Nine News Local

[KICK-IT]

@eddel

Because maybe that’s where it works best?

Firstly, the switch on time in regional areas will be much earlier than in the big cities.

Have you seen data that supports that theory?

Prime7 trailed news at 530 in a few areas leading into a metro bulletin at 6. It was dumped very quickly.

[nationalnews]

@NewsWeary

You don’t replace a trusted, established product with something else and expect viewers to stay tuned. 90% of the product might be the same but it has been packaged in a cheap, no frills manner and it’s being presented by someone very unfamiliar to commercial television audiences…I predict … viewers will be livid when Overton fails to appear on their screens…

What I have been saying from the start. I still think a local window into Nine News Sydney would be the best option. However, this is what we have got/getting.

[SA_TV]

To be honest, I think treating Canberra like a regional center (which, ok, it is but still) was the wrong way to go about it.
Should have been a full hour out of the Canberra studios, done up to look just like the meyro news. Poached somebody like Greg Jennett or Rosemary Church, somebody with some gravitas. Had a local weather person etc.

[melbournefan]

Idea: Use the “First at 6:30” model and have the national news st 6 and then cut to the Local News at 6:30

[webguy]

While there’s been an obvious almost instant migration of viewers from Nine News to Prime News this week, I suspect that is product driven, not based on quality of service. Poorly produced local news will rate better than we’ll produced Sydney news for anyone actually wanting to get local news.

I wonder if the unique demographic of Canberra has something to play here - given that ABC (Local) Canberra rates so well, maybe people watching at 6pm actually want to see Sydney’s news, before then getting their local news from the ABC at 7pm.

It will be interesting to see what happens in the other areas - particularly those where there will be no metro news shown at 6pm (e.g. Central West and Wagga)

I also wonder if Canberra was really the right market to launch first. While it might be one of the top markets they’d want to expand into, it might have been wiser to wait until the bulletin was more polished and has had a few kinks ironed out, as I’m sure will happen in the coming weeks and months.

I also think that given the unique demographic of Canberra, it doesn’t really fit all that well into a SNSW bulletin, a different bulletin produced specifically for Canberra might be a better fit. (This of course ignores those parts of NSW that receive the Canberra signal, although populations in those towns are small.)

[Willwalk]

@KICK-IT

9 NEWS SNSW should swing into action and be on air this Saturday and Sunday with the unprecendeded bushfire emergency across SNSW

I wonder why SNSW / Canberra don’t have weekend nine news yet? If NBN News in NNSW and 9 news Darwin can provide a full one hour bulletin on weekends, then there’s no reason the SNSW / Canberra submarkets can’t do the same?

[SA_TV]

@Willwalk

I wonder why SNSW / Canberra don’t have weekend nine news yet? If NBN News in NNSW and 9 news Darwin can provide a full one hour bulletin on weekends, then there’s no reason the SNSW / Canberra submarkets can’t do the same?

$$$$$$$$$$$$$

[TV-Expert]

@MVP

And plus the ABC have been the only ones to broadcast weekend news in Canberra since TEN News was axed by SCB (as it was known then) in 2001??

ABC launched its local weekend news service for Canberra in January 2003. Prior to that, Capital had its local weekend news bulletin axed in February 1995 (just before its rebrand to Ten Capital), with WIN having local weekend news updates until late 2002/early 2003.

[TelevisionAU]

@Willwalk

I wonder why SNSW / Canberra don’t have weekend nine news yet?

It’s been one week. And they’ve got 14 more bulletins to roll out. Give it time.

[TV-ACT]

@KICK-IT

I think this is the right model.

An hour of local, state and national news at 6 is the model that works perfectly in other major cities including smaller markets like Darwin and Newcastle.

The problem is not the format. The problems are:

1. The lousy marketing campaign and communication to launch the product .The failure to explain to viewers that Peter Overton was going away and Vanessa was coming. The weak launch and marketing campaign.

2. First impressions - the terrible lack of headlines opener, rigid Vanessa and terrible set made a terrible first impression that will last for a while

3. News habits takes years to change

Nine sure has its work cut out.

They need to fix the open, add headlines, Fix the set and improve the overall quality and feel. The awkwardness of all the edited together pieces needs to be fixed. They need to promote with daily topical promos and run heavily in Today and during g the day and primetime. They need to become active on socialMedia and promote that on air

Vanessa and the news director need to spend the next few months on the road learning about the areas they broadcast into

Agree except for point 1; I suspect Nine knew they weren’t quite ready (lack of polish, etc.) so this ‘soft’ launch may have been intentional. As long as they’re in it for the long-haul… It’ll sort itself out and no company ever wants to mention (let alone) emphasise what they’re taking away, but what new they’re providing.

Even if it was a ‘soft’ launch, you’re absolutely right that first impressions matter, Nine made a bad one and it will take a while for that to fade away, but first they need to actually fix all those problems, and yes 9News Canberra/Illawarra/etc. promos/Newsbreaks need to air throughout the day/afternoon & evening, plus promote on social media.

