Nightly Tasmanian television news bulletins will no longer be broadcast from Launceston after Seven confirmed 7NEWS Tasmania would relocate to a Hobart studio and an interstate control room next month.
Some staff in Launceston, including anchor Kim Millar, are understood to have been offered the choice to move to Hobart or accept a redundancy package.
The move marks the end of nightly news broadcasts from Tasmania’s second-largest city, where bulletins have aired from local studios since 1962.
A Seven spokesperson said the decision followed the company’s national merger with Southern Cross Austereo, which gave them access to “an outstanding studio facility in Hobart”.
“Using this facility is the smart and sustainable choice for the business, allowing us to invest our resources into what matters most: the journalism and the people who deliver it,” the spokesperson said.
The Hobart studio was previously used to anchor the Tasmanian bulletin on weekends with former presenter Louise Houbaer.
Seven’s access to the Hobart studio was cut and Houbaer’s role was axed when Southern Cross Austereo sold Seven Tasmania to Seven West Media in 2025.
When bulletins were previously presented from Hobart, staff in Launceston still operated control of the bulletin, however Seven West Media say these technical roles will now move to Canberra.
The network insisted the number of journalists and camera operators across Tasmania would remain unchanged, and only “bulletin direction and studio production will be handled from Seven’s Canberra Hub”.
“Tasmanians can be confident that 7NEWS Tasmania will continue to deliver the same comprehensive, statewide coverage they expect,” Seven said.
The first bulletin from the new Hobart studio will air on 25 May 2026.
Tasmanian government minister Jo Palmer, who presented the bulletin for nearly two decades before entering parliament, said she was protective of both staff and local news coverage.
“People in Tasmania want to hear the news from Tasmanians, from people who are affected by the same things that … journalists are reporting on,” she said.
Palmer stressed the importance of journalists living in the communities they cover.
“You cannot underestimate the value of Tasmanians being the ones to tell Tasmanians what’s happening in their own community,” she said.
She called on Seven to treat staff with respect during what she described as “uncertain times” for both workers and viewers.
The announcement caps a tumultuous period for the station, which has changed hands twice in the past year.
Seven West Media purchased 7 Tasmania from Southern Cross Austereo for $3.75 million in May 2025, after a previous $6.35 million deal with Australian Digital Holdings collapsed.
ADH CEO Jack Bulfin later claimed the company discovered “serious risks” during due diligence that had not been disclosed by Southern Cross.
The station moved from its historic Watchorn Street premises to a new Charles Street studio in Launceston just last year. That facility was listed for lease last week.
In October, the bulletin rebranded from “Nightly News 7 Tasmania” to “7NEWS Tasmania” as part of its integration into the Seven network.
Seven’s regional news director at the time promised the network would maintain Tasmania’s only hour-long nightly television bulletin and remain committed to local storytelling.
In January this year, Southern Cross Austereo and Seven West Media completed a merger that saw Seven Tasmania return to the same ownership as it previously had.
The Launceston studio closure comes despite 7NEWS Tasmania being the state’s most-watched television news broadcast, ahead of both WIN News and the ABC.
It is not yet known whether popular personalities, including anchor Kim Millar, sports presenter Nick Kelly and weather presenter Kiah Wicks, will make the move to Hobart to retain their jobs.
