Mark Readings

About Mark

Mark Readings spent 33 years in the Australian media industry, including 23 years with Channel 9 covering and commentating AFL, cricket, two Olympic Games and two Commonwealth Games — among them commentating netball at the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games and gymnastics at the London 2012 Olympics. In 2003 he was presented with both a Logie Award and a Walkley Award for his coverage of the Bali bombings — coverage that came from a particularly confronting vantage point: he was inside the Sari Club and Paddy's Bar at the time of the explosions and is one of the survivors. That story, now more than twenty years on, remains extraordinary.

In 2014, Readings joined the Seven Network as sports presenter for Today/Tonight, and extended his work to The West Australian — online commentary, podcasts and weekly written articles. He also commentates AFL and WAFL with 6PR during football season and co-hosts Sportsday, a daily radio program. His engagement with audiences at corporate events and charity functions is described as warm and natural, underscored by a distinctive personal story that he brings to the room with both gravity and humour.

Readings is the right choice for Perth-based events requiring an MC with deep WA sporting credibility and broad cross-sport knowledge. His Bali story adds an additional dimension to what might otherwise be a conventional sporting presenter — he has lived through something genuinely significant and can speak to resilience and perspective in a way that is personal and unscripted. He suits sporting luncheons, gala dinners, conference programs and any event where AFL knowledge is an asset.