PBL executives were rumoured to be in Newcastle today working on the imminent changes at NBN.

New graphics are apparently to be into the station, to be used on air from July 2nd.

NBN is to relaunch as Nine on July 2nd with Today the first program in the new brand. All other programming will run in sync with TCN. A tipster says a farewell to NBN program may be screened the previous night.

The tipster claims the infrastructure will remain in place, with HD facilities to be used for shows, possibly including Hi-5.

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Several sources at NBN have confirmed to The Spy Report that PBL bosses will be in Newcastle next week to commence making changes to their new purchase, NBN Television.

Sports reporter Jim Callinan told KOFM’s David And Tanya yesterday that PBL was in town last week on a meet and greet with the staff, but he conveniently left the building to do some reporting. It is unclear whether or not he was joking.

Changes expected at NBN include the dumping of Home Shopping through the day, the addition of National Nine Morning and Afternoon News, plus a rebranding of the station to Channel Nine.

In other news it is being suggested that "Dottie" the former balls logo on Nine and NBN will be returning very soon. Nine had a major rebranding last year, removing their recognisable Dottie logo after 30 years.

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Eddie McGuire will step down as the CEO of Channel Nine, the network has announced.

The Age has the following statement from the network yesterday, which reads:

    “Eddie McGuire, AM, the Chief Executive Officer of the Nine Network Australia today announced that he would move from his Chief Executive role at the Network to an increased presence on air and the provision of creative and programming services.”

Mr McGuire said the change in role would take effect from June 30, 2007.

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A tipster today claims the National Nine News refresh will have dark blue as its primary colour with a dash of orange, and is inspired by NBC News.

For starters, the news logo has been beaten with a “yank stick,” the
tipster says, ending up something like the NBC nightly news logo (serif
font, white, blue, orange, gradients).  In fact the animated OTS and
lower thirds seem to be very “American”, something between NBC’s old
look, ABC USA, and the previous Nine News look – quite classy, the
tipster says.

Apparently on June 30 and July 1, the news will come from an
alternate studio while the new sets are built in Sydney, Brisbane,
Melbourne and Newcastle. From the designs paraded, again, NBC inspired.

Source: The Spy Report May 14, 2007

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A tipster today informs TSR that from 11am tomorrow, PBL Media will become official owners of NBN Television.

Sourced: The Spy Report

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A source today claims GTV9 is rife with rumours that A-League soccer will be appearing live on Nine on Saturday afternoons from August.

The tipster claims Football Australia and Fox Sports have signed off on the deal.

Sourced: The Spy Report, 7 May, 2007

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PRIME Television, which continues to position itself as a leading regional network, has announced the appointment of Brian Trevitt as as Newcastle sales manager.

Brian was previously station manager at Prime Orange.

He started his media career in 1991 at Seven affiliates sales in Sydney before becoming national sports sales manager, working on the 2000 Sydney Olympics and 2003 Rugby World Cup.

Prime NSW general manager Maureen Jack said Brian’s expertise and community focus would further enhance the successful Newcastle team.

Sourced: The Herald, Monday, May 7, 2007

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By JAMES JOYCE

PRIME Television’s Newcastle audience in the all-important 6pm timeslot has more than doubled since it axed local news, ratings figures show.

As fears grow that Nine Network owner PBL Media’s $250 million purchase of NBN could lead to a dilution of the Newcastle station’s local content, ratings data shows that rival Prime’s relay of Seven’s Sydney news and Today Tonight is luring viewers from NBN’s hour of locally produced news.

Shown since the station began 45 years ago, NBN News has been the cornerstone of its ratings dominance since Prime and Ten arrived in Newcastle in 1992.

Last year, NBN had 36.9 per cent share of prime time viewing in Newcastle, ahead of second-placed Prime’s 22.3 per cent share.

But the gap has narrowed in 2007, with NBN’s share so far this year down to 34.6 per cent and Prime’s up, at 26.9 per cent.

A Key component of Prime’s growth has been Seven News and Anna Coren’s Today Tonight.

