EXCLUSIVE : The Seven Network has confirmed its late-night news experiment THE LATEST, will continue beyond the cricket season.
The bulletin which was originally revealed by this website, was launched late last year to accompany the networks Big Bash coverage.
Ratings for the THE LATEST have been mixed, however SEVEN have seen enough growth to commit to a regular spot on the networks schedule airing at 11pm weeknights
THE LATEST is presented by Michael Usher from Seven’s Sydney studio’s with the network budgeting for a journalist working late in each of the major cities across the country.
The executive producer for THE LATEST is Sean Power. The young producer who previously worked on Nine’s 60 Minutes is highly regarded Seven’s Director of News and Public Affairs, Craig McPherson.
Announcing the new bulletin last year, McPherson said:
“The time is right to have a nightly news programme post 6pm. The Latest will be exactly what the title says. Big stories of the day develop throughout the night and many stories are breaking. We’ll be live to wherever we need to be. It will be a destination for Australians to get the very latest on the happenings at home and abroad as well as digging deeper on key issues.”
THE LATEST is the networks biggest investment in late-night news since axing its previous late bulletin in 2003.
Late night news was once a hotly contested timeslot, however in recent times commercial broadcasters have been reluctant to invest in local programming past 9:30pm. Seven has only been producing a 3-minute update for its viewers. 10 hasn’t had a late bulletin since 2014, while Nine aired its final Nightline bulletin in 2010.
Featured
Who was the man who forecast future happenings for the world on the Channel 7 Late night News on 21st or 22nd July 2019 with Michael Usher