A 60-minute mix of local, state, national and international news is how Channel Nine is pitching its new nightly news offering for the Canberra market.
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Launching at 6pm on Monday 6 February, Nine's new Canberra bulletin will be broadcast from Sydney, with former ABC national weather presenter Vanessa O'Hanlon at the news desk.
Three Canberra journalists will file stories daily from the Channel Nine office in Watson, which will feature throughout the entire bulletin, rather than being concentrated into one specific Canberra segment.
It's a model that has been successful for Nine in Newcastle for a number of years. The same model will be rolled out in Wagga, Wollongong and the Central West in late February, with Ms O'Hanlon also reading the news for those regions from her desk in Sydney.
Canberra viewers would have noticed a surprising change in channels in August last year, when Nine moved from its affiliation with the WIN Network to a new relationship with Southern Cross Austereo. The shows previously aired on Channel Nine became Channel 10, and vice versa.
The new Nine bulletin will go head-to-head with the long-established WIN News bulletin which airs nightly at 6pm. Channel Nine's press gallery bureau remains unchanged.
Long-time Channel Nine reporter and producer Mike Dalton will be the News Director for Canberra. Mr Dalton started at Nine in 1987 as a producer on The Midday Show with Ray Martin, and has worked previously on The Footy Show and Today.
Mr Dalton said Nine's coverage of Canberra news would include local government, sport, lifestyle and "whatever our journalists on the ground tell us is important in the ACT".
"We're not going to be directive about what they cover - we need them to tell us what Canberrans care about," Mr Dalton said.
"You can't beat a local news story - there's still a great demand from our viewers for truly local content.
"These are the things that impact people's daily lives, and we're committed to telling those stories for Canberra."
Ms O'Hanlon visited Canberra on Thursday for a meet and greet with Canberra-based journalists Harry Frost, Rosanna Kingsun and Emma Larouche.
She described her move to regional news as "going back to what I love".
"It's nice to get back out into the regions again and to such a brand new project," she said.
"And to see this whole new growth is just a great thing for the regions. It will be fantastic to be across what's happening across most of the state - it's what I love."
