''Australia's Amateur Hour'' was an important early Australian radio and television program in the form of a talent contest, which was broadcast from 1940 to 1958, which also aired briefly on television from 1957 to 1958. The radio version was originally compered by radio producer

Harry Dearth Harry may refer to: TV shows * ''Harry'' (American TV series), a 1987 American comedy series starring Alan Arkin * ''Harry'' (British TV series), a 1993 BBC drama that ran for two seasons * ''Harry'' (talk show), a 2016 American daytime talk show ...

, then by Dick Fair, and finally by Terry Dear (1913-1995). It was a popular, long-running program on which many performers appeared. The television version was compered by Terry Dear, and ran from August 1957 to February 1958. It aired on the

Nine Network The Nine Network (stylised 9Network, commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of five main free-to-air television netw ...

(

TCN-9 TCN is the flagship television station of the Nine Network in Australia. The station is currently located at 1 Denison Street, North Sydney. The licence, issued to a company named Television Corporation Ltd headed by Sir Frank Packer, was one of ...

) and the

Seven Network The Seven Network (commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is a major Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, and is one of ...

(

HSV-7 HSV is a television station in Melbourne, Australia. It is part of the Seven Network, one of the three main commercial television networks in Australia, its first and oldest station. It launched in time for the 1956 Summer Olympic Games in Melb ...

). The success of the radio version didn't translate to television, with the television version closing after only seven months, and the radio version shortly thereafter.

Episode status

Some episodes of the radio version are held by the

National Film & Sound Archive The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA), known as ScreenSound Australia from 1999 to 2004, is Australia's audiovisual archive, responsible for developing, preserving, maintaining, promoting and providing access to a national c ...

. Although the television version was

kinescope Kinescope , shortened to kine , also known as telerecording in Britain, is a recording of a television program on motion picture film, directly through a lens focused on the screen of a video monitor. The process was pioneered during the 1940 ...

d so it could be shown in both

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

and

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, it is not known if any such recordings still exist today.

References

External links

* Seven Network original programming Nine Network original programming Australian radio programs 1957 Australian television series debuts 1958 Australian television series endings Black-and-white Australian television shows English-language television shows Australian variety television shows Television series based on radio series {{Australia-radio-show-stub

Episode status

See also

References

External links