Seven swings the axe on ‘Today Tonight’

Just weeks after Seven cancelled Sunday Night, the network has abruptly axed the remaining Today Tonight state editions too.

The Seven network has today announced the axing of current affairs program Today Tonight’s last remaining local editions in Adelaide and Perth.

Both programs will screen final editions this week, with Adelaide’s final show airing this Thursday and Perth’s the following day.

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A rival to Nine’s A Current Affair, Today Tonight aired nationally from 1995 until 2014, when the Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne editions were cancelled, leaving only Perth and Adelaide remaining on-air.

Today Tonight host Adelaide Rosanna Mangiarelli. Picture supplied

The decision comes after Seven last month cancelled flagship current affairs show Sunday Nightafter 11 years on air.

Speaking from Perth, Director of News and Public Affairs, Craig McPherson said in a statement provided by Seven: “For 25 years Today Tonight has dominated in Perth and Adelaide. Producing more than 25,000 stories reflecting the good, the bad and everything in between of their constantly growing markets. To end such a successful reign has been one of the toughest decisions but a necessary one as the audiences shift and change along with the economics. I want to thank all both past and present Today Tonighters. Always committed. Always passionate.”

Today Tonight reporter Mark Gibson tweeted he was “enormously proud” of the stories the show had produced:

After 25 years, @TodayTonightWA has been axed. I’m enormously proud of our little show and the stories we have produced in the 11+ years that I’ve been a part of it. @SevenPerth #riptt

— Mark Gibson (@markgibbo) November 26, 2019

Some staff will be redeployed into Seven’s Adelaide and Perth newsrooms after the shows finish production.

In his statement last month announcing the decision to axe Sunday Night, McPherson said he was dealing with a “very challenging TV landscape” as Seven’s Director of News and Public Affairs.

The decision to axe the remaining state editions of Today Tonight comes after the Telegraph last month reported that Seven had been planning to resurrect the franchise nationally.