@SA_TV

To be honest, I think treating Canberra like a regional center (which, ok, it is but still) was the wrong way to go about it.Should have been a full hour out of the Canberra studios, done up to look just like the meyro news. Poached somebody like Greg Jennett or Rosemary Church, somebody with some gravitas. Had a local weather person etc.

@webguy

I also think that given the unique demographic of Canberra, it doesn’t really fit all that well into a SNSW bulletin, a different bulletin produced specifically for Canberra might be a better fit. (This of course ignores those parts of NSW that receive the Canberra signal, although populations in those towns are small.)

I think you’re (both) right; given the differences it probably would’ve worked better if 9News Canberra wasn’t part of the Sthn NSW bulletin, was created & presented in Canberra (from a proper studio bigger than a phone booth!), and ideally by an experienced news presenter known to the area.

The degraded/sub-par presentation (no headlines, same background throughout the bulletin, Sydney local news stories as filler plus initial glitches) definitely doesn’t help, but also various ACT vs NSW differences - some of which will apply in other border areas like Albury/Wodonga - mean the audience here are seeing it’s clearly not made here and at times with that something-not-quite-right feel; the confusion from their former affiliate WIN refusing to do the right thing by viewers & swap LCNs plus update their logos is also a factor.

Financially however fitting out & staffing a studio in Canberra which would just be used for one evening news bulletin each day is significantly more expensive, unlike studios in the state capitals where they can be used for other news bulletins & possibly other programmes (depending on the set design).

Given those constraints the 9NBN bulletin format should be able to work pretty well, but Nine need to get right onto fixing the problems, even while they’re adding bulletins (they shouldn’t make similar bad first impressions in Wollongong, etc.).

[Vidiot]

Vanessa was a strange choice by Nine. Has never read news before and is not a journo as such. It shows.

On the other hand her colleagues elsewhere on Nine regional news are experienced in the job.

[webguy]

@MVP

I reckon that Nine and SCA should establish a small facility with a Studio enough to fit a physical news set and their Canberra newsroom.

SCA’s existing premises in Watson would be suitable for this - they have a large studio, as well as a couple of smaller single presenter booths which they use for the noodle updates). These studios will barely be used once all the new bulletins go to air, so it would be big enough to accommodate a Canberra based bulletin. It would just be a matter of building a set and employing staff (and ideally upgrading the studio cameras and control room to HD)

[webguy]

Oh really? Because they still have their playout done from there (recently upgraded too) as well as some other production.
It would be expensive to establish a new playout facility given the connectivity required, but they could move in with Nine in Sydney or even MediaHub.

[Radiohead]

I wonder what will happen with their playout facility if they move?

It must take up a fair chunk of the current building…

Maybe it will go up to Media Hub at Ingleburn in Sydney too?

[KICK-IT]

That’s not gonna happen.
That would effectively double the whole
Cost. Running two studios. Two crew. And two producing staff. One each in sydney and Canberra.
You’re basically doubling everything.

[meteoritetv]

@MVP

Canberra can also later add their own sports and weather presenter and then introduce a weekend news. Illawarra, Central West and Riverina can be still produced in Sydney and their weather in Newcastle…

It’s definitely not unpredecedented. In the late 90’s/2000’s WIN Sunshine Coast News had at times a separate studio for sports/live crosses for national programs. Weather was on location (I remember Davina Smith did this in one of her pre-Nine days) while the newsreader was based in Toowoomba.

Maybe they could present more out of their local newsrooms? “Harry Frost joins us from our Watson newsroom… Harry what have you found?”

Probably a bit early for weekend editions? Currently, Nine Gold Coast doesn’t see the point, but Seven Gold Coast has local news 7 days a week as a point of difference.

[KICK-IT]

I think with the unprecedented events in NSW this weekend, all news services should be on the air Saturday and Sunday. Prime7 should be doing a NSW wide edition of the news at 6pm, as should WIN and nine/SCA
It should be out orf duty to the areas they serve. The way they just shut up shop on weekends and completely avoid any local news or responsibility tonserves their communities is a joke.

When an event this big happens - they should be on the air.

[TV-ACT]

While in general that may sound reasonable, the counter argument is such big stories are covered very well by the Sydney/Melbourne/Brisbane/etc. bulletins of 9News & 7News; for example during the fires last month including one near Canberra 7News seemed to do a pretty good job.

[KICK-IT]

I hear ya. I get your point.

But it should be covered better by local stations

We have to encourage a culture where there is more than 5 cities that produce good newscasts

[NewsWeary]

Zero advertising for the debut of Nine’s Illawarra news bulletin in today’s print edition of the Illawarra Mercury newsletter (it can hardly be called a newspaper these days). WIN, however, have a half page ad touting “the Illawarra’s most trusted local news for over 50 years”.