10News+: Twice the pride, double the fall

4 days ago 2

Opinion

October 3, 2025 — 12.30am

In this edition of On Background, Network Ten’s news reckoning amid wider company malaise, the media merger post-credit scene, and the ABC recognises Palestine.

Déjà vu at 10

It could be a case of history repeating itself at Network Ten. In 2011, Ten poached legendary anchor George Negus from SBS to host 6.30 with George Negus, spending $20 million in the process. The half-hour program lasted just nine months, cancelled due to poor ratings. After its fall, a little show called The 7PM Project was extended to one hour, renamed The Project, and went on to blitz it for a decade.

When The Project was dumped in June, the hour-long 10 News+ was subbed in. We think it’s fair to say it’s been struggling. After just three months on air, questions are already being asked about the show’s future.

Despite a $15 million outlay, the result has been poor ratings and a product that looks like it’s filmed in a home studio.

Amelia Brace and Denham Hitchcock during the premiere episode of 10News+.

The flummoxing decision has riled up some senior staff in the company’s Pyrmont HQ, who are calling it “disgraceful” and the kind of move executives should lose their jobs over.

Now the wheels are in motion to cut the show to just 30 minutes in the new year, with further adjustments on the way, senior executives say. That’s if it isn’t cut completely, with Ten also having to find space for Millionaire Hot Seat, which has been brought over from Nine.

The only thing stopping an early call being made on the news show at this stage is pride.

Legendary news boss Peter Meakin tells On Background, that if the ratings of 10 News+ are correct, “I don’t think the network can live with it for long”.

Now is not the time for mistakes for commercial TV stations, with executives getting desperate for cash as the shadow of global streamers grows longer every day. While audience declines have been arrested, the cash coming in continues to dip. To help sell the story of TV to advertisers, who funnel money hand over fist to Google and Facebook, greater collaboration between competitors has long been touted.

More recently, there have been discussions to create a consolidated, single sales unit for Ten, Nine and Seven, though it would be contingent on all three signing up, for regulatory reasons, multiple network executives tell On Background. There have also been mentions of news and production both being consolidated too.

The idea would be to bring advertisers in the door for the AFL (Seven), and on-sell them space during MasterChef (Ten) or The Block (Nine) for example. But Seven is said to be less keen on the idea, and its merger talks, which finalised this week, have added to the idea stalling.

Son of Larry

10News+’s fate is indicative of the wider malaise at the network while it waits for the eyes of David Ellison, its new owner, to eventually turn to Australia.

It’s a peculiar scenario. While the company is hamstrung as far as its long-term future in concerned, it has continued to make redundancies and cuts in the interim. The bottom line is that Ten remains in limbo while Ellison decides what to do with the vast suite of assets he acquired with his half-a-trillion dollar dad Larry Ellison’s money this year.

David Ellison, Paramount’s new owner, is backed by his $500 billion father, Larry.

There are two ways it could go for Ten.

First option is that Ten gets sold, like most of the company’s non-US broadcast channels are expected to be. The second is that it manages to stick around and becomes a cog in the wheel of a global mega-company which could include an acquisition of HBO-owner Warner Bros. Discovery, and potentially uses TikTok’s algorithm and platform to leverage its own content.

A recent Bloomberg profile of Ellison parsed some of his thinking behind a looming company overhaul. At least US$2 billion ($3 billion) will be cut out of its budget, the firing of thousands of workers, fewer cable shows, and the sale of some international networks. Yikes.

Ellison does want to reinvest into Paramount+, and bringing HBO Max into the fold would supersize the platform. For some time, Ten has served its purpose as a promotional tool to help grow Paramount+ in Australia.

That model in Australia squares more closely with the set-up in America and the UK, particularly as the company focuses more on English language content. That works in Ten’s favour, and with the new global boss of Paramount’s TV networks, Kevin MacLellan, jetting in for its annual presentation to advertisers next month, the pressure is firmly on.

But there’s a problem. To promote Paramount+, you need to have people watching Ten, and starting the night with 10News+ just doesn’t deliver audiences. News is supposed bring in audiences, who then stick around for a night of flashy shows, which in turn bring advertisers.

The tribe has spoken

While Australian Survivor continues to deliver for the show’s loyal audience, Ten decided to sack beloved host Jonathan LaPaglia this year. It was an unnecessary change to a tried and tested format, and there have been conflicting reports about what led to his exit.

Jonathan LaPaglia, or ‘JLP’, was cut loose by Ten after hosting Australian Survivor for 10 years.

It doesn’t help that Ten’s only new hit in the past five years has been Hunted, an Australian spin-off of its UK namesake where contestants (or “fugitives”) have to evade an expert team of hunters over 21 days.

It was a fresh format and initially rated well, but couldn’t replicate its first season and was nowhere to be seen in 2025. Alongside Millionaire, Ten is also rebooting Traitors Australia in 2026, a show which has flourished overseas, but fell flat on its face here. The network needs one or more of these moves to work, or else its own torch could get snuffed.

ABC recognises Palestine

Our public broadcaster has become the latest entity to recognise Palestine, with editorial director Gavin Fang giving staff permission to use the name following Australia’s recognition last week, as it approaches two years since the October 7 attacks.

“ABC content can refer to Palestine when referring to its geography, history, community and the intended state encompassing the Occupied Palestinian Territory,” Fang said in an email seen by On Background.

“There is no need to correct interviewees who refer to ‘Palestine’ or otherwise qualify the word when used by people featured in our stories.”

Still… fired up

The blame game continues this week at Sky, after its senior executives axed Freya Fires Up over the weekend and everyone tries to point the finger elsewhere.

But even Ryan Williams, who was the bacon-donning guest on that fateful show, is confused by the whole thing. “I mean, what did they expect? I didn’t say anything that I haven’t always said on my profile…” he said on Instagram this week, in between masses of Islamophobic bile.

Deal not done yet

Australian media got its first taste of major consolidation in six years this week with a proposed tie-up of Seven West Media and Southern Cross Austereo, the owners of the Triple M Network and streaming platform LiSTNR.

It’s a deal that almost wasn’t. Word is, Seven had conversations ongoing with both Southern Cross and its radio rival, ARN Media, until the very last moment, ultimately backing the financially healthier SCA.

The deal, as it stands, is non-binding, leaving the door wide open for Nine to come in over the top of Seven, should it manage to shift its talkback networks. Some at Southern Cross believe shareholders would view a higher price per share offer as much more attractive than the current merger deal in place.