The future of Channel Ten appears uncertain after its parent company, US media giant Paramount Global, sold itself to Skydance Pictures.
The film studio will merge with Paramount and its owners, the Ellison family, will acquire the majority interest in Paramount from the Redstone family.
In a statement Monday announcing the transaction, Skydance said it plans to enhance Paramount’s platforms with more technology and infrastructure.
The company also claimed it would bolster Paramount’s television networks, but did not explicitly name Ten.
Channel Ten officials were informed of the changes on Monday, with confirmation that the “transaction will close in the first half of 2025”.
This comes after Ten presenters Dave Hughes and Osher Günsberg publicly confirmed in May that two of Channel Ten’s biggest reality TV shows, The Masked Singer and The Bachelor, had been axed by the network.
Media analyst and Pearman director of strategy and research Steve Allen said at the time: “It is unlikely that a new owner of Paramount Global will view Ten as a business worth keeping, as the company is in serious turmoil.
“There is no programming momentum and they haven’t really found a solid base for primetime. Their revenues seem stable, but they can’t seem to significantly reduce their overhead. And now there’s also some unrest around their U.S. ownership.”
The future of Channel Ten appears uncertain after its parent company, US media giant Paramount Global, sold itself to Skydance Pictures. Pictured Osher Gunsberg
“Network 10 is in a difficult position and I see no way out for them,” he concluded.
Professors Amanda Lotz and Anna Potter from the Queensland University of Technology both agreed, but added that it was as much about the current media landscape as it was about funding issues.
Lotz, who leads the Transforming Media Industries research programme, says she believes Ten will go under “by the end of the decade” leaving just “two commercial broadcasters” – rivals Nine and Seven.
She added that it’s “just math” and claimed the commercial television industry is in a “death spiral” with perhaps only one network left by the end.
In a statement Monday announcing the transaction, Skydance said it plans to enhance Paramount’s platforms with more technology and infrastructure. Pictured is MasterChef judge Poh Ling Yeow
Network Ten has had several owners over the years.
In 2010, James Packer bought an 18 percent stake, valued at $244 million, which was later shared with fellow media mogul Lachlan Murdoch.
It turned out not to be enough to help the network and Ten went into receivership in 2017.
That same year, the network was acquired by American television giant CBS, but just two years later CBS merged with Paramount.
This comes after Ten’s on-air talents Dave Hughes and Osher Günsberg publicly confirmed that two of Channel Ten’s biggest reality TV shows, The Masked Singer and The Bachelor, had been axed from the network in May.