Ten's Belling
Ten has moved to wind back the gap left when it ditched its 5pm weekend news.
The network this afternoon announced that it would be producing a national weekend bulletin at 5pm hosted by Natarsha Belling.
It follows Ten’s move of its locally produced weekend bulletins from 5pm to 6pm as part of its news shakeup in late January.
ADVERTISEMENT
Nine seized upon the gap. On Sunday, Ten News at 6pm averaged just 335,000. Nine’s News at 5pm averaged 654,000.
Ten will now air Ten News at Five, followed by Jamie’s Thirty Minute meals at 5.30pm and Ten Evening News at 6pm.
In a statement from Ten, chief programming officer David Mott said: “We have long held a prominent news position at 5pm in the weekend schedule and we are not willing to give up that ground any longer.
“Clearly there is a viewer thirst for choice when it comes to weekend news and we are well placed to provide them what they want with our 5pm and 6pm news coverage.”
The move to add two more half hour bulletins to Ten’s weekly schedule will come as a surprise to many observers, with few early signs of ratings progress in the network’s new two-and-a-half hour daily sweep of evening news on weekdays.