Ten News

Ten News logo
Division of:	Network Ten
Founded:	1965
Headquarters:	Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Area served:	Australia
Broadcast programs:	Meet the Press Ten News at Five Ten News at Five: Weekend Ten Late News The Project The Bolt Report
Parent:	Ten Network Holdings
Website:	Ten News
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Ten News is the news service of Network Ten in Australia.

The news service produces a nightly hour-long program at 5pm in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, and Perth on weeknights. Weekend editions are presented nationally from Network Ten's studios in Pyrmont, Sydney with separate bulletins for Perth. The network is broadcast to most of the country via affiliated regional television stations.

Ten News also assists in the production of The Project, political panel program Meet the Press, and the conservative opinion program The Bolt Report. It draws upon the resources of CBS News, ITN, APTN and Reuters for select international coverage.

History [edit]

Former titlecard

Ten News introduced the concept of hour-long, co-anchored news to Australia in the form of Eyewitness News during the 1970s^{[citation needed]}. The 1980s, however, were arguably the network's most successful period with its local Sydney and Melbourne bulletins often rating highest for their 6pm timeslot^{[citation needed]}. The news services underwent a number of name changes including Ten News, Ten Evening News, Eyewitness News and Ten Eyewitness News over the years before finally settling on the Ten News brand in 1994.

A major change to the service occurred in January 1992 when all five of its local bulletins were moved to the 5.00pm time slot. Around the same time, local weekend bulletins were also axed from the network to be replaced by a 30 minute national bulletin from Sydney^{[citation needed]}Ten Weekend News, initially presented by John Gatfield and later by Natarsha Belling and Bill Woods.

In December 2003, an additional local bulletin was trialled at 7pm weeknights, called Ten News Summer Edition. It was presented in each state capital by one of the Ten News at Five news presenters. The bulletin was discontinued by the start of the 2004 ratings season.

In the 2000s, Ten also introduced limited local content into some markets on weekends. In Perth a localised version of Ten Weekend News was received from Sydney, while during the AFL season Adelaide and Melbourne viewers received local news on a Saturday, presented from Melbourne by George Donikian. For a short period in 2009, Ten Weekend News also included localised sport inserts for each market.

Ten News has often been described as a 'training ground' for some of Australia's best-known television journalists. Some of the best-known reporters and presenters who launched or spent a major part of their careers at "Ten News" include Jana Wendt, Kerry O'Brien, Katrina Lee, Charles Slade, Ann Sanders, Steve Liebmann, Tim Webster, Ron Wilson, Anne Fulwood, Juanita Phillips, Liz Hayes, Jo Pearson, David Johnston, Bill McDonald, Chris Masters, Larry Emdur, Eddie McGuire, John Gatfield, Kay McGrath, Graeme Goodings, Sharyn Ghidella, Laurie Oakes, Geraldine Doogue, Helen Kapalos, Jennifer Keyte and Mike Munro amongst others.

News overhaul [edit]

In September 2010, the network announced a major expansion of its news service. From 24 January 2011, It would expand its evening news output by introducing a national current affairs program at 6pm, 6PM with George Negus, and an extra local bulletin at 6:30pm on weeknights, with the Ten Evening News brand reinstated. In addition, the network announced the re-introduction of local weekend bulletins at 6pm and the axing of its 5pm national bulletin.

Two months after the relaunch, the national weekend bulletins were re-introduced owing to poor ratings although the 6pm local bulletins continue to air. Later that month, the network announced it would drop its 6:30pm local bulletins on weeknights, extend Ten News at Five to 90 minutes and move George Negus' program to 6:30pm each weeknight. The changes were introduced on Monday 4 April 2011.^[1]

Further changes in September 2011 saw the axing of the network's late night bulletin^[2] and the state-based 6pm weekend bulletins. The 5pm national bulletin on Saturdays and Sundays was extended to 90 minutes a month later.^[3] Later that month, the network announced it would axe 6.30 with George Negus and replace with an hour-long version of The 7PM Project (renamed The Project). In November 2011, the last half hour of Ten's 5pm state bulletins were rebranded as Ten News at Six. Two months later, the network announced its main 5pm bulletin would be shortened back to 60 minutes from Sunday 22 January 2012 with The Project moved to 6pm.

The network's Early News bulletin was axed in February 2012 following the launch of Ten's Breakfast program. More changes during the year saw the return of a networked late news bulletin in a new format launched on 4 June 2012, and the axing of Breakfast on 30 November 2012, due to low ratings and cost cutting measures at the network.

Bulletins [edit]

National [edit]

Ten Late News [edit]

Ten Late News is the network's weeknight national program featuring a mix of news, interviews and magazine segments presented by Hamish Macdonald with newsreader Hermione Kitson and sports presenter Brad McEwan.

