WIN News axes five regional newsrooms across NSW and Qld
WIN News has axed five regional commercial TV newsrooms, informing staff in Orange, Wagga Wagga, Albury, Dubbo and Wide Bay (which covers Hervey Bay and Bundaberg) that they will not have jobs from next Friday.
WIN confirmed that the decision is “based on the commercial viability of funding news in these areas”.
Getting a local perspective in the news is such a positive thing. Disappointed for these areas.
Disappointing when Australia has some of the most hollowed out, narrow and shallow media in the developed world, regional News has become roadkill in consolidation, cost cutting and influence. Regional news is often better quality than capital cities due to immediacy, knowledge and relevance of issues in communities.
And this from Media Week:
‘For the first time, more Australians can watch award-winning Sky News national affairs programming featuring the country’s leading commentators and political insiders including Paul Murray, David Speers, Andrew Bolt, Laura Jayes, Kieran Gilbert, Ashleigh Gillon, Peta Credlin and Alan Jones.
Sky News on WIN will give free-to-air viewers a taste of the premium Sky News offering available on Foxtel, with programs including Credlin, The Bolt Report, Outsiders, Jones & Co, Richo, Politics HQ, Paul Murray Live and Kenny on Sunday.’
https://www.mediaweek.com.au/sky-news-on-win/
They couldn’t give a ? about regional areas.
Business is booming in Boomtown I see. What a sad day for these markets.
Why don’t they get rid of the highly paid execs at Nine who add no value rather than regional news who add a hell of a lot of value in those areas. They are suffering enough don’t you think?
I think Bollocks is confused… WIN has nothing to do with NINE… WIN is the regional affiliate of TEN.
And Nine/SCA spends a lot of money on regional news – indeed their increased investment in recent years was no doubt a major factor in this decision by WIN.
Expect same from big 2.5 in a few days. FTA Broadcasting is dead. Networks had to go online to try to compete so now they can just sell the transmitters and land they sit on or cancel the contract with BA. You can see any show from any network on any smart TV now. Even live news at 6. The business model from the 60’s is now a fail and the owners know it. 7 and 9 outsourced pres to a Sydney company and they started ops this week. All promos and news clips now go via FTP so less need for expensive DVN2 circuits from Telstra. Winds of change have now arrived. aka smell the roses.
“7 and 9 outsourced pres to a Sydney company and they started ops this week.”
The company is jointly owned by 7 and 9, and it didn’t just start operations this week.
regardless of who owns it and when ops start, 30 or so people in Melb lost their job and a fraction of that get one in the “new” company. Can I add to the hit list the whole traffic department at 7 Qld (M’dore) ?
Shame, shame, shame!
The Federal Government needs to review its decision to “gift” the commercial networks tens of millions of dollars in licence fees relief. The major networks have taken the money and instead of investing in quality local content have been slashing jobs and producing mediocre programs.
Seven and Nine return dividends to shareholders, whilst TEN ships profits overseas to media juggernaut, CBS.
Let’s get fairdinkum and take back the taxpayer handout and invest it in the newsrooms across regional Australia.
I hope new Communications Minister Paul Fletcher can see through the great tv con purported on Mitch Fifield.