Television In Australia
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Television in Australia began experimentally as early as 1929 in
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 ...
with radio stations 3DB and 3UZ, and 2UE in
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 ...
, using the ''Radiovision'' system by Gilbert Miles and Donald McDonald, and later from other locations, such as
Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...
in 1934.Carty, Bruce, ''On the Air: Australian Radio History'', privately published, 2011, Gosford, NSW Mainstream television was launched on 16 September 1956 in
Willoughby, New South Wales Willoughby is a suburb located on the lower North Shore of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia 8 kilometres north of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Willoughby. The City o ...
, with Nine Network station
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 o ...
Sydney. The new
medium Medium may refer to: Science and technology Aviation *Medium bomber, a class of war plane *Tecma Medium, a French hang glider design Communication * Media (communication), tools used to store and deliver information or data * Medium of ...
was introduced by advertising executive
Bruce Gyngell Bruce Gyngell AO (8 July 1929 – 7 September 2000) was an Australian television executive, active for more than 40 years in both Australian and UK television. Although Gyngell began his career in radio, in the 1950s he stepped into the arena o ...
with the words "Good evening, and welcome to television", and has since seen the transition to
colour Color (American English) or colour (British English) is the visual perceptual property deriving from the spectrum of light interacting with the photoreceptor cells of the eyes. Color categories and physical specifications of color are associ ...
and
digital television Digital television (DTV) is the transmission of television signals using digital encoding, in contrast to the earlier analog television technology which used analog signals. At the time of its development it was considered an innovative adva ...
. Local programs, over the years, have included a broad range of
comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...
, sport, and in particular
drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...
series, in addition to news and current affairs. The industry is regulated by the Australian Communications and Media Authority, through various legislation, regulations, standards and codes of practice, which also regulates radio and in recent years has attempted to regulate the Internet.


History


Origins: Early transmission trials

In 1885, Henry Sutton developed a ''Telephane'' for closed circuit transmission of pictures via telegraph wires, based on the Nipkow spinning disk system, so that the
Melbourne Cup The Melbourne Cup is a Thoroughbred horse race held in Melbourne, Australia. It is a 3200-metre race for three-year-olds and over, conducted by the Victoria Racing Club on the Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne, Victoria as part of the Melb ...
could be seen in
Ballarat Ballarat ( ) is a city in the Central Highlands (Victoria), Central Highlands of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 Census, Ballarat had a population of 116,201, making it the third largest city in Victoria. Estimated resid ...
. Reports differ on whether the ''Telephane'' was successfully implemented. The first television broadcast in Australia took place on 30 September 1929 at the Menzies Hotel in
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 ...
, using the electro-mechanical ''Radiovision'' system. Other transmissions took place in the city over the next few weeks. Also in 1929, the Baird system was used on 3DB, 3UZ and 2UE. After 18 months of test transmissions, regular broadcasts began in Brisbane on 6 May 1934 using a 30-line system, to an estimated 18 receivers around Brisbane. The test transmissions, which were of 1 hour duration each day, were made by Thomas M. B. Elliott and Dr Val McDowall from the Wickham Terrace Observatory Tower. The programs included news headlines, still pictures and silent movies such as the temperance film ''Horrors of Drink''. The Commonwealth Government granted a special licence and permission to conduct experimental television by VK4CM, in July 1934. By 1935, it expanded to 180 lines.TV Times makes a Sentimental Journey
– TV Times 1961, 4 May. Page 5 Other experimental transmissions followed in other cities.


Early demonstrations

Television commenced in the United States and in the United Kingdom before
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. The two countries developed radically different industry models, which were based on the models each used for radio broadcasting. British broadcasting was entirely controlled by the government-created broadcasting corporation, the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
, which derived its revenue from compulsory viewer licence fees. The United States adopted a commercial model, based on privately owned stations and networks that earned revenue by charging for advertising time, with public broadcasting forming only a minor component of the larger system. In June 1948, the Australian Labor Government under
Ben Chifley Joseph Benedict Chifley (; 22 September 1885 – 13 June 1951) was an Australian politician who served as the 16th prime minister of Australia from 1945 to 1949. He held office as the leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1945, follow ...
, opted to follow the British model, on the advice from the
Postmaster-General's Department The Postmaster-General's Department (PMG) was a department of the Australian federal government, established at Federation in 1901, whose responsibilities included the provision of postal and telegraphic services throughout Australia. It was ...
. It decided to establish a government-controlled TV station in each capital city and called for tenders for the building of the six TV transmitters. The ''Broadcasting Act 1948'' specifically prohibited the granting of commercial TV licences, a decision that the Liberal-Country Party opposition criticised as "authoritarian and socialistic". This policy was never put into practice, however, because the Labor government did not have the opportunity to establish the TV network before it was defeated in December 1949. The incoming
Robert Menzies The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of ''Hrōþ, Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory ...
-led Liberal-Country Party coalition, which was to hold power for the next 23 years, changed the industry structure by also permitting the establishment of American-style commercial stations. The economic situation at the time that TV was established in Australia exerted a pivotal influence on the foundation and subsequent history of the industry. When the decision was made to go ahead with granting the first licences for broadcast TV in the early 1950s, Australia was in a recession, with severe shortages of labour and materials and an underdeveloped heavy industrial base, and in this context TV was seen as a drain away from more fundamental projects. The Menzies government was concerned about the long-term viability of the new industry and worried that it might be called on to bail out struggling stations and networks if the economy deteriorated. Consequently, it decided to grant the initial commercial TV licences to established print media proprietors, with the expectation that these companies would, if necessary, be able to subsidize the new TV stations from their existing (and highly profitable) press operations. Meanwhile, in 1949, the first large-scale public demonstrations of the medium took place when the
Shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses ** Thin-shell structure Science Biology * Seashell, a hard o ...
company sponsored a series of closed-circuit broadcasts in capital cities produced by Frank Cave. These broadcasts were elaborate, usually opened by a local politician, and featured many people appearing on camera – singing, playing instruments, and giving demonstrations of cooking, sport, and magic tricks. Buoyed by the success of these tests, in March 1950, the
Astor Radio Corporation Astor - Radio Corporation - Electronic Industries was the largest Australian electronics manufacturer, manufacturing across the retail sector of products from Washing Machines to Radio. Astor, which began operating in 1926, making electronics in V ...
embarked upon a tour of 200 regional towns with a mobile broadcast unit, giving a series of 45 minute demonstration programs, allowing local performers and members of the public to appear on camera. In January 1953, in response to increasing pressure from the commercial lobby, the Menzies government amended the ''Broadcasting Act 1948'' to allow for the granting of commercial licences, thus providing the legislative framework for a dual system of TV ownership. This structure was directly modeled on the long-established two-tiered structure of Australian broadcast radio—one tier being the stations in a new national, government-funded TV network run by the Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC), and the other tier being privately owned commercial stations that drew their income from advertising revenue. Commercial TV licences were nominally overseen by the
Australian Broadcasting Control Board The Australian Broadcasting Control Board was an Australian government agency formed in 1949 whose main roles were to regulate commercial radio and television broadcasting. It was also the introducer and regulator for FM broadcasting. The agency ...
(ABCB), a government agency responsible for the regulation of broadcasting standards and practices, while technical standards (such as broadcast frequencies) were administered by the
Postmaster-General's Department The Postmaster-General's Department (PMG) was a department of the Australian federal government, established at Federation in 1901, whose responsibilities included the provision of postal and telegraphic services throughout Australia. It was ...
. The ABC, as an independent government authority, was not subject to the regulation of the ABCB and instead answered directly to the Postmaster-General and ultimately to the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs (a situation that provoked bitter complaints from commercial radio in the mid-1970s when the ABC established its controversial youth station Double Jay). In 1954, the
Menzies Government Menzies is a Scottish surname, with Gaelic forms being Méinnearach and Méinn, and other variant forms being Menigees, Mennes, Mengzes, Menzeys, Mengies, and Minges. Derivation and history The name and its Gaelic form are probably derived f ...
formally announced the introduction of the new two-tiered TV system—a government-funded service run by the ABC, and two commercial services in
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 ...
, with the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne being a major driving force behind the introduction of television to Australia.
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 o ...
Sydney began test transmissions on 16 September 1956, and officially commenced broadcasting on 27 October.
HSV7 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 Melbo ...
Melbourne became the first television station to broadcast to viewers in Melbourne on 4 November, soon followed by
ABV-2 ABV is the name of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's television station in Melbourne, Victoria. History The station began broadcasting on 19 November 1956 and is transmitted throughout the state via a network of relay transmitters. AB ...
then
GTV9 GTV is a commercial television station in Melbourne, Australia, owned by the Nine Network. The station is currently based at studios at 717 Bourke Street, Docklands. History GTV-9 was amongst the first television stations to begin regular t ...
on 19 January 1957. Sydney station
ABN-2 ABN is the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's television station in Sydney. The station began broadcasting on 5 November 1956. Its original studios were located in Gore Hill and were in use up until March 2004, when they were co-located w ...
also started broadcasting in November. All of these stations were operational in time for the 1956 Melbourne Summer Olympics opening ceremony, on 22 November 1956.
ATN-7 ATN is the Sydney flagship television station of the Seven Network in Australia. The licence, issued to a company named Amalgamated Television Services, a subsidiary of John Fairfax & Sons, was one of the first four licences (two in Sydney, ...
started in December. An interview with Mrs
Edna Everage Dame Edna Everage, often known simply as Dame Edna, is a character created and performed by Australian comedian Barry Humphries, known for her lilac-coloured ("wisteria hue") hair and cat eye glasses ("face furniture"); her favourite flower, th ...
(a comic creation of performing artist
Barry Humphries John Barry Humphries (born 17 February 1934) is an Australian comedian, actor, author and satirist. He is best known for writing and playing his on-stage and television alter egos Dame Edna Everage and Sir Les Patterson. He is also a film pr ...
) was one of the programmes screened on
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 ...
's first day of programming in 1956. The character went on to great success in the United Kingdom and later, the United States.
Videotape Videotape is magnetic tape used for storing video and usually sound in addition. Information stored can be in the form of either an analog or digital signal. Videotape is used in both video tape recorders (VTRs) and, more commonly, videocasse ...
technology was still in its infancy when Australian television was launched in 1956 and video recorders did not become widely available to Australian TV stations until the 1960s. For the first few years, the only available method for capturing TV programs was the
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 194 ...
process, in which a fixed movie camera filmed broadcasts screened on a specially adjusted TV monitor. Similarly, the playback of pre-recorded programs to air was only possible at this stage through the
telecine Telecine ( or ) is the process of transferring film into video and is performed in a color suite. The term is also used to refer to the equipment used in the post-production process. Telecine enables a motion picture, captured originally on fi ...
process, in which films or kinescoped TV recordings were played back on a movie screen which was monitored by a TV camera. Because of these limitations, it was relatively difficult and expensive to record and distribute local programming, so the majority of locally produced content was broadcast live-to-air. Very little local programming from these first few years of Australian TV broadcasting was recorded and in the intervening years the majority of that material has since been lost or destroyed. Even the footage of the 'first' Australian TV broadcast with Bruce Gyngell on Channel 9, Sydney (see image above) is a fabrication—according to
Gerald Stone Gerald Louis Stone (18 August 1933 – 6 November 2020) was an American-born Australian television and radio journalist, television executive and author. Early years and career Born in 1933 and raised in Columbus, Ohio, Stone graduated in poli ...
the kinescope film of the actual Sep. 1956 broadcast was lost and the footage that exists today is a considerably more polished re-enactment, made a year later. Most programs in this early period were based on popular radio formats—musical variety and quiz formats were the most popular. In the first decade after the first TV licences were granted, the federal government and the ABCB did not act to enforce local content quotas, and such measures were resisted by the commercial sector. As a result, Australian TV was soon dominated by material imported from the United States and (to a far smaller extent) Great Britain. In this period nearly every TV drama screened in Australia came from the US and the few programs that were made locally were almost all produced by the ABC. In other formats, the few locally produced programs made by or for commercial stations were typically low-cost copies of proven American talk/variety or quiz show formats. By the early 1960s at least 80% of all Australian TV content was sourced from the US and not surprisingly American programs consistently topped the ratings. These changes led to a significant concentration of cross-media ownership. By 1960, the Packer family's Consolidated Press group controlled Channels 9 in Melbourne and Sydney (the flagship stations that formed the basis of the Nine Network), Melbourne's
Herald and Weekly Times The Herald and Weekly Times Pty Ltd (HWT) is a newspaper publishing company based in Melbourne, Australia. It is owned and operated by News Pty Ltd, which as News Ltd, purchased the HWT in 1987. Newspapers The HWT's newspaper interests date ba ...
group owned HSV-7, and the Fairfax newspaper group controlled ATN-7 in Sydney. In the view of some media historians, these arrangements established a pattern of "high-level political allegiances between commercial broadcasters and Liberal-National Party governments" and that, as a result, the ABCB "was left very weak and uncertain in its capacity to control broadcaster conduct and exhibited strong symptoms of ''regulatory capture'', or over-identification with the industry it regulated". In 1963 the Senate Select Committee on the Encouragement of Australian Productions for Television, chaired by Senator Victor Vincent (known as the Vincent Committee) presented its report to federal parliament and its findings painted a bleak picture for local producers—the Committee found that 97% per cent of all television drama shown on Australian TV between 1956 and 1963 was imported from the United States, and it criticised the ABCB for failing to use its powers to enforce local content standards on television broadcasters, particularly the commercial stations. The Vincent Report recommended a sweeping program of reforms but none were implemented by the Menzies Government at that time.Stuart Cunningham et al., ''The Media and Communications in Australia'' (Allen & Unwin, 2001, ), p.175 The advent of TV effectively destroyed Australia's once thriving radio production industry within a few years, and the absence of local production quotas for TV in this formative period compounded the problem. Faced with almost unbeatable competition from American-made programming, local technical and creative professionals in radio were unable to make the transition to the new medium, as many of their American and British counterparts had done when TV was introduced there. Those Australian producers who did try to break into TV faced almost insurmountable challenges. Imported American and British programs benefited from high budgets, an international talent pool and huge economies of scale, thanks to their very large domestic markets (relative to Australia), established worldwide distribution networks; additionally, since most American production houses and networks were based in Los Angeles, they had access to resources and expertise built up over decades by the Hollywood movie studios. These disadvantages were further exacerbated by the fact that American producers and networks offered Australian channels significant discount rates on bundled programming. Taken as a whole, these factors meant that local producers were faced with a relative production-cost ratio on the order of 10:1 or more in favour of the imported product. Some sense of the scale of this "resource gap" can be gained by comparing the budgets of contemporary American and Australian TV programs. The pilot of the 1967 satirical sketch comedy series ''
Laugh-In ''Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In'' (often simply referred to as ''Laugh-In'') is an American sketch comedy television program that ran for 140 episodes from January 22, 1968, to March 12, 1973, on the NBC television network, hosted by comedians Dan ...
'' reportedly cost about US$200,000. At the top end of the scale, in 1966
Desilu Studios The Culver Studios is a movie studio in Culver City, California. Originally created by silent movie pioneer Thomas H. Ince, classics from Hollywood's Golden Age were filmed there. It is currently owned by Hackman Capital Partners, which completel ...
spent almost US$1 million on the two pilot episodes for the renowned science fiction series '' Star Trek'' – the first pilot "The Cage" (which was rejected by
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
) cost more than US$600,000 and the set for the bridge of the ''Enterprise'' alone reportedly cost US$60,000; the second pilot, "Where No Man Has Gone Before" cost around US$300,000. By comparison, the budget for the pilot episode of the 1964 Australian topical revue series ''
The Mavis Bramston Show ''The Mavis Bramston Show'' was a weekly Australian television satirical sketch comedy revue series which aired on the Seven Network from 1964 to 1968. Inspired by the British TV satirical revue TV shows of the period (notably ''That Was The Week ...
'' was just AU£1500. Adjusted for inflation, this was around A$3500 in 1967 figures; given that US-Australian dollar exchange rate in 1967 was A$1.00 = US$1.12, this still would have only equated to around US$4000–50 times less than ''Laugh-In''. Although by the end of the 1950s television had expanded to also include
Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...
,
Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...
and
Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth i ...
, it was estimated that less than 5% of the residents in Melbourne, and fewer than 1% in Sydney owned a television set, which at the time cost, on average, six to ten weeks' wages. During these early years broadcast days were very short—all stations including the ABC only broadcast programs for a few hours each day and broadcast the test pattern for the rest of the time they were on air. Broadcast times were gradually increased over succeeding decades, although the ABC did not commence 24-hour broadcasting until 1993.


