Is it just me - or watching that YouTube montage a few posts above (thanks Abesty) does it look and feel weird to see that local Logan backdrop while Vanessa opens on a big national story like a counter terrorism raid?
It just throws me. The setting doesn’t match the story being told it’s all off. It feels wrong to see a local boardwalk and lagoon whilst a major national terrorism story is introduced.
Just feels off
I think In these cases they should open with a story specific backdrop for all 4 markets, just the same as they would
In sydney or Melbourne
The local backdrop can be saved for local window stories, sport toss and local weather in into
I think it would need to be “all or nothing” ie. a story specific backdrop for everything including local news. $$$$ is the reason I think, as we have said before, Nine are never going to invest in these regional bulletins to the same level as the Sydney or Melbourne ones as there isn’t the same level of returns for them.
The other option is to use the same one throughout (as they do now) BUT with an OTS story graphic… That would be simpler and cheaper to do.
As with the missing news headlines, surely these will happen before long.
There is no cost to flick between a story specific backdrop and a local backdrop. The GFX are already designed for the Sydney news (yes, they would need to be resized by the GFX designer) and then it’s just a matter of flipping between story specific backdrop and local. Only extra cost is the GFX designers times to render a resized version of an already designed GFX.
What with no headlines, the VO chopped off, no camera push in or establishing shot - and the lack or finessing of the writing and Vanessa’s script (and her herself) it just starts so abruptly and awkwardly. I find it hard to watch
That said, it was nice to see some breaking news (the benefits of a live composite bulletin) and a live cross too.
But too much Sydney news, light rail, trains, barangaroo, airport tunnel - too much sydney local junk.
These bulletins also need to connect better with the cloak audience
Nine need to produce little :20 promos (one for each of the 4 regions) and play them a few times in the commercial break that say
“9 News Canberra is part of your community. If you see news breaking, shoot it and email it to us or tag us online #9NewsCanberra. Or if there is a story in your suburb that needs to be told, let us know. And follow us on Facebook and Twitter for the latest news 24/7 - 9 News Canberra. Always On”
What’s stopping Nine having one or two journos based in Sydney who just report exclusively for Nine News Regional and sometimes NBN?
For example, a NSW Parliament House reporter who focuses on issues affecting regional issues (like Prime7 News did/still does?)(hypothetical, but did the Wagga Wagga MP get some road funding?) with the TCN NSW Parliament House reporter taking a more Sydney angle.
Another reporter could do human interest stories which affect one or all the sub-markets in some way (hypothetical, but a story about an animal transported from Taronga Zoo to Western Plains Zoo, Dubbo or a Queanbeyan swimmer who’s trying to complete at an important Sydney based meet)?
9News should just have the existing reporters do a different version of the report which isn’t so Sydney centric. Usually this would just be rewording very little and perhaps editing the report to be shorter.
Nothing stopping the current TCN Parliament House Reporter filing an “alternative” story version I guess.
Perhaps get Vanessa (or whoever) out into the heartland to lose this Sydney centric-ness each week. Not live bulletins from wherever, but strong human interest stories (For example, This week, I caught up with a Wagga Wagga dairy farmer who’s about to sell milk to China). Could be a strong 5 minute piece which can go marketwide.
Probably nobody. But could run across Riverina and Central West.
Maybe something more viewer friendly like a Melbourne to Sydney high speed rail which affects a lot of the four sub-markets. Find the facts! Where are these stations? Why should I care? Get Vanessa out and about!
I’m sure that would be a cost-cutting thing for SCA/Nine to use Albury and Shepparton as the one market. Shepparton’s population is around 28,000 and the viewing area population is only 70,000 (about the same as Mildura, Griffith or the Riverland). Had it not been for the fact that Bendigo stations are receivable in Shepparton it would have been a solus market. Too bad the government of the late 1950s granted Shepparton a commercial TV licence of its own instead of getting a translator of the (much superior) Albury station. Still have bad memories of GMV-6/Vic TV’s ‘yokel’ bad presentation of the pre-aggregation era!
i must admit after reading an online artical about win western vic news v 9 western vic news i will now be watching it 9 even tho the studio isnt local least its not in nsw like win new is
What I meant is that to be consistent, there should be a story specific backdrop for EACH regional news item, not just on the national news items for which Nine already has one… I don’t think they should then be using the same backdrop for every regional item, it would just look clunky.
It’s a touch on the insulting side that Nine thinks “regional” viewers are less discerning than metropolitan ones. Clearly they aren’t in Canberra where ATN-7 news is still rating well.
Nine’s going to have to work a lot harder to gain viewers in NSW. Simple bulletin elements like headlines are even present in the ultra-low budget GTS/BKN news!
In the days when Canebrra had two or three local bulletins, the newsreaders would VERY frequently re-write copy if they weren’t happy with it - but they were on the ground and knew their audience. For example, Nine News had a story about a “Padstow” family the other night. The intro clearly should have been a “Sydney” family for viewers outside that city who have no bloody idea where “Padstow” is.
Regards content, it’s clear the staff at TCN are not capable of distinguising parochial Sydney stories from state-wide issues. They really should appoint someone in Canberra or Wollongong to direct the content.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Danielle Post, who is already in Nine’s Sydney newsroom and has past experience with regional TV news in both the Canberra & Illawarra markets.
It amazes me that Nine didn’t get Danielle to present the Southern NSW/ACT bulletins or at the very least, have a producing/directing role with the content. That is unless she declined any offers to be part of Nine’s regional news team of course.
