Ten axes its unwatched morning news bulletin and shifts Studio 10
Network Ten has axed its unwatched breakfast news bulletin and shifted its chat show in a major shake-up to its on-air line-up.
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Network Ten has axed its underperforming breakfast news bulletin and moved low-rating chat program Studio 10 to a new timeslot in a major shake-up to its on-air line-up, following one of its worst annual ratings performances in decades.
The 30-minute weekday news bulletin, which aired at 8am, made headlines in August when The Australian reported that the show recorded the lowest official ratings of any TV program in the nation’s history.
According to figures provided by research form OzTAM, Ten’s morning news program pulled an audience of zero in Perth on August 11, having registered just 44 viewers in Sydney a month earlier.
Despite the dismal ratings, the show hosted by Lachlan Kennedy from Monday to Wednesdays, and Natasha Exelby on Thursdays and Fridays, was publicly backed by Ten.
A spokesman in August said: “10 News First: Breakfast edition is maintaining its audience and increasing engagement as viewers become more familiar with the timeslot.”
But on Tuesday, the axe finally fell.
The network announced the 8am weekday news program had been scrapped, and would be replaced next month by an hour-long bulletin from midday.
The new midday bulletin will be anchored by Studio 10’s Narelda Jacobs.
“As a dedicated one-hour national news bulletin, 10 News First: Midday will provide a more comprehensive, in-depth update on the latest breaking news stories from around the country and the world, at the midway point in the day when viewers are wanting a fresh look at the day’s stories,” a Ten spokesman said on Tuesday.
From January 9, Studio 10 will be moved to a fresh timeslot, and cut from its current three-and-a-half hour format to two hours.
For the past five years it has run from 8.30am-noon on weekdays but next year the show will screen from 10am-noon Monday to Friday.
Filling the midmorning gap from 8.30am to 10am will be an encore screening of Entertainment Tonight, a repeat airing of The Bold and the Beautiful, and an episode of Judge Judy.
Studio 10, which has struggled with poor ratings in 2022, will also have a new look next year following the departure of long-term co-host Sarah Harris.
With Harris moving to co-hosting duties on the network’s nightly panel show The Project in 2023, Studio 10 will be fronted by current co-anchor Tristan MacManus, alongside regulars Angela Bishop and Jacobs.
It’s understood that there will be no job losses at Ten as a result of the changes to the on-air schedule.
Ten finished the ratings year in fourth position, behind Seven, Nine and the ABC, in what was its worst survey result in more than two decades.
Originally published as Ten axes its unwatched morning news bulletin and shifts Studio 10
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