaction has been… interesting.
Irwin is a very talented presenter, for sure, and has more than proven himself on I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here…
But comments on the TV Blackbox article announcing Irwin’s appointment have been negative.
Very negative.
“Got to be hard up for talent…I won’t be watching the Logies if he is the host…it will be the 1st time in many years I have not watched but I can’t stand the idiot” – Michael Burton.
“Sir Les Paterson would have been better choice” – Tony Jand
“You’re kidding!!, scraping the bottom of the barrel now!!” – David Tyler
“Oh please 🙄 lost me watching it” – Mary Kirkwood
You get the idea, and there’s plenty more where that came from.
In fairness to Robert, there were also supporters, but there just seemed to be a lot more hate.
Now, this isn’t me doing the usual tabloid thing of choosing a narrative and looking for comments that back up my claim. The only reason I’m bringing this up is because I was genuinely surprised at the amount of negative reaction.
Robert isn’t a comedian and that certainly poses a challenge, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they get a comedian to come out and do a monologue before introducing Robert as the host, the same way Dave Hughes used to do.
Of course, the big question is, what does Channel Seven have in mind for him? Is this a one-off play, or are they looking at him for a bigger role?
He certainly brings star power, and if Seven is thinking of picking up I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here, it would make sense to have him on the books.
But where does all this leave Doctor Chris Brown?
Will the money budgeted for Brown be offered to Irwin at the end of his contract?
It would certainly be an interesting turn of events.
FIFA’S HYDRATION BREAKS A COMMERCIAL RORT?
The World Cup is currently taking place, and FIFA has come under fire for introducing mandatory water breaks.
While promoted as player safety, the breaks last 3 minutes, and broadcasters are allowed to show commercials.
The change has sparked a massive backlash from fans who say it’s nothing more than a money-grabbing exercise by FIFA, which has nothing to do with player safety.
And they’re right.
But is that a bad thing?
There’s no doubt FIFA has had a lot of issues over the years, including claims of corruption, but on this one it seems like they’re actually trying to give TV broadcasters more value for money.
And that’s a good thing.
One of the biggest issues with football, from a broadcasting point of view, is the lack of commercial break opportunities.
Broadcasters need to cover the costs of buying the rights, which are very expensive.
When advertisers defaulted to television for their marketing and messaging, covering expensive sporting rights was easier.
Now, those TV Networks are competing with streamers, big tech and an array of other platforms for every advertising dollar.
Their share of the pie has gotten smaller.
So, they need new ways of covering their costs.
But, of course, that will never go down well with fans.
SPIDERCAM FAIL
Speaking of soccer broadcasting, there was a scary moment for players, fans and production crew during a friendly match in Hungary recently.
The camera that hangs by wires over the field, known as spidercam, fell 20 metres onto the ground, just missing a cameraman.
Smoke, possibly fire, was seen coming from the unit, which appears to have burnt the wires.
You can see what happened in the video player at the top of this article.
Spidercams are used around the world. They are a fixture at stadiums around Australia when big broadcasts are involved. The fact they are hanging over people means every precaution needs to be taken to ensure the safety of those on the ground.
This could have resulted in a death, thankfully it didn’t.
MOLLY HEALTH FEARS
There are fears within media circles surrounding the health of the legendary Molly Meldrum.
While there have been stories over the past year about his ailing health, it seems things are now very serious.
In 2011 Molly had a fall at his home and has never been the same since.
He has now retired from public life and is being cared for by his loved ones.
Only worked with Molly once when I was shooting promos for Channel 7 in Melbourne.
He was everything I expected and more.
Ditzy, certainly living on another planet, but absolutely wonderful.
It was a career highlight.
This is one time I really hope McKnight is wrong… but I’m hearing things aren’t looking good.
KYLE SETTLES WITH ARN
On Tuesday night word had come through that Kyle Sandilands had reached a settlement with ARN.