Early programmes

A TV series ''
The Adventures of Long John Silver ''The Adventures of Long John Silver'' is a TV series about the Long John Silver character from Robert Louis Stevenson's 1883 novel ''Treasure Island''. It was made in 1954 in colour in Australia for the American and British markets before the ...
'' was made in the Pagewood Studios, Sydney, for the American and British market; it was shown on the ABC in 1958. Local content was limited to talk and variety shows, and news and current affairs. Notable programs of the 1950s included
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 o ...
's including the long running music variety program ''
Bandstand A bandstand (sometimes music kiosk) is a circular, semicircular or polygonal structure set in a park, garden, pier, or indoor space, designed to accommodate musical bands performing concerts. A simple construction, it both creates an orname ...
'', (based on the US version of the same name) hosted by radio presenter and future newsreader Brian Henderson,
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 ...
's weekly sport program, (that would broadcast for the next 28 years) '' World of Sport'', and the shorter-lived programs, including the
ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...
's ''
Six O'Clock Rock ''Six O'Clock Rock'' was an Australian rock and roll television show broadcast on ABC from 28 February 1959 to 1962 at 6 p.m. on Saturdays. Program synopsis Inspired by the BBC program '' 6.5 Special'', it had a similar format to its riva ...
'', hosted by
Johnny O'Keefe John Michael O'Keefe (19 January 1935 – 6 October 1978) was an Australian rock and roll singer whose career began in the 1950s. Some of his hits include " Wild One" (1958), " Shout!" and "She's My Baby". In his twenty-year career, O'Keefe rel ...
. The first Australian serial drama, '' Autumn Affair'', ran for a 10-month run on
ATN-7 ATN is the Sydney flagship television station of the Seven Network in Australia. The licence, issued to a company named Amalgamated Television Services, a subsidiary of John Fairfax & Sons, was one of the first four licences (two in Sydney, ...
. Programming also covered religion, for example, '' Discovering the Bible''. Several programs in the 1950s were simply adaptations of already established radio programs, such as ''
Pick a Box ''Pick a Box'' was an Australian game shows that first aired on radio in 1948 until the early 1960s; subsequently, the concept transferred to TV and was broadcast from 1957 and 1971. The program was hosted by the husband and wife duo Bob and Do ...
''.


