Editing Prime7 (section)

===2021: Merger with Seven===
On 1 November 2021, [[Seven West Media]] announced that it would acquire all the shares and subsidiaries of [[Prime Media Group]], including Prime7. This was Seven West Media's second attempt at purchasing Prime, after its previous attempt in 2019 was thwarted by [[Australian Community Media]] boss Antony Catalano and rival [[WIN Corporation]] owner [[Bruce Gordon (businessman)|Bruce Gordon]], who cited Seven's debt problems at the time and its poor ratings performance as their reason for their refusal. This development would mark an end to the Prime branding after 33 years in favour of the [[Seven Network]]'s branding, and would see all news bulletins carry the ''[[Seven News]]'' brand. Prior to this, Prime7 (and sister [[GWN7]] in regional and remote Western Australia), as well as [[Nine Network|Nine]] affiliate [[Imparja Television]] were the only networks not to fully use its metro affiliate branding despite carrying Seven (Nine for Imparja) branded promos, since WIN Television (except for WIN News) and Southern Cross Austereo use full [[Nine Network|Nine]], [[Network 10|Ten]] and [[Seven Network|Seven]] branding on their stations. It was also announced that Seven would look to expand its investment in local news following the merger.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=McGuire |first1=Amelia |last2=Samios |first2=Zoe |date=1 November 2021 |title=Seven West Media to buy regional affiliate Prime for $132m |url=https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/seven-west-media-to-buy-regional-affiliate-prime-for-132m-20211101-p594v3.html |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211102125226/https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/seven-west-media-to-buy-regional-affiliate-prime-for-132m-20211101-p594v3.html |archive-date=2 November 2021 |access-date=2 November 2021 |newspaper=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]] |publisher=[[Nine Entertainment]] |location=Sydney}}</ref> The majority of Prime's shareholders voted in favour of the deal on 23 December, with the sale completed on 31 December.<ref>{{Cite news |date=23 December 2021 |title=Prime Media shareholders give the green light for Seven West Media merger |url=https://7news.com.au/business/media/prime-media-share-holders-give-the-green-light-for-seven-west-media-merger-c-5062463 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211223065431/https://7news.com.au/business/media/prime-media-share-holders-give-the-green-light-for-seven-west-media-merger-c-5062463 |archive-date=23 December 2021 |access-date=23 December 2021 |work=[[Seven News]] |publisher=[[Seven West Media]] |language=en |agency=[[Australian Associated Press]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite press release |title=Acquisition of Prime completed |date=31 December 2021 |publisher=Seven West Media |url=https://www.asx.com.au/asxpdf/20211231/pdf/454nwfgyhl6dyh.pdf |via=[[Australian Securities Exchange]] |access-date=30 March 2024}}</ref>

On 23 May 2022, Seven West Media announced that the current branding of Prime7 and GWN7 would be unified into Seven Network branding across all stations including for Prime7 Local News, officially retiring the Prime7 name.<ref>{{cite web |last=Knox |first=David |date=23 May 2022 |title=Prime7 and GWN7 to unite under Seven banner |url=https://tvtonight.com.au/2022/05/prime7-and-gwn7-to-unite-under-seven-banner.html |access-date=22 May 2022 |publisher=TV Tonight}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Samios |first=Zoe |date=29 May 2022 |title=Goodbye, Prime Possum? Seven eyes brand changes ahead of Commonwealth Games |url=https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/goodbye-prime-possum-seven-eyes-brand-changes-ahead-of-commonwealth-games-20220527-p5ap3r.html |url-access=subscription |access-date=7 January 2023 |newspaper=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]] |publisher=[[Nine Entertainment]] |location=Sydney |language=en-AU}}</ref>

In June 2022 the Prime7 brand was retired.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ryan |first=Aaron |date=18 May 2022 |title=EXCLUSIVE {{!}} Prime7 and GWN7 set to rebrand as Seven unifies its network to one national identity |url=https://tvblackbox.com.au/page/2022/05/18/exclusive-prime7-and-gwn7-set-to-rebrand-as-seven-unifies-its-network-to-one-national-identity/ |access-date=7 January 2023 |website=TV Blackbox |language=en-AU}}</ref>

On 22 July 2022 the final retirement of the Prime7 branding took place with all local news bulletins becoming "7NEWS (region)" for example "7NEWS Border" as of Monday 25 July.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Perry |first=Kevin |date=20 July 2022 |title=End of an era for regional viewers as PRIME7 NEWS becomes 7NEWS LOCAL |url=https://tvblackbox.com.au/page/2022/07/20/end-of-an-era-for-regional-viewers-as-prime7-news-becomes-7news-local/ |access-date=7 January 2023 |website=TV Blackbox |language=en-AU}}</ref>