Thanks for that 
Iāll keep looking to see if I can find an extended version of the track though.
Brisbane are really making use of their additional resources that they were provided last year with 3 live crosses last night in the first 10 mins, with court reporter Clare Barnes also reporting from Mackay.
I know its probably not a big deal as itās fairly standard practice but when we usually only get one ālive lookā from Canberra and a live traffic update twice in the bulletin on most evenings, itās good to see some commitment from the network to local news.
Weāve also had another 3 live crosses again tonight including weather man Josh Holt presenting live for the āTEN IN SCHOOLSā night (which is usually on a Monday, but he was away last night with Duane Strauss filling in for him).
I think itās a good initiative with the schools to get people watching the news to see their school, friends, family etc and to hopefully keep the TEN Eyewitness News brand in peopleās minds.
I will say though, I do like how Ten News Melbourne use the traffic chopper for āBreaking Newsā stories, even though they may not be solely traffic related.
I like that too, Brisbane have done it a couple of times in the last few months with fires, hostage situations etc.
Just out of interest, does Ten have any news helicopters these days? If the answer is no, do they just rely on Australian Traffic Network footage whenever they need aerial footage from a chopper?
In recent years, Iāve certainly seen both Seven and Nineās distinctive helicopters in the skies of Sydney (with Nineās chopper following Sevenās on at least two occasionsā¦just a coincidence?) but I canāt recall seeing one from Ten.
I think they sold the choppers.
Ten often get footage from Seven and nine and abc. Again cheap. They can barely resource their own news service.
Perhaps they kept the chopper in Perth?. Iām not too sure.
2 Likes
I donāt believe Ten has had news choppers since 1990-91.
1 Like
This was the Perth one, not too sure if they still have one
1 Like
Ten seems to have had a long history of chopper crashes.
1984 in Sydney:
1990 in Perth:
2 Likes
Donāt all the networks share/take turns anyway?
(i.e.) Overnight/early morning, weekends, etc. Same with the chopper.
I have seen Tenās Matt Gallant do a couple of reports, where he has been the only person with a mic and cameraman.
With Seven & Nine using that footage.
It was for a major road accident at like 3am or something a few weeks ago. They arrived shortly after.
I guess networks organise one network to grab footage for everyone, if its in a similar circumstance, etc.
I know in Sydney during the mid 2000s Ten Sydney had a sponsored traffic chopper with regular updates from a bloke called Vic Laruso. That was during a time when Seven and Nine werenāt offering the service
1 Like
ahhhh the ole āVic Lorusso from the Car City.com.au traffic chopperā
1 Like
Vic Laruso and others still does sponsored traffic chopper reports nightly in Sydney.
2 Likes
I believe Sydney/Melbourne recently had themā¦ when Ten had the AFL, the Ten News chopper was often used.
Sydney I assume may still have one.
they had one in Melbourne until the first round of budget cuts IIRC
Ten would be leasing those choppers for specific events. My post shouldāve been clearer- Ten hasnāt owned choppers since the early '90s. Most stations owned and maintained their own choppers back in those days and employed their own pilots. They were network status symbols in the '80s but such extravagances were quickly cut in times of financial struggle.
1 Like
I remember at one stage it was the Panadol traffic helicopter and then the Mix 106.5 traffic helicopter lol
1 Like
I remember that too. I think that it was known as the āPanadol chopperā back in the Early 2000ās (thereās a clip on YouTube from 2003 featuring this) and then it was the Mix 106.5 traffic helicopter in the Mid-Late 2000s.
1 Like
Thatās the one. Far out didnāt realise it was from 2003
A TVO chopper crashed into Mt Coot-tha as well one year killing the pilot.