Rob Brough

Summarize Timeline Fact Check

Brough began his media career in radio in the 1970s as an announcer at radio station 4VL in Charleville, Queensland. He then moved onto 4WK in Warwick, 4BC in Brisbane and then 4GG on the Gold Coast, Queensland.^[1]

Following on from his radio work, Brough moved into television in the mid 1980s, covering sport for ABC Television in Brisbane before moving over to Channel 9 to present the sports news on National Nine News in Brisbane until 1989.^[1]

In 1990, Brough moved away from news reporting when he joined the Channel 7 in Brisbane to host the Australian version of Family Feud, which was seen nationally. Brough hosted the program until 1995 when John Deeks took over until its axing the following year. Bert Newton and Grant Denyer have both hosted revived versions of the program for the Nine Network and Network Ten respectively.

In an opinion piece written for the Sydney Morning Herald, Dominic Knight claimed Bert's Family Feud, the 2006 version of the program, was an awful show but not just because it brought back "unpleasant memories of Rob Brough".^[2]

Brough was often parodied by Steve Vizard on Seven's sketch comedy show Fast Forward.

Following his job as the host of Family Feud, Brough moved back into news for Seven's regional Queensland affiliate Sunshine Television on the Sunshine Coast. Shortly after Brough joined, Sunshine Television News became Seven News following the purchase of Sunshine Television by Seven and as such, the network's name and look changed to reflect the metropolitan Channel 7 stations.

Initially, Brough presented the local Sunshine Coast edition of Seven News and pre-recorded two additional bulletins for the Wide Bay-Burnett region and the Mackay region. He then presented seven separate local editions of Seven News each weeknight from the network's Sunshine Coast studio, which all aired simultaneously across the individual regions at 6pm each weeknight on Channel 7, and then repeated at 6:30pm on 7two.

Brough was joined by Joanne Desmond as a co-presenter on the Cairns, Townsville, Central Queensland and Darling Downs editions of Seven News, and he presented the Mackay, Wide Bay and Sunshine Coast editions by himself.

In 2015, Brough fronted a campaign launched by Seven Queensland in response to the "Save Our Voices" campaign, which was a joint promotion between WIN Television, Southern Cross Austereo and Seven aimed at encouraging viewers to lobby the Federal Government to relax media ownership laws. The "Leave TV Laws Alone" spot that Seven Queensland ran in commercial breaks featured Brough in the Seven Local News studio claiming Seven Queensland spends more on local news than their competitors. A voice-over that follows states that Seven Queensland doesn't support the bullying by the other networks and said that viewers shouldn't be used as pawns.^[3]

Brough has said that his work in the media has been influenced by television presenters Mike Walsh and Mike Willesee.^[4]

After a period of extended personal leave, it was confirmed on 29 December 2025 that Brough had departed Seven News Regional Queensland. Brough had been with the station for almost 20 years, with his last bulletin being presented in 2024.^[5]

While working at Gold Coast radio station 4GG, Brough made an appearance in the 1984 Australian film, The Coolangatta Gold starring Joss McWilliam and Colin Friels. The movie is about the annual Gold Coast sports event with the same name. A close-up of Brough standing on the beach is seen in the movie as he plays the role of a roving sports reporter, previewing the event while holding a 4GG microphone.^[6]

Brough has said it was Michael Edgley, whose production company Hoyts Edgley produced The Coolangatta Gold, who suggested and encouraged a move from radio to television.^[4]