05-05-2025
INSIDE MEDIA – Take a tour of the new state-of-the-art 7NEWS newsroom
In this special edition of INSIDE MEDIA, we take you inside the new 7NEWS Melbourne headquarters for a sneak peek of the office and studio ahead of next Monday's launch. WATCH THE VIDEO OF THE NEW FACILITY ABOVE.
On May 12, the team will shift from the 7 Broadcast Centre at Docklands to the new newsroom and studio.
The purpose-built Docklands facility was opened with much fanfare in 2001, housing all local operations including the presentation suites for all cities (that's the term used to describe where the programs and commercials are played out for broadcast).
But over the years, the technology became dated and the facility was showing its age.
Now operations are relocating to Collins Street in a co-ordinated move that will see newsroom staff shifting across this weekend.
While there's only a week to go before the first edition of 7NEWS from the new facility, the desks are currently bare and there's still a lot of work to be done.
'It's certainly fit for purpose and our requirements have certainly changed in the 20 years we've been at BCM,' Engineer John Albiston told me.
'Next Monday, we're going to see plenty of action. We're going to have about 80 new staff rolling in here, and that's going to flag the transition from the old premises to this new fully digital facility,' he explains.
John and I filmed a walkthrough tour of the new office and studio, which you can see in the player above.
There are two control rooms in the new building, even though there's only one studio. The news control room is automated and there will be four people in there putting each bulletin to air.
A bigger control room next door fits 15 people and is used for sporting programs and panel shows.
The back row is filled with EVS controllers, which allow operators to record incoming vision (such as horse races) and play it to air on a delay while the race is still going (a bit like PVRs which allow you to watch a TV show from the start while it is still airing).
As you enter the studio, it seems deceptively small, but then you realise there are two different sets facing each other.
On the right is a much bigger 7NEWS set, compared to the one at 7BCM. On the left is a multipurpose LED set to house multiple sports-based panel shows.
While speaking to presenters Peter Mitchell, Bec Maddern and Jane Bunn, they all commented on how far apart they feel from each other but loved the quality of the screens and details in the set.
For her part, Maddern will be standing at the sports monitor for interviews and special stories, otherwise she will sit in roughly the same position as she currently does.
Jane Bunn has a much bigger screen to deliver her weather, which she is often still updating right before she goes on air.
Interestingly, Bunn doesn't simply rely on the information from the Bureau of Meteorology.
Instead, she uses a variety of data to give viewers an accurate forecast. Considering the latest information from the BoM is sent out at 4.30pm, Bunn has often been at odds with their forecast, but she is mostly proven correct (if not always).
A smaller studio at the entrance to the newsroom level will be used for live crosses. Entertainment reporter Peter Ford will cross daily to The Morning Show from this studio as will other guests from Melbourne who appear on shows in other states.
Rehearsals have been taking place in the new studio and things seems to be going well. The proof will be on Monday night when Mitch and the team go live from their new home.
