Ouch. Channel Nine’s loss of two regional markets has got to hurt a network already trailing in ratings, revenue and morale. But that’s exactly what’s about to happen when regional TV operator and long standing Nine affiliate WIN TV makes the switch to Seven on two of its South Australian stations.

WIN TV has rebelled against the venture capital bean counters who’ve taken over at Nine by refusing to pay extra for its network affiliation, especially at a time when Nine’s programs are proving less appealing to audiences. So instead, WIN has seized the opportunity to strike back on two of its 24 stations.

Thanks to a quirk of history neither SES 8 in Mt Gambier or RTS 5-A in the Riverland compete with Seven and its regional affiliate Prime, so WIN chairman Andrew Gordon seized the initiative and did a deal to air Seven programming on the two stations from next month.

It comes on the back of WIN’s recent outmaneuvring of the Nine Network to purchase the Channel Nine stations in Adelaide and Perth, effectively reducing Nine to a shell of a national network.

This is one of those cheeky deals that takes a bit of thinking about, not least for the people of the Riverland and Mt Gambier who will have some readjusting to do – a bit like the people of Sweden who once made the overnight switch from right hand to left hand lanes on their roads.

One week it will be Sea Patrol from Nine and the next week, Border Security from Seven. One week it will be the hospital reality show RPA, and the next it will the hospital drama All Saints. One week it will be the excreta that is A Current Affair, the next it will be the excreta that is Today Tonight.

The people of Mt Gambier and the Riverland can look forward to a trade-off in sport too. They will lose the Boxing Day Test, but they can indulge their interest in yachting with coverage of the Sydney to Hobart instead. They will make the switch to Seven just in time for the Spring Racing Carnival – assuming there is one – and the Australian Open. They will also get the V8 Supercars and the AFL, although they will have to learn to live without both the Victorian and NSW versions of the Footy Show.

They can console themselves with the new commercial-riddled Kath and Kim and City Homicide but this may not allay their grief over the loss of Karl Stefanovic from Nine’s Today program.

The implications for news are curious. WIN brags about its regional news coverage but now it will have to integrate Seven and Prime news with the material it gathers in its other Nine affiliated newsrooms. This may make branding interesting.

So will the befuddled Nine management strike back? Perhaps they’re asking whether there’s anything to stop another station popping up in those markets? There is spare spectrum, so perhaps ACMA could auction a licence to a newcomer, with Nine’s backing? That might wipe the smile off Andrew Gordon’s face.