Seven's billionaire owner to make flying visit to network's trouble headquarters following brutal television bloodbath - and there's more bad news on the way

EXCLUSIVE 

Seven Network's billionaire owner Kerry Stokes will jet into Sydney next week to take a hands-on management role at the beleaguered broadcaster amid plummeting ratings, financial woes, and a very public axing of popular presenters.

The Seven chairman is expected to take up residence on the executive floor of Seven's Eveleigh headquarters for at least two weeks as the troubled network attempts to arrest months of damaging headlines and internal turmoil.

The Perth-based 83-year-old's mercy dash comes as Seven's tarnished news brand is widely mocked for including a horoscopes segment and satire skit in its prime time 6pm bulletins.

The once dominant broadcaster has suffered a nosedive in the national news ratings that threatens to see the channel surrender its title as the country's most popular free-to-air network to fierce rival Nine.

The widespread layoffs at the network claimed some high-profile victims, including popular, long-serving Brisbane newsreader Sharyn Ghidella, who was given the sack over the phone while at a hair salon preparing for an upcoming network promotion.

Stokes' wife Christine Simpson Stokes is a long-time friend and former colleague of the ousted news presenter, and the network boss was reportedly so incensed by Ghidella's ruthless dismissal that he personally reached out to her, though the details of their conversation have remained confidential.

A Seven Network insider told Daily Mail Australia that staff were already walking on eggshells inside the channel's Sydney HQ, and news of Stoke's impending visit had done little to ease their concerns.

'Everyone is looking over their shoulder and waiting for the axe to drop again,' they said.

'We're worried there are more cuts coming – including among the on-air presenters – and no one feels safe in here at the moment.

'The new News Director Anthony De Ceglie says that ratings don't matter, but we're shedding viewers and it feels like the end of days for the network.'

Seven has declined to officially comment on internal staff cuts. 

De Ceglie, who previously worked as a newspaper editor and had no experience in television, was promoted to the top editorial position at Channel 7 in April. 

He replaced Craig McPherson who departed amid the fallout from the Bruce Lehrmann Spotlight scandal, along with the program's executive producer, Mark Llewellyn.

Taylor Auerbach, a former producer on Spotlight, told the Federal Court in April that Lehrmann had been reimbursed for paying for drugs and sex workers while he was courting an exclusive interview with the accused rapist.

The Seven Network has denied those allegations. 

De Ceglie, has told staff he has a 'zero tolerance' approach to bad behaviour in the newsroom, and oversaw the sacking of senior Seven News Sydney journalist Robert Ovadia in July following allegations of 'inappropriate conduct'.

Ovadia has since retained prominent employment lawyer John Laxon and filed a claim with the Fair Work Commission against both De Ceglie and the Seven network, and is seeking compensation and to be reinstated to the job he held for 23 years.

Meanwhile, a company-wide restructure in June saw about 150 staff across the Seven West Media empire given the chop.

Among the senior management to lose their jobs were: chief marketing officer Melissa Hopkins, chief revenue officer Kurt Burnette, Seven Melbourne's head of sport and managing director Lewis Martin.

Seven's former chief executive officer James Warburton resigned last December before finishing up at the network on April 18, while Seven Melbourne news director Shaun Menegola handed in his notice in May, just weeks after McPherson stood down. 

The turmoil inside the network is far from over, with speculation that Mark Ferguson, the long-serving host of the Seven's prime 6pm Sydney news bulletin, could also be next in the firing line.

Ferguson is on leave during the Olympic period, when games broadcaster Nine is expected to sweep the ratings, and Seven chiefs are understood to have tested alternative anchors with audience panels, including Michael Usher, Angela Cox and Angie Asimus.

Seven bosses will be nervous about making any hasty long-term changes to the line-up, after suffering a viewer backlash in Queensland in the wake of Ghidella's departure.

Secret internal ratings figures revealing that in just two weeks, Seven News Brisbane has shed a significant 29,000 viewers. The ratings freefall put Seven some 88,000 viewers behind Nine's Brisbane news on Monday - whereas on Monday, July 8, prior to her axing, Seven was just 60,000 behind.

In a scathing Facebook post following her sacking, Ghidella said morale at the network had been 'miserable' in recent weeks and she was glad to be heading out the door.

'When you work in TV for as long as I have, not a day goes by when you aren't expecting the proverbial tap on the shoulder... After 38 years, my shoulder tap has finally come,' she wrote.

'It wasn't quite how I expected it to end at Channel Seven.

'I was actually sitting at the hairdressers for work, when I got the call informing me, that after 17 years with the network, my time was up.

'While somewhat saddened by this decision, there is also some sense of relief. As has been widely reported, the past couple of weeks in TV has, sadly, been a miserable affair.'

In a cutting swipe at Seven's newly minted news boss, Ghidella also made particular reference to De Ceglie's decision to lighten the network's prime time bulletins with star signs and comedy skits.

'I'm also not one to have my evening news served up with humour and horoscopes either, so, to be honest, it is time to go,' she wrote, before signing off, 'Here's hoping my horoscope for tomorrow will be for brighter times ahead,' she wrote.

Rival network Nine has also been battling a scandal after The Australian revealed former news boss Darren Wick left the station following a complaint by a female employee.

Other staff has since made allegations of bullying and sexual harassment at the network, prompting Nine to conduct its own investigation.