TEN may be avoiding the courts but its troubles are far from over. Its sports multichannel ONE is in for a shake-up as general manager of sport David White leaves after 14 years.
Ten is shifting its 6pm with George Negus to 6.30pm and dropping the separate local bulletin. At less than 1 per cent, ONE has the lowest audience share of all the free-to-air digital channels. And If Seven is successful in its court case, James Warburton would be unable to start as Ten's chief executive for another 18 months.
Rivals and some media buyers are claiming the turmoil at the network is affecting its business.
National sales manager Kylie Rogers said: ''The changes are necessary and will only allow us to deliver higher ratings and better solutions for our advertisers.''
Executive chairman of media agency group Mediabrands Henry Tajer is more positive about Ten now. ''It shows that it is in gear, which has been the biggest criticism of it in the past. Change is positive,'' he said.
Overall Ten Network's ratings across all its channels is 25.7 per cent of commercial peak-time viewers, lower than in the past three years. Its new channel Eleven is, however, rating well.
