Two senior executives from Prime Television, news director John Begley and general manager Doug Edwards, travelled to Orange on Thursday to sack Mr Lloyd-Green.

The face of Prime Television's Central West news broadcasts for the past two-and-a-half years, Mr Lloyd-Green was called into the boardroom in the Orange studios after reading the 6pm bulletin.

He confirmed yesterday he had been sacked, saying the only explanation he had been given for the decision had been his failure to meet certain budget goals.

"I don't know what happened, there was no real reason given,” Mr Lloyd-Green said.

"I don't know if it is because it is budget time or what, that is the only reason they vaguely mentioned.

"The budget has blown out slightly in one area. They said that my managerial skills were not that good.

"The job I was doing as news editor entailed all those things, presenting and journalism. There was nothing wrong with the journalism, but the job entailed other aspects.

"They said it was going to have to be tidied up and so we were going to have to part company. It still doesn't make any sense and I am still in shock really. There was no warning whatsoever.”

New advertising posters featuring Mr Lloyd-Green and Prime sports presenter Chris Kimball have only recently been erected on billboards throughout the region.

The decision also came at a time when Prime news was consistently out-rating its rival WIN.

Peter Hetherington, an Orange City Councillor who also works at Prime Television, said the sacking had shocked staff. He said Mr Lloyd-Green would not be easy to replace, having had 30 years' experience in the industry.

He said the sacking had come at a time when there were concerns about the long-term viability of regional telecasters and radio stations, an issue currently being examined by a Federal Parliamentary inquiry.

However, he said the city council had a responsibility to do everything it could "to keep large businesses including media companies in town”.

Prime has closed newsrooms in Wollongong, Newcastle and Canberra in recent times because the news services did not perform well enough in ratings surveys.

The day after being sacked, Mr Lloyd-Green addressed the Orange Premi-Babes Association's Mother's Day luncheon on behalf of Prime, a commitment he made some weeks ago.

He said this was one of the hardest things he had ever had to do.

The Central Western Daily tried to contact Mr Begley yesterday for comment on developments at Prime in Orange, but he was unavailable.