At the Screen Forever conference earlier this year, 10 Executive Sarah Thornton reinforced the need for the show to be live and not just available on one platform, saying:<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was still the most-streamed show on 10 streaming of the year. And it\u2019s worth saying that it\u2019s not that Gen Z didn\u2019t find it on linear TV either. You know, we still won 16 to 39 and 25 to 54 demos. So they were there.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe other thing that\u2019s worth saying is it works so well for Big Brother because the point of the show is that it\u2019s a national conversation. Can you have a national conversation these days if you only exist in one place? You probably can\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
And she\u2019s right.<\/p>\n
What 10 did so well here was allowing the livestream to be available on platforms like TikTok \u2013 it didn\u2019t just limit itself to the Channel 10 platforms.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a strategy backed up by Director of Content at Endemol Shine, Amelia Fisk:<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was about just creating awareness and capturing an audience and then pushing it back to the daily show to broadcast and every decision and strategy around that was to kind of push back into broadcast.\u201d<\/p>\n
While this year the season will only be a week longer, I think it\u2019s fair enough to assume a much longer season next year, especially if this one is as successful as last year.<\/p>\n
WIN TAKES THE AXE TO NBN<\/p>\n
When Nine Entertainment sold regional station NBN Newcastle to WIN TV last month there were fears the deal would weaken one of Australia\u2019s last truly local TV News services.<\/p>\n
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As Kevin Perry at TV Blackbox wrote at the time<\/a>:<\/p>\n \u201cNBN\u2019s local bulletin has historically focused heavily on regional stories, local emergencies, community events and issues directly impacting audiences across Northern NSW. In many communities, it remains one of the few genuinely local media outlets still operating at scale.<\/p>\n \u201cThe fear now is that WIN may eventually dismantle that structure in pursuit of operational efficiencies.\u201d<\/p>\n Well, it seems Kevin was right<\/p>\n WIN has announced<\/a> the local NBN news service is being cut to just 30 minutes and will soon air at the new time of 5.30pm, followed by the Sydney edition of Nine News.<\/p>\n This would follow the programming strategy of WIN News, which airs in the same timeslot Monday to Friday.<\/p>\n The weekend edition is being axed entirely and there will be job losses, although the network hasn\u2019t revealed how many people will be affected.<\/p>\n In a statement, WIN Network Chief Executive Andrew Lancaster said:<\/p>\n \u201cThe changes to our weeknight bulletins are designed to deliver more local content, more local stories and a stronger connection to the communities we serve across Northern New South Wales\u201d.<\/p>\n Get your hand off it, Andrew.<\/p>\n Don\u2019t feed us spin and expect us to swallow it. You\u2019re doing it because you have to.<\/p>\n Television is struggling, and I understand you have to bring down operational costs. It was obvious that this was always going to happen with NBN.<\/p>\n But don\u2019t tell us you\u2019re doing more local content when you\u2019re literally taking away weekend news services.<\/p>\n You\u2019re reducing the bulletin from an hour to half an hour.<\/p>\n And yes, the one-hour bulletin wasn\u2019t all local stories \u2013 \u00a0it also contained national and international stories that were supplied by TCN in Sydney.<\/p>\n I get all that.<\/p>\n But the fact is, with these changes, you don\u2019t need as many staff, and you are not producing as many hours of local news.<\/p>\n Treat the viewers with respect. Just be honest and say this is about sustainability.<\/p>\n Make the case that you can\u2019t keep going if we stick to this model. You need to make these changes to make sure that the people of Newcastle can have local news into the long term, which is something WIN does believe in. I know that.<\/p>\n Just don\u2019t feed us this crap that you\u2019re delivering more local news.<\/p>\n You\u2019re not.<\/p>\n PLEASE HELP<\/p>\n I have a personal favour to ask \u2013 does anyone know where I can get a DVCAM player fixed?<\/p>\n I wouldn\u2019t usually ask something like this, but I\u2019m really at a loss where to go.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a second-hand DSR-1500, which I just bought and it\u2019s coming up with two error messages:<\/p>\n There\u2019s no tape stuck inside, so it\u2019s not related to that.