Yes unlikely.
However if you replace someone at the top who oversees all this with someone more talented, skilled and with better ideas - you’d drive innovation and improvement in output.
Obviously whoever is responsible for this output is pretty mediocre at their job
When SCA’s noodle updates returned after the switch back to the 10 affiliation they were pretty decent compared to their original incarnation: network graphics, file vision, keeping mostly the same presenters in each region. They were still way too long, but it was progress.
With SCA now in caretaker mode with the 10 purchase, it seems they’ve stopped caring 
SCA aren’t operating the stations, only providing local news and direct sales representation. Paramount has taken over the existing leases for playout and transmission and are very much in control of the licences, no matter how many SCA filler spots you see (presumably part of the transaction gives SCA access to unsold airtime?)
Remember that on-screen changes take time as Paramount looks to find efficiencies and integrate workflows across both sides of the business.
Corporate ownership structure has little to do with where programming is sourced from.
Why bother?
With no disrepect to the teams who work on this product, make no mistake that it is only there to fill a licence condition. Placing the reports inside ad breaks is, at least in theory, costing SCA (and now Paramount) ad revenue. Unlike a fully fledged bulletin, there is zero-to-little being brought into the stations from this airtime.
The only way you would see investment is if local news quotas were bumped up to the extent that full-scale bulletins were required - but again, the likelihood of any meaningful investment by Paramount (or SCA) is miniscule.
It’s a damn shame, but the horse really has bolted.
More likely, they’re doing as directed - the output is about achieving one thing: licence condition compliance.
Hot take: I didn’t mind the noodle update. Yes, it was a bit lacking but Zeke seems a decent presenter. Maybe a little graphic next to him for each story (picture, headline, etc) would make it seem less monotonous but overall it does its job.
There are people who want to go to work and do a better job, improve things with the tools they’ve got, feel satisfied they’re doing things 1% better every day. If you work in TV, and are responsible for output that ends up on people’s screens, there are people that want that output to be as good as possible - and look around for ideas, improvements and upgrades. Thats job satisfaction, that’s passion, that’s caring, pushing yourself, pride.
Clearly the person leading this is not someone with those talents or passions.
But there are many number of people here on this forum that could produce these updates purely to serve license conditions - and also through heart. Talent, passion and pride - put something on the screen that looks a lot better than this.
I refuse to believe that all of the people capable of that are only on this forum 
Never worked for a company who only wants to do the minimum required to achieve an outcome? Sadly, thats what regional television has largely become.
That’s exactly my point. Hire an outsider.
And no i haven’t. I’d quit!
You’re missing the point that’s being made, though - these stations have zero interest in doing any more than what is required under their licence for local news.
I get that point, I agree.
However if they happened to hire the right person, that could change.
I agree with this too. Not sure if this is still a thing but Seven asked their metro partners all the time to assist with regional news update production in NSW, ACT and VIC. Camera vision and grabs could be used.
If 10 Brisbane had a crew doing a Townsville story then the opportunities to use the vision for a regional news update in Townsville (for example) would be greatly enhanced.
Also having a Queenslander do Queensland news updates would really be beneficial for pronunciations and nuisances etc. (another example).
You could get the best person overseeing the news but if higher management do not provide the funds there is only so much they can do. Having access to footage from a news report in Townsville covered by Ten that would help but Sothern Cross have access to similar footage through the nightly news and didn’t. Possibly because it’s a Ten station maybe they can’t use footage presumably sourced through Seven on the noodle updates but they could negotiate with Seven to use footage without Seven branding that is if they make B roll footage available it could just be finished reports. Which would be more difficult to use.
As someone with some knowledge if this, Seven doesn’t want their vision sourced to other networks (except under a pool arrangement). They broke off their agreement with Sky News a few years ago.
Nine seem a lot more of a willing partner (especially in radio news) but maybe someone at SCA could answer why 10 won’t supply news vision for the news updates to SCA (I suspect it’s financial related and not covered under the affiliation agreement).
Yes cost, I would say: systems not talking to each other and the like and the time of taking someone to do it. I’ve seen SCA use dirty footage from 10’s bulletins for the local updates before though so there are ways around it.
If someone did that and quality improved, to management that’s just a sign the product is being over-resourced - if you had time to be adding in stock footage you clearly need more work to do.
I think every creative industry has that problem - you start out early with huge ideas of how you could do better, but then the reality of it being your work rather than a hobby start eating in, then management make changes, etc. It all ends up at either burnout, or just putting in what’s needed and nothing more.
I think those doing the jobs would be very aware how little tiny investments would dramatically improve the product and be as frustrated as a viewer that they couldn’t. There’s such a huge churn in these roles doing these updates for a reason - it’s soul sucking knowing you could do better, but that it would drain you to put that much effort in for no reason.
These are still just jobs at the end of the day.
Unfortunately former Prime stations and former SCA stations and the former NRN channels there is no motivation for them to provide anything but what they need to. They are probably not happy with what is being churned out but are powerless. Unless something changes, I daresay noodle updates are the most we will get. Other than noodle updates, the only alternative option for Ten and Seven owned regionals where full local news bulletins arent provided would be to replace the last segment pre sport with a local news window (AND hope they dont do a NBN and screen Gold Coast stories in Coffs and vice versa)
Agreed, if NBN continues to screen Gold Coast reports in Coffs and Coffs reports on the Gold Coast, then they should just simply move to a single statewide bulletin except for Newcastle, which would continue to receive its own local bulletin. Simple as that.
Seven do the same with their regional NSW (at least in NSW) - its a somewhat unavoidable by-product of needing to fill a bulletin with limited resources and/or stories to be covered
Would rather that over the metro product that is desperate to pad out an hour with irrelevant US stories, horrorscopes and skits.
NBN used to pad their bulletins with stories from Nine Melbourne too