The bombshell came after months of speculation that it was only a matter of time until the Tamworth production hub for Prime TV news was canned for a Canberra relocation.

The station yesterday announced it was “retiring” its broadcast studio facilities in Tamworth but contended it would retain 21 news staff in Tamworth and coastal bureaus to keep producing its weeknight half-hour bulletins.

What will be different is that those newscasts will come out of Canberra – and from a new presenter, who is yet to be announced.

Longtime newsreader Fiona Ferguson will disappear from our screens, but has been quoted as saying she’ll continue working out of Tamworth producing news. 

Two production jobs, presently held by female staff in Tamworth, will be lost to Canberra.

Prime network news director Doug Hogan said in a statement that viewers would continue to receive “the best local TV news every weeknight from 6 o’clock”.

“Viewers will get the same leading local news from reporters who live in the community and understand its issues,” Mr Hogan said.

Spokesman Andrew Allen told The Leader late yesterday Prime would not be making any further comment on its news.

Mr Allen said he couldn’t give any indication of when the new-look news would come into being, except that some “technical and logistical adjustments” had to be made before then, and they “will take place over coming months”.

However, it is known that the move can’t happen until some crucial on-air production systems are synchronised to allow for news to be fed to Canberra from Tamworth and then put to air easily. At the moment, the two media centres don’t have compatible systems.

The news comes almost three years to the day since Prime first announced it was heading south.

After a viewer backlash and some political pressure that decision was reversed, although it is believed technical difficulties at the time couldn’t be resolved soon enough either and the April switchover was dropped.

But the writing for the end of the Tamworth production has been on the wall for a while.

The studios and equipment are ageing, while Canberra has what was described three years ago as state-of-the-art digital production equipment and studio space to now present more bulletins without earlier deadlines.

The Prime TV building on Goonoo Goonoo Rd at Longyard is expected to be sold and the news team moved to a new inner city commercial space.

Real estate agent Richie Thornton said the complex had been shopped around for sale a few times over the past three years. 

Mr Thornton said the site could be worth more than $1million for someone with practical uses for its space but if there were to be a fire sale, it could go for less than a million.

Mr Thornton said there was no lack of good commercial facilities to accommodate the news team some place else in Tamworth, although ground floor office options were less plentiful than first or second floor spaces.

Prime in Tamworth will celebrate its 50 years in the television industry in April. 

It's believed to be the last local bulletin produced out of a regional centre and telecast its first bulletin on April 10, 1965 as NEN9.

Over the years viewers have had such famous reader and reporter faces as Peter Hanrahan, Robin Barlow, John Begley, Kylie Gillies, Mark Ferguson, Paul Gregg, Kevin Anderson, Natasha Beyersdorf and David Evans.

Mr Anderson, who read news and sport for Prime for 11 years, and is now the Nationals MP for Tamworth has described the latest news as a "sad day."

"The New England North West has faithfully supported our local broadcaster for many many years and I believe they should repay that faith by keeping the local news read from Tamworth. I feel for the staff who put their heart and souls into the job. While the news may still be local, it will definitely not look and feel the same."