Television and programming in the 1960s

The 1960s saw the continued growth of television in Australia, particularly into regional areas. The first regional TV services began in
Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...
in 1961 with the first being
Gippsland Gippsland is a rural region that makes up the southeastern part of Victoria, Australia, mostly comprising the coastal plains to the rainward (southern) side of the Victorian Alps (the southernmost section of the Great Dividing Range). It covers ...
's
GLV-10 GLV and BCV are television stations licensed to serve Traralgon and Bendigo and regional Victoria, Australia. The stations are owned and operated by Southern Cross 10. History Early years GLV-10 in Traralgon was the first regional television ...
followed by Shepparton's
GMV-6 VTV is an Australian television station broadcasting in regional Victoria in Australia. The network was owned by ENT Ltd., before being purchased by the WIN Corporation. Network history ''VICTV Television Victoria'' began as a network of sever ...
and Bendigo's BCV-8. NBN-3 in
Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...
was the first regional service in
New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...
commencing broadcast in 1962. While the first television services were being established in regional areas, larger cities including Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane,
Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...
, and
Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth i ...
began to receive their second and, in the mid-1960s, third stations. In order to reduce costs, networks began to merge – originally in 1957 between
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 ...
and
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 o ...
, but later between almost all the metropolitan stations of a certain frequency. This led to the formation of the National Television Network (forerunner to the Nine Network) and Australian Television Network (later known as the
Seven Network The Seven Network (commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is a major Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by Seven West Media Limited, and is one of five main free-to-air television networks in Australia ...
) in 1962. Not all stations became a part of their respective networks –
TVW-7 TVW is a television station broadcasting in Perth, Western Australia, wholly owned by Seven West Media. It was the first television station in Western Australia, commencing broadcasting on 16 October 1959. It broadcasts a modulated 64-QAM sign ...
in Perth remained independent for a number of years as the sole commercial station in the city. Throughout the decade the
ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...
expanded transmissions to several major centres including Adelaide, Perth,
Hobart Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-small ...
and
Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...
. Beginning in 1964, the federal government tried to address concerns about competition and local production by licensing a third station in major cities, beginning with Channel 0 in Melbourne and Channel 10 in Sydney. More third-licence stations were established in other capitals and regional cities over the next few years and by the late Sixties these stations joined forces to create Australia's third commercial network, originally known as the Independent Television System (ITS), then later changed to the 0–10 Network, and now called
Network 10 Network 10 (commonly known as Ten Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network owned by Ten Network Holdings, a division of the Paramount Networks UK & Australia subsidiary of Paramount Global. One of five ...
. Channel 0 in Melbourne took an early lead in catering for teenage viewers and quickly became the preeminent network in pop music programming, commissioning a sequence of popular and influential local pop shows including ''
The Go!! Show ''The Go!! Show'' (also known simply as ''Go!!'') was an Australian popular music television series which aired on ATV-0, Melbourne, from August 1964 to August 1967. It was produced by DYT Productions at the ATV-0 studios in Nunawading, Victor ...
'' and '' Kommotion'' (1964–67), '' Uptight'' (1968–70) and '' Happening '70'' and its successors (1970–72). The establishment of the Sydney–Melbourne co-axial cable link between Sydney and Melbourne in 1962 marked the first step in the establishment of effective national networking for Australian TV stations. The cable supported the simultaneous live broadcast of the 5th test of the 1962–63 Ashes series to Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne – a major milestone in Australian television history. The introduction of satellite broadcasting in the late 1960s allowed news stories and programs to be accessed from around the world. The first live satellite transmission occurred between Australia and the United Kingdom in 1966. The first direct telecast across the Pacific from North America to Australia took place on 6 June 1967 when "Australia Day" at
Expo 67 The 1967 International and Universal Exposition, commonly known as Expo 67, was a general exhibition from April 27 to October 29, 1967. It was a category One World's Fair held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is considered to be one of the most su ...
in
Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...
was broadcast live to Australia via a US satellite link. Prime Minister Harold Holt officially opened the Australian pavilion and visitors watched events including boomerang throwing, sheep-dog trials, wood chopping contests and tennis matches with members of the Australian Davis Cup team. In the afternoon a variety concert, 'Pop goes Australia', featured musicians
Normie Rowe Norman John Rowe (born 1 February 1947) is an Australian singer and songwriter of pop music and an actor of theatre and soap opera for which he remains best known as Douglas Fletcher in 1980s serial '' Sons and Daughters''. As a singer he was ...
,
Bobby Limb Robert "Bobby" Limb AO, OBE (10 November 1924 – 11 September 1999) was an Australian-born entertainment pioneer, comedian, band leader and musician and legend of radio, television and theatre of the 1960s and 1970s, he also founded the film a ...
,
Rolf Harris Rolf Harris (born 30 March 1930) is an Australian entertainer whose career has encompassed work as a musician, singer-songwriter, composer, comedian, actor, painter and television personality. He often used unusual instruments in his performan ...
and
The Seekers The Seekers were an Australian folk-influenced pop quartet, originally formed in Melbourne in 1962. They were the first Australian pop music group to achieve major chart and sales success in the United Kingdom and the United States. They were ...
. The entire 10-hour program was televised live and several hundred thousand people across Australia sat up through the night to watch it. One newspaper reported that the picture was so clear that hundreds of viewers rang a Sydney television station to seek assurance that the pictures really were being broadcast live from Canada. Two weeks later, on 25 June 1967, Australia participated in the historic "Our World" broadcast, the first live global satellite television hookup involving fourteen countries. The event is now chiefly remembered for the participation of
The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
, who performed their new song "
All You Need Is Love "All You Need Is Love" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles that was released as a non-album single in July 1967. It was written by John Lennon and credited to the Lennon–McCartney partnership. The song was Britain's contribution t ...
" live from the Abbey Road Studios in London. Australia's contribution showed a Melbourne tram leaving the depot for its early morning run, which caused some controversy as people felt that it was not a very exciting image of Australia. By 1970 as many as thirty-one programs were received via this manner.
GTV-9 GTV is a commercial television station in Melbourne, Australia, owned by the Nine Network. The station is currently based at studios at 717 Bourke Street, Docklands. History GTV-9 was amongst the first television stations to begin regular t ...
in Melbourne broke records in 1969 for the world's longest scheduled live telecast with its coverage of the Apollo moon landing, running for 163 hours, a record which has since been beaten. Even though the dominance of imported American and British programming continued, local production gradually increased in the 1960s and several important new Australian programs were launched.
Crawford Productions Crawford Productions is an Australian media production company, focused on radio and television production. Founded in Melbourne by Hector Crawford and his sister, actress and voice artist Dorothy Crawford, the company, also known as Crawfor ...
' Melbourne-based police drama ''
Homicide Homicide occurs when a person kills another person. A homicide requires only a volitional act or omission that causes the death of another, and thus a homicide may result from accidental, reckless, or negligent acts even if there is no inten ...
'' premiered on 20 October 1964 on
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 ...
, soon followed on 11 November by the
ATN-7 ATN is the Sydney flagship television station of the Seven Network in Australia. The licence, issued to a company named Amalgamated Television Services, a subsidiary of John Fairfax & Sons, was one of the first four licences (two in Sydney, ...
satirical sketch comedy series ''
The Mavis Bramston Show ''The Mavis Bramston Show'' was a weekly Australian television satirical sketch comedy revue series which aired on the Seven Network from 1964 to 1968. Inspired by the British TV satirical revue TV shows of the period (notably ''That Was The Week ...
'' (which at its peak drew an unprecedented 59% of the audience), the rural soap opera '' Bellbird'' on the ABC (1967), and for interstate viewers
Graham Kennedy Graham Cyril Kennedy AO (15 February 1934 – 25 May 2005) was an Australian entertainer, comedian and variety performer, as well as a personality and star of radio, theatre, television and film. He often performed in the style of vaudevilli ...
's ''
In Melbourne Tonight ''In Melbourne Tonight'', also known as ''IMT'', was a highly popular nightly Logie award-winning Australian variety television show produced at GTV-9 Melbourne from 6 May 1957 to 1970. Overview Graham Kennedy was the show's main host and ...
'' or the ''Graham Kennedy Channel Nine Show''. In addition to these, many programs still seen today were launched at this time including the
ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...
's acclaimed current affairs program '' Four Corners'' (1961) and '' Play School'' – now the country's longest-running children's show—as well as the Nine Network's ''
Here's Humphrey ''Here's Humphrey'' was an Australian children's television series produced by Banksia Productions for the Nine Network, which first aired on 24 May 1965 and last went to air in 2009. It features an anthropomorphic brown bear character (a p ...
'', which both premiered in 1966. Veteran actor-producer
John McCallum John McCallum (born 9 April 1950) is a Canadian politician, economist, diplomat and former university professor. A former Liberal Member of Parliament ( MP), McCallum was the Canadian Ambassador to China from 2017 to 2019. He was asked for ...
and filmmaker Lee Robinson created the children's adventure series '' Skippy the Bush Kangaroo'' which premiered in 1968 on the Nine Network. At a reported cost of A$6000 per episode it was said to have been the most expensive Australian TV series yet produced up to that time (by comparison, the first series of ''Star Trek'' reportedly cost around US$200,000 per episode). Although Australian TV was still in black-and-white at the time, ''Skippy'' was filmed in colour with a view to overseas sales and it was the first Australian-made series to achieve significant international success, with sales to more than 80 countries worldwide, and it became the first Australian TV show to be widely screened in the USA. Winners of the first nationally shown ''
TV Week ''TV Week'' is a weekly Australian magazine that provides television program listings information and highlights, as well as television-related news. Content ranges from previews for upcoming storylines of popular television programs, particu ...
'' Logie Awards included ''
In Melbourne Tonight ''In Melbourne Tonight'', also known as ''IMT'', was a highly popular nightly Logie award-winning Australian variety television show produced at GTV-9 Melbourne from 6 May 1957 to 1970. Overview Graham Kennedy was the show's main host and ...
'' host
Graham Kennedy Graham Cyril Kennedy AO (15 February 1934 – 25 May 2005) was an Australian entertainer, comedian and variety performer, as well as a personality and star of radio, theatre, television and film. He often performed in the style of vaudevilli ...
– twice, ''Pick-a-box'' host
Bob Dyer Robert Neal Dyer OBE (May 22, 1909 – January 9, 1984) was a Gold Logie-award-winning American-born vaudeville entertainer and singer, radio and television personality, and radio and television quiz show host who made his name in Australia. Dye ...
,
Lorrae Desmond Lorrae Desmond (2 October 1929 – 23 May 2021) born as Beryl Hunt, was an Australian Gold Logie-award-winning singer, recording artist, radio and television presenter, character actor, and playwright, with a career that spanned over 55 years ...
from ABC's ''The Lorrae Desmond Show'', '' Four Corners'' reporter
Michael Charlton Michael Charlton (born 1 May 1927) is an Australian-born Gold Logie winning former journalist and broadcaster, who worked for the BBC in the United Kingdom for many years. Biography Charlton was born in Sydney to broadcaster Conrad and Haz ...
,
Bobby Limb Robert "Bobby" Limb AO, OBE (10 November 1924 – 11 September 1999) was an Australian-born entertainment pioneer, comedian, band leader and musician and legend of radio, television and theatre of the 1960s and 1970s, he also founded the film a ...
,
Jimmy Hannan Jimmy Hannan (25 August 1934 – 7 January 2019) was an Australian radio and television personality, variety show host, singer, entertainer and game show host of the 1960s and 1970s. One of the pioneers of television, he appeared regularly on va ...
,
Gordon Chater Gordon Maitland Chater AM (6 April 1922 – 12 December 1999) was an English Australian comedian and actor, and recipient of the Gold Logie, he appeared in revue, theatre, radio, television and film, with a career spanning almost 50 years. Bio ...
, Brian Henderson and
Hazel Phillips Hazel Julia Phillips () (born 17 November 1929) Numerous television stations were launched, mainly concentrated around southern and eastern parts of the country. By the turn of the decade, the takeup of television had increased dramatically – by 1960 up to 70% of homes in Sydney and Melbourne had a television set. Following its introduction to regional centres and other capital cities through the late 1950s and 1960s over 90% of Australian homes in established markets had a television set. The new medium had also become highly lucrative to advertisers. In 1967 the NSWRFL grand final became the first football grand final of any code to be televised live in Australia. The Nine Network had paid $5,000 for the broadcasting rights. That same year, ATV-0 telecast the Pakenham races in colour under the supervision of the Broadcasting Control Board. The first fully equipped – permanent – colour studios and post-production facilities were set up in 1969 at Video Tape Corporation in Sydney (VTC), by executives that decamped from TEN. Although the output was hobbled to monochrome until 1974, many original long and short form productions were completed over the years until its closure and eventual absorption into other companies in the late 1980s. Test broadcasting of colour began in the late 1960s. The full changeover to colour transmission did not occur until 1975.


