WIN News

WIN News

Division of:	WIN Corporation
Founded:	1960s
Area served:	Regional Australia
Parent:	WIN Television

WIN News is a local television news service in parts of regional Australia, produced by WIN Television. 17 regional bulletins (along with two statewide bulletins and one national program) are presented from studios in Wollongong, Ballarat, Maroochydore and Hobart.

History

As well as its flagship nightly bulletin, WIN Television has, in the past, produced a number of public affairs programmes at its original Wollongong station, WIN-4, such as community affairs program Roving Eye and Sunday Review, a weekly review of international, national and local stories.^[1]

On 30 January 2006, the network's Tasmanian news bulletins were moved from separate local and national bulletins to a single, half-hour bulletin featuring local, national and international news. This was reported by The Hobart Mercury as being due to the previous arrangement's poor ratings. WIN's main competitor in the area, Southern Cross Nightly News, had at the time a 64.9% share of the 6.00pm news audience during the 2005 survey period.^[2] In June 2011, WIN axed its Tasmanian weekend bulletins - they were replaced by simulcasts of the Melbourne edition of Nine News - but were reintroduced a year later.

On 18 August 2006, WIN Television announced that Griffith's locally produced news bulletin would be axed and merged with Wagga Wagga's half-hour bulletin.^[3][4] The decision was criticised by the local council and chamber of commerce, who stated that the isolation of the area increased the need for local content and information.^[5] The amalgamated Wagga Wagga bulletin is presented and produced from Wollongong.

In April 2009, two regional bulletins were introduced in Queensland serving Mackay & the Whitsundays and the Wide Bay area. The Mackay bulletin was axed in May 2015, alongside the Mildura news service in Victoria.^[6]

In March 2012, WIN announced it would axe its weeknight Western Australia bulletin with regional news coverage incorporated into a localised edition of Nine Afternoon News at 4:30pm, produced and presented from Perth.^[7] The last edition of WIN News Western Australia aired on 9 March 2012.

On 18 February 2013, WIN axed its pan-regional bulletin for the Mount Gambier and Riverland areas of South Australia.^[8] The program had been broadcast since the merger of separate bulletins for the two areas in October 2010.^[9] Ten staff at newsrooms in Mount Gambier and Loxton were made redundant.

In June 2013, WIN announced it would move studio presentation of its Canberra bulletins to Wollongong - the company's studios in Kingston continue to operate as a newsgathering base.^[10]

Regional services

New South Wales and the ACT

WIN TV studios in Kingston photographed in 2010.

Regional bulletins for southern New South Wales & the ACT are broadcast from WIN's Wollongong headquarters with newsgathering teams and camera crews based in Canberra, Dubbo, Orange, Griffith and Wagga Wagga.

All bulletins are pre-recorded. The Central West and Riverina bulletins are presented by Geoff Phillips. Kerryn Johnston anchors the Canberra bulletin and co-anchors the Illawarra edition alongside Phillips, with Amy Duggan presenting sport on all four programs.

The head of news for New South Wales and the ACT is Stella Lauri.

Victoria

WIN News produces five separate editions for regional Victoria, broadcast from VTV's studios in Ballarat, with newsrooms also based in Bendigo, Shepparton (Goulburn Valley & Northern Victoria), Traralgon (Gippsland) and Albury.

The bulletins are presented by Brooke van Nooten with sport presenter Wes Cusworth and weather presenter Britt Ditterich, with the Ballarat edition broadcast live.

The chief of staff for all WIN News Victoria services is Jeff Sly.

Queensland

WIN News's Queensland services cover six of the seven regional markets - the Sunshine Coast, Rockhampton & Central Queensland, Wide Bay, Cairns & Far North Queensland, Toowoomba and Townsville & North Queensland. All bulletins are broadcast from WIN's studios in Maroochydore.

• The Sunshine Coast, Rockhampton and Cairns bulletins are presented by Paul Taylor with sports presenter Dave McLenaghan.
• The Toowoomba, Townsville and Wide Bay bulletins are presented by Natassia Apolloni with sports presenter Lincoln Humphries.
• Weather forecasts for all regions are presented by Hannah McEwan.

The state news manager is Steve Marshall and the state news sub-editor is Corinne Maxwell. The production manager is Carl Bulwinkel.

Tasmania

WIN News Tasmania is presented by Georgia Love on weeknights and Lucy Breaden at weekends from TVT's studios in Hobart. Sports news is presented on weeknights by Brent Costelloe and at weekends by Tom Cooper. Weather forecasts are presented on weeknights by Hannah McEwan.

Weekend bulletins were previously axed in July 2011, when they were replaced with a simulcast of Nine News's 6pm Melbourne bulletin,^[11] but were reinstated a year later.^[12]

South Australia

90-second news updates are broadcast on weekday evenings in the Limestone Coast and the Riverland. The updates, presented by Victoria chief of staff Jeff Sly (a former anchor of WIN's Mount Gambier news programs), are produced in co-operation with The Border Watch and The Murray Pioneer. They air on all three WIN-owned network affiliated stations during the 6pm timeslot.

All Australian News

WIN also produces All Australian News, a 60-minute national program airing on weekdays at 12pm and 12am in all broadcast areas served by WIN Television. The program features a compilation of stories aired on WIN's regional news bulletins in Queensland, New South Wales, Tasmania and Victoria.

All Australian News is produced from WIN's Wollongong headquarters and presented by Amy Duggan and Bruce Roberts.

This program replaced individual statewide regional late news bulletins in Queensland, New South Wales/ACT and Victoria.

Schedule

WIN News airs at several different times on weekday evenings depending on state.

References