Latest news with #RovingEnterprises
Daily Mail
4 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
The Project 'set to be AXED' as Network Ten prepares to launch new current affairs show to take its place
After years of sliding ratings, it appears the end is finally near for The Project, with new reporting claiming that Network Ten preparing to pull the plug on the once-flagship current affairs program. Industry insiders have revealed to TV Blackbox that a brand new current affairs show is in development to replace The Project, with a major format overhaul already in the works. Unlike its predecessor, the new program will reportedly air only four nights a week from Monday to Thursday - effectively scrapping the low-performing Friday night edition. The Sunday edition of The Project, which has aired since 2017, is also expected to be axed, leaving a noticeable gap in Ten's early evening lineup. Sources have revealed that the replacement program is being quietly prepared for a launch as early as July or August. It's a significant shift not only in tone but also in volume - with the new show to run just 30 minutes per episode, down from The Project's six-hour-per-week live broadcast format. That's a dramatic cut to Ten's primetime output, with some questioning how the network plans to fill the additional airtime and whether the savings from winding down the show's production - currently managed by Roving Enterprises – will be reinvested elsewhere. It comes amid a significant reshuffle at the network. As previously reported by Daily Mail Australia, Ten has poached several high-profile journalists from Channel Seven - including veteran reporter Denham Hitchcock, 7News Sydney's Bill Hogan, and award-winning former foreign correspondent Amelia Brace – to front its soon-to-be-launched investigative unit. Hitchcock confirmed the news on Instagram earlier this week, calling it a full-circle moment. 'Well here we go. I've switched channels. But also in a way – I've come full circle,' Hitchcock began. 'I grew up watching my father on Channel Ten News every night. I had a bunk bed with Eyewitness News stickers all over it – and can still sing the theme song.' He added: 'So I'm delighted to start work here today – joining the network to help with its plans for the future.' He also shared a throwback photo of his father, veteran Ten journalist Kevin Hitchcock, sporting a classic 1980s moustache and captioned it with some amusing words: 'Not sure I could pull one of those off – but there's still time.' The move comes just days after The Australian reported that Hitchcock, along with 7News Sydney's Bill Hogan and award-winning former foreign correspondent Amelia Brace, had all resigned from Seven to join Ten. The trio are believed to have signed on to front a new current affairs program backed by Ten's head of news, Martin White. Brace and Hitchcock left Seven's Sydney newsroom within hours of quitting and began work at Ten on Monday. Hogan is expected to start in three weeks. The departures fuel speculation that Ten is preparing to launch a prime-time news magazine show to take on Nine's 60 Minutes, Seven's Spotlight, and ABC's Four Corners. Industry sources say the new program will focus on long-form investigative stories and is currently assembling what's been described as a 'crack team' of reporters and producers. A Ten spokesperson confirmed the shake-up to Daily Mail Australia, saying: 'Following the continued growth and success of our news brand, 10 News, we are investing in an investigative unit that will work on long-form stories.' For Hitchcock, the move comes just three months after returning to Seven following a break from TV journalism to live on a catamaran with his wife Mari and their young children. He had originally helped launch Spotlight in 2019 and led the network's coverage of major crime and current affairs stories, including last year's Who Killed Marea? documentary on Sky News. Despite his short return to Seven, Hitchcock appears ready to dive back into serious reporting at Ten – and has called on viewers to help feed him stories. 'To everyone who keeps sending me stories to look into – keep them coming. I read every message,' he wrote. Ten's new current affairs program is expected to launch later this year. Hitchcock departs only three months after having returned to Seven after a couple of years off living on a catamaran with his young family. 'I'm back. It's time to wash some of the salt out - and get back to what I do best,' he wrote on social media.
