Southern Cross Austereo is looking to increase its regional news coverage in the coming months.
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Southern Cross Austereo (SCA) head of regional media Rick Lenarcic was in Wollongong on Friday night to launch its new partnership with Channel Nine.
Mr Lenarcic said the partnership would lead to a stronger focus on regional news – including a nightly news show.
“I can confirm that SCA and Nine together are working to create a substantial and local regular news service for our regions,” Mr Lenarcic said.
“I’m very happy to confirm that we will be putting resources into the Wollongong market with additional journalists and crew to have a local and national news service in this market.”
It is understood the reason for the move is that the increased audience brought by the Nine link makes it financially viable to run an enhanced news service.
The final details, including the number of journalists and where they will be located, have yet to be finalised.
The revamped news bulletin, which would run between 6pm and 7pm, is expected to be rolled out in the coming months.
One likely format would be “composite news” bulletin, which would feature a regional newsreader and take some stories from the Nine news and add stories from the journalists stationed in SCA coverage areas.