Sydney racing station, 2KY, will close its newsroom today because news is not part of its core business.

News Director, Peter Shanahan, has told radioinfo:

“The decision came without warning yesterday (Wednesday). I, as news director, have been made redundant, as has my offsider, Michelle Zydower.”

Two weekend casuals, Tanya White and Glenn Roach, will also be out the door when 2KY begins buying a news service from Bill Caralis’ SuperNetwork from next week.

2KY is part of the Tabcorp Group of companies, which owns the NSW and Victorian TABs. It was previously owned by the Labour Council, which recently sold it to the NSW TAB owned Sky Racing Network.

Station management informed the newsroom on Wednesday that the cuts were as a result of business decisions about the cost of the service. Considerable savings are likely to be made on news wire costs and salaries. 2KY’s core business is broadcasting races.

The station is thought to have been negotiating with Southern Cross to take its NSW state news feed, but hit a snag when exclusivity agreements prevented Southern Cross Syndication being heard in regional markets, where it already sells news to competing stations. 2KY has a large network of FM relay services to many towns in regional NSW.

Shanahan, who will be back on the market from tomorrow, says he thinks he is the longest serving newsreader on Sydney commercial (and probably ABC) radio. He began reading news on 2UW in 1971.

Following up on last week’s radioinfo story, it seems 2KY falls into the category of one of those stations where commitment to a local newsroom is declining.