Top end TV deal expected
A deal between Imparja and Nine Darwin is expected within days -but what will it mean for the Darwin newsroom?
- Published by David Knox
- on
- Filed under News
An announcement on Darwin’s Channel 9 television station being taken over by Alice Springs-based Imparja is expected within days.
Both the Northern Territory News and the ABC features articles which further speculation that the Nine Network is considering an offer from Imparja. Senior sources at Nine have said the deal is a fait accompli, according to the Northern Territory News.
But the takeover would likely see the station’s 30-minute 6pm local bulletin scrapped and replaced by five-minute update bulletins. Most of the production and editorial staff will be replaced by a Darwin news bureau staffed by only two journalists and one cameraman.
Staff at Nine’s Darwin offices have been kept in the dark about the offer but many are convinced the deal will go ahead.
Imparja chief executive Alistair Seehan has denied any knowledge of his company making a bid for Nine. Nine’s Darwin general manager Andy Bruyn also said he knew nothing of the takeover.
“I wouldn’t have a clue and I wouldn’t tell you if I did,” he said.
Doctor Mike Minehan is from Insearch, affiliated with the University of Technology in Sydney said, “News is actually a very dedicated activity to put together and I think if you cut it in any way, if you cut its budget, cut its time, if you just become a parcel service for some far-flung station from another state, then I think it would be tragic for the local community.”
Nine’s Darwin operation, NTD, is owned by PBL Media and run by the Nine Network under the company name Territory Television Pty Ltd.
PBL spokesman Scott Briggs declined to say if Imparja had made an offer to Nine. “Territory Television continues to be owned by the Nine Network,” he said.
5 Responses
The Australian today has a report on the rumoured merger.
newtaste, my mistake, Darwin does have a local ABC News and Stateline. But dumping the 6pm news bulletin would be a hard call for any new owner of Nine Darwin to make, especially because NTD is the oldest commercial station in that market.
“I honestly think Imparja would make the critical mistake of dropping Darwin’s only 30 minute local news bulletin”
Doesn’t the ABC have a local nightly 30min news, and a local weekly Stateline?
I hate to say it, but the only buyer out there that would retain local news would be WIN Television. Love them or hate them, they always put local news first.
I honestly think Imparja would make the critical mistake of dropping Darwin’s only 30 minute local news bulletin… Darwin viewers may not take to having Paige and Foord from NNN Brisbane aired in Darwin instead of a local 6pm bulletin. Sure Darwin is a small market, but it needs a local 30 min commercial bulletin just as much as the aggregated areas on the East Coast.