Channel Ten’s new current affairs show has been slashed as it continues to struggle to win over viewers.
10 News+ has had its running time halved, cut down from hour-long episodes to half-hour slots, it was revealed on Thursday.
Just four months after the debut episode aired in June, the hard-hitting news program, hosted by recently poached Seven journalists Denham Hitchcock and Amelia Brace, has failed to find an audience.
Brought in to replace The Project, which was axed in June, 10 News+ has struggled to attract significant ratings despite being touted as a fresh, informative replacement for its ailing predecessor.
10 News+ will continue to air six days a week, hosted by Brace and Hitchcock between Sunday and Thursday, and with Ursula Heger and Hugh Riminton stepping in on Fridays.
‘It will take some of the pressure off and allow them to break more stories,’ Ten’s news chief, Martin White, told the Sydney Morning Herald.
Channel Ten’s new current affairs show has been slashed as it continues to struggle to win over viewers. 10 News+ has had its running time halved, cut down from hour-long episodes to half-hour slots. Pictured: Hosts Denham Hitchcock and Amelia Brace
‘It’s a lot easier to break stories if you’re not having to file every single night, so I think this will serve the team really well.’
10 News+ was promised to be a ‘classy’ current affairs series – but has fallen short of impressing viewers.
Not everyone has enjoyed it however, with many sharing their thoughts on social media platform X after the premiere episode aired back in June.
Several compared 10 News+ to A Current Affair with one posting: ‘This is like ACA. Going to peoples houses to talk & them avoiding the cameras.’
‘You replaced The Project with a Temu ACA not seeing @theprojecttv is incredibly depressing. 10news+ sucks!’ complained another viewer.
Someone else said: ‘This is proper @Channel7 style commercial JUNK. It’s like watching a cross between Fox News and Anchorman. Why the silly “news” voices!?’
One more person tuning in at home asked: ‘Anyone else bored so far?’ while someone else said, ‘please no more long investigation reports it’s 6pm.’
‘This is trash, so dry and bland. Time for The Project 2.0 and a game show in a prime time slot up against Home and Away. Good luck,’ someone wrote.
‘It will take some of the pressure off and allow them to break more stories,’ Ten’s news chief, Martin White, told the Sydney Morning Herald
Brought in to replace The Project, which was axed in June, 10 News+ has struggled to attract significant ratings. Pictured (L-R): The Project’s Tommy little, Peter Helliar, Hamish Macdonald, Carrie Bickmore, Waleed Aly, Lisa Wilkinson and Gorgi Coghlan
‘Not even bothering with #10newsplus bring back #TheProjectTV’ one more wrote with someone else saying, ‘Is Denham Hitchcock AI generated or just stupid?’ added another.
‘Dribble. Won’t last the year,’ a viewer said with another adding, ‘Felt like it was a Comedy Company parody from the 80s. The fist pump at the end? Yikes.’
Hitchcock and Brace had promised to deliver ‘trust and truth’ and put the ‘truth first’ on the show, which began airing on June 30 at 6pm, after the 5pm news bulletin.
The Project was officially axed after 16 years last week, and aired its final episode on June 27.
