When Martin White, Vice President of News at Paramount Australia, set out to hire anchors for the newly conceptualized 10 News+, he reached out to Denham Hitchcock. Hitchcock had only recently returned to 7News Spotlight in February after a two-year hiatus. “When Denham picked up my call and said, ‘Let’s go for a beer,’ I nearly fell off my chair. I was like, ‘Brilliant. He’s a legend. Fantastic!’” White shared with TV Tonight.
Hitchcock, who had been working with Spotlight on a casual basis, was immediately drawn to the fluid format proposed by White. “The moment he explained the show and his vision for it, I was hooked,” Hitchcock said. “Having a program that is on six nights a week but has a format that is changeable… we could do long format investigations, it might be half the show. If it’s big enough, it might be the whole show. We’ll also tackle news of the day.”
Revolutionizing News Formats
The new format of 10 News+ is a departure from traditional news broadcasts. Hitchcock emphasized the flexibility of the program, noting that it allows for in-depth coverage of significant stories rather than sticking to a rigid schedule. “We’re not stuck with a two-minute by two-minute rundown of the news days of events. It can change and morph as the show sees fit. It’s news that matters to people, so less of the factory fires and the car crashes, more of the cost of living or big world events like what’s going on in Israel and Iran at the moment, coupled with stories that we will be breaking ourselves,” Hitchcock explained.
Joining Hitchcock in anchoring duties is former Seven journalist Amelia Brace, who will co-anchor from Sunday to Thursday, while Ursula Heger and Hugh Riminton will lead Friday nights. White is also enthusiastic about the show’s availability on multiple platforms, including 10, YouTube, and Spotify, aiming to reach a broad audience.
“We have to put our product where people are,” White explained. “So we’re putting it on all these different platforms, in all these different ways. And yes, linear is vitally important …the viewers at six o’clock we want all of them, and regional Australia, suburbia, inner city, wherever they are.”
Facing Established Competitors
10 News+ is set to compete directly with major TV networks’ 6pm bulletins, Seven and Nine, following its own local 10 News at 5pm. The move comes as 10 seeks to capture an audience that has shown signs of shifting away from traditional formats like The Project.
White is confident in their unique approach. “We do run our own race a little bit at 10. We don’t need to think about what other people do. We don’t need to put ourselves up as being competition for anybody else. While we’re taking everybody on, we’re doing it in a very much our own way,” he stated.
The success of 10’s news brand over the past year has been notable, with a 12% increase year-on-year at 5pm, 31% at Lunchtime, 44% in the Afternoon, and 18% in Late News. Streaming numbers are also on the rise, with a million subscribers on both YouTube and TikTok.
Innovative Storytelling and Personal Connections
Hitchcock promises a compelling story for the premiere episode. “You’ve got to bring out the big guns on night one,” he insists. The episode will feature a story on Melbourne mother Debbie Voulgaris, who was caught in Taiwan with a suitcase containing heroin and cocaine. The investigation will reveal the scam behind her arrest, including messages and details about the person who sent her.
The show will also feature live interviews with a team of reporters, including Political Editor Ashleigh Raper and Entertainment Editor Angela Bishop, among others. Despite the challenge of filling six hours of content weekly, White is committed to producing original stories with Australian journalists.
For Hitchcock, joining 10 News+ is a personal journey. “When I was a kid, dad worked at Channel 10 News,” he recalls. “He was one of the main reporters here, and he went on to become the News Director. Coming in here has been a little bit like coming home, to be honest.”
10 News+ airs at 6pm from Sunday to Friday on 10, promising a fresh take on news delivery with a focus on stories that resonate with viewers across Australia.
