ABC current affairs shake-up could see 7.30 shift to 9.30 and Lateline axed

'Good evening, I'm Leigh Sales and welcome to 9.30.'

Speculation is rife the ABC is considering moving its flagship current affairs program, 7.30, to 9.30pm, as part of a shake up of the broadcaster's news and current affairs schedule.

7.30 host Leigh Sales and other high-profile staff could have their salaries disclosed under the deal.Credit: ABC

The shift of current affairs program Lateline off the main channel, and a push to rejuvenate the schedule in a bid to improve ratings are said to be behind the discussions.

"Lateline is in its death throes, through no fault of the staff or its own," one ABC employee said.

Prime time interviews such as Leigh Sales going head to head with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull could be shunted back later in the ABC schedule.

"It's had its budget chipped away at for years, so it won't really come as a surprise when it's axed.

"There has been talk about moving 7.30. It bounces around. Nothing is sacred and nothing is safe. That is the reality."

One possibility being discussed, according to sources within the ABC, is moving 7.30 on to ABC24, with a repeat to play later on the main channel, which is how the broadcaster currently treats Lateline.

They believe Lateline, whose first airing was shifted to the secondary news channel in 2015, will be "gone" altogether by the end of the year, with staff absorbed into other programs.

A spokeswoman for the ABC said the broadcaster did not have any programming changes to announce, but was, "of course, always discussing programming".

In response to a $250 million budget cut in 2014, ABC axed its localised versions of 7.30, once known as Stateline, which had been shown on Friday nights. Lateline had been put on notice, at the same time, but a community campaign protesting the move helped save it.

ABC managing director Michelle Guthrie has already overseen a sweeping change of the ABC's management structure, axing 20 per cent of management staff, with the savings to be recycled into programming. As part of those cuts, 70 behind-the-scenes technical staff from TV operations and the news and current affairs divisions also lost their jobs, including camera operators, vision mixers and lighting producers.

Ms Guthrie has positioned the changes as a refocus on regional and rural Australia, as well as programming, with the overhaul slashing the number of ABC divisions from 14 to eight.

Others within the organisation see the changes as a harbinger of further changes to Radio National, which has already seen its schedule altered with program cuts, a move they see as an attempt to appeal to a younger audience.

"Radio National is an institution," one said.

"But there are those of us who think they would prefer it became an online only network, a series of podcasts."

In a presentation to staff in March, Ms Guthrie said the broadcaster had to adapt to the new media environment, or risk becoming irrelevant.

"We lack the flexibility to quickly adjust to the fast-changing audience trends," she said.

"Our reach on television and radio is declining and digital is struggling to bridge the divide.

"We have significant audience gaps: socially, culturally and geographically.

"This means we're falling short of properly and effectively representing, in our employees, content and audience impact, the modern Australia in which we live."