I’ve just realised the following.
The first weeknight that WIN News will not be seen in the Central West, Riverina, Albury/NE VIC & Wide Bay regions, will also be the 3rd anniversary of WIN’s affiliation switch from Nine to Ten. That’s because the first Monday after the axings will be July 1. Coincidence? 
What a horrible thing to say about people’s jobs.
Sad day for all networks in that area considering how much we all work together, especially working in that area myself for Nine.
Or just make bigger cuts. Look at radio and print media. Merge, cut. Buy out, cut. Take over, cut.
For as much shit as we give WIN for their awful watermarks and questionable programming choices, this is genuinely sad news. I live in the Orange broadcast area and the local news scene here is so diverse, which directly benefits local events, jobs, and the economy. To lose part of that diversity will be a significant loss.
But, I think this is the full stop on a slow demise, punctuated by the affiliation change in 2016. As others have said, WIN simply haven’t kept up with what local news (and news more generally) has turned into over the last 10-15 years. I think the only things that have really changed between the WIN News I remember in Wollongong growing up in the early '90s and the news now, are the set and the graphics. That simply won’t do, as we’ve seen.
HELL No.
SCA Nine should have separate bulletins or the Shepparton part should merge with Bendigo and Make a Northern Victoria( It is about 90 mins from Bendigo to Shepparton instead of 2 and a half hours between Albury/Wodonga to Shepparton)
Either way, The current bulletin has about 80% slantes towards Albury in the Border North East(or it is Albury Shepparton as advertise on Radio here?), So not a lot of people watch it here around Shepparton
One Journalist in the Goulburn Valley for SCA Nine does not scratch the surface for the news coverage in the valley(compare to 3 at WIN).
At the moment, Win has no competition in the Shepparton market will not ditch a market with a near monopoly in the broadcast area.
All Nine Regional newsrooms have 3 Journalists and 2 Camera Operators. The Nine News website only displays Journalists who have published an online article.
Except Darwin which has 5 Journalists and 4 Camera Operators, plus an Engineer and Editor.
I’m only a bit surprised that it hasn’t happened sooner, given Southern Cross TEN hadn’t done ANY local news bulletins anywhere in the aggregated markets since 2000 (Townsville/Cairns being the last operating ones).
3 Journalist to cover an Area of North Eastern Victoria? 3 Journalist to one office(ie 3 in Shepparton and 3 in Albury)? 6 Jurno(or 3 in a couple of weeks) for Win in Albury/Wodonga and shepparton vs 3 in Border North East which cover both market
I know when watching Nine News Border North east that same Journalist is doing stories for the whole Goulburn Valley(Shepparton)
Incorrect. Southern Cross Ten did have a News/Feature show that run in the Shepparton Market for 4 years called Weeknights
Sorry, got a little confused.
Yes, 3 full-time Journalists in that market, along with a handful of casuals.
A journalist and cam get allocated to a certain part of the district and they go there and cover it everyday. They tend to switch it up every few weeks.
Nine News Central Victoria and Nine News Border North East tend to work closely together in that market to fill the windows.
The same goes for Central West.
Ex-WIN News journalists (some of who’ve since moved onto bigger & better things in the industry) have their say about the bulletin axings:
And one who (to the best of my knowledge anyway) wasn’t at WIN News, but has a regional TV reporting background nonetheless:
Although I think the journalists currently at Nine may need reminding about an uncomfortable truth: The Nine Network ending their affiliation with WIN a few years ago in favour of the current deal with SCA that has resulted in the establishment of local TV news services for Nine’s new regional affiliate were decisions which probably lead to WIN News’ cutbacks, directly or otherwise.
Those journalists were not responsible for any of what happened though.
Of course I’m not trying to suggest they were in any way responsible for what happened (it’d be like complaining about the lack of full bulletins from some regional networks to those who just present the legally mandated updates, not fair), although I can understand how that may be misinterpreted.
It’d probably also be interesting to hear a take on the bulletin axings from former Central West & current WIN News Illawarra reporter Samara Gardner, although I suspect that’s unlikely to happen for obvious reasons!
On air it would have been near impossible for viewers to tell the difference. The important local content is the reporters on the ground, not where the bulletin is presented from.
If moving WIN News to Wollongong saved jobs for reporters in the Victorian bulletins that survived this round of cuts - then it was worth it.
The only way moving to Wollongong hurt WIN was because of the earlier deadlines for reports that it resulted in - meaning the news was more stale than the competition - especially against Nine who at least present live segments.
It’s a huge shame to see WIN dropping local news - but hard not to see the writing on the wall.
WIN really should have experimented with different formats and timeslots before swinging the axe. Trying the same old thing wasn’t going to work against new competition, after the disruption of switching timeslots and lead in from the number 1 news service to number 4.
It is good that most areas impacted by these cuts are still well served - in many cases bringing them back to the levels of service there was prior to Nine’s bulletins launching, but it is very harmful for WIN’s image and brand.
WIN’s solid blue map of Australia stings more after this - boast about being ‘Australian’ when you’re investing in servicing your viewers…
They have experimented with different timeslots. For years, they were at 6. Then in the last years of Nine News being a half hour, they switched to 6.30. Then the hour bulletin came in so they switched to 7pm. Then they went back to 6. Then they went to Ten affiliations.
Formats, yes, but 7pm was never going to work because so many people watch the local news and then watch ABC. 6.30 was probably optimum but wasn’t going to happen once the hour came along.
Wow, I’m absolutely gutted for the crew in these regions. A very dark day for regional news.
There are so many great people who have relocated their lives and families to these regions to take up employment with WIN.
I really hope WIN don’t just turn their backs on everyone directly affacted.
I guess this move also means Wollongong will be seeing a surge in irrelevant out of state traveller packages in it’s bulletin, which can’t be good.
They haven’t tried different timeslots since the Ten affiliation, and only moved to 6pm because of it.
Being at 6pm again put them directly competing against Prime/Seven, something they hadn’t dealt with in years - then add more competition from Nine. They went from being the only local news offering at 6:30/7pm, to being one of three at 6pm in some markets.
There’s plenty they could have tried timeslot wise. Even if that meant going to Sky and seeing if they could produce a National News bulletin for them, or pre-empting the first half hour of The Project and being on at 6:30.
Try something at least, even just scheduling some repeats on Bold/Peach - like Seven running the Queensland Local News on 7 Two.
How attractive to regional viewers would half hour AAN-style statewide bulletins be? State-specific regional news only, no metro or international.
Would certainly be a point of difference from Prime and Seven’s local half hours and Nine’s composites, keeps to the most important stories and cuts down on fluff pieces to fill the slot. Also reduces costs for the number of bulletins they need to make, freeing up a little money to keep maybe one to two journalists and camera operators in the smaller regions.
NNSW, SNSW, RVIC and RQLD (maybe even separate Northern and Southern RQLD for relevance). No change to Tasmania (still managed by RVIC team but fully separate bulletin).
Why not switch to the 9 / SCA model
3 live statewide bulletins (VIC, NSW, QLD) with local inserts