The program was launched on 4 June 2012, airing for 45 minutes at 10:30pm from Monday to Friday.^[4] The program runs for 45 minutes on Monday to Thursday at 10:30pm.^[5] Fill-in presenters include Matt Doran, Natarsha Belling and Danielle Isdale.

Between January 1991 and September 2011, the network aired a nightly late news bulletin, presented originally by Eric Walters, then Anne Fulwood and Sandra Sully, who anchored the program for almost 16 years. In later years, Brad McEwan presented Sports Tonight as part of the Late News. A financial news update was also featured each weeknight.

In September 2011, the network announced that the bulletin would be axed, citing falling ratings. The final edition, presented by Tim Webster, aired on Friday 30 September 2011.^[2]

Ten News at Five: Weekend [edit]

Ten News at Five: Weekend airs on Saturday and Sunday evenings at 5pm and is presented from the network's Sydney studios by Natarsha Belling with sport presenter Adam Hawse and weather presenter Magdalena Roze.

The national bulletin was introduced in 1994 to replace state-based bulletins but axed in January 2011 ahead of the reintroduction of local editions at 6pm. The national edition was reinstated two months later in the wake of poor ratings. The 6pm local bulletins continued to air until October 2011 when the 5pm national news was extended to 90 minutes.^[3][6] A separate edition for Perth and Western Australia is also broadcast from the Pyrmont studios in Sydney.

Fill-in presenters include Natasha Exelby (News) Melinda Nucifora (Weather) and Matt Suleau (Sport).

Local editions [edit]

Ten produces a flagship 60-minute news program each weeknight for each of its five metropolitan markets: Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth. Ten News at Five also incorporates a national CommSec financial news report (presented by Commonwealth Bank staff).

Sydney [edit]

Network Ten camera operator filming a traffic piece by Vic Lorusso at Sydney's Circular Quay

Ten News at Five is presented from TEN-10's Sydney studios at Pyrmont by Sandra Sully with sports presenter Brad McEwan, weather presenter Tim Bailey and traffic reporter Vic Lorusso.

The Sydney bulletin is simulcast across most of New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory via Southern Cross Ten.

Between 1995 and 2005, the program was presented by Ron Wilson and Jessica Rowe, until Rowe moved to present the Nine Network's Today. She was replaced by Ten's then US correspondent Deborah Knight in 2006. Wilson moved to the networked Early News bulletin,^[7] after presenting his final 5pm Sydney program as main anchor on Friday 16 January 2009.

In October 2011, Sandra Sully replaced Deborah Knight following the axing of Ten Late News.^[2] Knight left the network to join Nine News as a national newsreader.

Bill Woods left the network on 30 November 2012 after his contract was not renewed as part of cost-cutting measures.^[8]

Fill-in presenters include Natarsha Belling (News), Matt Suleau (Sport) and Reuben Mourad (Weather).

Melbourne [edit]

Ten News at Five is presented from ATV-10's Como Centre studios in South Yarra by Mal Walden from Monday to Thursday with Stephen Quartermain presenting on Friday. Sport is presented by Stephen Quartermain from Monday to Thursday along with weather presenter Mike Larkan and traffic reporter Emma Notarfrancesco.

The Melbourne bulletin is simulcast across most of Victoria (via Southern Cross Ten & Ten Mildura), to Tasmania via Tasmania Digital Television and to the city of Darwin via Darwin Digital Television. Ten News Melbourne was originally produced at Ten's Nunawading studios until news operations were moved to the Como Centre in 1992.

Past presenters of Ten's Melbourne news included David Johnston, who presented the flagship evening bulletin for 16 years (alongside the likes of Jana Wendt and Jo Pearson) until his departure for HSV-7 in 1996. Current presenter Mal Walden joined ATV-10 in April 1987 shortly after his abrupt sacking by HSV-7 - he took over the weekday 5pm bulletin in 1996 alongside Jennifer Hansen who was replaced by Helen Kapalos in 2006. Kapalos was sacked in November 2012 amid cost-cutting measures at the network.

Fill-in presenters include Stephen Quartermain, Melanie Davies & Ben Lewis (News) and Rob Waters (Sport).

Brisbane [edit]

Ten News at Five is presented from TVQ's Brisbane studios at Mt Coot-tha by Georgina Lewis with sports presenter Jonathan Williams, weather presenter Tegan George and traffic reporter Jayce Barker.

The Brisbane bulletin is simulcast across most of Queensland via Southern Cross Ten. Reporters are also based at three remote newsrooms on the Gold Coast, the Sunshine Coast and in North Queensland.

