Network Ten unveils new-look news set

Ten says sharp visuals on big screens will help the network deliver news in a simple, more modern way.

Network Ten's Sandra Sully and Ross Dagan

Network Ten’s news service has been overhauled, with a big focus on razor-sharp videos and pictures as part of its rebranding strategy under US owner CBS.

The media group has unveiled its new-look Sydney news set, which features a nine metre x 2.4 metre screen with a 1.5mm pixel pitch - the biggest of its kind in Australia - with its 5pm news program with host Sandra Sully.

It also features five visual stripes, including a high-resolution ticker-type screen that can be fed with pictures and graphics to deliver breaking news.

Ross Dagan, network director of news content at Ten, is focused on delivering news to the public in a simple and modern way.

“As well as the content being crucial, this enables us to be able to deliver the content in a far more contemporary, far more engaging way than we’ve ever had options to do before,” Mr Dagan told The Australian.

Mr Dagan, who returned to Ten last May from Aljazeera English, said “there are more tools at play now, and people are expecting more from us in terms of how we explain our content, how we use visuals, how we use other tools to be able to help inform people.”

The new set, which is based in the atrium of Ten’s Sydney headquarters, will also be used on other shows, including Studio 10, Sports Tonight, RPM and 10 Daily, he said.

“One of the key strengths of the set is around its versatility and the ability for us to say on any given program we think there might be logic to having a standing presentation style at this point, or there might be a couch conversation, or a dynamic video wall where we help explain something far more intricately.”

Other news sets based on Sydney’s signature look will be “eventually and progressively” rolled out at all of Ten’s state-based newsrooms, he said.

Mr Dagan has also bolstered the news team in recent months, hiring The Australian’s Peter van Onselen as network political editor, Chris Bath as weekend news presenter and Kerri-Anne Kennerley as a Studio 10 presenter.

The change to the news set follows the rebranding of Ten’s evening news program to 10 News First from Ten Eyewitness News.

10 News First has increased its commercial market share by 0.5 percentage points since CBS rebranded Ten and renamed its two digital channels on October 31.

Ten’s second channel ONE was rebranded as 10 Boss, targeting women and men over 40, but that raised the ire of Fairfax Media, which complained it was similar to the Australian Financial Review’s Boss.

Since then, Ten has renamed the channel, 10 Bold. Its channel ELEVEN has been renamed 10 Peach, aimed at 16 to 39-year-olds.