Rumours have again spread like wildfire that Seven is planning to ditch Today Tonight in Melbourne and Sydney in favour of a 1-hour news service.
Seven is planning to screen a one-hour news service this Monday night for Australia Day. But is yet to respond to suggestions that this will be a permanent change.
In 2013 Seven was quick to dump Today Tonight from its Melbourne and Sydney schedule whenever a major news event occurred.
On Monday Seven confirmed that Helen Kapalos was departing Today Tonight for a new journalist role on the Sunday Night program. It has been reported that the Today Tonight set has already been removed from Seven’s Melbourne studios.
Seven News has been extended to 40-minute news this week to compete with Nines new one-hour bulletins. The Seven News theme has also been updated.
Seven management met with Today Tonight staff in Perth and Adelaide yesterday to assure them their jobs were safe. Ratings for the Adelaide and Perth editions of Today Tonight are considerably stronger than the rest of the country.
So far Seven has decline to comment on its plans despite my repeated requests. Â
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