In short:
Regional audiences in parts of SA and NSW have mixed reactions to hearing that they will lose Network 10 channels.
An expert says advertisers are spending online instead of on broadcast TV, creating an uncertain future.
What's next?
The channels are expected to go off air at midnight.
An expert says it would be cheaper to buy everyone smart TVs than pay to keep broadcast alive, as networks warn about regional television's future.
WIN Network announced it would cease broadcasting Network 10 channels, including 10, 10 Drama and 10 Comedy in the Mount Gambier, Riverland, Griffith and Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area markets, after the two networks failed to reach terms on a new broadcast deal.
WIN said that providing the service in these markets was "no longer viable" and it "reflects the realities of regional broadcasting".
University of Sydney professor of digital communication and culture Terry Flew said TV licences used to be considered "licences to print money", but streaming had up-ended the model.
"Traditional broadcasters around Australia and around the world are feeling the pinch," he said.
"The cost of delivering the terrestrial service is now greater than the returns that are coming from the advertising share, and that is impacting on regional areas."
Network 10 said audiences can continue to access its content online and via its app.
An unprofitable medium
Professor Flew said commercial broadcasters had already seen about 20 to 30 per cent of their audience move to streaming platforms.
He said audiences would need to adapt to the changing landscape.
"It would probably be cheaper [for Network 10] to buy everyone a new television than to continue to provide a terrestrial service,"he said.
"You would then need to connect up all those homes with a modem, and people would need to become familiar with how to use the television in a different way.
"There may be an opportunity for local or state government to get involved in providing services in that way."
Range of impacts for regions
For some, the decision will not have much of an impact on how they consume media.
Limestone Coast resident Talie Teakle, 54, said she had not had an aerial connected to her TV for about 17 years.
She said for many people, the flexibility of on-demand streaming was preferable to scheduled broadcasts.
"Life is so busy, if I've got free time I want to be able to watch what I want, when I want to watch it," she said.
"I don't want to be at the whim of a schedule where you're waiting for a weekly show to come on."
However, Mount Gambier's Rosy Smith said she was a regular free-to-air TV watcher, and it was an "absolute shame" to lose channels.
She said the majority of people she had spoken to at the city's senior citizens' club would be impacted by the "unfair" decision.
"There's a lot of people that don't want to go down that track," she said.
"It's just another blow to the regional community, having had things and then it's taken away from you.
"Why does it have to be regional people?"
