Every day, 7NEWS broadcasts across Australia to around 2 million people, regional and local, with an online viewership of 1.5 million. But how do newsrooms operate with an ever-changing media environment and constantly breaking news?

Telum went behind the scenes in Seven’s Sydney newsroom to find out how the team delivers daily news around Australia, and to find out how people can work with 7NEWS teams more efficiently.

TV news remains one of the most consumed news products in Australia. And, it still has outsized influence in the community and for stakeholders. Seven is tackling the challenges of fragmented audiences head-on, developing new and innovative ways of engaging new and existing audiences, no matter where they are.

Long gone are the days where the 6pm bulletin is king, capturing the attention of people having dinner. Through the introduction of new platforms such as Facebook Watch and 7NEWS.com.au, the broadcaster can be right in the palm of their audience, whenever that audience is ready.

The Latest on Facebook Watch

… What is it?
Launched in August 2019, The Latest on Facebook Watch is a daily news programme delivered in 3-minute segments, with the first focusing on a strong visual story. The second story is a need-to-know news issue, with the show finally closing on a piece that will get the audience talking.

The Latest is a largely visual-dependent format, which allows a younger audience to gain a quicker, briefer version of current affairs than the 6pm news. The show is also granted credibility by securing broadcast veteran Michael Usher as an Anchor.

Production
Production for The Latest on Facebook Watch begins at roughly 7:30am, with the producers arriving at the newsroom to start looking for content for the programme. Whether that is Executive Producer (Digital) Phil Goyen or Lead Producer Stefan Mitchell, the team will liaise to discuss what content will best fit the style of The Latest that day.

The show is filmed around midday; the writing, the script and the graphic elements will be put in the rundown. The show is then recorded in roughly 15 minutes and sent to the creative director to compile the programme. As a precaution, learnt from events such as the 2019 Sydney Stabbing, Michael will record takes with extra lines such as “Breaking news” or “This just in”, in the event that major news breaks after recording.

At around 2pm producers will review The Latest to ensure it is up to scratch and prepare it for broadcast.

The Latest on Facebook Watch is released anytime between 3:30pm to 4:30pm, designed to be online by the time afternoon commutes begin.

The show has an average of 1 million views per episode.

7NEWS.com.au ​​​​​​

About
7NEWS.com.au launched in April 2019 with the aim to be the go-to breaking news site across Australia. By June 2019, the site had cracked the top five in Nielsen Digital Content Ratings. In January, it jumped to number four, reaching 9.3 million Australians.

The average daily unique audience is around 1.14 million.

The site operates in conjunction with Seven’s broadcast news programmes and The Latest, with the process of dividing news across the platforms a piece-by-piece task.

Production
The majority of the staff are based in Sydney, which is regarded as the “national desk”, alongside a local editor in each capital city. When the staff arrive, as early as 5am, they will be assigned stories for the day. The team aims to have breaking news live on their website within 15 minutes, with the intention to develop the story over coming hours.

The site primarily focuses on breaking news, though human-interest stories tend to perform well. This year will see a major focus on the coverage of the Olympics, with Seven currently the only broadcaster holding the rights to the Games across Australia.

At 9pm, the Perth newsroom takes over operation of the site, ensuring there are about 20 hours of operation per day.