WIN TV closing newsrooms
Another blow to regional journalism.
- Published by David Knox
- on
- Filed under News
WIN TV newsrooms in Orange, Dubbo, Albury, Wagga Wagga and Queensland’s Wide Bay will shut down next week in a move that is being blamed on rising costs and increased competition.
Other WIN newsrooms are not affected.
While the bulletins are presented from WIN’s Wollongong base, there are on-the-ground journalists and crews in each region.
Staff were pulled into meetings yesterday and told their offices would be shut down on June 28, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.
The closures will affect up to 40 staff, including casuals.
In a statement a WIN TV spokesperson made pointed remarks about the lack of a level playing field.
“The decision to cease production of the Bulletins was based on the commercial viability of funding news in these areas. Changing content consumption habits and increased competition from digital content providers, that don’t face the same regulatory conditions that challenge traditional media, has led to a reduction in demand for local news bulletins in these regions,” she said.
“In our other markets nothing has changed. WIN remains committed to local news and content but in a regional media environment that has its challenges and faces increasing program supply and infrastructure costs, WIN needs to continue to review its operating model to ensure the ongoing success of the business.
“WIN’s priority in the short term will be working with the staff impacted to attempt to redeploy them into other roles in the Network.”
The cuts come after WIN moved its Tasmanian news bulletin to its Wollongong offices last year, cutting its staff from 18 to 9. WIN TV also closed down its production unit in Toowoomba last September.
7 Responses
Why does 10 have to do this? It would be better to keep the newsrooms running and move the staff around when needed…
SCA9 has also closed regional news and 7 is running on the smell of an oily rag. It is the battle of the shrinking pie. On top of that they all have out dated business models from the golden era. No use complaining about level playing field.
WIN should have never partnered with 10. The reduced audience was bound to affect the News eventually, they sped up the death of their bulletins. By doing so they also created another competitor in SC Nine’s local news.
I don’t think they had much of a choice once Nine went to SC
The death of regional television that Bob Hawke started with his stupid decision on “equalisation” more than thirty years ago is now just that little bit closer …
What startup or internet only competitors do they have in regional areas?
We have nothing internet wise out Dubbo way so this is a huge blow, it actually is a horrible thing to happen. Win News was so much better than Prime’s local news.