SBS has announced Jana Wendt will join its once flagship current affairs program Dateline in a major revamp of the ailing program.
Wendt's move to SBS means she has now hosted a program on everyone free-to-air network - Eyewitness News on Network Ten, 60 Minutes, A Current Affair and a series of interview specials for Nine, Witness for Seven and Uncensored for ABC.
SBS's Dateline has had falling ratings in the past 12 months and as a result the program will be moved from a Saturday night timeslot to Wednesday night. Host Helen Vatsikopoulos is believed to have been pushed from her main chair job, although the official line from SBS publicity is that she has "had taken leave to be with her son". Ahuh.
SBS claim the new appointment of the former "Perfumed Steamroller" will lift the profile of Dateline, making it more attractive to a wider audience and more sellable to the advertising dollar.
