The WIN Network has announced that Channel Seven will cease broadcasting in Mount Gambier and the Riverland from next month. The move means that footy fans in the regions are going to miss out on not seeing the footy on free-to-air TV.
Locals say that they are devastated by the news, putting to an end the ritual of turning on the TV to see horse racing, before flicking around to 7 Mate and remembering that the footy is no longer on free-to-air on Saturday.
As yet, it is unclear whether the broadcasting body will overturn the decision, with critics pointing to the local cultural importance of TV shows like The Chase and repeats of Border Security from 2009.
“Channel Seven not caring about Loxton is a massive shock,” says a local resident who spoke to a Channel Seven reporter based in Sydney over an Instagram Direct Message. “We thought that the network that hasn’t broadcast a local news bulletin in a decade and just pipes in a feed of an Adelaide TV station and doesn’t have any local staff and has clearly forgotten that this region exists until they could put if up for sale cared way more deeply about us”.