Former long-serving presenter Marie-Louise Theile left Ten News on 14 December 2007 to spend more time with her family.^[9] Other previous presenters include Geoff Mullins, Tracey Spicer, Brad McEwan and Bill McDonald, who left in November 2012 after his contract was not renewed due to cost-cutting measures.

Fill-in presenters include Max Futcher & Lexy Hamilton-Smith (News), Tony Auden (Weather)

Adelaide [edit]

Ten News at Five is presented from ADS-10's Adelaide studios on the corner of Hutt & Wakefield Streets by Rebecca Morse with sports presenter Mark Aiston and weather presenter Jane Reilly.

The Adelaide bulletin is simulcast to Port Lincoln & the Upper Spencer Gulf of South Australia as well as the city of Broken Hill, New South Wales via Southern Cross Ten, the Riverland and the South East areas of South Australia via WIN Ten & the North and far West areas via Ten Central (CDT).

In 2000, Network Ten moved the majority of the presentation for the 5pm Adelaide bulletin to the network's Melbourne studios in South Yarra. The bulletin was presented from Melbourne for the next decade while sport and weather segments were still presented locally from the station's studios in North Adelaide and subsequently, from 2007, in newly built studios in Hutt Street. Initially, in 2000, George Donikian and Nikki Dwyer relocated from Adelaide to present the new Melbourne based bulletin. Dwyer eventually resigned as presenter in 2001 after she decided to move back to Adelaide, to be closer to her family. Dwyer was subsequently replaced as presenter by, Kelly Nestor who resigned in 2006 and was succeeded by Rebecca Morse.

On Friday 21 January 2011, George Donikian presented his final Melbourne-based bulletin for Ten News Adelaide. Studio presentation subsequently returned to ADS-10's Adelaide studios on Monday 24 January 2011, to coincide with the launch of the short-lived 6:30pm local bulletin.

Kate Freebairn is the main fill-in news presenter.

Perth [edit]

Ten News at Five is presented from NEW-10's Perth studios at Dianella by Narelda Jacobs with sports presenter Tim Gossage and weather presenter Michael Schultz.

The Perth bulletin is simulcast to most of regional Western Australia via Ten West.

Network Ten originally moved production of the Perth bulletin to Pyrmont in 2000, citing high costs of converting the network's Dianella studios. Then-presenters Greg Pearce and Christina Morrissy commuted to Sydney to present the bulletin. Morrissy later resigned from these duties after suffering deep vein thrombosis on a flight and was replaced by Celina Edmonds. Pearce also later resigned to return to Perth, while Edmonds resigned to spend more time with her family. She now presents mornings on Sky News Australia three days per week.

Following their departures, Tim Webster and Charmaine Dragun became the main presenters of Ten News Perth from 2005. After Dragun's untimely death on 2 November 2007,^[10] Webster became the solo presenter and continued to present the bulletin until May 2008, after which presentation was alternated between Ron Wilson, Narelda Jacobs, Deborah Knight and Sandra Sully in Sydney for the seven weeks between Webster's departure and the relocation of the bulletin back to Perth.

On 18 January 2008, Network Ten announced that studio production of Ten News would return to Perth.^[11] The network denied that the move was related to the death of Charmaine Dragun as the decision to switch production had been made well beforehand. Narelda Jacobs began presenting in the Sydney studios in May 2008 before Ten News Perth presentation returned to the Dianella studios on Monday 23 June 2008.

Former ABC News presenter Craig Smart joined Jacobs as a co-anchor during 2011, but left in November 2012 after his contract was not renewed due to cost-cutting measures.

The Project [edit]

The Project (previously The 7PM Project) is an Australian talk show television program airing weeknights across Australia on Network Ten. The formerly half hour long show premiered on 20 July 2009 and is hosted by Charlie Pickering, Carrie Bickmore and Dave Hughes, with rotating daily guest panellists. It airs live in the eastern states with delays in other states (as well as Queensland during daylight saving). It is produced from Network Ten's Melbourne studios.

Programs [edit]

The Bolt Report [edit]

The Bolt Report is an Australian Sunday morning political discussion show. Broadcast by Network Ten on Sunday mornings at 10 am and repeated at 4:30 pm, it is hosted by conservative commentator and Herald Sun columnist Andrew Bolt. The programme emphasises a right wing agenda and is consistently critical of the Australian Labor Government and the Australian Greens. The programme premiered on 8 May 2011.

Meet the Press [edit]

Meet the Press is an Australian Sunday morning talk show focused on the national political agenda. The show is principally hosted by Paul Bongiorno, Network Ten's national affairs editor. Hugh Riminton shares the presenting role with Bongiorno. The program has established itself as an agenda-setting forum which attracts the nation's leaders discussing the big news stories of the week.