Television and programming in the 1970s

Following the new medium's establishment in most major metropolitan and regional centres, television continued to expand to remote areas, most notably those in the northern and western parts of Australia – Darwin, for example, did not receive television until ABD-6 and
NTD-8 NTD is an Australian television station, licensed to and serving Darwin, Palmerston and surrounding areas. The station is owned and operated by the Nine Entertainment Co., and is an owned-and-operated station of the Nine Network, under the ...
launched in 1971. Similarly, VEW-8 launched in Kalgoorlie on 18 June 1971, and ITQ-8 launched in
Mount Isa Mount Isa ( ) is a city in the Gulf Country region of Queensland, Australia. It came into existence because of the vast mineral deposits found in the area. Mount Isa Mines (MIM) is one of the most productive single mines in world history, base ...
on 11 September 1971. The youngest network, the 0/10 Network, as it was then known, launched the controversial sex-melodrama serial ''
Number 96 96 (ninety-six) is the natural number following 95 and preceding 97. It is a number that appears the same when turned upside down. In mathematics 96 is: * an octagonal number. * a refactorable number. * an untouchable number. * a semiperfe ...
'' in March 1972. The success of this program led to this third network becoming commercially viable. In 1969, a group of ex-network executives pooled together to create Video-Tape Corporation (VTC) in East Roseville. This was to be the first end-to-end 'fully electronic' (no film) colour video facility in the region, intended to be up and running with studios, audio, OB and post-production facilities to feed the emerging colour broadcast industry. To accommodate producers and film aesthetics, VTC also installed comprehensive 'film-to-tape' (telecine) capabilities as they grew. However the networks and government were locked in their own battles, and despite being ready for full colour operation from around 1971, VTC was hobbled until 1973–74 before the content would ever reach "the masses". Around that same time, Royce Smeale/ECV arrived to offer a complementary service with more emphasis on production and OB services. In 1972 it was announced that all stations would move to colour on 1 March 1975, using the European
PAL Phase Alternating Line (PAL) is a colour encoding system for analogue television. It was one of three major analogue colour television standards, the others being NTSC and SECAM. In most countries it was broadcast at 625 lines, 50 fields (25 ...
standard mandated in 1968. The slogan used to sell colour television to the Australian public was 'March first into colour'. Australia was to have one of the fastest change-overs to colour television in the world – by 1978 over 64% of households in Sydney and Melbourne had colour television sets. Government subsidies provided for the production of local series led to a boom in Australian-produced content. Some of the most popular series included
Crawford Productions Crawford Productions is an Australian media production company, focused on radio and television production. Founded in Melbourne by Hector Crawford and his sister, actress and voice artist Dorothy Crawford, the company, also known as Crawfor ...
police dramas ''
Homicide Homicide occurs when a person kills another person. A homicide requires only a volitional act or omission that causes the death of another, and thus a homicide may result from accidental, reckless, or negligent acts even if there is no inten ...
'', ''
Division 4 ''Division 4'' is an Australian television police drama series made by Crawford Productions for the Nine Network between 1969 and 1975 for 301 episodes. Synopsis The series was one of the first dramas to follow up on the enormous success o ...
'' which started during the 1960s and ''
Matlock Police ''Matlock Police'' is an Australian television police drama series made by Crawford Productions for the 0-10 Network (now known as the 10 Network) between 1971 and 1976. The series focused on the police station and crime in the Victorian town o ...
'' which began in 1971; variety series ''
Young Talent Time ''Young Talent Time'' is an Australian television variety program produced by Lewis-Young Productions and screened on Network Ten. The original series ran from 1971 until 1988 and was hosted by singer-songwriter and record producer Johnny You ...
''; comedy/variety series '' Hey Hey It's Saturday'', which ran for 28 years until 1999, music show ''
Countdown A countdown is a sequence of backward counting to indicate the time remaining before an event is scheduled to occur. NASA commonly employs the terms "L-minus" and "T-minus" during the preparation for and anticipation of a rocket launch, and eve ...
''; soap operas '' Bellbird'' which had started in late 1967, ''Number 96'' and '' The Box'', and the World War II-themed ''
The Sullivans ''The Sullivans'' is an Australian period drama television series produced by Crawford Productions which ran on the Nine Network from 15 November 1976 until 10 March 1983. The series tells the story of a fictional average middle-cla ...
''. '' Against the Wind'', the first major mini-series produced for commercial television, was shown on the
Seven Network The Seven Network (commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is a major Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by Seven West Media Limited, and is one of five main free-to-air television networks in Australia ...
. Later hospital drama ''
The Young Doctors ''The Young Doctors'' is an Australian early-evening soap opera originally broadcast on the Nine Network and produced by the Reg Grundy Organisation, it aired from Monday, 8 November 1976 until Wednesday, 30 March 1983. The series is prima ...
'' ran for 1396 episodes between 1976 and 1983, becoming at the time it ended Australia's longest running drama series.
Graham Kennedy Graham Cyril Kennedy AO (15 February 1934 – 25 May 2005) was an Australian entertainer, comedian and variety performer, as well as a personality and star of radio, theatre, television and film. He often performed in the style of vaudevilli ...
returned to the Nine Network after his departure from ''
In Melbourne Tonight ''In Melbourne Tonight'', also known as ''IMT'', was a highly popular nightly Logie award-winning Australian variety television show produced at GTV-9 Melbourne from 6 May 1957 to 1970. Overview Graham Kennedy was the show's main host and ...
'' with ''
The Graham Kennedy Show ''The Graham Kennedy Show'' was an Australian talk show which debuted on 19 September 1972 on the Nine Network. On 23 December 1969, host Graham Kennedy quit as host of ''In Melbourne Tonight'' due to exhaustion and rested for two years. In s ...
'' in 1973, but was banned from appearing from television in 1975 after an infamous 'crow-call' incident. Kennedy subsequently returned in 1977 as the host of '' Blankety Blanks''. In 1979, commercial stations were mandated to provide 'C'-classified programming targeted at children between 4-5pm, and a minimum of 30 minutes of pre-school programming prior to that. These regulations saw the establishment of a number of children's series including ''Simon Townsend's Wonder World'' and ''Shirl's Neighbourhood''. News and current affairs, particularly on commercial television, grew significantly – the Nine Network's ''
A Current Affair ''A Current Affair'' may refer to: * ''A Current Affair'' (Australian TV program), 1971–present Australian current affairs program that airs on Nine Network * ''A Current Affair'' (American TV program), a 1986–1998 American television news ...
'', hosted by
Mike Willesee Michael Robert Willesee, (29 June 1942 – 1 March 2019) was an Australian television journalist, interviewer and presenter. Willesee was the son of politician senator Don Willesee; Mike first came to prominence in 1967 as a reporter for the ...
began in November 1971, while '' 60 Minutes'', on the same network, began in 1979. In March 1972, Brisbane station
BTQ-7 BTQ is the Brisbane television station of the Seven Network in Australia. BTQ was the second television station to launch in Brisbane, going to air on 1 November 1959, after QTQ (station of the Nine Network) launched three months earlier. Alon ...
claimed the first one-hour newscast in Australia. The one-hour newscast format was also later adopted by regional station NBN,
Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...
, and capital city television stations TEN-10 Sydney and ATV-0 Melbourne. A special Gold Logie Award was awarded to the
Apollo 11 Apollo 11 (July 16–24, 1969) was the American spaceflight that first landed humans on the Moon. Commander Neil Armstrong and lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin landed the Apollo Lunar Module ''Eagle'' on July 20, 1969, at 20:17 UTC, an ...
crew in 1970, alongside actors
Barry Crocker Barry Hugh Crocker (born 4 November 1935
Official Barry Crocker website) is an Australian character actor, televisio ...
and
Maggie Tabberer Margaret May "Maggie" Tabberer (nee Trigar, born 11 December 1936) is an Australian fashion, publishing and media/television personality, who is a dual recipient of the Gold Logie, and who founded her own fashion label and PR companies. She ...
. Other Gold Logie winners included
Gerard Kennedy Gerard Michael Kennedy (born July 24, 1960) is a Canadian politician in Ontario, Canada. He served as Ontario's minister of Education from 2003 to 2006, when he resigned to make an unsuccessful bid for the leadership of the Liberal Party of Ca ...
,
Tony Barber Anthony Ferraro Louis Barber (born 28 March 1940) is a British Australian Gold Logie award-winning television game show host, radio announcer singer and media personality, who has been active in the industry since the early 1960s. Biography E ...
,
Graham Kennedy Graham Cyril Kennedy AO (15 February 1934 – 25 May 2005) was an Australian entertainer, comedian and variety performer, as well as a personality and star of radio, theatre, television and film. He often performed in the style of vaudevilli ...
, Pat McDonald,
Ernie Sigley Ernest William Sigley (2 September 1938 – 15 August 2021) was an Australian television host, comedian, variety performer, radio presenter and singer. Known as a pioneer of radio and television in Australian, he was often styled as a "little A ...
and
Denise Drysdale Denise Anne Christina Drysdale (born 5 December 1948) is an Australian television presenter, variety entertainer, actress, singer, dancer and comedian. She is often affectionately known as ''Ding Dong'', a nickname invented by fellow performer ...
in the first awards presentation shown in colour,
Don Lane Don Lane (born Morton Donald Isaacson, 13 November 1933 – 22 October 2009) was an American-born talk show host and singer, best known for his television career in Australia, especially for hosting ''Tonight with Don Lane'' and '' The Don Lane ...
, Jeanne Little, and
Bert Newton Albert Watson Newton (23 July 1938 – 30 October 2021) was an Australian media personality. He was a Logie Hall of Fame inductee, quadruple Gold Logie award-winning entertainer and radio, theatre and television personality and presenter. Newt ...
. Sports broadcasting became increasingly sophisticated through the 1970s.
ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...
, the Seven Network and the Nine Network joined to broadcast the 1976 Olympic Games in
Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...
, with the opening and closing ceremonies telecast live, and highlights packages shown each night. During November of the same year, RTS-5a commenced transmissions in
Riverland The Riverland is a region of South Australia. It covers an area of along the River Murray from where it flows into South Australia from New South Wales and Victoria downstream to Blanchetown. The major town centres are Renmark, Berri, Loxt ...
, with
GTW-11 GWN7 was an Australian Television broadcasting in Australia, television network serving all of Western Australia outside metropolitan Perth. It launched on 10 March 1967 as ''BTW-3'' in Bunbury, Western Australia, Bunbury. It was an affiliate ...
launching in
Geraldton Geraldton ( Wajarri: ''Jambinu'', Wilunyu: ''Jambinbirri'') is a coastal city in the Mid West region of the Australian state of Western Australia, north of the state capital, Perth. At June 2018, Geraldton had an urban population of 37,648. ...
on 21 January 1977. In 1977 the
Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football league in Australia serving as one of the second-tier regional semi-professional competitions which sit underneath the fully professional Australian Football League (AFL). It ...
Grand Final Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final (sometimes colloquially abbreviated to "grannie") is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. S ...
was shown live to Melbourne viewers for the first time. As with the Olympics, the 1978
Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...
in
Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...
, Alberta, Canada were shown in the form of highlights packages on ABC TV. The
Special Broadcasting Service The Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) is an Australian hybrid-funded public service broadcaster. About 80 percent of funding for the company is derived from the Australian Government. SBS operates six TV channels ( SBS, SBS Viceland, SBS World ...
, originally a group of radio stations broadcasting government information to ethnic minorities in Sydney and Melbourne, began test transmissions on ABC in the two cities – mainly showing foreign-language programming on Sunday mornings.


