Who stood to gain from Rebecca Maddern video leak at Channel 7?

Channel 7 says it will launch a thorough investigation into the leaking of a video capturing Melbourne newsreader Rebecca Maddern calling Novak Djokovic an "a***hole" in an off-air conversation with co-presenter Mike Amor.

Seven's Craig McPherson, the network's Director of News and Public Affairs, called the leak "cowardly and underhanded" and warned the perpetrator will be "accordingly dealt with" when found.

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The perpetrator, according to industry insiders, may also find themselves with a new title and a pay rise given the positive publicity the video had garnered for Seven's newly minted weekend news team.

Maddern only skipped over to Seven from Nine a week ago in a switch most of the country either missed or ignored.

Now, thanks to the Djokovic take down, there's no doubting where she works.

Speaking to Amor before the 6pm bulletin began, Maddern said: "Whatever way you look at it, Novak Djokovic is a lying, sneaky, arsehole."

Amor responded: "He got a bullsh*t f**king excuse and then fell over his own f**king lies. It's just what happens, right, that's what happened."

It was meant to be a private conversation until someone decided to splice and dice the footage and send it out to the waiting world.

"Is it a crisis for Channel 7? Doubt it," one TV veteran told Yahoo Sport Australia.

"The reality is it makes your newsreaders look like the average person in the street. There's plenty of ordinary people out there saying Novak is an a***hole.

"It's given them some street cred and I don’t think Seven would be too worried.

"They say they will investigate but I'm not sure how vigorous that investigation will be."

Who stood to gain most from Channel 7's leaked video?

So where do you start with an investigation like this and what's the likely motivation and benefits for the leaker?

"It could be someone in the editing suite who's got a mate at a paper and told them 'you should see this' or it could be somebody who's put it out there to cause a sh*tshow because they don’t like Bec and/or Mike," the insider continued.

"Everything goes through the control room and depending on where you are in the network, you can watch that.

"It seriously could be a thousand people. It could be anyone in the country connected with Channel 7.

"The bottom line is none of that stuff should get out. It should be all in-house but someone has decided for whatever reason to leak this video."

Any chance it was deliberately leaked as a publicity stunt, as many on social media have suggested?

"I'm not sure in this particular case – it doesn’t look like it – but networks aren't against their personalities attracting publicity, especially if it's mainly positive," the insider said.

"I really can't see Seven being too worried about the fallout."

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