Under a widely anticipated deal announced on Monday, WIN will broadcast Ten Network shows into its regional areas, including southern NSW, Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia and Tasmania.

The five year agreement follows the April revelation that Nine would break its 30-year affiliation with WIN in favour of a deal with Southern Cross.

This means shows on WIN and Southern Cross will swap channels on July 1.

So Ten’s MasterChef, GoggleBox, The Bachelor and sporting events like The Big Bash will screen on WIN, while Nine’s 60 Minutes, The Voice and the third State of Origin match on July 13 will switch to Southern Cross.

Viewers will not need to rescan their televisions when the switch over happens.

WIN has not yet announced what will happen with its nightly local news, or whether any Ten shows will need to be bumped to make way for the regional half hour bulletins.

However, chief executive Andrew Lancaster said WIN’s affiliation with Ten “would not affect the network’s commitment to delivering news”.

He briefed staff on Monday, thanking them for their patience during an uncertain time.

“WIN’s commitment to local regional news continues,” he said in a media release. “It is something we are proud of and is at the heart of the WIN Network.

“TEN have been supportive of our desire to ensure regional Australia continues to have local regional news each weeknight and we look forward to working with TEN in providing news supply beyond the WIN News audiences especially when news breaks in regional Australia.”

Sources within WIN's network of regional newsrooms have expressed concern about the Nine deal ending the day before the federal election, and the impact on WIN's election coverage of switching to Network Ten news programming on July 1.

A WIN Network spokesperson said it would be “business as usual for WIN News so there will be no impact on election coverage”.

Mr Lancaster said the new agreement was “an excellent outcome” for viewers and advertisers.

“We believe we are now partnering with a television network that is delivering innovative programming and increasing audience share,” he said. “This can only be good for our advertisers.” 

Advertisers will be closely watching audience performance during the switch, and will also have their eyes on what happens with news programming, as networks often promote their shows in news ad breaks to maintain audiences into the evening.

Billionaire WIN owner and Wollongong property tycoon Bruce Gordon is Ten’s major shareholder, with a 14.9 per cent stake. He is also Nine Entertainment’s biggest shareholder with the same stake.