The deal will see Kyle receive a cash settlement sum of $12.09 million with $3 million payable in July 2026 and the balance payable monthly until June 2029.
ARN provided this information to the ASX this morning:
“Mr Sandilands has advised ARN that he intends to pursue independent media opportunities. As part of the settlement, ARN will provide Mr Sandilands with advertising services on ARN’s partner platforms of $1,500,000 over the next three years. The parties have also agreed to a
net revenue share arrangement, providing ARN a contribution of 19.9% from Mr Sandilands’ new venture for a period of up to three years from commencement, subject to agreed revenue thresholds and caps”.
It’s much less than I was expecting, but that might be because Kyle wanted the freedom to get back behind the mic ASAP rather than see out a non-compete clause.
Jackie Henderson’s battle is still progressing through the courts at this stage.
It seemed obvious to me last week a settlement was on the cards because the dates for submitting evidence keep getting pushed back.
This is what I said on episode 123 of McKnight Tonight on 10 June 2026:
“I have a feeling we’re about to get an announcement that Kyle Sandilands has done a deal with ARN to drop the case.
“I don’t know anything. I haven’t heard from sources, but the evidence that he is meant to supply to court has been pushed back twice and ARN have, from what I can tell, not had any objections”.
#McKnightWasRight
SAD DAY FOR DOCTOR WHO FANS
The BBC has announced the planned Doctor Who Christmas special for 2026 is no longer going ahead. Executive producer Russell T. Davies has left, and the show is now out to tender for a new partner.
The news comes after a disastrous partnership with Disney where work storylines led to low streaming numbers.
I know some of you will roll their eyes at me saying that, but it’s true.
Russell T Davies made a triumphant return to the show in a big budget deal with Disney, but the company didn’t renew the deal due to low streaming numbers.
While Ncuti Gatwa was an inspired choice to play the iconic role, the storylines were lecture-heavy and, sometimes, just plain dumb.
Wokeness overtook the show.
In fact, I called it out early last year in an episode of INSIDE MEDIA for 7NEWS:
“The difference here is that Doctor Who has always been progressive, but now we’re treated to storylines that don’t so much take the viewer on a ride but are more likely to bang you over the head and then bang you over the head again. We even have situations where the doctor is being lectured about his language when it comes to pronouns. It doesn’t have to be this way.”
“You can have a transgender character, no problem. You can have a female doctor, no problem, but you don’t need to lecture the audience”.
“The difference here is that smart people can make a point and bring the audience along. Others think they have to bash us over the head because we’re too stupid to get it. People don’t like being preached to, but that’s exactly what Russell T. Davies is doing at the moment and that’s why the show is facing possible cancellation.”
And while the show hasn’t been officially cancelled, it is on life support.
For his part, Davies refuses to take any blame, calling out fans for being bigots.
This is what he told BBC’s Radio 2 in April last year:
“There are online warriors accusing us of diversity and wokeness and of involving messages and issues and I have no time for this to have a second to bear because what you might call diversity, I just call it an open door. It’s like we open a door and there is the world and you breathe it in and your lungs are full of the air and it’s cold and it’s bracing and there’s a world in front of you. There’s a blue sky and there’s clouds and there’s noise, there’s bird song and there’s people arguing and there’s a rattle of pants on the kitchen, the smells from the kitchen and someone over there is dancing and someone over there is arguing. That’s how to write to get that whole world into it”.
Sheer arrogance.
This was not a debate about diversity; it was about lecturing the audience.
He didn’t listen to the criticism.
He picked up a mallet and decided to hit viewers over the head time and time again with woke messaging: “You must think like this. You must think like this.”
Classic Doctor Who, and even the rebooted 2005 series, was able to push progressive agendas without alienating the audience.
Davies did this; he just got lazy and arrogant, and that is why the show is in trouble.
Media McKnight is published on YouTube every Tuesday at 8pm AEST at YouTube.com/@McKnightTonight.
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