<\/p>\n Is this something that can be easily fixed, or do I need to ship it back to Japan?<\/p>\n Any help would be greatly appreciated.<\/p>\n Please contact me at [email\u00a0protected]<\/a> or DM me on social media.<\/p>\n THAT GUY IS AN (ALLEGED) GROPER!<\/p>\n Radio executive Guy Ashford has been stood down after allegedly groping an employee at last week\u2019s Audio Awards.<\/p>\n Mediaweek reports<\/a> the incident happened during the acceptance speech of Cheralyn Darcey for the best Newcomer award.<\/p>\n Darcey hosts The Nightline on 2HD. Video of the incident has since been shared online and can be seen in the video version of this article in the player above.<\/p>\n It\u2019s genuinely shocking stuff.<\/p>\n The sad part about all this is the impact it\u2019s had on Cheralyn Darcey.<\/p>\n When contacted by The Daily Mail<\/a>, the radio host was reluctant to speak about the matter,<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t really want to talk to anybody,<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s wrecked my award, that\u2019s all. I really don\u2019t want to make any statement. I just can\u2019t.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve worked all my life for this. I feel like people just think I\u2019m a joke now.\u201d<\/p>\n Cheralyn, I\u2019m genuinely sorry you feel that way \u2013 but that\u2019s not how people are looking at you.<\/p>\n People are confused as to why you were treated this way and why on Earth this guy though doing that to you was ok.<\/p>\n It will be very surprising if he survives this \u2013 in fact there will be outrage if he does.<\/p>\n But legendary Brisbane radio presenter Spencer Howson believes he will survive. Speaking to Media McKnight, Howson says there is a history of men who behave badly continuing without consequences.<\/p>\n \u201cChris Smith lost his job at Nine Radio some years ago after an incident at the Christmas party and lost his Sky News job as well. He\u2019s now back on air, same network by the way and, he won an award as well last Thursday night. And I know a lot of people are saying, how the heck did he, was he not completely erased from Australian radio? How did he come back from that?\u201d<\/p>\n For me the difference here is Smith took responsibility for his actions, stopped drinking and has slowly rebuilt his career. He did suffer consequences (whether you think he suffered enough is another matter altogether).<\/p>\n Ashford has issued a private apology, but I don\u2019t believe that will be enough to allow him to keep his job.<\/p>\n And it shouldn\u2019t be enough.<\/p>\n LOCAL RADIO ON TOP<\/p>\n Spencer was actually joining me to talk local radio ratings \u2013 specifically Mildura and Geelong \u2013 which were published recently.<\/p>\n Looking at station performance in Mildura:<\/p>\n Triple M Sunraysia has come out on top with a 30.2% share. That\u2019s a massive increase of 10.6%.<\/p>\n Hit99.5 was close behind on 29.1.<\/p>\n Then it\u2019s daylight, followed by River 1467 on 15 and ABC Mildura on 8 percent.<\/p>\n Triple J lost 4.8% for a 4.4. share<\/p>\n In breakfast It was a rinse and repeat with Triple M on 31.6% \u2013 an increase of 11.2.<\/p>\n Hit 99.5 had to settle for second on a 30 share, down 4.8%.<\/p>\n River 1467 was a long way behind on 14.4, but did take third place.<\/p>\n ABC Mildura dropped 2.4% for a 8.8% share.<\/p>\n And Triple J was on 4.4% after losing 3.9% of the audience.<\/p>\n The fantastic results for local radio in Mildura tell a very different story to Mount Isa, which we covered recently on Media McKnight.<\/p>\n \u201cHit had a very successful survey there despite its breakfast show coming from the Gold Coast and beating the local stations. I fully expected the same in Mildura,\u201d explains Howson.<\/p>\n \u201cIn the past, the last survey here (in Mildura in 2023), you did have that situation where the number one station was HIT\u2026 the breakfast show came from Albury. Now the breakfast show on hit comes from Hobart.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe Triple M breakfast show has stayed local and we\u2019ve had this situation where, stations overall, but also breakfast, Triple M is number one. And people who are for live and local radio and believe that radio has to be and is at its best when it\u2019s live and local, it\u2019s a win.\u201d<\/p>\n I asked Spencer whether localism was the main driver for consumers or whether it comes down to simply having a better show.<\/p>\n \u201cTriple M breakfast, a bloke called Mattman could not be more local. Everyone around here knows him.<\/p>\n \u201cSo I\u2019ve been here for the last four days interviewing listeners and people who don\u2019t listen to radio. Whether they listen to Mattman or not, everyone knows him. And he\u2019s extraordinarily local, talks a lot about local sports, interviews local politicians.