David Koch (television presenter)

David Koch
Born	David James Koch March 7, 1956 (1956-03-07) (age 55) Adelaide, Australia
Other names	Kochie
Occupation	Journalist Financial Commentator Co-host of Sunrise with Melissa Doyle
Employer	Seven Network
Known for	Sunrise (with Melissa Doyle; 2002 – present)
Spouse	Libby
Children	AJ, Samantha, Brie & Georgie

David James Koch, nicknamed Kochie (/ˈkɒʃi/ kosh-ee), (born 7 March 1956) is an Australian television personality.

Koch currently presents Seven Network's Sunrise morning program each weekday, as co-host with Melissa Doyle. Koch and Doyle also co-hosted another Seven Network production Where Are They Now. Koch hosted a small business show, Kochie's Business Builders, which airs on Sundays on the Seven Network.

Financial journalism

Koch started as a cadet on the business pages of The Australian newspaper before joining BRW 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. 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.

In 1988 he launched trade publishing group Australian Financial Press in a joint venture with Fairfax. AFP went on to create My Business magazine, New Accountant and Money Management newspaper.

Today he provides business and financial commentary for several publications, including Pacific Magazines, Yahoo Finance and the Your Money section of News Ltd newspaper. He was formerly associated with Palamedia, a media organisation devoted to business and financial news.

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 director of Pinstripe Media Pty Ltd, David speaks regularly at corporate events about small business, finance and investment issues.

He also presents the weekly small business program on the Seven Network, Business Builders, which helps private business owners improve their business. The program is produced by Pinstripe Media and recently aired its 100th episode.

Recognition

Nominated for a silver Logie in 2004 and 2005 for Best TV Presenter, Koch has helped Seven and Sunrise's ratings against the Nine Network's Today.^{[citation needed]}

Koch has written several practical books on family and business financial management; he has also published a book of jokes compiled from his daily joke segment on TV, this 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. In a survey conducted by Money Management newspaper, his peers recognised him as one of the 10 most influential people of all time in the financial services industry.^{[citation needed]} There may be a conflict of interest in this recognition he received from Money Management newspaper given he set up the publication via his trade publishing group Australian Financial Press (see above).

Koch is frequently parodied on the television show Comedy Inc., played by Paul McCarthy. Reader's Digest listed him in the top 50 Most Trusted Australians.^[1]

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]}

He was named 2007 Australian Father of the Year by the Australian Father's Day Council on 31 August 2007.^[2]

He appeared on Australian soap opera Home and Away in 2007 and he appeared on All Saints in 2004 as an Elvis impersonater.

Koch is currently the joint number one ticket-holder of AFL team Port Adelaide Football Club along with Australian model and actress Teresa Palmer.^[3] and is a shareholder in the Sydney Kings basketball team.

Through a Sunrise campaign, and his involvement in ShareLife, Koch influenced the Federal Government to establish a national authority to oversee Australia's organ transplant system. 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 sits on the Advisory Committee and chairs the audit committee of the Authority.

Koch also played the voice of the "Australian Newsreader" in the 2009 Dreamworks Movie Monsters vs. Aliens.

He has climbed Mt Kilimanjaro twice to raise money for charity and walked the Kokoda Track.

Criticism

In April 2006, Koch walked the Kokoda Track in remembrance of Anzac Day. He was accompanied by his son A.J., his brother, his nephew, fellow news presenter Natalie Barr's husband Andrew, politicians Joe Hockey and Kevin Rudd, and Rudd's son. Their journey was documented for Sunrise and finished with a televised Anzac Day service, during which Koch's group controversially wore t-shirts advertising Seven News, which were prominently visible in the Sunrise broadcast. Koch strenuously denied any impropriety and the company which organised the tour said the t-shirt labelling was a safety issue commonly used to identify trekkers.

In May 2006, Koch and Sunrise co-host Melissa Doyle were acquitted of contempt of court charges in a Melbourne Local Court. The charge arose 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 boy was painted as the source of the problem in the media, however the findings of Child Protection authorities and the Children's Court of Victoria that led to the order may not have been available to Koch or the media at the time, due to legal restraints, and have never been aired in the subsequent public debates about this case and the law of irreconcilable differences. The Seven Network and the show's producer were convicted of the offence.^[4]

On 9 May 2006, Koch covered the Beaconsfield mine rescue live from Beaconsfield when the trapped miners Todd Russell and Brant Webb were rescued. Todd Russell was a fan of Sunrise, and had been sending messages to Koch while trapped through rescue workers.^[5] While being transported to the hospital, Koch claimed that Russell invited him into the ambulance where he was given Russell's Miner's Tag from the safety board at the mine entrance.^[6] Koch's claim was verified by the emergency workers in charge of the vehicle.^[7] Koch later appeared on the ABC's The Glass House and talked about the incident, defending his actions.

References

1. ^ "The Kochie Blog - About Kochie". http://www.kochie.com.au/about-us. 
2. ^ "Kochie named Father of the Year". AAP. 31 August 2007. http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/story/0,23663,22339145-10388,00.html. Retrieved 2007-10-27. 
3. ^ "Teresa Palmer Power's No. 1". http://portadelaidefc.com.au/News/NewsArticle/tabid/6038/Default.aspx?newsId=71576. Retrieved 2009-02-30. 
4. ^ Channel 7 Stars Cleared in Contempt Case. ABC News Online. Accessed 2006-12-12
5. ^ Meade, Amanda; Rintoul, Stuart, Leys, Nick (11 May 2006). "Eddie gets the media brawl rolling". The Australian: p. 2. 
6. ^ Tippet, Gary; Darby, Andrew, Doherty, Ben, Cubby, Ben (9 May 2006). "Free at last". Sydney Morning Herald: p. 1. "[Todd Russell] opened the side door and beckoned to the waiting Channel Seven Sunrise presenter David Koch to come over. Koch hopped into the vehicle and the two exchanged warm greetings for a few moments before he got out again. Russell gave Koch his Miner's Tag from the safety board of the mine entrance while in the ambulance." 
7. ^ Connolly, Ellen (2006-05-28). "TV ratings war gets personal". The Sunday Mail: p. 11. 

Media offices
Preceded by Chris Reason	Sunrise Co-host with Melissa Doyle 2002-	Succeeded by incumbent
Preceded by Andrew Robertson	Sky News Business Presenter with Michael Pascoe ?	Succeeded by Brooke Corte

External links

• The Kochie Blog
• Sunrise on Seven
• My Business TV - small business show
• David Koch at the Internet Movie Database

Persondata
Name	Koch, David
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	7 March 1956
Place of birth	Australia
Date of death
Place of death