Major TV News Show Canceled Because ‘It Just Doesn’t Stack up Any Longer’

After spending nearly 16 years bringing “thought-provoking and unique conversations” to TV screens across Australia, The Project has been canceled.

The long-running Australian news-current affairs and talk show program aired its final broadcast on Friday, June 27, leaving co-hosts Sarah Harris, Waleed Aly, Hamish Macdonald, and Steve Price, as well as close to 100 other personnel, out of jobs.

“As a result of the changes, The Project will air for the last time on Friday, June 27, ending an incredible run of almost 16 years and more than 4,500 episodes,” Network 10 confirmed the show’s cancellation last month, news.com.au reported. “The impact that The Project has had on the media and entertainment industry, countless careers, as well as on Australian society and culture, cannot be overstated.”

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Launching on Network 10 as The 7PM Project on July 20, 2009, The Project aired weeknights and Sunday across Australia, leading “the way with thought-provoking and unique conversations on primetime television covering a myriad of topics including marriage equality, animal welfare, disability awareness, NDIS, and domestic and family violence.” Over the course of its 16-year-run, the show won a total of 11 Logie awards and one Walkley award.

Speaking with The Project staff shortly after announcing the show’s cancellation, Network 10 president Beverley McGarvey said the decision to end the show was not easy and was ultimately the result of an “evolution” for the program and network.

“It’s really just evolution and we didn’t think we’d ever have this problem,” she said. “We didn’t think we’d be here for 16 years but as you all know those younger demographics in particular who really made the show … thrive in the beginning have just evolved and they’re watching different platforms and they’re watching different services. For those reasons, unfortunately the show just doesn’t stack up any longer.”

McGarvey added that “something we’ve thought about for a really long time,” and although the Network 10 team had “have worked over the years to try and change things a little bit and evolve things… unfortunately we’re at the point now where it just doesn’t make sense.”

McGarvey praised the program and The Project staffers for doing “a lot of great things for the media landscape” and “great things for Australian culture and not many shows resonate in the way that The Project did… we’re really proud of the show and we’re really sad this day had to come and it’s just a reality that it did.”

While The Project has since wrapped, a new show, 10 NEWS+, has taken its place. Martin White, VP News, Paramount Australia described the show as “completely different to anything else in the market,” adding that it offers “breaking exclusive stories” as well as “our own unique take on the biggest issues impacting Australians,” per Variety Australia.

Investigative journalist Denham Hitchcock and Walkley Award-winning journalist Amelia Brace anchor 10 NEWS+ Sunday to Thursday, while reporters Ursula Heger and Hugh Riminton host Fridays.