This timeline of Australian television lists important station launches, programs, major television events, and technological advancements that have significantly changed the forms of

broadcasting Broadcasting is the distribution of audio or video content to a dispersed audience via any electronic mass communications medium, but typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum ( radio waves), in a one-to-many model. Broadcasting beg ...

available to viewers of television in Australia. The

history of television in Australia Television in Australia began experimentally as early as 1929 in Melbourne with radio stations KIIS 101.1, 3DB and 3UZ, and 2UE in Sydney, using the ''Radiovision'' system by Gilbert Miles and Donald McDonald, and later from other locations, suc ...

can be traced back to an announcement from the

Menzies 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 ...

' government concerning plans for television services in Sydney 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 ...

. 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

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"''.

Colour television Color television or Colour television is a television transmission technology that includes color information for the picture, so the video image can be displayed in color on the television set. It improves on the monochrome or black-and-white t ...

was introduced in 1975, while

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 ...

, initially on the Galaxy platform, began in the mid-1990s.

Digital terrestrial television Digital terrestrial television (DTTV or DTT, or DTTB with "broadcasting") is a technology for terrestrial television in which land-based (terrestrial) television stations broadcast television content by radio waves to televisions in consumers' ...

was introduced on 1 January 2001 in Australia's five largest capital cities, later to be expanded to smaller cities and regional areas.

1920s

*Experimental TV broadcasts began as early as 1929 in

on stations 3DB and

3UZ RSN Racing & Sport (ACMA callsign: 3UZ) is an Australian radio station in Australia. Owned and operated by thoroughbred, harness and greyhound racing bodies of Victoria, it broadcasts a sports radio format to Melbourne, and to much of Victori ...

using the ''Radiovision'' system by Gilbert Miles and Donal McDonald. *Thomas (Tom) M. B. Elliott experiments with an electromechanical version of television using the Nipkow disc technique that Baird employed.

1930s

*Other experimental transmissions followed in other cities, such as the 30 line Baird system in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

in 1934 by Tom Elliott and Dr Val McDowall, members of the Royal Society of Queensland, at the amateur station (VK)4CM. By 1938 Elliot demonstrated an electronic 180 line version.

1940s

*Broadcasting tests halted due to the advent of World War 2. ;1949: *Television began in Australia in mid-1949. The Australian Government decided to form a small company to broadcast Australian Sport to the people at home who can't get or afford to go to stadiums, fields and sport courts. The Television channel for this broadcast was known as "Channel One" and was broadcast on channel service ALG-01.

1950s

;1950: *June: Robert Menzies' government announces a gradual introduction of

television in Australia Television in Australia began experimentally as early as 1929 in Melbourne with radio stations 3DB and 3UZ, and 2UE in Sydney, using the ''Radiovision'' system by Gilbert Miles and Donald McDonald, and later from other locations, such as Br ...

, with plans to launch an

ABC Television ABC Television most commonly refers to: *ABC Television Network of the American Broadcasting Company, United States, or *ABC Television (Australian TV network), a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Australia ABC Television or ABC ...

station in Sydney and other areas subject to funding approval. As well as this, commercial television services in Sydney and

are planned with ''"any other capital city where it is felt that the applicant's capacity to provide a service justifies the issue of a licence".'' ;1953: *January: The Menzies government amends the ''1948 Broadcasting Act'' to provide legislative framework for commercial television licenses. ;1954: *Th
Royal Commission on Television
affirms the need to introduce television under a dual system of ownership, similarly to the

plan. ;1956: *13 July: Test transmissions commence in Sydney on TCN-9 in monochrome. *16 July: HSV-7 Melbourne commences test transmissions in monochrome. *16 September:

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 launches at 7.00pm. Announcer John Godson is the first voice heard and

is the first person seen in-vision, introducing ''This is Television''. *27 October: TCN-9 officially opens. *4 November:

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 ...

officially launches. *5 November: The

Australian Broadcasting Commission The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-owned ...

begins television broadcasting with

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 ...