In 2001, when Prime axed its Newcastle news bulletin after years, Prime Local News and Seven News averaged 28,000 and 26,000 viewers a night, respectively, well behind NBN News, with 115,000 viewers.

This year, NBN News is averaging 92,000 viewers against Prime’s Seven News and Today Tonight, with 50,000 and 68,000 viewers respectively.

Prime’s general manager of news and regulatory affairs, Alan Butorac, said there was "no question" regional viewers wanted local news.

"The people in Newcastle who want their local news dished up in a long form at 6pm are fairly happy getting it from NBN but our alternative is proving to be increasingly successful," he said.

Licence conditions stipulate that regional stations must accrue an average of 90 points a week of "local information programming".

Prime and Southern Cross Ten screen brief news and weather spots in Newcastle, with Prime’s broadcast from Canberra.

"we get across the line each week by a handful of points not by multiples," Mr Butorac said.

Australian Communications and Media Authority data confirms that NBN accrues the most local content points in northern NSW, far more than required.

"No obligation exists to accrue points over and above the required minimum," an authority spokesperson said.

Media analyst Steve Allen, of Fusion Media, said PGL Media would assess the ratings inroads Prime was making against NBN’s more expensive local news.

"They will definitely weigh it up, they will have to," Mr Allen said.

Sourced: ‘The Herald’ Saturday, May 5, 2007

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Rumours are circulating that PBL Media, the new owners of NBN, will be looking to rationalise costs quickly and that one of the main areas under threat is NBN’s one hour local News bulletin.

NBN’s nightly news will become a half hour bulletin at 6pm, a tipster claims today.

There will be no 5.30 bulletin. The schedule will be in sync with TCN all day.

The tipster also says National Nine News will get a revamp mid year, with a real set and new graphics, and NBN’s relaunch as Channel Nine. Call signs will be changed to allow “certain things” to take place.

NBN’s News has been a ratings winner for them since aggregation, providing the station with a nightly launching pad that Prime and SC TEN have rarely been able to threaten.

Nonetheless, the News bulletin is expensive to produce and would be an obvious target for he new owners who already have one of Australia’s largest News rooms

The possible rebranding of NBN to Channel Nine make would be a logical one for PBL who would then have continuous branding from Sydney to Brisbane.

What will be interesting though is the reaction of the local market who would lose yet another localised News service (after the closure of the Prime News room about 6 years ago). The Hunter market would then have no local television news and will have lost the original television brand the region has always known.

The big question would then be how much effect these changes would have on NBN’s ratings? NBN has continued to rate much higher than the Nine Network nationally, especially this year when Nine’s programming is very much under threat. These high ratings are generally on the back of the strong News audience.

Prime and Sc Ten might be rubbing their hands together at the latest developments.

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SP Telemedia will sell its media assets, including television station NBN Television, to PBL Media for $250 million.

"SP Telemedia Ltd wishes to advise that it has entered into an agreement with PBL Media Pty Limited to purchase the broadcasting and production operations (trading as One80 Digital Post)," the company said today.

SP Telemedia said last month it had received a non-binding proposal from PBL Media, Publishing and Broadcasting Ltd’s new media group.

NBN Television is an independent affiliate of the Nine Network and its market share stretches across New South Wales and Queensland and is the fourth largest market in Australia behind Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.

The company said the total consideration for the assets was $250 million.

The SP Telemedia board said it had carefully considered all proposals received from interested parties, concluding that the offer from PBL Media was superior.

"(The offer) provided the best outcome for Soul stakeholders, both in terms of value and deliverability," SP Telemedia said.

The company’s directors have given their unanimous support to the offer, and major shareholder, Washington H Soul Pattinson & Company Ltd has also indicated its support for the deal.

SP Telemedia said it plans to focus on its high growth telecommunications, multimedia and media infrastructure businesses following the sale.

It said it would update the market shortly on whether shareholder approval of the deal was necessary.

Source: SMH/AAP

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