Fox Sports News cuts on-air hours and staff after weekday popularity review

Program hours reduce for weekdays with focus on morning sports bulletins, NRL Tonight, AFL Tonight and Cricket AM.

Focus will move to higher rating morning sports bulletins and evening programming NRL Tonight, AFL Tonight and Cricket AM. Picture: Supplied

Fox Sports News will go to air for fewer hours and face around 20 staff redundancies following a review of the popularity of the sports’ channel during weekdays.

Head of Fox Sports Peter Campbell and Sky News CEO Paul Whittaker on Wednesday informed staff of the changes that will see Fox Sports News go to air with reduced programming hours during weekdays and focus on higher rating morning sports bulletins and evening programming NRL Tonight, AFL Tonight and Cricket AM.

Both Mr Whittaker and Mr Campbell said the changes were not a result of the coronavirus, but rather than ongoing softness in the advertising market with the decision to take effect at the end of March.

The Australian understands the decision will result in around 20 redundancies but Sky and Fox Sports will look to place staff across the Foxtel group where they can.

Mr Whittaker said the “decision results from trends in viewing away from peak times in recent years, and an industry-wide softness in the advertising market rather than the coronavirus. It is too soon to determine what the long-term effects of the pandemic may be on the industry as a whole and our business.”

“We are constantly reviewing our channel line-up to ensure our programming reflects what our customers want to watch and when they want to watch it. As a result, we are making some changes to the programming on FOX SPORTS News effective at the end of this month.

“Customer viewing now peaks in the morning and evening with low daytime viewership, therefore we are going to focus on delivering live sports news and the channel’s marquee programs, including AFL Tonight, NRL Tonight and Cricket AM, during those peak periods. Unfortunately, these shifts will mean some redundancies at FOX SPORTS. Where possible we will seek to redeploy employees across the Foxtel group,” Mr Whittaker said.

In May last year, Sky News and Nine Entertainment made over 30 staff redundant from business channel Your Money after agreeing to pull the plug on the Network after less than a year following significant losses, which was filmed out of the same studios at News Corp HQ in Surry Hills Sydney.

Mr Campbell said while the decision was not related to the coronavirus outbreak Fox Sport News bulletins, which is largely run by Sky News, would continue to available for Sky News, online and Foxtel’s sports streamer Kayo.

Fox Sport News will continue to be produced out of studios at News Corp Australia’s headquarters at Surry Hills Sydney and Fox Sports studios in Melbourne.

“This decision is not about the coronavirus (COVID-19) and its impact on sport. It simply reflects viewers are consuming sports news in different ways and at different times together with the same challenging conditions in the advertising market that are impacting the entire entertainment industry. In this environment, we need to look at transformative ways to do things differently and more efficiently.

“I must reiterate FOX SPORTS News is an incredibly important brand to Foxtel and Kayo providing premium sports video content for our own digital assets including foxsports.com.au and our social media, as well as across the News Corp Masthead websites. FOX SPORTS News content will also continue to be available on Sky News channels, on Qantas in-flight and the Sky News international service Australia Channel.

“I know many of us will know colleagues who have been affected by the changes announced today, and I would like to thank them all for their contribution to FOX SPORTS News and wish them well for the future,” Mr Campbell said.