Channel 10 organises speed dating event for its employees

Channel 10 recently organised a speed dating event for its employees. 

According an email sent to staff of the TV station, the event took place on May 18 between 3pm and 4pm. 

While the TV station said the ‘spark speed dating’ event was a good way for colleagues to get to know one another, it added that it would not stand in the way if love ‘was to blossom’ between staff. 

The email read: ‘Just a friendly reminder this morning, if you would like to attend the Spark Speed Dating event please RSVP by the end of today. 

‘And to answer the most common question, this event is a way to get to know your colleagues. 

‘But, if love was to blossom, who are we to stand in the way?’ 

It added: ‘Have you ever walked past a colleague and thought “Who’s that?” Every found yourself walking through a department you never knew existed? 

‘Are you just looking for an excuse to speak to Gareth Tomlin? 

According an email sent to staff of the TV station, the event took place on May 18 between 3pm and 4pm 

 ‘Join us for Spark Speed Dating! A chance to make some new connections and catch up with well established ones.’

However, in a public LinkedIn post Channel 10’s parent company Paramount said it was a networking event.  

The post read: ‘Forget speed dating. Here at Paramount, we’re all about Speed Networking! 

‘As part of our recent internal Global Spark Summit, aimed to equip, inspire and engage our employees across the globe, Paramount ANZ held a Speed Networking event where staff across a number of different departments set aside time to get to know their colleagues and make new connections. 

‘With only four minutes allocated for each introduction, these Paramount staffers worked quickly to form unbreakable bonds and lifelong friendships with their new associates!’

However, in a public LinkedIn post Channel 10’s parent company Paramount said it was a networking event

Photos of colleagues at the event were also posted on LinkedIn with banners saying ‘Spark Speed Dating’ being visible in the background. 

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Channel 10 for comment.    

This comes after reports in June of last year that the network boss vowed to steer Channel 10’s programming in a more ‘woke’ direction to capitalise on its younger audience. 

The network’s head of sales, Rod Prosser, said at a meeting with advertisers that Ten’s upcoming slate of shows would prioritise ‘social justice, equality and inclusion’ to meet the expectations of its ‘purpose-driven’ consumers, reported RT . 

While Channel 10 has a much smaller audience than its commercial rivals, Mr Prosser said its viewers were still valuable to brands because they have ‘more income’ and are ‘more socially progressive’ compared to Australians who watch Nine and Seven. 

Channel 10 stayed true to its strategy of appealing to social justice-minded viewers in July last year by replacing the names of Australian cities with traditional Aboriginal names in weather bulletins.

The network removed colonial place names in a Sunday night forecast to mark the beginning of NAIDOC week – a national event that celebrates the history and culture of Indigenous people. 

This comes after reports in June of last year that the network boss vowed to steer Channel 10’s programming in a more ‘woke’ direction to capitalise on its younger audience

Traditional names for cities across the country were changed on a map during the forecast, and by weather presenter Amanda Jason.

‘We are acutely aware of our ability to influence culture, which raises a number of questions about our responsibility,’ said Mr Prosser.

‘How can we better promote and employ social justice, equality and inclusion? How can we represent all Australians and their stories? How can we raise the conversation and not lower the bar? These are questions of integrity and to us, integrity matters.’

While this ‘socially progressive’ pitch may attract some like-minded brands, it was reported that industry insiders feared a shift to the left could negatively impact 10’s bottom line, as ‘getting woke’ can often lead to ‘going broke’ in the corporate world. 

Traditional names for cities across the country were changed on a map during the forecast, and by weather presenter Amanda Jason