Channel 10: Who’s staying, who’s going and what’s changing – as network announce axing of 25 stars

Shock waves were felt throughout the Australian news broadcasting industry on Tuesday as Channel 10 announced the shock axing of 25 of its stars.

Weatherman Tim Bailey, Studio 10 host Kerri-Anne Kennerley and journalist Natarsha Belling all fell victim to the brutal budget cuts in response to the sharp decline in advertising revenue caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Breathing a sigh of relief were Waleed Aly and Carrie Bickmore, whose talk show The Project was entirely unaffected by the cuts. 

Others who were let go from the network on Tuesday included weatherman Josh Holt and newsreader Georgina Lewis from 10 News First Brisbane.

10 News First Adelaide was also significantly impacted as they axed newsreader Rebecca Morse, weather presenter Kate Freebairn and sports anchor Will Goodings.

Monika Kos, a newsreader with 10 News First Perth, was given the boot, as was the division’s weather presenter, Michael Schultz.

Mike Larkan was also sacked from 10 News First Melbourne.

According to Mumsbrella, Studio 10 panellist Joe Hildebrand hasn’t lost his job yet, but is understood to be ‘in talks’ with the network about his future.

Despite losing Kennerley and Belling, morning show Studio 10 will continue to air weekdays from 8am to midday for the time being.

Host Sarah Harris and entertainment reporter Angela Bishop are staying, and Denise Drysdale and Denise Scott will continue as contributors.

Narelda Jacobs will remain as newsreader and Jono Coleman will present the advertorial segments as normal.

Peter Helliar, Lisa Wilkinson and Tommy Little are staying put alongside Waleed and Carrie on The Project, while Steve Price will remain as a contributor.  

However, the network has advised that more changes will be announced regarding Studio 10 in the coming weeks.

As part of the company restructure, the 10 News First weekday operation will be centralised in Sydney and Melbourne, and the network will move to a national weekday weather model fronted by Bailey’s to-be-announced replacement.

Sydney, Brisbane and Perth will all host their news bulletins out of Sydney, while Melbourne and Adelaide will be based out of Melbourne.

Sandra Sully and Matt Burke will host the Sydney and Brisbane bulletins, and Jennifer Keyte and Stephen Quartermain will host the Melbourne and Adelaide edition.

A new team will be announced to host the Perth news. 

The changes are expected to be effective from Monday, September 14.