Television and programming in the 1980s

The country's second national public broadcaster, the
Special Broadcasting Service The Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) is an Australian hybrid-funded public service broadcaster. About 80 percent of funding for the company is derived from the Australian Government. SBS operates six TV channels ( SBS, SBS Viceland, SBS World ...
, launched Channel 0/28 in Sydney and Melbourne in October 1980. The new station, aimed at Australia's growing
multicultural The term multiculturalism has a range of meanings within the contexts of sociology, political philosophy, and colloquial use. In sociology and in everyday usage, it is a synonym for " ethnic pluralism", with the two terms often used interchang ...
population, placed a much heavier emphasis on subtitled or foreign-language content. The network expanded to cover
Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...
and Goulburn in 1983, followed by
Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...
,
Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...
,
Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...
,
Wollongong Wollongong ( ), colloquially referred to as The Gong, is a city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The name is believed to originate from the Dharawal language, meaning either 'five islands/clouds', 'ground near wa ...
and the
Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...
in June 1985. It is now available in most areas. Although Australia had seen the introduction of the
satellite A satellite or artificial satellite is an object intentionally placed into orbit in outer space. Except for passive satellites, most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radioisotope ...
in the 1960s, 1986 saw the introduction of a new, domestic satellite called AUSSAT. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation and other commercial broadcasters were able to broadcast to the more remote areas of Australia without needing to set up a new station, and by the end of 1986 the Australian Broadcasting Corporation were broadcasting both television and radio to remote areas of Australia. By 1980, commercial television in Australia accounted for 33% of all mainstream
advertising Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...
; this was a significant rise from the introduction of television in 1960 when it was accountable for only 15% of advertising revenue. The newly relaunched Network 10, with
Rupert Murdoch Keith Rupert Murdoch ( ; born 11 March 1931) is an Australian-born American business magnate. Through his company News Corp, he is the owner of hundreds of local, national, and international publishing outlets around the world, including ...
controlling the flagship stations TEN-10 and
ATV-10 ATV is a television station in Melbourne, Australia, part of Network 10 – one of the three major Australian free-to-air commercial television networks. The station is owned by Paramount Networks UK & Australia. History In April 1963, the ...
, aggressively challenged the long-held dominance of the Seven and Nine networks with the commissioning of several large-budget mini-series, many produced by the Kennedy-Miller partnership; the expansion of news and current affairs coverage; securing the exclusive Australian television rights to the 1984 and 1988
Summer Olympic Games The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...
; and a strong line-up of Hollywood blockbuster movies and mini-series. The 1980s were a huge step up for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, sealing the contracts for both '' Live Aid'' and the 1986 Commonwealth Games, live from
Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
. In 1983 a two-hour experiment was conducted, in which the
Seven Network The Seven Network (commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is a major Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by Seven West Media Limited, and is one of five main free-to-air television networks in Australia ...
televised a series of 3D films. The Australian
soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...
'' Neighbours'' was first broadcast on the Seven Network on 18 March 1985. The show's storylines concern the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional suburb of
Erinsborough Erinsborough is the fictional suburb where the Australian soap opera ''Neighbours'' is set. The show focuses on the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the suburb. ''Neighbours'' storylines primarily centre on the ...
, Melbourne. Seven decided to commission the show following the success of Watson's other soap opera, '' Sons and Daughters''. ''Neighbours'' underperformed in the Sydney market and it struggled for four months before Seven cancelled it. The show was immediately bought by rival network, Ten. Ten began screening ''Neighbours'' on 20 January 1986. ''Neighbours'' has since become the longest running series in Australian television and attained great success in the United Kingdom and launched the careers of several international stars, including Kylie Minogue,
Guy Pearce Guy Edward Pearce (born 5 October 1967) is an Australian actor. Born in Ely, Cambridgeshire in England, and raised in Geelong, Victoria in Australia, he started his career portraying Mike Young in the Australian television series ''Neighbours ...
, Russell Crowe,
Natalie Imbruglia Natalie Jane Imbruglia ( , ; born 4 February 1975) is an Australian singer and actress. In the early 1990s, she played Beth Brennan in the Australian soap opera ''Neighbours''. Three years after leaving the programme, she began a singing caree ...
and
Margot Robbie Margot Elise Robbie (; born 2 July 1990) is an Australian actress and producer. Known for her work in both blockbuster and independent films, she has received several accolades, including nominations for two Academy Awards, four Golden Glob ...
to name a few. The soap opera '' Home and Away'' has been produced in Sydney by the Seven Network since July 1987. It premiered in January 1988 and is the second longest-running drama on Australian television, winning more than 30 Logie Awards. The show initially focused on the characters of Pippa and
Tom Fletcher Thomas Michael Fletcher (born 17 July 1985) is an English singer, musician, songwriter, composer, author and vlogger. He is one of the lead vocalists and rhythm guitarist of English pop rock band McFly, in addition to being the group's founder ...
who ran the Summer Bay Caravan Park and lived there with a succession of foster children, most notably their adopted daughter
Sally Sally may refer to: People *Sally (name), a list of notable people with the name Military * Sally (military), an attack by the defenders of a town or fortress under siege against a besieging force; see sally port *Sally, the Allied reporting na ...
, played by Kate Ritchie. Other notable actors who have starred in the series include
Heath Ledger Heath Andrew Ledger (4 April 1979 – 22 January 2008) was an Australian actor and music video director. After playing roles in several Australian television and film productions during the 1990s, Ledger moved to the United States in 1998 to ...
, Julian McMahon and
Naomi Watts Naomi Ellen Watts (born 28 September 1968) is a British actress. After her family moved to Australia, she made her film debut there in the drama '' For Love Alone'' (1986) and then appeared in three television series, '' Hey Dad..!'' (1990), '' ...
. The late 1980s saw the ownership changeover for many commercial and regional stations. Six main ownership groups emerged, three for commercial broadcasters and three for regional broadcasters This was the beginning of aggregation for Australian television.


Television and programming in the 1990s

The 1990s saw a boom in Australian-made drama, which included ''
Halifax f.p. ''Halifax f.p.'' is an Australian television crime series produced by Nine Network from 1994 to 2002. The series stars Rebecca Gibney as Doctor Jane Halifax, a forensic psychiatrist investigating cases involving the mental state of suspects or ...
'', '' Stingers'', '' Water Rats'', ''
SeaChange ''SeaChange'' is an Australian television program that ran from 1998 to 2000 on the ABC and in 2019 on the Nine Network. It was created by Andrew Knight and Deborah Cox and starred Sigrid Thornton, David Wenham, William McInnes, John Howar ...
'', '' All Saints'', and the long running police drama ''
Blue Heelers ''Blue Heelers'' is an Australian Police procedural, police drama series that was produced by Endemol Australia, Southern Star Group and ran for 12 years on the Seven Network, from 1994 to 2006. Although based around the policing of the town, ...
'' which ran from 1993 to 2006, one of the longest running Australian programs, equaling '' Homicide's'' record of 510 episodes; a record set two decades earlier. A number of successful comedy programs also aired during the 1990s, including ''
Fast Forward To fast-forward is to move forwards through a recording at a speed faster than that at which it would usually be played, for example two times or two point five times. The recordings are usually audio, video or computer data. It is colloquially ...
'', '' Full Frontal'', ''
The Late Show The Late Show may refer to: Books * ''The Late Show'' (book), a 2017 book by Michael Connelly Film * ''The Late Show'' (film), a 1977 film * ''Late Show'', a 1999 German film by director Helmut Dietl Music * ''The Late Show'' (Eddie "Loc ...
'' and ''
Good News Week ''Good News Week'' is an Australian satirical panel game show hosted by Paul McDermott that aired from 19 April 1996 to 27 May 2000, and 11 February 2008 to 28 April 2012. The show's initial run aired on ABC until being bought by Network Ten ...
''. '' Hey Hey It's Saturday'' ended its 28-year run in November 1999. One of the most significant developments in terms of high quality Australian programming was the establishment by the Federal Government of the Commercial Television Production Fund. One of the most significant changes for
regional television in Australia In Australia, regional television is the local television services outside of the five main Australian cities (Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth). History 1960s The first regional television stations were launched five years after ...
began in the 1990s with the introduction of '' aggregation''. Instead of being covered by a single commercial channel, regional license areas would combine to provide two or three stations in line with metropolitan areas. As a result, most regional areas went from one to three channels, although some, particularly outside eastern states
New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...
,
Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...
and
Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...
, remained with two or even only one commercial station. The first license area to aggregate was that of southern New South Wales, on 31 March 1989, followed by Queensland on 31 December 1990, northern New South Wales on 31 December 1991, Victoria on 1 January 1992 and Tasmania in 1994 (two stations only). Some areas too small to be properly aggregated, such as Darwin,
Mildura Mildura is a regional city in north-west Victoria, Australia. Located on the Victorian side of the Murray River, Mildura had a population of 34,565 in 2021. When nearby Wentworth, Irymple, Nichols Point and Merbein are included, the area h ...
or rural South Australia, however, either applied for a second license or introduced a supplementary second service run by the existing local station. Following aggregation in 1995,
Sunshine Television STQ is an Australian television station, licensed to, and serving the regional television in Australia, regional areas of Queensland. The station is Owned-and-operated station, owned and operated by the Seven Network from studios located in Maro ...
was purchased by
Seven Network Limited Seven Group Holdings Limited (SGH, formerly Seven Network Limited) is an Australian diversified operating and investment group in the media, mining and construction industries. History Seven Network Limited was formed in 1991 by receivers t ...
.
Community television Community television is a form of mass media in which a television station is owned, operated or programmed by a community group to provide television programs of local interest known as local programming. Community television stations are most c ...
was introduced to Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth in 1994. The stations, which all broadcast on channel 31, were allocated long-term temporary licences until new legislation introduced in 1997 permitted permanent licences to be granted. Briz 31 was the first community television station to launch in Australia, on 31 July 1994.
C31 Melbourne C31 Melbourne is a free-to-air community television channel in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Its name is derived from UHF 31, the frequency and channel number reserved for analogue broadcasts by metropolitan community television stations in ...
and Access 31 in Perth followed in 1994 and 1999 respectively, along with a number of other stations in some capital and regional cities. The most recent to launch was Sydney's TVS. Throughout the early 1990s,
SBS TV SBS may refer to: Broadcasting * SBS Broadcasting Group, Belgium, formerly many countries * Talpa TV, formerly SBS Broadcasting B.V., Netherlands ** SBS6, Dutch television channel ** SBS9, Dutch television channel * Special Broadcasting Service ...
coverage continued to expand to include the
Latrobe Valley The Latrobe Valley is an inland geographical district and urban area of the Gippsland region in the state of Victoria, Australia. The traditional owners are the Brayakaulung of the Gunai nation. The district lies east of Melbourne and nes ...
, Spencer Gulf, Darwin, northeast
Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...
, Cairns and
Townsville Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 180,820 as of June 2018, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland; it is unofficially considered its capital. Estimated resident population, 3 ...
. During the 1990s the first
subscription television Pay television, also known as subscription television, premium television or, when referring to an individual service, a premium channel, refers to Subscription business model, subscription-based television services, usually provided by multichan ...
services were introduced to Australia. The first license was issued to Galaxy Television, which started in 1993, providing services to most metropolitan areas by 1995. Other major providers include Foxtel,
Optus Television Optus Television is the cable television division of Australian telecommunications company Optus. History Its immediate predecessor was Optus Vision, a joint venture between Optus and Continental Cablevision, with small shareholdings by me ...
and
AUSTAR Austar was an Australian telecommunications company. Its main business activity was subscription television but it has also been involved with internet access and mobile phones. It was founded in 1995 under the name Community Entertainment Tele ...
, all of which were introduced in 1995. Subscription television allowed customers to have access to more channels. For example, PSN (later
Fox Sports Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world. The ''Fox Sports'' name has since been used for other sports media assets. These assets are held mainly by the F ...
) was launched in 1995 and
ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). Th ...
in 1996, featuring Super 12 (rugby union), NFL (American football) and NBA (basketball). The advent of pay television in Australia resulted in the
Super League war The Super League war was a commercial competition between the Australian Rugby League (ARL) and the Australian Super League to establish pre-eminence in professional rugby league competition in Australia and New Zealand in the mid-1990s. Super ...
which was fought in and out of court during the mid-1990s by the
News Ltd News Corp Australia is an Australian media conglomerate and wholly owned subsidiary of the American News Corp. One of Australia's largest media conglomerates, News Corp Australia employs more than 8,000 staff nationwide and approximately 3,0 ...
-backed
Super League The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of wh ...
and Kerry Packer-backed
Australian Rugby League The Australian Rugby League Commission (ARL), formerly the Australian Rugby Football League known as the Australian Rugby League is an Australian rugby league football competition operator. It was founded in 1986 as the Australian Rugby Footbal ...
organisations over broadcasting rights, and ultimately control of the top-level professional
rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 11 ...
football competition of Australasia. This resulted in the greatest and most costly set-piece confrontation to shake the corporate landscape of Australia. Galaxy folded in 1998 and was subsequently absorbed by Foxtel. Despite recent growth, subscription television in Australia still has relatively few subscribers.