Sydney. *19 November:

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 ...

launches. *22 November: 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne commence, televised by ABV-2 & HSV-7 and during

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 ...

test transmissions. ;1957: *19 January: Sir Dallas Brookes officially inaugurates

Melbourne. *6 May:

launches the nightly variety show ''

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

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 ...

. ;1959: *9 January: Melbourne and Sydney are linked by

microwave Microwave is a form of electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths ranging from about one meter to one millimeter corresponding to frequencies between 300 MHz and 300 GHz respectively. Different sources define different frequency ra ...

for the first time, allowing programs to be broadcast live to both cities concurrently. *1 July: '' Mr. Squiggle and Friends'' begins on ABC. *16 August:

QTQ-9 QTQ is an Australian television station, licensed to, and serving Brisbane, Queensland. It is owned by the Nine Entertainment Co., and is part of the Nine Network. It broadcasts on VHF Channel 8 (digital). QTQ began broadcasting on 16 August 19 ...

begins transmission. *5 September:

NWS-9 NWS is an Australian television station based in Adelaide, Australia. It is owned-and-operated by the Nine Network. The station callsign, ''NWS'', is an initialism of The NeWs South Australia. History Origins NWS-9 was the first television ...

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 ...

officially launches. *16 October:

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 ...

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 ...

launches. *1 November: BTQ-7 Brisbane launches. *2 November: ABQ-2 Brisbane launches.

1960s

;1960: *11 March:

ABS-2 ABS-2 is a Space Systems/Loral FS 1300 satellite launched in February 2014. It is positioned in geostationary orbit at 75E and serves four continents across Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Russia and CIS countries. The satellite ...

launches. *7 May: ABW-2

begins transmission. *23 May:

TVT-6 TVT is Tasmania's first television station, delivering its first official broadcast on 23 May 1960. The callsign stands for "TeleVision Tasmania". Unlike the commercial stations in Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Adelaide, and later Perth, TVT hel ...

Hobart opens, bringing television to Tasmania. *4 June: ABT-2 Hobart commences broadcasting. ;1961: *19 August: Current affairs program '' Four Corners'' begins on

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 ...

. *9 December:

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 ...

Traralgon Traralgon ( ) is a town located in the east of the Latrobe Valley in the Gippsland region of Victoria, Australia and the most populous city of the City of Latrobe. The urban population of Traralgon at the was 26,907. It is the largest and fastes ...

is the first regional station to open. *23 December: BCV-8 launches in Bendigo while

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 ...

began in Shepparton. ;1962: *4 March: NBN-3

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 ...

begins broadcasting. *17 March: CBN-8

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 * ...

launches. *18 March: WIN-4

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 ...

begins. *27 April:

BTV-6 VTV is an Australian television station broadcasting in regional Victoria (Australia), Victoria in Australia. The network was owned by ENT Ltd., before being purchased by the WIN Corporation. Network history ''VICTV Television Victoria'' began ...

Ballarat begins transmission. *12 May: RTN-8 Lismore begins broadcasting. *26 May:

TNT-9 TNT is an Australian TV station based in Hobart, Tasmania, owned by Southern Cross Austereo. Originally broadcasting to northern Tasmania, it has broadcast to the whole of Tasmania since aggregation of the Tasmanian television market in 1994. H ...

begins transmission to Launceston and northern

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

. *2 June: CTC-7 Canberra officially commences transmissions. *1 July: Frank Packer (owner of TCN-9 Sydney) buys GTV-9 Melbourne, forming the

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

, the first in the country. *13 July:

DDQ-10 RTQ is an Australian television station broadcasting in regional Queensland in Australia. The network was owned by Star Television, before being purchased by the WIN Corporation on 5 October 1988. Network history WIN Television Queensland sta ...

Toowoomba Toowoomba ( , nicknamed 'The Garden City' and 'T-Bar') is a city in the Toowoomba Region of the Darling Downs, Queensland, Australia. It is west of Queensland's capital city Brisbane by road. The urban population of Toowoomba as of the 2021 ...

begins transmission. *1 November: TNQ-7 launches in

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 ...

