I think in this case, Nine/WIN probably have calculated that they would save money overall since there is no local competition in the main Newcastle/Hunter market so ratings/revenue would not reduce by as much otherwise.
Ideal scenario (all my speculation)
Newcastle & NNSW
- Live, local format remains as is, rebranded to â9 Newsâ
Rest of WIN network
- 5.30pm remains as is, rebranded to â9 News: Local region nameâ
- 6.00pm remains as is
I see it differently. Ratings will collapse. People wonât watch Sydney news as there is no other local option. They just wonât watch. Ratings will collapse. Revenue will collapse. And it opens the door for a Seven owned station to run a local news out of Canberra relatively easy.
I donât think thereâs any universe where these two things are true - Nine want to preserve access to an NBN news product because itâs a value add to Nine Now, but also that they would put rules in an affiliation agreement hamstringing it.
The revenue from Nine Now from a show they would get for free, plus 50% of the NBN broadcast ad revenue even during that slot is more than enough to pay Nine for any extra work involved in continuing to do what they currently do.
Nine would be wanting that clause in place because they want the NBN News product that currently exists to continue, they would be doing everything needed to let WIN continue making them money.
Yeah, the ratings chart with Northern NSW should be embarrassing to WIN and show what a bad job theyâve done running things. Especially just comparing NNSW to SNSW - you have an NRL state, WINâs home market incumbency and yet Seven are tied.
4 Likes
Iâve never seen this promoted on 9NBN / NBN News, I doubt anyone here even knows NBN News is on there (but even then itâs only for Newcastle/Nth Rivers markets and only as a live stream, not also as a catch up service as with the other 9News bulletins).
Finally someone on MS with a commercial mind!
2 Likes
Newscasts are generally not watched on demand.
viewership of FTA over the air is declining, whilst viewership of FTA through streaming apps is increasing. Nine is smart to continue to want access to the 3rd most watched bulletin (after Sydney and Melbourne) on their network for 9 Now
1 Like
If 1 hour composite regional bulletins were the âgolden eggâ that you guys seem to think it is Nine would have coaxed WIN down this path by now for other regions, but noâŚ
2 Likes
Thatâs because the WIN product is average at best. Newy is already a much better product
3 Likes
Newcastle/NNSW is a very different market. Itâs the #4 market in the country in terms of population.
and keeping a long established successful composite bulletin that is one of the most watched newscasts in the country is a very different preposition to launching one from scratch on a station group (win) who is renowned for doing the worst news in the country.
3 Likes
If that was the case, they wouldâve rebranded NBN News years ago during one of multiple graphics refreshes
I think Nine did not want to rock the local NBN brand boat.
WIN may see it differently - and given any influence it would make sense for Nine to prefer a 9 News brand for a strong composite bulletin rather than a win News barbs introduced into prime time
Whoâs to say the money they make from 9Now and WINâs affiliation fees will be treated as the same revenue?
WIN currently pay Nineâs exorbitant 50% affiliation fees in the markets where they make their own local news with zero contributions from Nine. Anything more than program supply, Nine will no doubt make them fork out extra for.
1 Like
This figure is commercially rational for both sides. Without paying this fee WIN would not even have a business.
WIN is nothing more than a repeater business now. To get 100% of your programming and schedule paid for by just 50% of your revenue is commercially rational.
SCA paid 50% to Nine during their time, and that included Nine fully making local news on their behalf. WIN now pays the same to Nine without the same news content in exchange?
1 Like
The news they were producing was sub par. I am hoping nothing will change if reports in this topic are anything to go by they make significant money from the 6pm news bulletin and why would WIN want to reduce that as the 5:30pm news wonât cut it in the Newcastle market. Given that Bruce owns more of Nine then at any other time they are in a better position to negotiate for access to news stories etc.
I am hoping nothing will change at least in the short term.
1 Like
Correct.
Nine is in the drivers seat here. Without Nine, WIN is not a viable business.
1 Like
They need each other, as all affiliates do.
NBN isnât viable without Nine either.
And Nine needs the revenue to help pay for programming.
Nine would suffer without WIN revenue, certainly. But the circumstances are not the same.
Without Nine programming, WIN has no business. There is no programming on the ope market to be purchased. Nine programming provides WIN with close to 100% of their revenue.
On the other hand, WIN provides a small % of Nineâs revenue. Nine owned stations stitch up around 75% of its FTA ad revenue. More revenue actually comes from Stan. There there is 9 Now.
nine has the upper hand here, 50% is a commercially rational figure - If not on the low side
1 Like
The success of the bulletin is largely because there is no real competition in their largest sub-market - outside of the Hunter, the numbers against Seven are far closer at 6pm. But frankly, the NBN 6pm bulletin is fairly turgid to watch as someone who doesnât live in the Hunter, and itâs a format that hasnât evolved in any real meaningful way since aggregation.
Going to a half-hour, locally/regionally focused bulletin could actually result in a higher-quality product. So could ditching the weekend bulletins (even though that sounds counterintuitive). How that would work is challenging because shifting to 5:30pm will be damaging.
All that said, itâs hard to see WIN will ultimately do anything different from what they do across the rest of their network - whether that happens fairly quickly after the deal is completed or it takes a few years, only time will tell.
Quite possibly, but it also encourages a low-cost operation to try and maximise returns
1 Like