Soon to be known as The Occasional 
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Another early start for the bulletin tonight, due to the BBL match in Sydney (Thunder v Heat) being called off with persistent rain.
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I can’t stand the format of The Latest. I only watched it for first time tonight, it’s cheaply put together and lack of scripts make Musher look underprepared and like he’s winging it.
Isn’t that the point?
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One week the latest is too pre-recorded and another week it needs to be more scripted. 
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Tune in next week to find out The Latest complaints about The Latest in this developing thread which of course if happening right now.
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Don’t worry about it, the program will be gone in a few weeks once the cricket comes to and end… 
Why do you say that?
I like the format, it isn’t the ancient 6pm format which is oh so tired.
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I can’t point to any hard evidence, just professional intuition.
I don’t believe any commercial network is going down the path of doing a late news… there’s no audience driving model for it any more.
The networks haven’t been backward to doing news where ever they can… they’d have been doing it already if they saw an advantage.
I could be wrong… but I think The Latest was a summer filler.
I’m a news guy, so I hope I am wrong.
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Same, I really like the formate. Hope the bulletin stays on throughout the year.
There are as many people watching TV at 10.30pm as 4pm
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If The Latest continues into the year when do we think it might air?
Could it be at 10pm?
Reality 7.30-9, an hour show 9-10, then The Latest?
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The only argument against that is the amount of money invested in the format can’t be ignored - a custom desk (desks costs an absolute bomb by the way), time spent on a seperate graphics look, money spend on extra staffing, etc, etc.
While FTA networks should be used to shows getting the axe after money has been invested, I don’t think it supports your argument that commercial networks aren’t interested in the format.
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In fact the potential audience is far larger, but people switch off as nothing good is offered after 9pm.
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I doubt programmers would agree with you.
Speaking of whom, programmers just don’t like news in prime time (after 7.30)… look at the history of late bulletins most commercial networks kept pushing them out to 11pm or later. In this day and age no one is going to invest in news programming after 11.
And as I have said in the past there is no point in a headline news service late at night anymore. The audience updates itself continuously via social media and other online/digital platforms.
Ratings at 6pm are half what they were 20 years ago for this very reasons amongst others.
If you’re going to do a late night “news” service it has to add value in some way, shape or form.
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Hong Kong’s top-rating network TVB has been having news at 11pm since 2009. From January 2015 to July 2016 it was a one-hour bulletin with indepth reports and sports news, which were not seen during the 6.30pm bulletin. Although the late news is trimmed back to 30 minutes now, it has replaced the 6.30pm news as TVB’s flagship bulletin.
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And many people do go to bed early in Hong Kong yet the bulletin still rates. No reason why it can’t work again in Australia.
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Because Hong Kong is not Australia.
People work late, eat late, shop late.
Culturally completely different t.
And seeing as we’re taking about HK, FTA television is in something of a crisis… the English language channels are barely watched and ATV went to the wall.
HK is probably not the best example to quote.
And by the way, have you ever watched the late news in HK? It’s a pile of shit… basically rehashed stories from the earlier main news. If that’s your model for late news in Australia, knock yourself out.
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Did you even read what I said earlier? Most of people in HK sleep very early as well (it’s an Asian habit. Having been there myself most people I know of sleep early at night).
If HK Late news (based off rehash of the 6:30 bulletin) can remain sustainable with a majority of the very small population going to bed early, there’s no excuse for Australia to not do the same. If you want to know why Australian sleep early, then why don’t you ask the networks themselves since they turned the once profitable slot into a dump.
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