Ian Charles "Roscoe" Ross (24 June 194030 April 2014) was an Australian television news presenter for ''

Seven News ''7NEWS'' is the television news service of the Seven Network and, as of 2021, the highest-rating in Australia. National bulletins are presented from Seven's high-definition television, high definition studios in Martin Place, Sydney, while f ...

'' in Sydney and for ''

Nine News ''Nine News'' (stylised ''9News'') is the national news service of the Nine Network in Australia. Its flagship program is the hour-long 6:00 pm state bulletin, produced by Nine's owned-and-operated stations in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, ...

''.

Career

Commonly known as "Roscoe", Ross began his career in 1957 at Sydney radio station 2GB. He returned to Sydney as a ''

National Nine News ''Nine News'' (stylised ''9News'') is the national news service of the Nine Network in Australia. Its flagship program is the hour-long 6:00 pm state bulletin, produced by Nine's owned-and-operated stations in TCN, Sydney, GTV (Australia) ...

'' reporter in 1965. Ross remained at Nine for 38 years, where he was most known for his tenure as ''

Today Today (archaically to-day) may refer to: * Day of the present, the time that is perceived directly, often called ''now'' * Current era, present * The current calendar date Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Today'' (1930 film), a 1930 A ...

'' news presenter. There, he also presented ''National Nine News'' on many occasions, filling in for presenters who were either on leave or sick. In 1997, Ross appeared as himself in the acclaimed Australian film ''The Castle''. Moving out of retirement in Queensland, Ross joined the

Seven Network The Seven Network (commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is a major Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, and is one of ...

in 2003, "lured back by the challenge of becoming Sydney's No 1 reader" to head the station's struggling flagship 6.00 pm bulletin. Despite making some steady progress in 2004, finishing with 13 weekly wins out of a possible 40, ''

'' still finished third in Sydney behind ''

'' and ''

Ten Eyewitness News ''10 News First'' is an Australian television newscast, produced by Network 10. The network's ninety-minute long news program airs at 5pm each evening covering local, national and world news, including sport and weather. Weekend editions are p ...

'' in that year's ratings, but by the following year it had become Sydney's number one news bulletin. Before his final retirement, Ross was only hosting Sydney's edition of ''Seven News'' from Sunday to Wednesday, with

Chris Bath Christine Bath (born 13 May 1967) is an Australian journalist, radio and television presenter and news anchor. Bath was host of Evenings on ABC Radio Sydney from 2017 to 2019, and has previously been a weekend presenter of ''Seven News'' in Syd ...

hosting the news on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. Ross previously presented the news Monday to Thursday until Chris Bath began hosting '' Sunday Night''. On 27 November 2009, Ian Ross presented his final bulletin of Sydney's ''

'' and officially retired from newsreading. He was visibly moved as he made his final farewells to his viewers and colleagues. He was a guest on the first episode of

's ''

The Daily Edition ''The Daily Edition'' was an Australian afternoon entertainment show on the Seven Network which was first broadcast on 17 June 2013 and ended on 26 June 2020. The show featured a combination of live breaking news, as well as live interviews wi ...

''.

Illness and death

In January 2014, at age 73, Ross publicly announced that he had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, and that it had spread to his liver. His doctors estimated that he had five months to live. He died on 30 April 2014 at the John Flynn Hospital in Tugun on the

Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...

, survived by his partner Gray Bolte and his ex-wife, children and grandchildren, his sister Robin and step-brother Max. His funeral was held on the Gold Coast on 5 May 2014, and was attended by many of Ross's colleagues including former ''Today'' hosts

Steve Liebmann Steve Liebmann (born 4 May 1944) is an Australian retired television presenter, journalist and radio broadcaster. Liebmann is best known for co-hosting ''Today'' on the Nine Network between 1982 and 1986, and again from 1990 to 2005. Early ...

and

Tracy Grimshaw Tracy Grimshaw (born 3 June 1960) is an Australian journalist and television presenter. She was the host of ''A Current Affair'' between 2006–2022, and was a co-host of ''Today'' between 1996–2005. Career Grimshaw's career began in 1981 wh ...

, as well as ''Seven News'' personalities

Mark Ferguson Mark Ferguson (born 28 February 1961) is a New Zealand-based Australian actor and television presenter. Biography Born in Sydney, Australia, Ferguson attended the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) and graduated in 1981. In 1982, he p ...

, Jim Wilson and

Mark Beretta Mark Beretta (born 16 June 1966) is an Australian journalist, best known as a sports reporter on Seven Network program ''Sunrise''. In July 2008, Beretta began presenting ''Seven Early News'' sport alongside Natalie Barr at 5.30 am, which le ...

.Ian Ross farewelled on Gold Coast
, ''Sky News Australia'', 5 May 2014

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ross, Ian 1940 births 2014 deaths Australian radio journalists Australian television journalists Bisexual men Deaths from cancer in Queensland Deaths from pancreatic cancer LGBT broadcasters from Australia LGBT journalists from Australia Nine News presenters Seven News presenters Television in Sydney