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Seven culls Publicity staff

Publicity staff in Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide were given bad news today.

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Amongst the retrenchments today from Seven’s internal restructure are publicity teams based outside of Sydney.

Publicity staff in Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide were given bad news today with Seven sources confirming these will be centralised from Sydney. This includes 5 in Melbourne plus 1 each in Adelaide and Brisbane.

Perth has been spared the same cut in Publicity due to its wider role as part of The West Australian.

All Publicity will fall under a yet to be announced new Chief of Marketing. James Warburton has restructured with a “flatter” management with 8 new divisions and the axing of Sunday Night. There are no plans to change Today Tonight on the East Coast or in Adelaide and Perth where both are consistent winners.

The decision to cull teams on the ground has many in the industry taken by surprise today. Other networks all operate with on the ground teams in Melbourne.

While shoots can draw upon a Unit Publicist there are still relationships and bookings to be liaised on a daily basis with journalists, radio and events in both community & corporate.

Having dealt with the Seven Melbourne team across many years I am personally indebted for their great work.

Today’s news has certainly rippled around the industry….

26 Responses

  1. This is what 7 Sydney always does. Back in 1987, State Affair was rating in the twenties in Brisbane and had slipped a few points. Against the wishes of the BTQ management, Sydney decided to scrap the program and go with a 1-one-hour news – which rated around seven and left the way open for 9 to dominate for years. What was that Crowded House song? Oh yes – history never repeats …

  2. I’d say this has had a really interesting effect in QLD.

    Seven BNE had been plugging until this morning that they’d be holding a special event at Eat Street Markets at Hamilton (10km from CBD) on Monday (a public holiday up here) for upcoming 60th birthday.

    This morning, Eat Street Northshore FB page announced that the event had been canned: due to “unforeseen circumstances beyond our control”.

    I’d say the event’s cancellation is definitely connected with the BNE publicity cuts at 7.

  5. 7 have a difficult task in front of them. If they handle this badly, a lot of Melbourne viewers may decide that 7 is Sydney-centric and they’ll abandon 7. Years ago, 7 proudly promoted ‘Made in Melbourne’ for many of their programs. Now, it looks like that they’ll be advertising, “Proudly promoted from Sydney”. Also, what are 7 going to do when Melbourne’s population outstrips Sydney’s population in a decade or so? Alienating Australia’s biggest market surely then wouldn’t be a smart move business-wise.

      1. While it was a reasonable point, aren’t the networks more inclined to invest in Melbourne now more then ever, with the population (5m metro, 6m total Victorians) and continued large immigration and growth?

        And HSV-7 is intrinsic is it not, with AFL/VFL and multiple other local sports of national iconic status over the decades? That’ll always be a “Melbourne-centric” draw card.

        But agree that Nine have made big, big in-roads in Melbourne in recent years with interest, promotion, executives, talent, protection and events. Same has always been said for 10, especially 2000s.

          1. According to AdWeek schedules are lined up for restructuring. Also a cohort of staff currently in Melbourne

          2. Given the remarkable similarity to my story it would be nice if they credited too. Not sure TVT is a place for referencing sources who have actually sourced from TVT! Way too circular….

          3. interesting that the ‘schedules department’ was also specifically named in the ‘other’ article that didn’t acknowledge your work David, given you had referred to the Broadcast centre emptying out as they are also based there largely. Maybe things will start on time in future!

    2. “when Melbourne’s population outstrips Sydney’s population in a decade or so?”

      Is there any other city in the world with this much of an inferiority complex?

    3. Completely agree. I grew up and spent 33 of my 35 years in Melbourne. I loved as a kid see all the ‘made in Melbourne’ stamps across the screens. I was there as a kid walking through the old Seven studios on their open day seeing many shows which were local. I was walking past the dockland studios the other day wondering whats made from these studios these days, and its the news and all of the AFL content and shows. Its quite a lot actually, so very shocked that Sydney folk would now do this…

  6. I hope everyone affected is able to land on their feet and bounce back from this.
    This is a pathetic decision from Seven. Seems like nothing but quick cost cutting without proper thought put into it. I’m so confused as to why they’re cutting Melbourne especially because of the AFL. Seven are going to see a negative affect from this…

  8. “There are no plans to change Today Tonight on the East Coast” – that sentence makes no sense. It would have to exist there to change anything with it.

  9. Absolutely gobsmacked there will be no publicity presence in Melbourne. That is astonishing given the size of the market and it’s contribution to ratings. Does this mean the program manager handles any ancillary hands-on publicity matters? I guess he won’t be doing much else now??

    1. Tragically, A Current Affair is still on in the East Coast. But I have to agree, it has been a great five years without that trash that Seven calls “current affairs”. Don’t wreck it Seven by bringing back Today Tonight.

      1. Today Tonight (as it exists now in Perth at least) isn’t anywhere near as trashy as ACA. It’s often community feel good puff pieces or an actual informative story on new infrastructure/event in the city etc. An extended sports story thrown in too. It doesn’t really do much IQ lowering.

        1. @ aesthetic. I’ll admit I haven’t seen Today Tonight in Perth for some time, so I can’t comment properly on what the show is like now. However when I last watched the show years ago, there were many stories which were really advertorials disguised as news stories. They were very biased and not a current affairs at all. Does that still happen?

  13. Looks like 7 is all about Sydney now. How dumb not to leave any publicity staff in a major centre like Melbourne and other Capitals. Gob smacking !! To do this, Seven must see Sydney as King and the others as just outside regions.

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