One of Australia’s most respected regional television news services has been gutted within weeks of WIN Television taking control of NBN.

Wollongong-based WIN has announced sweeping changes to NBN News, including halving its weeknight bulletin and scrapping weekend news coverage altogether.

From Monday, June 29, NBN’s long-running one-hour 6pm bulletin of local, national and international news and sport will be replaced by a 30-minute local program at 5.30pm.

Sydney’s Nine News bulletin will then screen at 6pm.

Locally produced weekend NBN News bulletins will be axed from Saturday, June 27, with Sydney’s Nine News to air at 6pm on Saturday and Sunday nights.

The changes bring an end to one of the most significant traditions in Australian regional television.

NBN Television first went to air in 1962 and became a pioneer of regional broadcasting. In 1972, it launched Australia’s first composite one-hour television news bulletin.

More than five decades later, that bulletin is being cut in half and shifted out of primetime.

WIN Network chief executive Andrew Lancaster said regional communities valued strong local journalism and local storytelling.

“The changes to our weeknight bulletins are designed to deliver more local content, more local stories and a stronger connection to the communities we serve across Northern New South Wales,” he said.

WIN disingenuously described the new lineup as “an extended 90 minutes of local, national and international news coverage each weeknight”.

However, the locally produced NBN bulletin itself will be reduced from 60 minutes to 30 minutes.

There was no mention of the decision during Tuesday evening’s NBN News presented by Natasha Beyersdorf (main image), although it was reported on the rival Seven News North Coast bulletin.

The Newcastle Herald has reported staff fear for their jobs, although no redundancies have yet been announced.

Industry expectations are that up to half the remaining team could eventually go.

The latest changes follow a series of cuts made by Nine before the sale to WIN, including the departure of former newsreaders Paul Lobb and Gavin Morris.

Questions remain about what format the new 5.30pm bulletin will take.

One possibility is that WIN could move towards a North Coast-style bulletin, mirroring Seven’s half-hour regional news format.

However, that has not been confirmed.

For Northern Rivers viewers, the impact will depend heavily on how much local reporting remains on the ground.

NBN has historically maintained a Lismore bureau with two journalists and camera operators – twice the size of rival Seven. 

If staffing reductions extend beyond Newcastle, the changes could further reduce local news coverage across Northern NSW.

NBN News has been a fixture in Hunter households since NBN Television launched in 1962.

Northern Rivers viewers joined the audience in December 1991 following regional television aggregation.