. *18 December: ABC-3 Canberra launches. ;1963: *7 September: RTQ-7 Rockhampton begins broadcasting. ;1964: *19 June:

RVN-2 CBN is an Australian television station licensed to, and serving the regions surrounding Orange, New South Wales, Orange, Dubbo and central and southern New South Wales. History Origins CBN-8 Orange commenced broadcasting on 17 March 1962, ...

Wagga Wagga Wagga Wagga (; informally called Wagga) is a major regional city in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. Straddling the Murrumbidgee River, with an urban population of more than 56,000 as of June 2018, Wagga Wagga is the state's la ...

launches. *1 August: ATV-0,

's third commercial station, launches. *7 September: AMV-4

Albury Albury () is a major regional city in New South Wales, Australia. It is located on the Hume Highway and the northern side of the Murray River. Albury is the seat of local government for the council area which also bears the city's name – the ...

commences broadcasting. ;1965: *23 January: NRN-11 Coffs Harbour begins broadcasting. *5 April: TEN-10 Sydney begins transmission. *10 April: WBQ-8 Wide Bay/ Maryborough and NEN-9 Tamworth begin transmission. *12 May: NRN-11 Coffs Harbour begins broadcasting. *12 June: STW-9

opens. *1 July: TVQ-0

launches. *26 July:

SAS-10 SAS, formerly SAS-7 and before that SAS-10, is a television station in Adelaide, South Australia. It is part of the Seven Network. History SAS-7 was originally known as SAS-10, an affiliate of what became Network Ten. It commenced broadcasting ...

launches. *27 September: NEN-9 Tamworth begins transmission. *27 November:

STV-8 STV is an Australian television station licensed to and serving the regions surrounding Mildura, Victoria, owned and operated by the WIN Corporation and part of the WIN Television network. The station commenced transmissions on 27 November ...

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 ...

launches. *1 December: Australia's first regional television network is formed when

CWN-6 CBN is an Australian television station licensed to, and serving the regions surrounding Orange, Dubbo and central and southern New South Wales. History Origins CBN-8 Orange commenced broadcasting on 17 March 1962, licensed to ''Country Br ...

Dubbo opens as a direct relay of CBN-8 Orange. *15 December:

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 ...

Griffith Griffith may refer to: People * Griffith (name) * Griffith (surname) * Griffith (given name) Places Antarctica * Mount Griffith, Ross Dependency * Griffith Peak (Antarctica), Marie Byrd Land * Griffith Glacier, Marie Byrd Land * Griffith Rid ...

commences transmission. ;1966: *25 March:

SES-8 SES-8 is a geostationary Communications satellite operated by SES S.A. SES-8 was successfully launched on SpaceX Falcon 9 v1.1 on 3 December 2013, 22:41:00 UTC. It was the first flight of any SpaceX launch vehicle to a supersynchronous tr ...

Mount Gambier Mount Gambier is the second most populated city in South Australia, with an estimated urban population of 33,233 . The city is located on the slopes of Mount Gambier, a volcano in the south east of the state, about south-east of the capital Ad ...

officially launches. *18 July: '' Play School'' begins on ABC *27 May: ECN-8

Taree Taree is a town on the Mid North Coast, New South Wales, Australia. Taree and nearby Cundletown were settled in 1831 by William Wynter. Since then Taree has grown to a population of 26,381, and is the centre of a significant agricultural distr ...

launches. *7 September: FNQ-10 begins transmission in and around Cairns. ;1967: *10 March:

BTW-3 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 ...

Bunbury becomes the first regional television station in

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

. *10 April: ABC TV current affairs program ''

This Day Tonight ''This Day Tonight'' (TDT) was an Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC) evening current affairs program from 1967 to 1978. Founding When ''TDT'' premiered in 1967 it was the first regular nightly current affairs program on Australian TV, an ...

