TV weatherman Paul Burt among the Channel 7 staff to get the chop in new job cuts

The bloodletting has begun at Channel 7, with one of the network’s most popular Queensland stars among dozens of staff members let go, with more to be told they have lost their jobs.

Weatherman Paul Burt, left, – pictured with Amanda Abate, and Rod Young – is among those to be told they would not receive a new contract. Picture: Jerad Williams

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The bloodletting has begun at Channel 7, with one of the networks’s most popular Queensland stars among dozens of staff to lose their jobs and another describing the process as “brutal”.

Popular weatherman Paul Burt, who has gained a cult following across his television career, was told he would not continue his daily weather cross after the end of July.

Social media pages have been ablaze with outrage at the popular fisherman’s axing, with hundreds of viewers commenting.

Burt said the move had left him “heartbroken”.

“I respect our viewers and the people who have allowed me to come into their loungerooms for the past 25 years - you’ll be truly missed,” he said.

fans will still be able to see Burt on his separate show, Step Outside with Paul Burt, every Sunday on 7Mate.

Staff at the network’s Gold Coast News program have been summoned to meetings with executives over the past two days and told they would be let go or that their contracts would not be renewed.

One of the staff who was let go described the process as “brutal”, saying they’d received an email about a meeting with HR 30 minutes before it commenced.

“It was completely out of the blue, I didn’t know what was going on” they said.

“I had a 30-minute warning saying a meeting had been scheduled with HR, then they read to me from a script, basically - it felt inhumane.

“No-one’s dead, it’s just the loss of a job, but there is a grieving process.”

Many staff were employed on a casual basis so have no redundancy payment to see them through to their next job.

“It was a business decision, in the end it comes down to numbers, but it felt awful,” the ex-staffer said.

“It felt really impersonal and a bit nasty.

“I just hope the staff who are left don’t suffer too much now - it can be a great industry to work in, but when there aren’t enough resources it makes it tough.”

Paul Burt moved to Channel 7 in 2013. Picture: Supplied

Burt started his news career at Channel 10 before jumping to Channel 9 in 2005 where he filed weather reports for both the Gold Coast and Brisbane news bulletins, often placing himself in the path of torrential rain or wild winds for his entertaining crosses.

The Gold Coast bureau is now also without a chief of staff, with veteran COS Josh Adsett let go, as well as camera operator Geoff Bowden.

Casual chief of staff Ian Buchanan had moved on before the cull, while ingest operator Simon Arrowsmith is also among the staff whose contracts will not be renewed.

Arrowsmith was responsible for processing video and setting up live broadcasts.

Olympian Sally Pearson will stay on as a sport presenter.

A local TV news insider said it was difficult to see how 7 would be able to put out their daily and breaking bulletins without the key staff members.

“It will make it pretty hard to put the bulletin together,” they said.

“Having no chief of staff will load someone else up with more responsibility.

“It’s difficult without that role to run the newsroom. It would be disappointing if it meant it would impact local content.

“The ones who have gone are highly skilled news people.”

It is understood similar meetings have also started taking place among staff at the channel’s Brisbane newsroom.

The channel 10 and 9 Gold Coast newsrooms haven’t been immune from cuts, with both rival networks also letting go of long-term staff.

Late last year veteran cameraman Mark Hanrahan was made redundant from his position with 9 Gold Coast News after more than 25 years with the company.

Hanrahan had spent more than four decades in television, covering the city’s biggest new events, most recently the Sea-World helicopters mid-air tragedy which killed four people and left three others badly injured.

Hanrahan was re-hired by the Nine Network 10 weeks after his redundancy and is now working in a casual position.

Earlier this year, 10 News First cameraman Michael Daley was also made redundant after decades working out of the company’s Surfers Paradise studios.

It comes after reports Seven West Media was poised to axe 150 jobs in the wake of a weak advertising market and rising production costs.

Network executives had flagged cost-cutting measures as far back as February, with this week’s moves seen as the next step in the process.

There had been fears for the future of Seven’s Gold Coast news bulletin, but it is expected to continue operating on a skeleton staff after several employees and freelancers were among those let go.

A Channel Seven spokesperson said they would not be providing information on redundancies on a state or department basis, before referring The Courier-Mail to a written statement issued earlier in the day.

The statement said the network was announcing “the introduction of a new operating model designed to deliver on the strategy that includes optimising its television business and delivering on the digital future”.

“As a result of the restructuring, three senior executives are leaving the company: Chief Revenue Officer Kurt Burnette, Chief Marketing and Audience Officer Melissa Hopkins, and Head of Network Sport and Melbourne Managing Director, Lewis Martin,” the statement said.

“As part of the changes, a number of redundancies and other cost actions are being taken.”

Meanwhile, the network’s Youtube pages appear to have been hacked, with links to 7NEWS Australia channels displaying a profile named “Tesla” featuring an AI-enhanced Elon Musk spruiking cryptocurrencies.

The network responded to the technical trouble, saying “Seven is aware that some of its branded YouTube channels are not appearing as they should. Seven is investigating and working with YouTube to resolve the situation as soon as possible.”