Struggling 10 News+ dumped from weekdays as Ten expands 5pm bulletins

Network 10 is dumping its struggling nightly news and current affairs program 10 News+ from its weekday line-up, although the program will continue to air on Sundays. In its place, the broadcaster will expand its flagship 5pm weeknight news bulletins from one hour to 90 minutes.10 News+, which launched as a one-hour format in June 2025 before being trimmed to 30 minutes in January, currently airs six nights a week between Sunday and Monday. The changes will take effect on August 10, and 10 News+ will retain its 6.30pm slot on Sundays.10 News+ co-hosts Amelia Brace and Denham Hitchcock. The struggling show has been moved to Sunday nights.Janie BarrettThe ambitious program, hosted by Amelia Brace and Denham Hitchcock, replaced nightly panel show The Project, which drew larger audiences but became unsustainable due to high production costs. Year-to-date ratings figures for 10 News+ show its perilous state, with the Monday to Friday edition averaging about 151,000 national viewers, while its Sunday edition drew 160,000. The Project, meanwhile, attracted between 238,000 and 357,000 viewers nationally the week before it was axed.Ten’s 5pm bulletins have fared better than 10 News+, averaging more than 300,000 viewers this year.Staff were informed of the changes on Wednesday morning by Martin White, Ten’s vice-president of news.In a note to his team, White said, “While we are still finalising the format, we are making this change because our audience has told us they want more local news. We will still give audiences investigations, exclusives and insight via the 10 News+ team across the week, as well as on Sunday’s dedicated program. This will provide more content for the states and lighten the workload on teams around the country.The crew for the final episode of The Project on June 26, 2025: Sarah Harris, Carrie Bickmore, Sam Taunton, Dave Hughes, Georgie Tunny and Waleed Aly. “I want to be clear – we are incredibly proud of all our news bulletins, and the quality journalism we produce daily. Last month, 10 News saw its biggest monthly national total audience since January. Across the year, 10 News’ streaming audience is up 45% on 2025. 10’s Late News is [now attracting] its biggest audiences since its return in 2024. This is a necessary pivot to maximise our resourcing and deliver more local news for our audiences.”Contrary to recent rumours, Ten confirmed it would not outsource its news production to a rival network, nor would it initiate large-scale job cuts.Fewer than five staff in back-end roles are expected to be made redundant, while the journalists and producers working on 10 News+ will be redeployed to Ten’s early evening bulletins.Ten’s 90-minute weeknight bulletins will feature longer-form reporting, with current 10 News+ co-anchor Hitchcock also working on several documentaries. Brace will soon take maternity leave but will remain with Ten’s news division.Ten will continue broadcasting local weeknight bulletins in each major city, while maintaining national weekend bulletins. (Perth is now an exception, with Narelda Jacobs presenting a local weekend bulletin in her home state.)The shake-up at Ten is the latest in a series of changes at the network, including the “resting” of its hit reality show I’m a Celebrity … Get Me Out Here!, which has since been picked up by Seven. In its place, Ten has secured Australian Ninja Warrior (which previously aired on Nine, owner of this masthead) for 2027, to be hosted by Robert Irwin, Georgie Tunny and Beau Ryan.Of course, Ten is not the only network managing change this year, with Nine yet to confirm a replacement for Karl Stefanovic on the Today show or a fill-in presenter for co-anchor Sarah Abo, who is on maternity leave.From our partners