7NEWS
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- 7NEWS
INSIDE MEDIA: The show set to replace The Project
A video version of this article is available in the player above with vision of the interviews quoted. THE SHOW SET TO REPLACE THE PROJECT This morning, TV Blackbox posted quotes from an email sent by News Director Martin White confirming the appointments. INSIDE MEDIA understands Hitchcock had not revealed to Seven where he was going. Know the news with the 7NEWS app: Download today 'Denham is a vastly experienced, internationally recognised story-breaker, and Amelia is a Walkley winner who has worked in Canberra and the United States,' the email by White stated. 'They will both be developing ideas for 10 News with Dan Sutton.' Respected reporter Dan Sutton is the executive producer of the unit, although INSIDE MEDIA believes this is not an investigation unit, but a new unnamed show. And while many are assuming that show will be weekly, something along the lines of 7NEWS Spotlight and 60 Minutes, I have reason to believe the show will be nightly. In fact, even though I have not been able to confirm it yet, I believe this will be the show to replace The Project when the contract with Roving Enterprises expires in a few months. The number of people already associated with this 'unit' already exceeds what would be needed for a once-a-week show. And it makes perfect sense for 10 to go down this path. Let's assume the deal between Channel 10 and Roving Enterprises is a $20 million a year. Network 10 could replace the low rating The Project with a new show for $15 million per year, easily saving a cool $5 million. And there certainly seems to be no love for The Project. Even on my personal TikTok account, a video I made about the future of the show has been viewed more than 26,000 times, with most comments saying the show should be cancelled. A Current Affair on Channel 9 is still one of the biggest shows on TV and Today Tonight was still rating strongly when it was replaced by the 1-hour format of 7NEWS. So, imagine if 10 decided to run a current affairs program at 6.30pm in the old slot formally occupied by ACA and TT. In that timeslot, those two shows were untouchable and were at the top of the ratings every night. That would mean 10 could solve its big issue surrounding The Project's ratings and the fact (as I mentioned last week) that 10 has to hand over all of its news vision to Roving Enterprises, but that company owns all The Project vision. It's a lopsided deal that doesn't make sense in 2025 when owning content is the key to financial success. This new show would allow 10 to once again own its content and might just be the kind of show audiences want at 6.30pm, after they've watched the first 30 minutes of news on Nine and Seven. As long as they don't make it 'worthy' like they did with the George Negus program during the 'news revolution' days and as long as they don't put it on at 6pm, this new show could actually be a gamechanger for the network. The big question then is, would it be 30 minutes or an hour? A 30-minute show would get them to 7pm, which would allow them to try something completely different and move their reality shows into that slot, getting a head start on Nine and Seven. Or they might elect to extend Deal Or No Deal by 30 minutes, but starting reality TV shows at 7pm could be the breaker the network needs. But would they take the risk? Only by taking a big risk do you get big rewards. Either way, here's my prediction: The Project will be off our screens before the end of the year and Channel 10 will launch a new nightly current affairs show. Remember you heard it first. THE FUTURE OF RADIO REVEALED On Saturday night I spoke to Brisbane radio legend Spencer Howson on my McKnight Tonight streaming show. Spencer has had a lot of success, including presenting Brisbane's number one breakfast show on the ABC for many years. Spencer is currently working on a PhD studying the value of local radio and, so far, his findings are quite unexpected. 'Already I'm, I'm seeing this research showing that people are just not as connected to their local town or their local region as they once were,' he told me. You can see my interview with Spencer in the video player above. His point is verified by the fact the number one breakfast show in Mount Isa isn't the local radio show but one beamed in from the Gold Coast – a 20-hour drive away. That same show from the HIT Network is also top of the charts in Toowoomba – a shorter 2-hour drive away. Traditional thinking has always been that 'local is king' but Spencer's research seems to show the opposite. 'People are getting their local information now from the WhatsApp chat of their street, the Facebook community group of their suburb' explains Spencer. But does the same rule apply in big cities? Kyle and Jackie O top the charts in their hometown of Sydney, but have failed to make their mark in Melbourne since their expansion on KIIS FM. Dave Hughes and Ed Kavalee were two popular Melbourne identities who failed to resonate with Sydney audiences on 2DAY FM. So, is localism more important in big cities than in regional areas, even though it would be fair to assume the opposite was true? Having just completed 10 months of his 8-year PhD, there are certainly a lot of questions still to be answered by Spencer. SKY NEWS EDITING FAIL You have to feel sorry for Jack Houghton at Sky News. As the host of The Media Show, he holds the media to account, just like we do here at INSIDE MEDIA. So, imagine how embarrassed he must have been when a blooper that was meant to be edited out aired on his show on Friday night. Houghton was blasting the ABC after a clip was played of Sarah Hanson-Young appearing on the national broadcaster, but he fluffed his lines. 'Ah, sorry, can I redo this? It's two, two stumbles' he asked the control room. Thankfully, there were no expletives and Houghton kept his composure. The editor of the program didn't notice the fluff and kept it in. You can see what happened in the video player above. Here's an old trick for the folks at SKY: When you have a stuff-up, but black to line for a few seconds so that an editor quickly scrolling through can see something has gone wrong. It's obvious that whoever was editing this show was just skipping through and didn't pick up on the mistake. A little trick like this can save humiliation.
