Seven News Melbourne newsreader Jennifer Keyte is jumping ship to rival Ten, to anchor the Ten Eyewitness News First At Five bulletin.

For Keyte it is a return to Ten, where her television career started as reporter and part-time newsreader as well as host of late night show Nightlife. In 1987 she made the surprise move from Ten to Seven National News, which at the time was sitting at the bottom of the ratings.

She started as Seven’s main weeknight anchor in Melbourne, next to Glenn Taylor, in 1988. Two years later she was promoted to chief newsreader — the first female to do so for a major commercial bulletin. She also presented the news on Tonight Live With Steve Vizard.

Keyte left Seven abruptly at the end of 1995 and worked at Nine as a presenter on various projects before returning to Seven as weekend newsreader in 2003.  While at Seven she has also been heavily involved in the Royal Children’s Hospital Good Friday Appeal, later becoming the appeal patron.

Keyte’s hiring by Ten has effectively demoted current newsreader Stephen Quartermain. Quartermain, a colleague of Keyte’s at Ten in the 1980s, has survived Ten’s tumultuous times over the decades predominantly as a sports presenter and commentator. He has been the main news anchor in Melbourne since Mal Walden retired four years ago.

Ten has said that it is discussing future opportunities for Quartermain to remain at the network.

Source: Ten Daily, Sydney Morning Herald