The ''Australian TV Guide'' was the ''first online television schedule guide published in
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
,'' and one of the first online
electronic program guide
Electronic programming guides (EPGs) and interactive programming guides (IPGs) are menu-based systems that provide users of television, radio and other media applications with continuously updated menus that display scheduling information for ...
s in the world.
Created in 1994 by Professor Lesley Goldschlager of
Monash University
Monash University () is a public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Named for prominent World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the state. The university has a ...
and his internet company Sofcom, a pioneering producer of online content in Australia in the 1990s, the Australian TV Guide was the first publication in Australia to provide internet users with a local and searchable online television guide.
It was initially supported by all major Australian television networks, except for 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 ...
, which came on board in later years. The first guides produced only covered the major capital cities of Australia. In November 1999, Sofcom introduced schedules for regional Australia.
The Australian TV Guide was supported by online advertising and syndication of its listings, providing content to portal sites such as
Yahoo!
Yahoo! (, styled yahoo''!'' in its logo) is an American web services provider. It is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California and operated by the namesake company Yahoo Inc., which is 90% owned by investment funds managed by Apollo Global Man ...
,
Bigpond
Telstra Group Limited is an Australian telecommunications company that builds and operates telecommunications networks and markets voice, mobile, internet access, pay television and other products and services. It is a member of the S&P/ASX 20 ...
and
Looksmart
LookSmart is an American search advertising, content management, online media, and technology company. It provides search, machine learning and chatbot technologies as well as pay-per-click and contextual advertising services.
LookSmart also li ...
.
In 2003, the Australian TV Guide was acquired by eBroadcast Pty Limited and later syndicated to other television sites such as OurGuide and the
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-own ...
. It also introduced pay TV listings into its program guide, including daily schedules for
Foxtel
Foxtel is an Australian pay television company—operating in cable television, direct broadcast satellite television, and IPTV streaming services. It was formed in April 2018, superseding an earlier company from 1995. The service was establi ...
,
Fetch TV
Fetch TV is an Australian IPTV provider that delivers a subscription television service over a user's regular internet service. Fetch TV launched in 2010 backed by its Malaysian parent Astro Malaysia Holdings. On 2 August 2022, Telstra acquire ...
and
TransACT
TransACT is the trading name of TransACT Capital Communications, an Australian telecommunications company based in Canberra which provides broadband internet access, fixed telephony, cable television services, and mobile phone services in Canb ...
.
In 2014 eBroadcast Pty Limited expanded into the United States and later into Canada and the United Kingdom
with a spin-off site called
On TV Tonight, producing electronic program guides for international channels and audiences outside of Australia.
External links
Foxtel TV GuideeBroadcast AustraliaYourTV GuideOn TV TonightAustralian Broadcasting Corporation
References
Television in Australia
{{Australia-tv-stub