‘Next in the firing line’: Crisis could switch off network 10 in Tasmania and NT, Regional WA services bailed out

There are fears Channel 10 could be turned off for an entire state after some major regional broadcasting changes.

Network 10 – home of The project and other popular Australian shows – is at rick of being switched off for large swathes of Aussie viewers.

There are fears that Network 10 could stop broadcasting in Tasmania and the Northern Territory after the closure of a major regional market earlier this week and a last-minute bailout.

Ten stopped airing in Mildura at midnight Sunday with the network’s evening news show – The Project – warning, “and next in the firing line? regional WA, the NT and Tasmania.”

Ten does not own its regional stations in Australia but rather is distributed by a series of joint ventures to air its programs in such markets.

Mildura in Northern Victoria became the first region to turn off the network’s transmissions to some 70,000 potential viewers after the collapse of one such joint-venture operator run by Seven and the WIN Network – Mildura Digital Television (MDT).

In a statement, it was confirmed MDT had been running “at a loss” since it was established in 2006 and continuing broadcasting no longer made “commercial sense”.

“While no one likes to see services decline in regional Australia, it does not make commercial sense to subsidise a signal which is not making any money,” it said.

A further 500,000 regional Western Australians only just escaped the same fate today with Western Digital Television – an affiliate of Ten owned by WIN and Seven West Media - ditching its plan to switch off this month thanks to last-minute funding from the Federal Government.

The AFR reported today the federal government approved $32.9 million in funding to keep Ten on the air for seven years.

In Tasmania, Ten operates as Tasmanian Digital Television (TDT), a separate joint venture between Southern Cross Austereo (SCA) and the WIN.

It recently told local media outlet, Pulse, that it too was running on a “knife’s edge”.

“Like MDT there are a number of joint ventures around Australia that will be running on a knife’s edge and TDT is no exception,” it said.

Network 10 – home of The project and other popular Australian shows – is at rick of being switched off for large swathes of Aussie viewers.

“While SCA and WIN have no plan for its closure, all ongoing arrangements are very short-term. There is constant assessment, not only for TDT, but the future of all regional broadcast services.”

SCA told the same outlet that there were no plans to switch off TDT in the next three years.

In the NT, Ten is distributed by Darwin Digital Television, a joint venture between Nine Entertainment and SCA.

Closures of TDT and Darwin Digital Television would result in the removal of Ten programming from the entire state and territory, including free-to-air access to Matildas or Socceroos matches and popular shows like The Project, MasterChef, or Australian Survivor.

Ten condemned the MDT shutdown late last week, stating it was “grossly unfair” for regional Australians.

“We continue to call on the federal government to intervene and ensure that every Australian, no matter where they live or how much they earn, has the same access to all local free-to-air TV (for) … vital news and emergency information, epic sports, comedies and entertainment,” a Ten spokesperson said.

Free TV Australia, the leading industry body, called on the Albanese Government to adopt the organisation’s “comprehensive four-step plan” to mitigate immense costs crippling the broadcaster. The plan includes abolishing the “outdated and unjustified” spectrum tax, reviewing “regulatory imposts” that don’t apply to streaming services and implementing direct funding support for markets where services are not commercially viable.

“Regional broadcasters know their audiences love local news, community stories and sport, and that local businesses need regional TV to reach local customers,” Free TV CEO Bridget Fair said before the MDT shutdown.

“But without the Government’s long-term support more services are at risk, and these social and economic benefits for regional Australia will be lost”.

News.com.au has contacted TDT and Darwin Digital Television for further comment.