The Adelaide blackout forced News Corp to take the 'unprecedented' step of printing The Advertiser newspaper in Melbourne and trucking it to Adelaide overnight.
Power across South Australia went out just before 4:00pm yesterday and prevented the printing of the Thursday edition of The Advertiser at the Adelaide Print Centre. Staff were putting together the paper when the presses at Mile End were completely shut down. A back-up generator allowed the paper's website and the newsroom to continue operating on half-power.
"We made the unprecedented decision to print as many newspapers as possible in the News Corp Melbourne print plant and truck to Adelaide overnight," says Dan Demaria, GM of marketing and circulation, The Advertiser. The trucks were due to begin arriving in Adelaide at around 9:00am today.
When power came back on at the Adelaide Print Centre at 10:30pm last night, the paper decided to print home delivery copies there, with left-over copies sent to retail outlets this morning.
"We are endeavouring to deliver as many newspapers as possible to a number of retail outlets from 9am Thursday. Delivery is also expected to be impacted by further extreme weather expected to arrive Thursday morning, says Demaria. “Regrettably, we have been unable to deliver to our country customers due to the extra delivery time required or home delivery customers given that our Melbourne plant lacks the ability to flat wrap newspapers.
“Rain, hail or shine we — and our distribution partners — will get as many newspapers into the hands of as many readers as possible.”
Overnight TV ratings show Seven News drew 1,000 viewers in Adelaide while Nine News recorded a zero figure, with almost everyone in the State unable to watch TV, according to a report in Mumbrella.