David James Koch AM (/ˈkɒʃ/ KOSH), nicknamed "Kochie" (/ˈkɒʃi/ KOSH-ee), is an Australian television presenter and financial journalist. He is best known as a host of the Seven Network's breakfast program, Sunrise, from 2002 until 2023.[1] He began his media career in Adelaide as a financial journalist, writing for a number of different publications before eventually moving to television.
David Koch | |
|---|---|
.jpg) David Koch in 2013 | |
| Born | David James Koch Adelaide, South Australia, Australia |
| Other names | Kochie, Hooky |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1980–present |
| Employer | Seven Network |
| Known for | Sunrise (2002–2023) |
| Spouse | Libby Koch |
| Children | 4 |
Koch has been the chairman of the Port Adelaide Football Club, an Australian Football League (AFL) club since October 2012.
Early life and education edit
David James Koch[2] was born in Adelaide, South Australia.
He trained as an accountant.[citation needed]
Financial journalism edit
Koch started as a cadet on the business pages of The Australian newspaper before joining BRW magazine soon after its launch in the early 1980s. He was one of the founders of consumer finance journalism in Australia and created Personal Investment magazine, which made him the youngest editor in the Fairfax Media group.[citation needed] He then launched Personal Investment magazines in New Zealand and the UK. He produced Britain's first "rich list" which started in Money Magazine which he had bought for Fairfax.[citation needed]
In 1988, he launched trade publishing group Australian Financial Press in a joint venture with Fairfax. AFP went on to create Business Magazine, New Accountant and Money Management magazines.[citation needed]
He provides[when?] business and financial commentary for several publications, including Pacific Magazines, Yahoo Finance, and the "Your Money" section of News Ltd newspapers.[citation needed]
Koch was a director of the NSW Small Business Development Corporation Ltd for eight years after its inception in 1996. As a former business owner and operator and now[when?] director of Pinstripe Media Pty Ltd, he speaks regularly at corporate events about small business, finance and investment issues.[citation needed]
Koch has presented a weekly small business program on the Seven Network, Kochie's Business Builders.[3] It was produced by Koch's company Pinstripe Media.[4]
In 2007, Koch launched Pinstripe Media, a video production and content marketing agency that manages a network of sites including Startup Daily, Flying Solo and Kochie's Business Builders.[5]
In 2013, Koch launched KBB Digital, a digital marketing agency for small business which is an extension of the Kochie's Business Builders brand.[6]
In 2020, in partnership with Kylie Merritt, Koch launched ausbiz, an Australian business and finance streaming platform.[7]
In August 2023, Koch joined Compare the Market Australia as an economic director, which helps to support families battling the cost of living crisis in the country.[8]
Television career edit
Sunrise edit
Koch was co-host of Seven Network's Sunrise breakfast program for 21 years, from 2002 until 2023. He was initially hired to replace Chris Reason who stepped down after a cancer diagnosis towards the end of 2002; however, his position later became permanent. He and his original co-host, Melissa Doyle, hosted the program over a period that saw viewer ratings grow until Sunrise became the leading breakfast television show in Australia.[9]
In August 2022, the Seven Network released a statement declaring Sunrise had won the breakfast TV ratings in its timeslot for the 19th year in a row.[10][11]
Koch announced on 28 May 2023 that he would leave the program to spend time with family and to manage the Port Adelaide Football Club. After a 21-year tenure, he is Australia's longest-serving breakfast television host, having broadcast 16,000 hours of live TV across 5,300 shows, and conducted 50,000 interviews. Matt Shirvington was announced as his replacement on 5 June 2023.[12] His last broadcast was on 9 June 2023.[1][13]
Other edit
Koch also co-hosted another Seven Network production, Where Are They Now?, also with then-Sunrise co-host Melissa Doyle. He also hosts a show for small businesses, Kochie's Business Builders, which airs on Sundays on the Seven Network.