7NEWS
26-05-2025
- Entertainment
- 7NEWS
INSIDE MEDIA: Why Channel 10's The Project is facing the axe
You can watch a video version of this column in the player above. Ouch. While the budget has been reduced over the years, it is still one of 10's most expensive shows and delivers only a fraction of the audience compared to Nine and Seven. Sarah Harris has been a welcome addition to the show – I'm a big fan (in fact I'm such a big fan I was the one who convinced her to leave Channel 9 and move across to host Studio 10). Sarah has added some much-needed balance to the show but even her charm and insights aren't enough to garner bigger audiences. When you consider how much free publicity the show gets on news websites each and every day, the fact it can only draw in a few hundred-thousand viewers every night proves the show is failing to resonate. It's left-leaning, patronising, woke agenda isn't even connecting with the younger audiences the network craves. Literally just plucking a date at random, I've gone and had a look at the ratings for the show last Tuesday (21 May 2025). In total people The Project averaged 353,000, beaten by Sunrise on 406,000. In the 25-54 demo, the show attracted 143,000, easily beaten by The Chase and Tipping Point which air earlier in the day with less available audience. Tipping Point also beat The Project in the 16-39 demo. The Project is the pet project (no pun intended) of 10's big boss Bev McGarvey. She has been a big supporter of the show since the very first pitch from Roving Enterprises around doing 'news differently'. In 2017 CBS took over ownership of 10, after it went into administration, and when top brass went through the books they were shocked at the deal with Roving Enterprises. The company couldn't believe all of the news gathered by 10NEWS was freely given over to a separate company along with resources to put the show to air. That was almost the nail in the coffin for the show, but it was saved by McGarvey. Now, 10 is facing a major cost crisis. As I exclusively reported last week, I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of here will be pre-recorded next year in order to reduce costs. Production crew will work through without days off to get the series in the can as soon as possible without lost time over weekends. There's no doubt on any other network The Project would have been axed years ago, but when you've got no other content it's much easier to stick with what you've got. IN DEFENCE OF ITA The esteemed Ita Buttrose has come under attack recently over travel-related expenses at the ABC. At issue is the $3625.79 she spent on luxury car hire in the 12 months between January 2023 and January 2024. To be honest I would have thought the Chair of the ABC would have spent a lot more than that. I actually can't work out what all the outrage is about. Now, I have become friends with Ita since I was her boss at Studio 10, but I would make this exact same commentary about new Chair Kim Williams. I can't understand why staff and media don't think it's appropriate for the Chair to be taken to events in a car. No, she shouldn't be taking a taxi or an Uber – she is the chair of the ABC and that position comes with certain privileges. I would bet stars at the ABC (and even some producers) would have spent more on taxis in the same 12 months. Having a reliable vehicle to take you to events is a must for someone in Ita's position. Not to mention the fact she has serious back issues that require her to use a walking stick and wheelchair. While the ABC has to endure transparency commercial broadcasters don't, this just seems to be low hanging fruit on the part of media trying to bash the ABC. As someone who often holds the organisation to account, I recommend we hold the outrage for a real story – not 3 grand's worth of travel. KILLER TV How does a TV show make me want to see a serial killer succeed? I've been watching Dexter New Blood on Paramount+ this past week and it always amazes me when I sit there on the edge of my seat hoping he doesn't get caught being a serial killer. That's some good writing when you consider it goes against everything we believe in as a society. And that's the power of good writing, acting and producing. Creators can take a concept like a serial killer and make him the hero of the piece – someone we want to see succeed. Amazing stuff. And I'm going to throw this one in while I'm at it. I've only just discovered Welcome to Wrexham on Disney+ recently. It's been a long time since I've watched a show with a smile on my face the whole way through. There have also been moments where I've been in tears. The story of Hollywood stars Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds buying a Welsh football team. I'm not that into sports but this is way more than a sporting documentary – it's emotionally compelling. While Rob comes across as the more genuine of the two, there's no doubt they have made a huge difference to the local community and helped Wrexham climb up the league table. It's an amazing story and one that will hook you.
