Seven axes Today Tonight in Sydney, Melbourne & Brisbane.
Seven moves to a one hour news bulletin in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, confirming the axing of Today Tonight.
- Published by David Knox
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Seven has confirmed its move to a one hour news bulletin in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, confirming the axing of Today Tonight after 20 years.
Locally-produced versions remain in Adelaide and Perth.
The news follows ongoing rumours amid Nine’s move to a one hour news bulletin, and the departure of host Helen Kapalos last month.
Seven CEO Tim Worner sent an email to staff today:
Today we are announcing plans to transition to a one hour news bulletin at 6pm in our Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane markets, effective from tonight.
In Adelaide and Perth, we will continue with Today Tonight where the programs serve as really important local windows.
All staff previously working on the East Coast editions of TT will continue in their roles and will contribute to News Investigations and Features as well as TT ( Adelaide and Perth) under Executive Producer Max Uechtritz. Max will now report to Rob Raschke.
This move is about building and investing in Seven’s leading news coverage . In recent times we have increased our level of news across the day with great success. We plan to do even more in the future.
We see this as an exciting opportunity to serve our news audience in a better way.
I want to take this chance to pay tribute to Today Tonight and the TT team on the East Coast. Over many years, and as recently as last week, the program has broken big stories, kept consumers informed and held people to account.
Thank you for your continuing efforts and commitment.
The change comes despite Seven programmer Angus Ross telling TV Tonight last week, the news hour was “business as usual for us.”
“Nine have opted to go with their one hour news but I always look for flexibility in our news hour depending on news events and we still look for that.
“We’re experimenting in the hour as Nine is, but we’re not going to a one hour news.”
Today Tonight has come in for its share of tabloid criticism under hosts Naomi Robson, Anna Coren, Matt White and Helen Kapalos, including for its extraordinary use of the word ‘Exclusive’ across multiple stories.
It has been a regular target of Media Watch and The Chaser’s War on Everything with some of its more controversial stories involving faked recreations on the chase for Christopher Skase, Papuan child “Wa Wa,”  ‘chaining’ up a nursing home resident for visual effect, defaming Mercedes Corby and, last week, was criticised for airing a ‘breakthrough’ story that was filmed 3 years ago.
But it has also been a successful ratings winner for Seven for two decades, as part of the network’s early evening line-up, including several years of beating its rival, A Current Affair.
Today a Seven spokesperson said Seven had been expanding its news department in recent weeks including to a 24 hour newsroom and indicated a stronger news brand was the way forward.
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- Tagged with A Current Affair, Media Watch, Seven News, The Chaser's War on Everything, Today Tonight
71 Responses
My favourite Robson moment was her reporting live from Australia Zoo as news of Steve Irwin’s passing was developing and, in keeping with the solemnity of the occasion, she had a lizard sitting on her shoulder. Class act.
I agree that it seems strange to come out now – last week I thought TT worked quite well up against 6.30 news….
will be interesting to see if 9 make up ground now…
In battle, they often copied each other. Wonder if they’ll do the same in their demises? One can only hope.
I like Tracy as a personality, but I just think these tabloid shows plus reality TV is starting to dumb us all down a bit… They could almost run ‘local’ versions for the various stories for all the “shameful local councils, social housing vandalism and con artists” and put them on Extra4Me and other secondary channels as a Community Service Announcment series.
While I think TT is dreadful and glad to see the back of it, why would you axe a show that regularly received 1 million viewers every night?! Surely the news won’t do any better especially given how poorly 7 news rates in Melbourne?
As others have said, there really isn’t that much news that they need an hour a night.
7 would be wise to put Helen K with Peter Mitchell on 7 Melbourne news and see if it rates any better with a 2 person format – she is very popular in Melbourne.
David, is 7TWO news at 7 still happening? Surely not much need for it now?
I think this isn’t a very wise move by 7.
It was only on a few occasions when A Current Affair bet Today Tonight. Channel 7 had the point of difference having only a half an hour news bulletin and now they don’t.
michaelOz – 7:30, Lateline, and The Project?
Can see it now, from about 2pm today:
ACA’s new advert: “Australia’s only nightly current affairs show!”
I’d say 7:30 would have a thing or two to say about that.
Whyyyyyy can’t they get rid of it all together?! Us Adelaidians are stuck with it. And take ACA with you!
1 hour news bulletins work well on major news days – but when its slow I guess it will be filled with the usual ‘which suburb has the cheapest groceries’ or ‘the new miracle diet’ type of stories.
@FKlein @susierids
I agree, Ten’s format for one hour news is really good.
@Guy – No. Seven lead, Prime follows, as with Nine and WIN where “The best hour of news in the country” now runs for 90 minutes. WIN had no hesitation in shafting ACA off to somewhere here and there on GEM. Prime’s problem is Home and Away, which they would be crazy to move.
Bit…it’s not a problem at all for Prime really. Just drop out at 6:30. The next 30mins will be, like Nine, lengthy Myer/David Jones (insert more here) sales/fashion parades, and TT fillers which Prime never took anyway, at least in local news regions.
Agree FKlein. TEN has always done one hour news well. It will be interesting to see how “newsy” the bulletins remain or whether they become TT dressed as News.
Ugh. After watching 7’s news religiously for 10+ years, I’ll be waiting the extra hour for ABC. Can’t stand this hour long “news” concept when half of it isn’t news.
Damn. I’m going to miss 80% of the stories being paid by advertisers.
In Perth we rely on Sydney TT stories with one or two local stories. We will not be able to sustain a 30 min show. Already it is starting at 6.40 and by 6.50 they are doing the weather.
Ten are going to be very nervous you’d have to think, where do this leave The Project? 10’s 6pm woes just doubled…. Much harder to get anything up now at 6pm even the “entertainment” show, even if its a killer format (not likely) its going to be an uphill battle to get any sort of cut through
What happens in Darwin – 7 haven’t got TBBT as a filler??
To the east coast of Australia: thankyou for not putting up with this crap
Yes, “Today Tonight” might be no more, but I have no doubt that you will still see those same dodgy stories popping up to help fill out their one hour news bulletin.
Bad landlords/bad tenants/best toasters/supermarket rip-offs etc.
Putting those under the guise of “news” is far worse.
What! The last week went so well for them, one of their best weeks in years. 9s move presented a great opportunity for 7 to regain leadership with what they had. why fix something that isn’t broken. Lots of people hate 1hr news and now 7 are just going to resume 2nd place at it. Don’t like this one bit.
Some days it seems like 7 struggles to fill a 30 minute time slot with news. How on earth will they fill an hour. I predict many puff pieces and cross promotions will be passed off as news.
Splitting the network and having two different news/current affairs formats? Can’t see that lasting…
Yay!! Good news 🙂
“All staff previously working on the East Coast editions of TT will continue in their roles and will contribute to News Investigations and Features”
Tells me everything I need to know about the extra news stories that 7 news will have to have to make their news an hour long.
Ten do hour long news really well. It’s sad that 7 and 9 out rate them by quite a bit.
So what about regional areas? If Seven are having 1 hour news bulletins does our schedule get pushed back 30 minutes or what? Have they thought about that?