CBN is an Australian

television station A television station is a set of equipment managed by a business, organisation or other entity, such as an amateur television (ATV) operator, that transmits video content and audio content via radio waves directly from a transmitter on the eart ...

licensed to, and serving the regions surrounding

Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower *Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum * ...

, Dubbo and central and southern

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 ...

History

Origins

CBN-8 Orange commenced broadcasting on 17 March 1962, licensed to ''Country Broadcasting Services'', owners of local radio station 2GZ. They soon changed their name to Country Television Services. CWN-6 Dubbo began transmission on 1 December 1965. Also owned by Country Television Services, they became the first station to completely relay another station's programming, although some station identification, such as test patterns, remained separate and program output for CWN originated from CBN's studios in Orange. In 1968, the stations acquired access to the

Postmaster-General A Postmaster General, in Anglosphere countries, is the chief executive officer of the postal service of that country, a ministerial office responsible for overseeing all other postmasters. The practice of having a government official responsible ...

's microwave link, allowing viewers to see national news programs and other major events live for the first time. By the early 1970s, the stations began to run into financial difficulties, and it was decided to enter into a joint programming agreement with

MTN-9 MTN is a television station licensed to serve Griffith and the surrounding Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area (M.I.A.). The station is owned and operated by WIN Corporation as a Seven Network affiliate. As WIN is the sole commercial television bro ...

of Griffith, resulting in the formation of the ''Television 6-8-9'' network (later ''Mid State Television''). A 30-minute documentary on the 1978

National Rodeo Titles National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

, called ''Goin' Down The Road'', won the station the 'Outstanding Contribution by a Regional Station'

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 ...

in 1979. Local programming in the 1980s included ''Focus'', ''Rural Roundup'', ''Early Shift'', ''Weekend Report'', ''Time to Live'', ''Around The Schools'', and coverage of local special events. Local sports coverage, especially of

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

and rugby, former a major part of the schedule in the late 1970s and early 1980s. From 1979, the station sponsored, and telecast the

United Permanent Tennis Tournament United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two f ...

, the only tournament of its kind in Australia. With aggregation looming, CBN and CWN were purchased by health care magnate

Paul Ramsay Paul Joseph Ramsay (5 January 1936 – 1 May 2014) was an Australian businessman and philanthropist. Biography Born in Sydney, he grew up in Burradoo in the Southern Highlands, New South Wales. He attended St Ignatius' College, Riverview, w ...

's Ramcorp Ltd in 1987, and merged with RVN/AMV to form ''Prime Television'', in May 1988. Local programming and staff levels were reduced - morale at the time was reported to be at ''an all time low''. Programming schedules began to resemble those of affiliation partner Seven, with new facilities built in

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 Canberra in preparation for the expansion in coverage area.

Aggregation

When aggregation in southern New South Wales occurred in 1989, CBN and CWN were effectively merged into one station, CBN, branded on-air as ''Prime Television''. The station then moved into the rest of the new license area, competing against

WIN Television WIN Television is an Australian television network owned by WIN Corporation that is based in Wollongong, New South Wales. WIN commenced transmissions on 18 March 1962 as a single television station covering the Wollongong region. The WIN Netw ...

and 10 Capital. The introduction of the two new stations into Orange was delayed by technical problems, and did not start in the area until later in the year. In 1991, the Wagga Wagga and Orange licenses were merged into the one license, with RVN taking on the CBN callsign.

Seven News

CBN produces and broadcasts two 30-minute ''Seven News'' bulletins, formerly (''Prime7 News'' and ''Prime News'') bulletins for the Central West (Orange/Dubbo) and Wagga Wagga regional markets, each weeknight at 6pm and is co-presented by Madelaine Collignon, with Kirstie Fitzpatrick presenting the weather. As of April 2015, both bulletins are pre-recorded. In the Wollongong and Canberra regional markets, short two-minute updates are presented by Phoebe Deas, with weather forecasts from Daniel Gibson. Both these markets take Sydney's

Seven News ''7NEWS'' is the television news service of the Seven Network and, as of 2021, the highest-rating in Australia. National bulletins are presented from Seven's high definition studios in Martin Place, Sydney, while flagship 6pm bulletins are ...

bulletin for the 6pm primetime news service. Since August 2010, production of Seven News for the Orange and Wagga Wagga markets moved to Seven's Canberra headquarters. The two bulletins alternate between live transmission and being pre-recorded, prior to the addition of the North West and North Coast bulletins on 27 April 2015, due to the closure of the Tamworth broadcast studios on 24 April. On that same day, a renovated news studio was introduced for both bulletins. However, with the centralisation of all bulletins, the alternate live-recorded format for southern NSW was displaced to the live North West bulletin.

Main Transmitters

Notes

References

External links

Logos and clips of CBN and CWN at AusTVHistory.com

CBN8 entry at the Australian Television Archive

CWN6 entry at the Australian Television Archive
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cbn (Tv Station) Television stations in New South Wales Television stations in Canberra Prime Media Group Seven Network Television channels and stations established in 1962