A big sigh of relief? The Project's Waleed Aly is seen laughing with co-host Sam Taunton as they prepare to film show's final episode after he issued dark warning about the future of Aussie TV

Daily Mail​

27-06-2025

Waleed Aly looked like he didn't have a care in the world on Friday when he was spotted laughing with Sam Taunton.
The Project stars were all smiles as they headed to Channel 10 in Melbourne to film the final episode of the recently axed news program.
Waleed, 46, cut a casual figure in a blue button-up shirt and navy blue slacks.
He added layers to the look with an olive green sweater and a black midi-length coat.
Meanwhile, Sam also got the muted-tone memo.
From A-list scandals and red carpet mishaps to exclusive pictures and viral moments, subscribe to the DailyMail's new showbiz newsletter to stay in the loop.
The comedian, 32, looked on trend in a purple sweatshirt and loose-fitting navy pants.
He paired the look with a grey woolen coat and white kicks.
Waleed and Sam appeared to have a lot to talk about as they made their way towards to The Project's studios in South Yarra.
At one point they were even seen breaking out into laughter minutes before they were set to go into their last production meeting for the beleaguered show.
Waleed's appearance comes after he warned viewers that free-to-air television was 'staring into the abyss' after The Project was suddenly axed after 16 years.
In a column for The Age newspaper - that Aly insisted he never really wanted to write - the public intellectual and TV personality warned the Network Ten show's demise was a consequence of the growing power of the tech giants.
'As a general rule, I don't commentate on my own work. My editors urged me to reconsider, then left me to it,' he wrote.
'Improbably, then, here we are. But only because there are bigger things at stake than the fate of this or that television show.'
At one point they were even seen breaking out into laughter minutes before they were set to go into their last production meeting for the beleaguered show
Aly noted that free-to-air TV was losing audience to streaming services but highlighted a bigger threat: that tech giants, such as Meta and Google, were collecting 'frankly unconscionable amounts of their users' personal data'.
Therefore, they could target audiences with better tailored ads than TV ever could.
'That will remain so for as long as television doesn't turn the camera on you and monitor your every move,' Aly wrote.
'What has inevitably followed is a flight, not so much of audiences, but of advertisers to these tech giants.
'This, I think, is a major problem. Not because free-to-air television is uniquely precious, but because that amount of data collection in the hands of a select few tech moguls simply shouldn't be allowed to exist.'
Tech companies like Meta have been hoovering up huge amounts of personal data
The Project co-host said the tech giants have been allowed to grow 'with no serious regulation' and governments were doing nothing to stop them.
He then took aim at artificial intelligence and how it could follow the same path as the likes of Facebook and Google - with users' intimate data used to create an 'advertising product'.
Aly noted that ChatGPT's parent company OpenAI was considering incorporating advertising into its services.
Aly ended his piece warning of the 'empires' that were being built in television's place 'and precisely what will have been plundered to erect them'.
Network Ten has announced it will be replacing the Project with a news program, known as 10 News+, from 6pm.
The news program will be hosted by Denham Hitchcock and Amelia Brace - both formerly of the Seven Network - and is being helmed by executive producer Daniel Sutton, a veteran Ten reporter.