He has also co-hosted Seven Network's annual Christmas TV special Carols in the Domain eight times between 2014 and 2022.[14]
Recognition edit
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Koch was nominated for a silver Logie in 2004 and 2005 for Best TV Presenter.[citation needed]
In 2007, readers of Banking and Finance Magazine voted Koch Australia's Best Finance Journalist, while the Council of Small Business Organisations of Australia presented him with the "Small Business Champion award" in recognition of his support of Australian small business.[citation needed]
Koch was named 2007 Australian Father of the Year by the Australian Father's Day Council on 31 August 2007.[15]
Koch was honoured with the Order of Australia (AM) in 2024, "for significant service to media as a television presenter and to economic journalism".[2]
Parodies edit
After he had published a book of jokes compiled from his daily joke segment on TV, the book was parodied in an episode of The Chaser's War on Everything where reading jokes from "Kochie" was the only thing that got a laugh at a stand-up comedy club.[citation needed]
Koch was frequently parodied on the television show Comedy Inc., in which he was played by Paul McCarthy. Reader's Digest listed him in the top 50 Most Trusted Australians.[16]
Port Adelaide Football Club edit
Koch was the number one ticket-holder of Australian Football League team Port Adelaide Football Club from 2007, jointly with Australian model and actress Teresa Palmer in 2009.[17]
On 2 October 2012, Koch was announced as the chairman of the club, effective from the beginning of 2013, succeeding Brett Duncanson.[18][19]
Other activities edit
Koch appeared on Australian soap opera Home and Away in 2007 and appeared on All Saints in 2004 as an Elvis impersonator.[citation needed]
He played the voice of the News Report in the Australian version of the 2009 DreamWorks film, Monsters vs. Aliens.[citation needed]
In October 2014, Koch launched his website rescue competition (Rescue My Website), to help change the digital lives of three Australian small businesses.[20]
He has climbed Mt Kilimanjaro twice to raise money for charity and walked the Kokoda Track.[citation needed]
Philanthropy edit
David Koch @kochie_online Inspiring time with kids from @YOTSAustralia unveiling their welcome totems at Koch Centre For Youth Macquarie Fields
24 March 2015[21]
Koch is a patron of Youth Off The Streets' Koch Centre For Youth and Learning in Sydney's Macquarie Fields, which opened in 2011.[22]
He has also been involved with the Channel Seven Perth Telethon, an annual event raising money for charities, including the Perth Children's Hospital[23] and Melbourne's Good Friday Appeal, raising money for the Royal Children's Hospital. Koch has been involved in 13 consecutive Good Friday Appeal fundraisers.[24]
Through a Sunrise campaign and his involvement in ShareLife, Koch influenced the federal government to establish a national authority (the Organ & Tissue Authority) to oversee Australia's organ transplant system.[citation needed] Previously Australia had the highest level of registered organ donors per head of population in the world but one of the lowest transplant rates. The new national authority aims to bring Australian transplant rates up to world's best practice. Koch was Chairman of the 'Organ and Tissue Authority Advisory Council' but resigned on-air, during a Sunrise broadcast on 27 May 2015, in protest over a government review of organ donation.[25] Assistant Health Minister Fiona Nash had failed to advise him about the review.[26]
Controversy edit
This article's "criticism" or "controversy" section may compromise the article's neutrality. (April 2016) |
In May 2006, Koch and then Sunrise co-host Melissa Doyle were acquitted of contempt of court charges in a Melbourne Local Court after the name of a 14-year-old boy was published in a case in which the boy sought an irreconcilable differences order against his parents. The Seven Network and the show's producer were convicted of the offence.[27]
On 18 January 2013, Koch attracted criticism after he made comments about breastfeeding, which were condemned by media consultant Mia Freedman.[28]
On 16 October 2018, Koch made a "clumsy" joke in relation to slavery when reviewing a segment about Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt training with the Central Coast Mariners (a soccer team) in Australia's A-League. There was extensive backlash about the incident on social media.[29]
On 18 March 2019, Koch was criticised by viewers for allegedly bullying One Nation Leader Pauline Hanson on the Sunrise program.[30]
David Koch @@kochie_online Just for clarity I’m alive and well and enjoying @AFL #gatherround in Adelaide with all my family. This stuff is really giving me the shits.
14 April 2023[31]
Koch's name and image have been falsely used in several online scams in Australia, which Koch warned Sunrise viewers about in January 2023.[32]
References edit
- ^ a b Cartwright, Lexie (29 May 2023). "David Koch gets emotional as he quits as host of Sunrise after 20 years". news.com.au. Retrieved 29 May 2023.
- ^ a b "Australia Day Honours 2024: The full list of this year's winners". The Age. 25 January 2024.