Television and programming in the 2000s

The 2000 Summer Olympics resulted in huge ratings for its broadcaster (the event was hosted in Sydney) for the
Seven Network The Seven Network (commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is a major Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by Seven West Media Limited, and is one of five main free-to-air television networks in Australia ...
– over 6.5 million Australians watched the telecast of opening and closing ceremonies, which were amongst the most-watched programs in television history and helped Seven defeat the Nine Network in ratings terms for the first time in more than two decades. The broadcast also ran on the short-lived
C7 Sport C7 Sport was a pay-TV service in Australia, owned and run by Seven Network. The service was carried on the Austar and Optus Vision pay-TV networks between 1995 and 2002. Seven unsuccessfully pursued court action against competitors, seeking dama ...
subscription channel.
The Dream with Roy and HG ''The Dream with Roy and HG'' was a sports/comedy talk show, broadcast every night during the Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004 Olympics, presented by Australian comedy duo Roy and HG. Their telecasts became one of the most popular events of the ...
was a sports/comedy talk show, broadcast every night during the Sydney 2000 (and subsequent Salt Lake 2002 and Athens 2004 Olympics) presented by Australian comedy duo Roy and HG which achieved great popularity during the Games. The turn of the millennium introduced digital television to Australia, as well as the transition to
widescreen Widescreen images are displayed within a set of aspect ratios (relationship of image width to height) used in film, television and computer screens. In film, a widescreen film is any film image with a width-to-height aspect ratio greater than t ...
standard-definition Standard-definition television (SDTV, SD, often shortened to standard definition) is a television system which uses a resolution that is not considered to be either high or enhanced definition. "Standard" refers to it being the prevailing sp ...
and
high-definition television High-definition television (HD or HDTV) describes a television system which provides a substantially higher image resolution than the previous generation of technologies. The term has been used since 1936; in more recent times, it refers to the g ...
production. Community stations also began to receive permanent transmitter licences, replacing temporary licences that were renewed yearly. At this time it was thought that allowing Commercial Multicasting would be detrimental so the publicly owned networks (ABC and SBS) were the only networks that were allowed to create new digital SD Channels. This was only revised after Digital Television Uptake was not as high as expected in many areas, and from 1 January 2009, Network 10, Nine and Seven were allowed to create alternative SD channels. Many successful Australian shows were created during the 2000s, including
ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...
comedies like ''
Kath & Kim ''Kath & Kim,'' (also written as ''Kath and Kim'') is an Australian sitcom created by Jane Turner and Gina Riley, who portray the title characters of Kath Day-Knight, a cheery, middle-aged suburban mother, and Kim, her self-indulgent daughter ...
'', ''
CNNNN ''CNNNN'' (''Chaser NoN-stop News Network'') is a Logie Award winning Australian television program, satirising American news channels CNN and Fox News. It was produced and hosted by comedy team The Chaser. ''CNNNNs slogan was "We Report, Yo ...
'', '' Summer Heights High'', '' Spicks and Specks'' and '' The Chaser's War on Everything'',
Network 10 Network 10 (commonly known as Ten Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network owned by Ten Network Holdings, a division of the Paramount Networks UK & Australia subsidiary of Paramount Global. One of five ...
's ''
Skithouse ''Skithouse'' (styled ''skitHOUSE'') was an Australian sketch comedy television series that ran on Network Ten from 9 February 2003 to 28 July 2004. The series was produced by Roving Enterprises. It featured many well-known Australian comedia ...
'', '' Russell Coight's All Aussie Adventures'', ''
Thank God You're Here ''Thank God You're Here'' is an Australian television improvised comedy program created by Working Dog Productions, which premiered on Network Ten on 5 April 2006, and aired for the first three seasons and on Seven for the fourth season. Each ...
'', '' H2O: Just Add Water'' & ''
The Secret Life of Us ''The Secret Life of Us'' is an Australian television drama series set in the beachside neighbourhood of St Kilda, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is primarily a drama with some comedic moments. The series was produced by Southe ...
'', which led to the creation of many local versions throughout the world, and the growth of
reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...
, especially '' Big Brother Australia'' and '' Australian Idol''. Australian content on subscription television also grew, with shows such as the
Logie Award The Logie Awards (officially the TV Week Logie Awards; colloquially known as The Logies) is an annual gathering to celebrate Australian television, sponsored and organised by the magazine ''TV Week''. The first ceremony was held in 1959 as the ...
winning ''Love My Way''. ''Enough Rope with Andrew Denton'', a television interview show broadcast on ABC, aired from 2003 to 2008. Amongst the new digital 'multichannels', one of the earliest was the SBS World News Channel in 2002, providing news bulletins in languages other than English. In 2003 TDT (TV station), Tasmanian Digital Television launched, providing
Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...
n viewers a third commercial station, and nationally available stations Fly TV and the ABC Kids (Australia), ABC Kids launched, later to be eventually shut down due to funding issues and replaced in 2005 by ABC2. Mildura Digital Television, similar to TDT, launched at the start of 2006. Sydney also began testing datacasting transmissions with Digital 44 in 2003. While digital television boomed in areas that received a third channel and with the subscription television services, growth in other areas has been slow, with analogue shut-down dates pushed back several times. A number of new community stations were also opened, including C31 Adelaide in April 2004 and Television Sydney in February 2006. In October 2005,
Network 10 Network 10 (commonly known as Ten Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network owned by Ten Network Holdings, a division of the Paramount Networks UK & Australia subsidiary of Paramount Global. One of five ...
announced that the morning show entitled ''Good Morning Australia (1992–2005), Good Morning Australia'' would be cancelled at the end of the year, after a 14-year run. Although
Bert Newton Albert Watson Newton (23 July 1938 – 30 October 2021) was an Australian media personality. He was a Logie Hall of Fame inductee, quadruple Gold Logie award-winning entertainer and radio, theatre and television personality and presenter. Newt ...
was offered ongoing employment at
Network 10 Network 10 (commonly known as Ten Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network owned by Ten Network Holdings, a division of the Paramount Networks UK & Australia subsidiary of Paramount Global. One of five ...
, he joined the Nine Network to host the short-lived game show ''Bert's Family Feud'', until 23 May 2007 when the program was axed. The Nine Network, the traditional ratings leader, suffered ratings losses by the mid-2000s, losing out to the Seven Network, which became the most popular Australian network by early 2007, thanks to its "Seven in '07" campaign. This was not the only loss by the network: the death of its CEO Kerry Packer in late 2005 led to network personality Eddie McGuire becoming the head of the network, and the network lost Australian Football League, AFL broadcast rights to the Seven and Ten networks in the largest Australian television rights deal in history, worth Australian dollar, A$780 million. In mid-2007, National Indigenous Television launched as Australia's 'third public broadcaster', after the
ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...
and Special Broadcasting Service, SBS, replacing Indigenous Community Television on the Optus fleet of satellites, Optus Aurora remote satellite service.


High-definition TV

The move to
high-definition television High-definition television (HD or HDTV) describes a television system which provides a substantially higher image resolution than the previous generation of technologies. The term has been used since 1936; in more recent times, it refers to the g ...
broadcasting came to the forefront when Network 10 announced its intentions to create the first dedicated HD multichannel Ten HD on 14 September 2007 with a December 2007 Launch date. Although Ten HD was initially expected to be the first new commercial television channel in metropolitan areas of Australia since 1988, it was instead beaten to the punch by 7HD. Following the announcement by the Ten Network, Network Seven also announced its previously hidden plans to launch a dedicated HD channel on 15 September 2007 and pushed the launch date forward to 10 October. 7HD was the first dedicated HD multichannel launched, 2 months earlier than the Channel 10 equivalent. The Nine Network's move to a HD channel was considered sluggish by industry insiders, taking until March 2008. The Network was more excited by its plans to introduce a new SD channel in 2009 called GO!, which is when digital multicasting restrictions were scheduled to be lifted from the commercial stations. GO! was released to the public on 9 August, spelling the end of 9HD which was replaced by the previous HD version of Nine. 2009 also saw the launch of four other channels, 7TWO, a general entertainment channel, SBS Two available in SD, ABC3 a dedicated children's television channel available in SD, and 10 Bold, One, a dedicated 24 hour sport channel and a subsidiary of Network 10 available in both HD and SD, replacing Ten HD. ABC3, unlike commercial channels, is not constrained by local content quotas.


Television and programming in the 2010s

In the early stages of the 2010s, several governmental analysts observed that commercial networks were having trouble making the transition to digital television and subsequently, a $250m rebate was implemented on their licensing fees. The government funded stations, ABC and SBS, received increased funding in the closing stages of the 2000s to enable them to make the transition to digital TV. Meanwhile, the community station C31 Adelaide, C31 received no government assistance or funding to make the transition; this still remains a source of controversy. Other issues were noted such as the increased cost of producing local content on commercial networks. For example: it costs roughly $800,000 to produce one hour of local content such as ''Underbelly (TV series), Underbelly'' and ''Packed to the Rafters'', in comparison to a mere $100,000 to purchase one hour of the US produced ''Two and a Half Men'', the former example screening very often during the off ratings period 2009–10. The cost disparity has led many to question the viability of commercial networks in the future of delivering and investing in locally produced content and has also brought their financial arrangements with business and industry groups into question. Meanwhile, ABC and SBS quickly began producing very successful local content with shows such as ''Review'', ''Lawrence Leung's Choose Your Own Adventure'', ''Hungry Beast'' and many more publicly funded local programs, produced in Australia, with Australian cast and crews, adding to the increasing health of Australian film and television industries. During January 2010, the ABC announced its long-awaited 24 hour news channel, ABC News 24 to launch in mid-2010. It will broadcast on the current ABC HD channel and according to the ABC, "Australia's first free-to-air 24-hour television news channel". Following technical issues at ABC's new playout facility MediaHub, ''ABC News 24'' launch date was pushed to 22 July 2010. ''ABC News 24'' began to broadcast a three-minute loop promo on Channel 24 on 6 July 2010. On 19 August 2010, the Seven Network announced their third digital channel, 7mate, which replaced 7HD. 7mate is aimed at males between 16 and 49, and launched with the AFL Grand Final on 25 September. The Nine Network has also launched a third digital channel called 9Gem, GEM, broadcasting only in HD and replacing 9HD. GEM is targeted at middle-aged women. On 26 August, Network 10 announced their plans for a channel to replace One SD. The new channel, Eleven (TV channel), Eleven, is aimed at a youth audience and carries flagship TEN programming including Neighbours. Eleven launched on 11 January 2011. In 2011, the Seven Network created history by winning all 40 weeks of a television ratings season for the first time since OzTAM was established in 2001. On 12 December 2012, National Indigenous Television, NITV started its free-to-air broadcasts under new ownership of SBS. On 10 December 2013, the analogue TV shutdown completed all around Australia. On 19 August 2015, then Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull introduced a bill retracting the legal obligation for broadcasters to broadcast their primary channel in standard definition. On 29 August 2015, Racing.com was launched owned by Racing Victoria and Seven West Media. In October 2015, the Nine Network announced their fourth digital channel, 9Life. Launching on 26 November, 9Life is a dedicated lifestyle and reality channel on Channel 94. Around the same time, 9HD was relaunched on Channel 90. On 28 February 2016, the Seven Network launched a fifth digital channel, 7flix, which is a dedicated movie and entertainment channel on Channel 76. On 2 March 2016, Network 10 relaunched Ten HD on Channel 13. On 10 May 2016, the Seven Network relaunched 7HD in Melbourne and Adelaide on Channel 70. On 16 December of the same year, it was relaunched on the same channel in Sydney, Brisbane and Perth.


Television and programming in the 2020s

With the rapid spread of COVID-19 in the early months of 2020, television production in Australia (as it did worldwide) suffered greatly due to health requirements; many programs such as ''Neighbours'' and ''Home and Away'' were forced to suspend filming in an effort to keep their respective cast and crews safe from infection. From the first (of many) 'health COVID-19 lockdowns, lockdowns' until the later months of 2021, many studios were closed or reorganised to suit the legal requirements for spread prevention. As vaccination rates against the virus increased, many of the studios began to reopen and production rates have increased, with ''Neighbours'' and ''Home and Away'' restarting production in October/November 2021.


