Well, would you look at that? The youngest, arguably grooviest channel on Australian free-to-air television is turning 60. Is it any surprise that the sassiest television network in the country is a Leo?
In an era where falling into a TikTok rabbit hole can be easier than switching on the telly or tuning into on-demand services, that’s no easy feat. In celebration of the network’s diamond birthday, two of Channel 10‘s longest-running powerhouses in news and entertainment — Sandra Sully and Angela Bishop — have spilt some tea from within the walls of the network.
Both Sandra and Angela have been fixtures of the 10 network since the 1990s, both carving out such influential roles within the Australian mediascape that they’ve earned Order Of Australia medals, honouring their work within the industry. But working in a television newsroom isn’t easy. Between high-pressure situations, famous celebrity interviews and breaking news that will break your heart, Angela and Sandra have done it all — and now, they’re spilling the beans on some of the most bonkers moments throughout their 30+ year careers and Channel 10’s history.
Reporting on the 9/11 Attacks
One of the biggest yet most tragic moments of Sandra’s career was when she broke the news live on air about the September 11 terrorist attacks in Australia. For Sandra, who was reporting for Ten Late News, it was a moment that will haunt her forever.
“News strikes without warning,” Sandra tells PEDESTRIAN.TV.
“I was the deer in the headlights and in the chair that night, and it all unfolded while we were live on air. So I had to go with it.”
Although she is incredibly proud of the way the Ten Late News team did their duty and reported the horrifying news that night, it’s made it a hard date to reflect on each year.
“It’s something that is actually always with me,” she continued.
“September 11 every year is always a kind of sad time for me because we all thought World War Three was going to erupt that night, that what we were watching was the beginning of World War Three.
“And I don’t think generations these days could ever fully appreciate what that was like, because news is so instant now. They can get it all day, every day, on any platform. And so it’s hard for them to appreciate what actually happened that night, and the world’s moved on. For me, it was equally daunting, challenging and rewarding.”
The biggest secret Angela had to keep to herself
Back in 2010, the one and only Oprah took a secret trip Down Under. At this stage, Oprah’s star power was at an all-time high and her jaunt to Australia had to be kept under lock and key. One of the few people who knew about it was Angela Bishop, the network’s leading entertainment reporter since 1994.
“I’ve never kept something more in the vault in my life,” Angela said with a laugh.
“Oprah rarely did interviews back then because at that time she had her show on every day, she just felt she didn’t need to, because people got to see her every day. I got a great one-on-one interview with her when she came out, and then I covered her tour.
“That was an absolute pinch me moment being interviewing her up on Hamilton Island when she arrived, as two koalas started having sex right next to us in the tree.”
The hardest interview
Sometimes when you’re interviewing celebrities, you never know what you’re going to get. For Angela, that was certainly the case when she interviewed Sacha Baron Cohen during his press run for Borat. Instead of sitting down for a standard conversation, Angela had to chit-chat with Sacha in character as Borat as he walked through crowds at Bondi Beach.
“He was in character the whole time, from when I met him to when it ended, and I had to keep up with him, just doing all of the Borat things that Borat does,” she explains.
At one point, Borat asked her: “Where is the journalist?”
When Angelia replied that she was the journalist, Borat feigned surprise.
“We say to let a woman be a journalist is like to let a moneky fly a plane,” he quipped.
You can watch the doozy of a chat below.
These days Angela thinks back to the interview as one of her most stressful moments.
“I just had to think on my feet and in the sand while there was people around, interacting with us and everything,” she said.
As a fellow entertainment journo, watching the clip makes me break into a cold sweat, but she kept up with him like the pro she is.
From a hated voice to an AI recreation
Sandra Sully has an undoubtedly iconic voice. So much so that when I look at a headline, I can basically hear it in her signature dulcet newsy tones in my head. But at first, she was told that her voice was not suited for television.
“When I started, my voice was considered to be not right television,” she admits with a chuckle.
“I was asked if I could change it and I went, ‘no, I can’t really’. It is what it is. And now I can’t even buy a newspaper without someone saying ‘are you that woman on the telly?’ It’s a blessing in disguise really.”
Despite having the sound of her voice become almost synonymous with the news, Sandra was shocked when she tuned in to a true crime podcast only to hear her voice saying headlines that she never read on air. As it turned out, her voice had been manufactured by AI.
“It’s flattering in one respect, but equally alarming because I certainly didn’t record that voice, and to think that it’s being copied and it’s outside of my control is very alarming because it means that you can’t always believe what you hear and see,” Sandra explains.
“I think it just further reinforces the need for trusted resources and trying to bring the public along with us on this journey of education and discovery.
“[AI] is tricky, but there’s not much we can do about it other than be aware and on guard.”
The biggest interview mishap
When Angela was tasked with interviewing musician Lionel Richie, she was excited. She’d researched his career thoroughly and had questions ready — all she had to do was sit down and chat. But right as the interview was set to take place, she had the biggest coughing fit known to man.
“I had one of those massive coughing fits — you know the ones where your voice won’t come back? It’s no good, no matter what you do, there’s nothing there,” she shared.
“But thankfully, he was so great about it. I ended up writing the questions out on a piece of paper and handing them to him throughout the interview. And he’d go, ‘Angela would now like to ask blah, blah, blah, blah, excellent question’.
“He played along and saved the day for me, which was very good of him.”
The crowd strike outage
Kicking off with one of the biggest debacles of recent weeks is the CrowdStrike Outage. In case you need a reminder, on July 19 2024, Australia and the world were affected by an IT outage caused by cybersecurity company CrowdStrike, resulting in the blue screen of death on Windows and Linux systems. Multiple businesses were affected including airlines, grocery stores, radio stations and even television networks.
Unfortunately for the team behind news and current affairs program 10 News First, the outage occurred one hour before they were set to broadcast live — and they lost everything. Thankfully the team jumped into action to make sure something went to air.
“When CrowdStrike happened it was a reminder for us all that technology can fail you,” Sandra explains.
“There were 25 people in the newsroom that Friday when everything died and everybody just stood there and said, ‘What can I do?’, ‘How can I help?’
“We had to get back to the bare minimum. We didn’t even have a printer that wasn’t on the server so I was there writing scripts by hand. So normally, I’ll sit there with 100 pieces of paper and scripts, and I probably had one and a half for the entire national bulletin, so that was pretty cool.”
Well, there you go. It’s been a rollercoaster for the two 10 veterans but it’s clearly one they wouldn’t change for the world. As for why they stayed with the network so long? There’s a few reasons.
“It’s the cheekiness and the risk-taking nature of the network. It’s a bold place,” Angela explains.
“And it’s just family. I lost my husband back in 2017 to cancer and it was really a crucial part of my healing how much support I got from 10. It felt like family here, they really looked after me during that time and so did the viewers. Channel 10 viewers are quite something.”
“It’s always been the culture, and it’s always been the teamwork. Television news is the epoitome of teamwork,” Sandra says.
“I’m really thrilled, honoured, privileged to be a part of the 10 family and to have been there so long. I try not to think about how long it is, and the poor audience have to put up with me, but it has been an absolute joy, because 10 have always taken it to the edge. They’ve always redefined what television is in Australia. They’ve done it with irreverence and humour, but also a strong sense of ethics and respect for the audience.”
So while other 60 year olds might be letting the greys grow in and investing in a cosy cardigan, it doesn’t seem like 10 plan on doing that any time soon. Long live Australia’s cheekiest network!!!!
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