TV shows such as Deal or No Deal could be lost to Griffith TV screens. Photo: Deal or No Deal/Facebook.
The Channel 10 television service will continue to be broadcast in Griffith, Leeton and surrounding towns for at least three more months, after the WIN Network reached a short-term agreement with Network 10.
WIN had planned to stop broadcasting Channel 10 in the western Riverina from 1 July. It’s understood it made this decision because it was no longer financially viable to continue carrying the service due to declining advertising revenue.
However, Network 10 has agreed to provide its signal free of charge until 30 September while the two parties explore a longer-term solution. The network said it would cover the transmission cost during that period and would not receive any revenue.
The agreement means viewers will continue to have free-to-air access to programs such as MasterChef, Survivor and Deal or No Deal, as well as sporting coverage including the A-League soccer and Formula One motorsport, until at least spring.
A Network 10 spokesperson said the broadcaster remained committed to regional Australia and would continue working with WIN to keep its content available to as many viewers as possible.
It said it was at a disadvantage in doing so because, unlike WIN and other free-to-air broadcasters, it was ineligible for federal regional journalism funding due to its foreign ownership by US-based Paramount Global. Network 10 said this limited its ability to maintain coverage in non-profitable regional and rural areas.
WIN welcomed the agreement with 10 but stressed it was only a reprieve.
“We have agreed on three months to attempt to find a path forward and address the structural challenges in parts of regional Australia that have brought us to this point,” a WIN spokesperson said.
“What is playing out here is not unique to WIN or to these communities; it reflects the commercial realities that every regional broadcaster in Australia is grappling with right now.”
Griffith and surrounding towns will continue to be able to watch A-League soccer, for now. Photo: FastCube/Wikimedia Commons.
Griffith-based Murray MP Helen Dalton questioned WIN’s commitment.
“WIN Television has enjoyed a government-granted monopoly in these regions for decades, and that monopoly has been very profitable for WIN,” she said.
“So if they are going to hold on to this monopoly, then WIN Television better make sure Network 10 programs remain on air permanently.”
Ms Dalton previously called on Communications Minister Anika Wells to revoke WIN’s broadcasting licence if it failed to restore Network 10 services.
“Permission to operate a free-to-air television station is granted by the Federal Government, and that permission should be taken away if a network fails in its duties to the Australian people,” Ms Dalton said.
“Minister Wells needs to hold WIN Television to account on this matter.”
While the immediate impact of losing Channel 10 would have been felt most by fans of soccer, Formula One and the network’s entertainment programs, sports writer Tallon Smith has warned the long-term consequences could have been much greater. He noted that Channel 10 has previously held the broadcast rights to both the AFL and the NRL and could do so again in future, meaning Griffith viewers could eventually lose access to Australia’s biggest sporting codes if the station disappeared from free-to-air television.
The warning echoes last year’s dispute between WIN and the Seven Network, which briefly threatened to strip Griffith viewers of free-to-air AFL, cricket and other Seven programming. That proposal sparked a widespread public backlash before a new agreement was reached.