- ^ "David Koch - Kochie's Small Business Builders". Kochie's Business Builders. 17 October 2023. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
- ^ Bishop, Jen (23 July 2010). "David Koch builds business". dynamicbusiness.com.au.
- ^ "Kochie's Video and Content Marketing Agency". pinstripemedia.com.au. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
- ^ "Kochie's Digital Marketing Agency Sydney & throughout Australia". Kbbdigital.com.au. Retrieved 22 January 2016.
- ^ "Kochie's finance and investment livestreaming website". ausbiz. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
- ^ "David "Kochie" Koch is Compare the Market's Economic Director, leading research and campaigns to help Australians make educated financial decisions".
- ^ Coy, Bronte (6 November 2017). "Why Kochie was almost fired from Sunrise". Coffs Coast Advocate. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
- ^ "Sunrise wins 2022". Seven Network. 15 August 2022.
- ^ "Seven Claims Sunrise Has Already Won 2022's Breakfast Ratings War". B&T Magazine. 15 August 2022.
- ^ "Matt Shirvington joins as new Sunrise co-host | TV Tonight". TV Tonight. 5 June 2023. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
- ^ Kearney, Georgie (28 May 2023). "Sunrise star David Koch announces exit from breakfast show". Seven News. Retrieved 29 May 2023.
- ^ "Carols in the Domain: Live TV broadcast, performers and Christmas carols list". Seven News. 20 December 2022.
- ^ "Kochie named Father of the Year". AAP. 31 August 2007. Archived from the original on 21 September 2007. Retrieved 27 October 2007.
- ^ "The Kochie Blog – About Kochie". kochie.com.au. Archived from the original on 6 August 2010. Retrieved 12 July 2010.
- ^ "Teresa Palmer Power's No. 1". 30 January 2009. Archived from the original on 2 September 2010. Retrieved 30 June 2014.
- ^ "Koch turns up the heat again". Adelaide Now. Retrieved 26 April 2017.
- ^ "Board of Directors". Port Adelaide FC.
- ^ "Kochie's Rescue My Website Competition - Kochie's Business Builders". Rescuemysite.com.au. Retrieved 22 January 2016.
- ^ David Koch [@kochie_online] (24 March 2015). "Inspiring time with kids from @YOTSAustralia unveiling their welcome totems at Koch Centre For Youth Macquarie Fields" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ "New Koch Centre for Youth to transform the lives of young Australians in Macquarie Fields". Ministers' Media Centre. 1 December 2011.
- ^ "Telethon 2022: Top 10 moments on a record-breaking year for beloved children's charity". Perth Now. 23 October 2022.
- ^ "'I have a bulls**t job': Why Kochie supports the Good Friday Appeal". News. 28 March 2018.
- ^ Brennan, Bridget (27 May 2015). "Organ transplant audit: Government will review donation to authority". PM. Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). Retrieved 28 May 2015.
- ^ McDonald, Susan (28 May 2015). "David Koch resigns as chairman of Organ and Tissue Authority Advisory Council in protest". ABC News. ABC (Australia). Retrieved 28 May 2015.
- ^ Channel 7 Stars Cleared in Contempt Case. ABC News Online. Accessed 12 December 2006
- ^ King, Madeleine (20 January 2013) TV's Kochie faces mother of all protests over breastfeeding row. The Sydney Morning Herald. Accessed 20 January 2013
- ^ "Sunrise panel stunned at Kochie's Usain Bolt slavery 'joke'". 16 October 2018.
- ^ "Calls to sack Kochie over fiery debate with Pauline Hanson". 20 March 2019.
- ^ David Koch [@@kochie_online] (14 April 2023). "Just for clarity I'm alive and well and enjoying @AFL #gatherround in Adelaide with all my family. This stuff is really giving me the shits" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ Bourke, Ed (10 January 2023). "Sunrise host David Koch warns viewers about strange scams using his image". news.com.au.
External links edit
- Kochie's Business Builders: Kochie's small business website
- Your Money & your Life: Kochie's personal finance website
- Sunrise on Seven
- David Koch at IMDb
- Pinstripe Media: Kochie's Video & Content Marketing Agency
- Small Business First: Kochie's Small Business Network
- Kochie's Digital Marketing Agency
- David Koch announces he's stepping down from Sunrise on YouTube