\u201d<\/p>\n So, Mattman is number 1 \u2013 but is that because he\u2019s local or because he has a better show?<\/p>\n It\u2019s something Spencer is investigating as part of his PhD as he travels the country talking to listeners.<\/p>\n We await the results.<\/p>\n LOCALISM ALSO (SEEMS TO BE) WORKING IN GEELONG<\/p>\n Here are the latest results in Geelong, and there is good news for local programming.<\/p>\n K rock is number one on 17.8%, an increase of 4.9%.<\/p>\n Bay 93.9 came in second on 17.1, an increase of 5.3%.<\/p>\n ABC Melbourne drew an 8.4% share.<\/p>\n Triple J came in fourth place with a 4.8% share.<\/p>\n And ABC Radio National made the top 5 with a 2.4% share.<\/p>\n In breakfast:<\/p>\n K rock was also in top place with an 18.7% share after a 7.3% rise.<\/p>\n Bay 93.9 also increased its audience for a 16.7% share.<\/p>\n ABC Melbourne was on 8.2%.<\/p>\n Triple J lost audience but drew 5.2% of the audience.<\/p>\n And ABC Radio National had a slight gain for a 3.4% share.<\/p>\n K rock and The bay are stablemates and the Quarter Hour podcast<\/a> spoke with Bay 93.9 music director Guy Mylecharane about the result.<\/p>\n Guy Mylecharane: We are stoked. A good result for local radio as well. Like yeah, we\u2019ve all put in a lot of hard work. I mean, I know everyone says that for a survey, but we really have and yeah, we are absolutely stoked.<\/p>\n Liam Renton: Let\u2019s talk a bit more about that survey for a minute. What, what\u2019s working, do you think, for Geelong Broadcasters? What, what\u2019s the secret sauce?<\/p>\n Guy Mylecharane: Being local, being connected and just really being Geelong loudly and proudly. Like Geelong again is an interesting market because you\u2019ve got people that have grown up here, but then you\u2019ve got a lot of people that are moving from Melbourne escaping the rat race.<\/p>\n Guy Mylecharane: You\u2019ve sort of got that mix of people that have grown up here. So, you wanna service them and make sure that they\u2019re local, but you don\u2019t wanna alienate them with things from the 80s that people who haven\u2019t grown up here that don\u2019t actually know about.<\/p>\n But Spencer points out these results are not quite as clear cut as they appear to be, saying:<\/p>\n \u201cThe Melbourne stations are not reported in the Geelong ratings. If you putvthe local stations there together, it comes to about 35%. So, there\u2019s about 65% that is not local and that includes Triple J, Radio National, Classic Affairs, ABC Melbourne.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s still about 47% missing. Where\u2019s 3AW?\u201d<\/p>\n 3AW being the number 1 station in Melbourne and it\u2019s signal reaches the Geelong market but isn\u2019t counted in these results.<\/p>\n As Spencer explains:<\/p>\n \u201cI wouldn\u2019t be surprised if it\u2019s actually the number one station in Geelong, but we\u2019re not gonna know that because it\u2019s not in the interest of the stations that are selling advertising in the Geelong market for anyone to know how successful 3AW is doing that.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s an issue fill-in host Liam Renton did raise with Mylecharane:<\/p>\n Liam Renton: Mate, correct my math, but the 47% unaccounted for in that survey, what\u2019s your take on that?<\/p>\n Guy Mylecharane: Uh, well, 51% of local people are tuning into Geelong local radio, whereas, last survey that number was a fair bit lower. So, I think we focus on the growth and look at the positives.<\/p>\n Liam Renton: Oh, it\u2019s absolutely positive. But where, like, where do you reckon they\u2019ve gone then? Obviously, Melbourne stations is the only other place they\u2019d get their radio listening, wouldn\u2019t that be the case?<\/p>\n Guy Mylecharane: Possibly. Like it\u2019s, it\u2019s a scattergun approach. Maybe it could be online as well. We\u2019re not sure, but yeah, I think we\u2019ve got to focus on where the local audience is coming from. But I\u2019d say if they are Melbourne stations, the, uh, other percentage that\u2019s left over, they\u2019d only be little bits and pieces of each, so I don\u2019t think there\u2019s one Melbourne station dominating over the local ones.<\/p>\n One to keep an eye on.<\/p>\n My thanks to Spencer for reporting in the rain from Mildura \u2013 he went above and beyond.<\/p>\n Media McKnight is published on YouTube every Tuesday at 8pm AEST nat YouTube.com\/@McKnightTonight<\/a>.<\/p>\n The article goes live on the TV Blackbox website every Wednesday morning.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/ROBS-BROKEN-DVCAM-PLAYER-640x360.webp\")
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