Broadcasting

Television broadcasting in Australia is available in a
colour Color (American English) or colour (British English) is the visual perceptual property deriving from the spectrum of light interacting with the photoreceptor cells of the eyes. Color categories and physical specifications of color are associ ...
digital television, digital format, via a range of means including terrestrial television, satellite television as well as a number of CATV, cable services. Both free-to-air and Pay TV, subscription channels and networks are available. The analogue television, analogue network has been phased out, with the last service being switched off in December 2013. In most areas there is a choice of three free-to-air commercial broadcasters as well as two national public broadcasters, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and the
Special Broadcasting Service The Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) is an Australian hybrid-funded public service broadcaster. About 80 percent of funding for the company is derived from the Australian Government. SBS operates six TV channels ( SBS, SBS Viceland, SBS World ...
. A third, recently established, National Indigenous Television service is available in many remote areas. Commercial television is dominated by three major metropolitan-based networks, the
Seven Network The Seven Network (commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is a major Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by Seven West Media Limited, and is one of five main free-to-air television networks in Australia ...
and
Network 10 Network 10 (commonly known as Ten Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network owned by Ten Network Holdings, a division of the Paramount Networks UK & Australia subsidiary of Paramount Global. One of five ...
, which own stations in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, and the Nine Network which owns stations in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Darwin, Adelaide and Perth. In addition to its metropolitan assets, Seven owns regional station STQ, Seven Queensland and Nine owns regional station NBN Television. Regional television in Australia consists of independently owned networks 'affiliated' to metropolitan stations. WIN Television is the country's largest regional broadcaster in terms of population reach, followed by Prime7, GWN7, NBN Television, Southern Cross Austereo, and Imparja Television. Some regional centres have three commercial broadcasters, while others — such as regional Western Australia and remote central & eastern Australia — have two, and others — such as Mount Gambier and Broken Hill — have only one commercial broadcaster. In two-broadcaster markets, the two incumbent commercial broadcasters applied for and were granted a third, digital terrestrial television, digital-only license. In single-broadcaster markets, each incumbent commercial broadcaster was granted a second, and later a third license, to provide additional programming. This has resulted in the establishment of a number of channels including Tasmanian Digital Television, Mildura Digital Television, Darwin Digital Television and West Digital Television. Subscription television in Australia consists of Foxtel in metropolitan areas and throughout Western Australia, Austar, AUSTAR in the regional areas of eastern and central states, and
Optus Television Optus Television is the cable television division of Australian telecommunications company Optus. History Its immediate predecessor was Optus Vision, a joint venture between Optus and Continental Cablevision, with small shareholdings by me ...
in Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane. A number of smaller operators including SelecTV (Australian television), SelecTV, TransACT, UBI World TV, and Neighbourhood Cable provide niche or local services. Most operators provide the same or similar channels. There are few genuine local channels and few independent channels. One exception is the World Movies channel owned by a consortium including SBS Television and companies owned by Kerry Stokes and the Australian Radio Network. Community television progressively launched between the 1980s to the 2000s. The sector is represented nationally by the Community Broadcasting Association of Australia. Community stations include TVS,
C31 Melbourne C31 Melbourne is a free-to-air community television channel in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Its name is derived from UHF 31, the frequency and channel number reserved for analogue broadcasts by metropolitan community television stations in ...
, 31 Brisbane, C31 Adelaide and Access 31; many recognisable mainstream personalities originated from community television, including Rove McManus and Wil Anderson and Kayne Tremills


Cable television

Cable television has been available in Australia since the early 1990s, with Galaxy (Australian television), Galaxy TV being the first. It became insolvent in 1997, due to decreasing popularity after the launch of Foxtel and Austar in May 1995, two cable services that offered more variety than Galaxy TV. Foxtel commenced by supplying programs to Galaxy's subscribers on an interim basis. In 1999 Foxtel was able to significantly boost its customer base by acquiring Galaxy TV's subscribers from the Australis Media liquidator and commenced offering its services on a satellite television platform. There is currently one major subscription television provider in Australia, Foxtel. Foxtel bought Austar in 2012 and has now completed the merger of its operations. Other minor providers include TransACT, Neighbourhood Cable, and SelecTV (Australian television), SelecTV. In the capital cities, cable is the more predominant form of pay television distribution. In regional areas or in new or outskirted areas of cities, satellite is far more common. Due to its history, financial backing and market dominance, most local versions of channels are either owned directly by Foxtel or through related companies. In terms of coverage, Foxtel's cable network covers parts of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, and Perth. Optus's network covers small parts of Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane, though its restrictive subscription rules mean that many people living in apartments or confined living areas may be unable to connect. Austar (now Foxtel) is available by satellite in most of regional and rural Australia, but does have a small cable network in the city of Darwin. TransACT is only available in
Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...
, where a custom cable network was developed. A similar situation used to exist in Perth where a small area was covered by Bright Telecommunications (though they closed down after lack of funding) as well in parts of Geelong,
Ballarat Ballarat ( ) is a city in the Central Highlands (Victoria), Central Highlands of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 Census, Ballarat had a population of 116,201, making it the third largest city in Victoria. Estimated resid ...
and Mildura, Victoria, Mildura that are reached by Neighbourhood Cable.


Satellite television

Satellite television in Australia has proven to be a far more feasible option than cable television, perhaps due to the vast distances between population centres, (although Canada, which also has large distances between population centres, has a relatively high cable television penetration rate). The first service to come online in Australia was Galaxy (Australian television), Galaxy, which was later taken over by cable television giant Foxtel, which now operates both cable and satellite services to all state capital cities (except Darwin and Hobart) and the whole of Western Australia. Its main metropolitan rival was Optus Vision, while rural areas are served by Austar, both of which just rebroadcast Foxtel as of 2005. In 2006 SelecTV (Australian television), SelecTV began operating, aiming at providing comparatively low cost packages and catering to specialised market segments.


Internet television

Internet television in Australia is the digital distribution of movies and television content via the Internet. In Australia, internet television is provided by a number of generalist, subscription-based Streaming media, streaming service providers, in addition to several niche providers that focus on specific genres. Australia's five major free-to-air television networks also all offer catch up TV of previously broadcast content to watch via their webpages and apps, and a number of ISPs and other companies offer IPTV – the live streaming of television channels sourced from Australia and elsewhere.


Broadcasting programming synopsis

Australia has produced numerous notable television series and miniseries, with the most prominent programs coming from the comedy, police, and medical drama genres.


Serials and dramas

One of the earliest Australian police drama series was ''
Homicide Homicide occurs when a person kills another person. A homicide requires only a volitional act or omission that causes the death of another, and thus a homicide may result from accidental, reckless, or negligent acts even if there is no inten ...
'', produced in Melbourne by
Crawford Productions Crawford Productions is an Australian media production company, focused on radio and television production. Founded in Melbourne by Hector Crawford and his sister, actress and voice artist Dorothy Crawford, the company, also known as Crawfor ...
, widely viewed as having revolutionised Australian television drama production. It was followed by ''
Division 4 ''Division 4'' is an Australian television police drama series made by Crawford Productions for the Nine Network between 1969 and 1975 for 301 episodes. Synopsis The series was one of the first dramas to follow up on the enormous success o ...
'' and ''
Matlock Police ''Matlock Police'' is an Australian television police drama series made by Crawford Productions for the 0-10 Network (now known as the 10 Network) between 1971 and 1976. The series focused on the police station and crime in the Victorian town o ...
'', which also enjoyed great popularity and long runs both locally and overseas. Other successful police drama series have included ''Cop Shop'', ''Police Rescue'', ''
Blue Heelers ''Blue Heelers'' is an Australian Police procedural, police drama series that was produced by Endemol Australia, Southern Star Group and ran for 12 years on the Seven Network, from 1994 to 2006. Although based around the policing of the town, ...
'', '' Water Rats'' and '' Stingers''. Medical dramas have also proved popular with audiences, including series such as ''A Country Practice'', ''The Flying Doctors'', ''GP (TV series), GP'' and '' All Saints''.


Mini-serials

Notable miniseries have included '' Against the Wind'', ''All the Rivers Run'', ''Bodyline (miniseries), Bodyline'', ''Brides of Christ (TV miniseries), Brides of Christ'', ''The Dismissal (TV miniseries), The Dismissal'' and ''The Timeless Land'', and in more recent times ''Curtin (2007 film), Curtin'', ''Bastard Boys'' and ''The Slap (Australian TV series), The Slap''.


Soap opera

Australian soap opera success began with '' Bellbird'' in 1967 which was a moderate but consistent success. Following this the huge success of ''
Number 96 96 (ninety-six) is the natural number following 95 and preceding 97. It is a number that appears the same when turned upside down. In mathematics 96 is: * an octagonal number. * a refactorable number. * an untouchable number. * a semiperfe ...
'' in 1972 prompted creation of the similar '' The Box'' in 1974. These serials were all cancelled in 1977. Following this successful serials included ''
The Young Doctors ''The Young Doctors'' is an Australian early-evening soap opera originally broadcast on the Nine Network and produced by the Reg Grundy Organisation, it aired from Monday, 8 November 1976 until Wednesday, 30 March 1983. The series is prima ...
'', ''
The Sullivans ''The Sullivans'' is an Australian period drama television series produced by Crawford Productions which ran on the Nine Network from 15 November 1976 until 10 March 1983. The series tells the story of a fictional average middle-cla ...
'', ''Prisoner (TV series), Prisoner'', '' Sons and Daughters'', '' Neighbours'' and '' Home and Away''. This later group were also screened internationally, finding particular success in the United Kingdom.


Comedy

Comedy series have included ''The Aunty Jack Show'', ''The Paul Hogan Show'', ''Norman Gunston, The Norman Gunston Show'', and more recently ''The D-Generation'', ''Frontline (Australian TV series), Frontline'', ''The Glass House (2001 TV series), The Glass House'', ''Bogan Hunters'', '' Summer Heights High'', ''Please Like Me'' and popular series ''
Thank God You're Here ''Thank God You're Here'' is an Australian television improvised comedy program created by Working Dog Productions, which premiered on Network Ten on 5 April 2006, and aired for the first three seasons and on Seven for the fourth season. Each ...
'', which has since been adapted to a number of countries around the world, and already several of them have brought in creators and stars of shows like ''Kath & Kim (Australian TV series), Kath & Kim'' to help produce, direct, star, or serve as consultants on their versions.


Scheduling

The scheduling for each network is quite diverse: while the
Seven Network The Seven Network (commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is a major Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by Seven West Media Limited, and is one of five main free-to-air television networks in Australia ...
, Nine Network, and affiliates have an hour of news and current affairs at 6:00pm, Network 10 has news at 5:00pm while
ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...
has news at 7:00pm and SBS (Australian TV channel), SBS has world news at 6:30pm. The prime time, primetime slot in Australia runs from 6.00pm to midnight, with the most popular programming shown from around 7:30pm to 10:30pm. Many programs shown in these times on commercial networks are taken from American television, while ABC has a mixture of Australian and British productions. SBS, as a multicultural broadcaster, shows a range of programs produced locally and overseas in a number of languages. Imported programming has typically been shown months after its debut in the United States or the United Kingdom, however in recent times networks have begun to air programs within hours or days of their overseas counterparts. Seven and Nine have rival breakfast shows that run from 5:30–9:00am while Network 10, 10 airs repeated shows from the previous day at 6:00am–8:30am, followed by morning shows on all three networks until midday. ABC now broadcasts a breakfast news show (ABC News Breakfast) while on ABC TV Plus and ABC Me there are children's programming, also on 9Go! and 10 Shake, Australian children's programming currently airs on 7flix, 9Go! and 10 Shake, meanwhile on SBS foreign-language bulletins are shown for most of the morning, followed by foreign-language films and documentaries. Most scheduling is consistent across Australia's three time zones – this means that South Australia and the Northern Territory sees programming half an hour behind Australian Eastern Standard Time, Australian Eastern Time, while in Western Australia programs are seen two hours behind. When daylight saving is in effect, because it is only partially observed,
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gets programming one hour later, Northern Territory sees it 90 minutes behind and Western Australia receives its shows three hours behind. Consequently, many national news bulletins shown live to eastern states are seen on considerable delay in Western Australia (with the notable exception of ''The Midday Report'', of which a second edition is produced for WA). The time delay can often deny viewers in central and western areas the opportunity to participate in interactive shows such as ''Big Brother Australia, Big Brother''. One exception to this rule are subscription channels, which always run on Australian Eastern Standard Time, Australian Eastern Time regardless of the local service or time zone. The recent introduction of timeshift channels delayed two hours for all viewers, particularly on Foxtel, allowed WA viewers to see programs in sync with other states during standard time (although due to WA's non-observance of daylight saving, programs air one hour ahead during this time). However, ABC News (Australian TV channel), ABC News is live across the nation with no delay, the only free-to-air television channel to do this.


