6.30 with George Negus

Former Guantanamo detainee David Hicks has chosen to speak to TEN’s 6.30 with George Negus tonight to set the record straight following the controversial short-listing of his memoir for the QLD Literary Award prize.

QLD Premier Anna Bligh yesterday in parliament defended the decision by book award judges to shortlist David Hicks’s memoir for a $15,000 prize in the Queensland Premier’s Literary Awards, saying the controversial choice was a “profound reaffirmation” of democracy.  

Guantanamo: My Journey was released earlier this year and has sold more than 30,000 copies.

Mr Hicks’s tell-all memoir covers everything from his life in Adelaide to his training with fundamentalist Islamic armed forces. It also details his years locked up at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba and his conviction for supporting terrorism.

Tonight 6.30pm on Ten

Network Ten interim CEO Lachlan Murdoch will today begin to make cuts in the network to curve high spending with the intention of ‘re-allocate our resources to better compete in the market’ (Murdoch).

In the first major announcement in this saga, it is reported that while 6.30 with George Negus will continue, Sports Tonight will be axed. The latter’s axing has since been denied at TEN.

It is also reported that 22 people have been offered redundancies. These are the first of an expected 100+ cull of staff.

A clippit of the email sent to staff members explaining the cut from Murdoch read as follows;

“In the last few years we have gone from just five free-to-air channels to fifteen different channels. In our metropolitan markets alone Foxtel has added some six hundred thousand subscribers over the last five years, all receiving hundreds of competitive channels. And, of course, it is hard to quantify the impact of IPTV viewing during this time but we do know it is impacting viewing and the effect will only grow, and grow strongly. Our industry has become more fragmented and far more complex than ever before,” he wrote.

“Since 2005 our TV costs have risen forty five percent … or by just under two hundred million dollars. In this same period our ratings and revenue are broadly flat. It is clear to me that over this time we haven’t been investing our costs in all the right areas.

“Furthermore, due to a number of fixed cost increases next year around News, Eleven, and core programming such as MasterChef, without action our costs were going to continue to increase even further.

“In order to arrest this continued increase in costs and to allow us to re-allocate our resources to better compete in the market, I asked our senior managers some ten weeks ago to explore how we can run the business better. We established 20 workstreams across all areas of the business and appointed senior executives to lead rigorous reviews of each area.”

Meanwhile, publicity and marketing positions in Adelaide are set to be scrapped with ‘on air personalities’ also facing redundancies, according to AdelaideNow.

Other major centres are also facing similar cuts.

TV Tonight have a full rundown of current events with quotes from Murdoch. You can view this here.

This post will regularly update with new updates and I’ll try to keep you posted with any extra news over the next week.

The future of 6.30 with George Negus is up in the air with reports the Channel Ten news division is facing redundancies.

Reports are suggesting that upwards of 100 staff could be in the firing line at the network with the first to go potentially the new journalists hired to boost the news and current affairs line-up.

Ten have yet to officially announce job cuts but have told staff that strategic restructures could be made.

“As we announced on April 7 at our half-year results, a strategic cost restructuring of the business is underway,” a spokeswoman said.

6.30 with George Negus is said to be in danger due to its relatively low ratings both before and after moving from 6pm.

Source: Herald Sun

1. Seven extends Saturday Sunrise.

This Saturday’s edition of Weekend Sunrise will now finish at 10am, instead of its usual time of 9am. Saturday Disney, scheduled for 9am on Seven will now air on 7TWO from 9am – 11am. At 10am on Seven is The Replacements, followed by Phineas and Ferb at 10.30am.

2. Seven extends Sunday Night

The final episode of Sunday Night on May 1, before Dancing With the Stars takes over the timeslot has been extended to 90minutes, with an 8pm finish time. At 8pm, a new episode of Border Security will air.

3. 6.30 at 6pm?

Yes, in South Australia, Friday April 29, being half an hour behind the east coast, 6.30 With George Negus will be seen at 6pm, the same time as the east coast, with the Wedding Project following at 6.30pm as planned – the same time it airs in the east at 7pm eastern. Ten News in SA will only be one hour long.

East West 101. SBS ONE, 8.30pm

Back for another season, the return of the multi-award-winning East West 101 explores the fallout from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan through a series of violent crimes committed in Australia.

The Amazing Race. 7mate, 7.30pm.

“You don’t get paid unless you win” This is your reminder that The Amazing Race has moved nights. It was on Sundays until April 3, now it airs on 7mate Wednesdays at 7.30pm. The last team to arrive … may be eliminated. And don’t forget The Amazing Race Australia is coming soon to Seven.

The Cleveland Snow. ELEVEN, 9.00pm

“Brown History Month”. New episode. When Rallo learns about his heritage at school, he provokes Cleveland into a Battle Royale with neighbour, Lester. Another new episode follows at 9.30pm.

Babies Behind Bars. ABC2, 9.30pm.

Poignant stories from a maximum security women’s prison where pregnant inmates compete for the privilege of keeping their babies in a trial programme aiming to reduce re-offending.

6.30 With George Negus. Ten, 6.30pm.

Sick of stories about speed cameras, power bills, groceries, weight loss, old TV show reunions and other generally meaningless content in so called public affairs shows at 6.30pm? Well, George Negus is your alternative – covering major national and international stories, this program is a destination for viewers seeking a smarter, more informed and inquisitive approach to news. Encores at 10.30pm as well.

One of the problems that Ten will have with the new 90 minute Ten News at Five is keeping or attracting viewers for its last half hour from 6pm – 6.30pm when the majority of viewers looking for new tune in to Seven or Nine.

On day one of the new 90 minute First at Five news service (Monday April 4), the format for the first hour remained the same as usual – main news stories for the first half hour, recaps plus more news from 5.30, sport from around 5.40 and weather around 5.53.

Tim Bailey promised more detailed weather after 6, there was also the promise of more in depth sport after 6 as well. On top of that, there was the story on sleeping which aired (I’m guessing strategically) from 5.58 – 6.02. Although 5 seconds of dead air (a blank screen) just before they returned from ads at 5.58 would not have helped viewer retention.

At 6.02, the main news stories of the day were covered again. There was an (almost unnecessary) live cross to the house in Gladesville where a two year old was bitten by a snake in his bedroom.

Another cross to the traffic helicopter happened after 6, finance was covered again, then sport at around 6.23. Weather was last in the closing minutes, before 6.30 with George Negus got underway.

The 6pm half hour of Ten News at Five can be watched completely independently of the first hour – it is basically a condensed version of the first hour. If you have watched the first hour, apart from perhaps from the lure of an exclusive story or the promise of extra sport news not covered in the first hour, then there really is no need to stay there for the last 30 minutes.

But – if you miss the first part of Ten news at Five, then the last half hour of Ten news at Five is definitely an option to the “First on” Nine and Seven wars played out by the other two commercial networks.

It would therefore be a better idea for Ten to split the Fist at Five News into two parts – the first hour, and the second as far as coding for programming, EPGs and ratings is concerned. Even if they make it so that the last half hour is coded with a 5.57 start to get in two minutes earlier than Seven and Nine.

Whether this new format will work is to be seen – only ratings will tell the story, the first of which we’ll see tomorrow. At least, now daylight saving is over in those states that had it, early evening television audiences should grow.

As for 6.30? The content and presentation so far is the same as it was at 6pm. But – the real advantage is it is on at 6.30pm, when those who have viewed the other news services can switch over rather – like the promotions say “a real alternative at 6.30pm”.

Hopefully for George, it works out that way, and figures start to grow. Meanwhile, the late night encore remains around 10.30pm for those who wish to watch 6.30 later.