Well yes, but that would be up to the Government, and I’d say WIN and Seven would both oppose it as they claim there isn’t enough revenue for a third broadcaster.
Not really the job of a private operator to act where the government regulator has failed to regulate effectively.
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it would be a loss-making venture and it’s not Ten’s obligation to fix others’ past mistakes.
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Interesting to see the fate of SCA’s multichannels SBN and especially Sky News Regional with the sale. Could Sky be extended or shut down eventually?
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The justification of shutting down 10 Mildura was that it never turned a profit in the almost two decades it was on air.
You’re asking 10 to take on the start-up costs of establishing a new station in a market that will never make them money? They might as well put that money in an oil drum and light a match.
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Internal email sent around Paramount Aus today:
Following today’s news, Beverley McGarvey, president Network 10, head of streaming & regional lead, Paramount ANZ shared the following message with Paramount staff in Australia:
“Dear all
Southern Cross Austereo (SCA) has announced that it has signed a Binding Terms Sheet for the sale of its television licences in Queensland, southern New South Wales and Victoria to Network 10.
This announcement reinforces Paramount’s commitment to the Australian market and in particular Network 10.
Please note that the completion of the sale is subject to certain conditions, including appropriate regulatory approval.
The SCA ASX release which contains further information is attached.
Please don’t hesitate to reach out to your manager or HR business partner if you have any questions.
Kind regards,
Beverley”
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Excuse my ignorance but how many separate feeds does SCA put out these days across southern NSW, VIC and QLD? I should know the answer as I’ve been in the industry long enough, but the current number escapes me…
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SCA has 17 (at least main channel) feeds across southern NSW, VIC & QLD.
This includes:
Canberra, Wollongong, South Coast, Central West, Riverina, Western VIC, Central VIC, Goulburn Valley, Albury/Wodonga, Gippsland, Sunshine Coast, Darling Downs, Wide Bay, Central QLD, Mackay, Townsville & Cairns.
When including at least 10 Peach Comedy & 10 Bold Drama, that increases to 51 feeds. Unsure if Nickelodeon have separate feeds for each viewing area, or just for each aggregated market. I know that Sky News Regional feeds are just for each aggregated market.
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Thank you, TV-Expert. You very much confirmed a hunch that I had.
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I wonder if this will mean they’ll be dropping Sky as soon as their contract is up.
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Yet that’s the beauty of a capitalist economy - the private sector is able to see opportunities and do what the Government have failed to do.
Really that’s bullshiit spun by Prime and WIN. They deliberately structured the JV to have their main stations sell advertising packages with free airtime given on Ten to minimise affiliate fees and profit share with their competitor. The main reason they closed down MDT was to try to bully the government into reducing regulation on regional TV.
The difference for TEN is that they have a vested interest in making sure their product gets to any many people as possible. It might not happen, but with Ten in a position to maybe do something, there’s now the clearest chance ever that Ten could return to Mildura.
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Apologies as I am not really not up with the licence obligations, but is this considered a trigger event to increase local news, or are the current SCA news updates at that level already?
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The report mentions that sales staff will still be run by SCA. At least in the short run. I would imagine SCA will still control news updates. It seems to be a 5 year transition period as SCA will still be taking a profit from advertising.
I would imagine all regional operation will be integrated into the 10 Network in coming years ahead.
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A bit sad to see another regional player go (at least for the Ten stations), now we only have WIN, Imparja and SCA Seven.
I can see WIN also selling Ten NNSW to Paramount and gaining more control in Nine, then merging WIN into the Nine stations, saving costs while also gaining a larger share of the company.
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Not necessarily. SCA 10 has had no real identity for years other than being a crappier version of metro 10.
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Private companies will also only fill that void if there’s money to be made. If there’s no profit, there’s no business case.
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Obviously. Thanks for providing that definition of “opportunity” for us.
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This does count as a trigger event, which slightly increases the local content requirements.
This table was made back when they were being updated, so the “Proposed” column is what we now have. One or two extra updates a day will likely cover the increase (news content counts for double).
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Probably 10 will introduce local bulletins at some point:
Given CTC had a successful bulletin from Canberra. Maybe 10 should increase its Canberra presence in the future?
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No, I believe SCA integrated their tv sales staff with many of their radio sales, so it is in their interest to continue local representation like they do on a national level for WIN Ten and their JV stations.
Actually not a bad thing for Ten as I am sure that SCA would likely continue a multi-platform approach to maximise sales opportunities in those markets, at least as long as there is an incentive for them with the “profit” sharing arrangement until 2030.
Although looks like now Ten will be taking over national sales representation for the Ten relays across much of the country, which should include the WIN contract much like what Nine already does with much of its owned and affiliated footprint.
There is no reason Ten can’t accommodate the noodle updates from one or all three capital cities, all they need is three people and three desks at most then structure filming in existing studios using spare capacity around any existing metro requirements. With the trigger, an extra three minutes per weekday is simply an extra two or three noodle updates which is easy for them to do using existing content developed by the journalist from that day. Plus it is not like advertising airtime is at a premium 24/7 on the number 4-rated main channel.
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