The Newsroom

NETWORK 10 NEWS | Job Cuts

Australian Network Announces Mass Redundancies (August 2020)

This site closed in March 2021 and is now a read-only archive
JW
JamesWorldNews
More cuts across the television news industry in the wake of covid and other competitive threats.

It would seem to be a global occurrence.



BR
Brekkie
These seem more brutal than most, especially losing the hosting teams outside of Melbourne and Sydney.
JA
Jamesypoo
It's about time 10 had another huge overhaul of all of their news provision again, things had been the same for at least a year which is pretty good going by their books.
WH
what
I’m assuming this is semi-related to ViacomCBS’ bloodbath in America? At least Channel 5 is reasonably protected being produced by ITN.

No matter the cause, it’s sad to see so many talented journalists lose their jobs. The profession is incredibly important to our democracy and freedoms, but unfortunately corporate types only see the cost of employing these people.
Jeffmister, AJB39 and Brekkie gave kudos
IT
itsrobert Founding member
what posted:
I’m assuming this is semi-related to ViacomCBS’ bloodbath in America? At least Channel 5 is reasonably protected being produced by ITN.

I think I'm right in saying that a lot of the staff who work on 5 News / Jeremy Vine only work on those programmes. They may well be employed by Channel 5 rather than ITN.
BR
Brekkie
5 News is a pretty bare boned operation as it is. Completely different situation to Ten where traditionally each state (or the main cities in those states at least) produces a combined national/local bulletin.
WH
what
The issue here is that before the merger, CBS were actually investing into Network 10. They added more sporting events, gave the network a revamp, gave their Sydney operations a new studio, and boosted spending on original programming.

After the ViacomCBS merger, Network 10 was made part of the same department as Channel 5. The new management apparently have the aim of running 10 in a similar manner to Channel 5.
LL
London Lite Founding member
what posted:
The issue here is that before the merger, CBS were actually investing into Network 10. They added more sporting events, gave the network a revamp, gave their Sydney operations a new studio, and boosted spending on original programming.

After the ViacomCBS merger, Network 10 was made part of the same department as Channel 5. The new management apparently have the aim of running 10 in a similar manner to Channel 5.


Low budget docs on railways and the Royals galore then?
MI
m_in_m
what posted:
The issue here is that before the merger, CBS were actually investing into Network 10. They added more sporting events, gave the network a revamp, gave their Sydney operations a new studio, and boosted spending on original programming.

After the ViacomCBS merger, Network 10 was made part of the same department as Channel 5. The new management apparently have the aim of running 10 in a similar manner to Channel 5.


Low budget docs on railways and the Royals galore then?

Don't forget repeating a programme with a couple of minutes of new content and badging it as new.
MQ
Mr Q
Not sure what they even need presenters and studios for. Just run reports back-to-back, maybe with a voiceover artist to top and tail things. Bundle them up in a 30 minute loop, which they can repeat. No need to put out a professional, polished product. There's no money in that.

In all seriousness, what Ten has outlined feels like a stepping stone solution. Once you've made the decision to end local news broadcasts, then I don't think there's much advantage in broadcasting from two cities rather than just one. I wouldn't be surprised if, in a couple of years, Ten News is one national bulletin. If Ten even exists as a broadcast network.

An alternative might be for the commercial networks to start pooling their resources. For example, a joint Seven-Ten newsroom producing bulletins for both networks, rather than competing against each other. The problem isn't just Ten; it's the viability of the industry as a whole. Covid-19 has merely accelerated an existing downward spiral.

It is surely an awful time for those in the journalism/media industry, and especially for those who are losing their jobs. But I am not convinced we've reached the bottom yet -- the situation is likely to get uglier still. Whether we're talking TV, newspapers or online, the commercial challenges and pressures are enormous. It's hard to spot a viable, long-term business model.
SP
Steve in Pudsey
Mr Q posted:
Not sure what they even need presenters and studios for. Just run reports back-to-back, maybe with a voiceover artist to top and tail things. Bundle them up in a 30 minute loop, which they can repeat. No need to put out a professional, polished product. There's no money in that.


You've just described what Euronews used to look like until it got a dedicated feed for each language. I'm not sure that the suggestion of that being unprofessional is fair.

Newer posts