News and current affairs


News

Both national public broadcasters, the
ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...
and Special Broadcasting Service, SBS, produce news services. The ABC provides both local and national news bulletins in the form of ''ABC News (Australia), ABC News'' at 5:30pm, 7pm and ''The Midday Report'', presented from Sydney and state capitals. SBS (Australian TV channel), SBS broadcasts a nightly hour-long ''SBS World News, World News Australia'' bulletin at 6.30pm, followed by a later, half-hour edition at 10.30pm. Higher ratings for earlier bulletins from commercial broadcasters including the
Seven Network The Seven Network (commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is a major Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by Seven West Media Limited, and is one of five main free-to-air television networks in Australia ...
and Nine Network have prompted fierce ratings competition. For most years up until the mid-1990's ''Nine News'' was traditionally the highest-rating news service in Australia, but in 2005 it was overtaken by ''Seven News'' before it regained the lead on a national basis in 2013. ''Seven News'' produces ''Seven Early News, Seven Morning News, Seven News at 4'' and ''Seven News'' local bulletins in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, Cairns,
Townsville Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 180,820 as of June 2018, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland; it is unofficially considered its capital. Estimated resident population, 3 ...
and Mackay, Queensland, Mackay. The network's news bulletins and breakfast program ''Sunrise (Australian TV program), Sunrise'' compete directly with the Nine Network's offerings, which include ''Today (Australian TV program), Today'' and ''Nine Morning News'', ''Nine Afternoon News'' and ''Nine News'' local bulletins. ''Ten Eyewitness News, 10 News First'' currently produces a local hour long weeknight bulletin of ''10 News First'' and on weekends it airs a national hour long bulletin. In Australia, there are two local 24 hour news channels. The ABC News (TV channel), ABC News channel is Australia's only free-to-air news channel. ABC News launched on 22 July 2010 as ABC News 24 and it features all of ABCs news and current affairs programs. ABC News is available on digital channel 24. Sky News Australia is Australia's second news channel that is only available on Foxtel, Austar, and Optus TV. The subscription based television channel draws on the resources of its shareholders news services, using content from Seven News, Nine News and Sky News from the United Kingdom, as well as reporters based in Sydney,
Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...
, and Melbourne. A number of regional television networks produce news services. WIN Television produces 20 bulletins in parts of
New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...
, Victoria, Australia, Victoria,
Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...
, South Australia, and Western Australia. NBN Television is the only regional broadcaster to produce a bulletin on both weeknights and weekends, in an hour-long format presented from
Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...
and seen across northern
New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...
. Prime7 produces news updates throughout regional New South Wales and Victoria, with sister-network GWN7 producing GWN7 News for Western Australia. In the Northern Territory, Imparja Television shows Imparja Television#News, Imparja National News. Seven (Southern Cross Austereo), Southern Cross Seven produces a bulletin for
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and regional South Australia. In addition Sky News Australia has a regional free-to-air news channel called Sky News Regional on digital channels 53 and 56 in partnership with Southern Cross Austereo and WIN Television on their TV stations.


Current affairs

Current affairs programming is shown in a broad range of formats, ranging between tabloid television, tabloid-style current affairs shows to investigative programs such as '' Four Corners''.
ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...
has had a long history of producing current affairs programs, including the award-winning ''This Day Tonight'', the first regular current affairs program to be shown on Australian television and a training ground for many of Australia's best-known journalists. ''This Day Tonight'' was axed in 1978, however in the mid-1980s ''The 7.30 Report'' was launched in state-based editions (these were combined into a national program hosted by Kerry O'Brien (journalist), Kerry O'Brien in 1995). '' Four Corners'', first seen in 1961, an investigative documentary series modelled on the
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...
's ''Panorama (TV series), Panorama'', has also won many awards and broken stories previously not covered by other media outlets. Other current affairs programs include news and analysis program ''Lateline'', ''7.30'', ''Foreign Correspondent (TV series), Foreign Correspondent'', ''Insiders (Australian TV program), Insiders'', ''Offsiders'' and ''Australia Wide''. SBS (Australian TV channel), SBS also shows a number of current affairs programs, such as ''Dateline (Australian TV program), Dateline'', the country's longest-running international current affairs program, launched in 1984. ''Insight (Australian TV program), Insight'', originally conceived in 1999 as a domestic current affairs program, is a discussion forum focussing on a single issue. SBS's Indigenous Media Unit produces another program titled ''Living Black'', which covers issues relevant to Australia's Indigenous Australians, indigenous community. There are a number of commercial current affairs programs. The
Seven Network The Seven Network (commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is a major Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by Seven West Media Limited, and is one of five main free-to-air television networks in Australia ...
, in addition to Sunrise, broadcasts ''Today Tonight'', a tabloid current affairs program, every weeknight after its 6pm news bulletin. On the Nine Network, ''
A Current Affair ''A Current Affair'' may refer to: * ''A Current Affair'' (Australian TV program), 1971–present Australian current affairs program that airs on Nine Network * ''A Current Affair'' (American TV program), a 1986–1998 American television news ...
'', first shown in 1971, competes directly with ''Today Tonight'' and has, since Ray Martin (television presenter), Ray Martin began presenting in 1994, provided a similar mix of content. On Sundays, '' 60 Minutes'' features a number of stories produced both locally and from its 60 Minutes, US counterpart. In the morning ''Sunday (Australian TV program), Sunday'' covers local and overseas news, politics, and current affairs, in addition to film reviews, politics, arts, and music. Political and interview program ''The Bolt Report'' is also shown on Sunday mornings, on
Network 10 Network 10 (commonly known as Ten Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network owned by Ten Network Holdings, a division of the Paramount Networks UK & Australia subsidiary of Paramount Global. One of five ...
. On
subscription television Pay television, also known as subscription television, premium television or, when referring to an individual service, a premium channel, refers to Subscription business model, subscription-based television services, usually provided by multichan ...
, Sky News Australia airs a number of news commentary and analysis shows such as ''Agenda, Sportsline, Sky Business Report, and Sky News Eco Report''. A local version of The Weather Channel (Australia), Sky News Weather Channel was launched in 1999, joined in 2006 by Fox Sports News (Australia), Fox Sports News, a 24-hour sports news channel. ''Squawk Australia'', a business news program shown from 6.00am, is seen on CNBC Asia.


Indigenous television

In the 21st century, and especially the 2010s, programmes and series by and about Indigenous Australians proliferated. ''The Circuit (TV series), The Circuit'' (2007) was an early example; ''Redfern Now'', ''8MMM Aboriginal Radio'', ''The Gods of Wheat Street'' (2014), ''Ready for This (TV series), Ready for This'', ''Cleverman (TV series), Cleverman'', ''Black Comedy (TV series), Black Comedy'', ''The Warriors (TV series), The Warriors'', ''Kiki & Kitty'', ''Total Control (TV series), Total Control'', ''KGB'', ''Little J & Big Cuz'', ''Mystery Road (TV series), Mystery Road'' were all well received. Shari Sebbens commented that a "golden age" of Indigenous television is here. The last episode of the second series of ''Get Krack!n#Series 2 (2019), Get Krack!n'', featuring Miranda Tapsell and Nakkiah Lui and co-written by Lui, trended on Twitter, outraged right wing commentator Andrew Bolt, and was widely lauded as hilarious, ground-breaking, hard-hitting satire. National Indigenous Television (NITV) is (since 2012) a national, free-to-air channel dedicated to Indigenous stories, news, films and issues, with programming produced largely by Indigenous people, funded through SBS. In early 2016, it refreshed its brand and revamped its schedule, with an increased focus on its central charter, Indigenous news and current affairs.


Ratings

Television ratings in Australia are collected by three main organisations: OzTAM in metropolitan areas, Regional TAM in regional areas serviced by three commercial television networks, and in areas with two commercial networks, Nielsen Media Research, Nielsen Media Research Australia. Ratings are collected for 40 weeks during the year, excluding a two-week break during Easter and ten weeks over summer. The majority of locally produced comedy and drama on commercial networks is shown during the ratings period. For many years up until the mid-nineties, the Nine Network had been the ratings leader in Australia, typically followed by the
Seven Network The Seven Network (commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is a major Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by Seven West Media Limited, and is one of five main free-to-air television networks in Australia ...
and Network 10. Subscription television and the two national broadcasters, ABC and in particular SBS, due to its special-interest nature, typically attract fewer viewers than the three commercial networks. Network 10, due to its programming line-up, has traditionally been the market leader for younger viewers. In 2007, the Seven Network overtook its rival Nine Network in terms of average viewers, and in 2011, it became the first television network since OzTam's launch in 2001 to win all 40 weeks in a ratings season. As of 2016, it has won the last ten ratings seasons consecutively. ABC has also, since the early 2000s, seen ratings (as well as audience reach) as a major performance indicator. The Nine Network has, in the past, aggressively marketed its long-time ratings dominance through its promotional campaign "''Still the One''", which they no longer use.


Regulation

Content on Australian television is regulated by the Australian Communications and Media Authority. All codes of practice submitted to the Australian Communications and Media Authority are reviewed by the public prior to acceptance. There are different regulations for different types of content, and the main categories are divided up into Australian content, children's content, commercial broadcasting, community broadcasting, public broadcasting, and Pay TV, subscription television. The regulations in place define what a broadcaster may put on-air, the time(s) of day they are allowed to broadcast specific material, and what advertisements are shown in relation to these criteria. In essence, the Australian Communications and Media Authority controls what content is shown, what time(s) of day it is shown, and who controls what is shown (i.e.: international media as opposed to Australian media). Genre restrictions imposed by the Australian Government of Australia, government on digital multichanneling were lifted along with the media ownership laws passed through the Parliament of Australia on 18 October 2006. Digital-only multichannels in Australia were previously limited in the subjects they could cover, with programming identified as comedy, drama, national news, sport or entertainment, prohibited from broadcast.


See also

*Digital television in Australia *High-definition television in Australia *Internet television in Australia *Subscription television in Australia *History of television *List of digital television channels in Australia *Sports broadcasting contracts in Australia, Sports TV broadcasting contracts in Australia


References


External links


Free TV Australia

National Film and Sound Archive homepage

TVAus Forum

History of West Australian Television

Culture Victoria – images and text about the 50th Anniversary of Television in Australia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Television In Australia Television in Australia, 1929 establishments in Australia