The show airs on Sunday mornings at 10:30am on Network Ten. The show has been running since October 1992. The program’s first guest was the then prime minister, Paul Keating.

Former Bulletins & Programs [edit]

Ten Early News [edit]

Ten Early News was an hour-long bulletin, broadcast live from Ten's Pyrmont studios on weekdays from 6am to 7am.

The bulletin was presented by Bill Woods until he became a presenter for the Sydney edition of Ten News at Five, switching roles with Ron Wilson. Financial news was presented by Kathryn Robinson.

Ten Early News was essentially two half hour bulletins, running back-to-back each containing news, sport, finance and weather. Many reports from overseas affiliates CBS News & ITN were featured and crosses to Ten's Melbourne & Canberra newsrooms were used frequently to cover overnight news.

The bulletin began in January 2006 and featured a number of segments unique to its timeslot, such as morning newspaper headlines from the country's major papers. The last edition of Ten Early News aired on Wednesday 22 February 2012 in preparation of the earlier-than-scheduled launch of Network Ten's Breakfast program.

6.30 with George Negus [edit]

6.30 with George Negus was a short-lived national current affairs program, presented from Ten's Sydney studios in Pyrmont. The program was launched on 24 January 2011 and took an in depth look at key national and international issues with reports from correspondents based around Australia and around the world.

The program initially begun as 6PM with George Negus, however due to poor ratings against the two flagship 6pm bulletins on Seven and Nine, the program was moved to 6:30pm on Monday 4 April 2011, thus competing against Today Tonight and A Current Affair.

On 19 October 2011, the network announced it would axe the program and replace it with an hour-long version of The 7PM Project (renamed The Project) at 6:30pm. The final edition of 6.30 with George Negus aired on Friday 28 October 2011.^[12]

Breakfast [edit]

Breakfast was an Australian breakfast television program which aired live on Network Ten on weekdays, from 6:00am to 8:30am. It had a format consisting of news, sport and weather updates every half hour with a mixture of debate, current affairs and regular segments.The show was presented by Paul Henry and Kathryn Robinson with news and sport presented by Matt Doran (Mon-Wed) & Natarsha Belling (Thurs & Fri) and weather presented by meteorologist Magdalena Roze.

The program replaced Ten's previous line-up of an early morning news bulletin and children's programming, Ten Early News, Toasted TV, Totally Wild, Scope and Wurrawhy. This is not Network Ten's first foray into the breakfast program market, with the network airing Australia's first breakfast program, Good Morning Australia, from 1981 to 1992.

The launch of Breakfast meant several changes to Ten's weekday schedule. Although the show was originally planned for a 27 February 2012 starting date, Breakfast began on 23 February 2012 to cover a political crisis. Following continuing low ratings, the network announced the program would be axed - the last edition of Breakfast aired on Friday 30 November 2012.^[13]

Ten Morning News [edit]

Ten Morning News was an hour-long national bulletin produced from Ten's Pyrmont studios in Sydney, which aired at 10am on weekdays.

Ten broadcast a mid-morning news bulletin, usually at 10:30am, for most of the 1980s. The program ended this run in December 1990, amid cost cutting measures at Network Ten.

In 1994 Ten introduced the 11.30 News hosted by David Johnson from its Melbourne Newsroom. The bulletin followed the successful Good Morning Australia hosted by Bert Newton. In 1996 Jason Cameron took over as the main presenter for the next four years. At the end of 2000 the network opted to move the bulletin to its new Sydney Studios in Pyrmont.

Until 2004, the bulletin was broadcast at 11:30am, following Good Morning Australia, and later, 9am with David and Kim.

In 2004, the bulletin briefly moved to midday (then called Ten News @ Noon) to compete against the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's News at Noon - a decision which proved unpopular. As a result, the bulletin was moved back to its old timeslot of 11:30am the following year and later became a 60-minute bulletin starting at 11am where it remained until early 2010, when it was moved to 9am. The bulletin returned to the 11am timeslot in December 2011, but aired its last edition on 13 January 2012 because of The Circle.

The bulletin included daily special features, including sports reports, an entertainment round up and newsmagazine stories from US network CBS News until 2011 the bulletin aired from 9am-10am and then briefly aired from 11am-12pm before it was axed.

Ten Morning News returned on 6 August 2012, as part of the Mornings on Ten lineup, and presented by Ron Wilson. On 12 November 2012, it was announced the bulletin would be axed again. The last program aired on Friday 30 November 2012, marking the final full-length program to be presented by Wilson after 33 years with the Ten network.^[13]

References [edit]

External links [edit]

• Ten News
• Ten News at the National Film and Sound Archive