'' premieres. *15 June: Test

colour television Color television or Colour television is a television transmission technology that includes color information for the picture, so the video image can be displayed in color on the television set. It improves on the monochrome or black-and-white t ...

transmissions are made for the first time in Australia by ATV-0. ;1968: *

conducts its first

Telethon A telethon (a portmanteau of "television" and "marathon") is a televised fundraising event that lasts many hours or even days, the purpose of which is to raise money for a charitable, political or other purportedly worthy cause. Most telethons f ...

. *1 March: GTS-4

Port Pirie Port Pirie is a small city on the east coast of the Spencer Gulf in South Australia, north of the state capital, Adelaide. The city has an expansive history which dates back to 1845. Port Pirie was the first proclaimed regional city in South A ...

launches. *9 August: MVQ-6 launches in

Mackay Mackay may refer to: *Clan Mackay, the Scottish clan from which the surname "MacKay" derives Mackay may also refer to: Places Australia * Mackay Region, a local government area ** Mackay, Queensland, a city in the above region *** Mackay Airpor ...

. *16 August: BKN-7 Broken Hill opens. ;1969: *20 July: 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, ...

Moon landing is televised live by television stations in Australia. *Undated: First fully colour capable production facility opened in Sydney (Video Tape Corp, in East Roseville).

1970s

;1971: *4 January: Long running US children's educational series ''

Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Workshop until June 2000) ...

'' begins on

. *18 June: VEW-8 Kalgoorlie begins broadcasting. *13 August: ABD-6 launches as Darwin's first television station. *11 September: ITQ-8

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 ...

begins broadcasting. *9 October: '' Hey Hey It's Saturday'' starts off as a Saturday morning cartoon program for children on Nine Network. *22 November: ''

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 ...

, makes its first appearance on the Nine Network. *11 November:

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 ...

is officially launched by

Administrator of the Northern Territory The Administrator of the Northern Territory is an official appointed by the Governor-General of Australia to represent the government of the Commonwealth in the Northern Territory, Australia. They perform functions similar to those of a state gov ...

Fred Chaney Frederick Michael Chaney, AO (born 28 October 1941) is a former Australian politician who was deputy leader of the Liberal Party from 1989 to 1990 and served as a minister in the Fraser Government. He was a Senator for Western Australia from ...

. ;1972 *13 March: Soap opera ''

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 ...

'' debuts, heralding the night 'Australian television lost its virginity' *20 March: Brisbane channel BTQ-7 claims Australia's first one-hour news bulletin, The Big News ;1973 *In 1973, the only Australian designed and made precision colour television monitor, was produced for local use and international export. The broadcast quality monitor (LDN5006) was developed by Willem Sparrius, Project Engineer at Philips subsidiary company Electronics Engineering Communications and produced at their South Oakleigh plant."Double Dutch", The Herald, 14 July 1973"Oakleigh to be World Headquarters", Philips Reporter, August 1973 ;1974 *29 August: GSW-9 Albany begins broadcasting as a relay of VEW-8 Kalgoorlie. *October: Colour test transmissions begin on Australian television. *8 November: ''

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 ...

'' begins on

. ;1975 *1 March: At midnight,

is introduced across the country. The main networks celebrate with their own unique slogan – ''Come to Colour'' (ABC TV), ''Seven Colors Your World'' (Seven Network), ''Living Color'' (Nine Network) and ''0 – First in Color'' (0-10 Network). ;1976: *26 November: RTS-5A Loxton launches in the

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 ...

district. ;1977: *21 January:

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 ...

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. ...

begins broadcasting, completing the roll-out of regional commercial television across Australia. *24 September: The '' Victorian Football League Grand Final'' is broadcast live to viewers in

for the first time. ;1979: *11 February: Current affairs program '' 60 Minutes'' debuts on the Nine Network. *7 April: 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 ...

begins test transmissions on

and

Sydney, with foreign-language programming shown on Sunday mornings.

1980s

;1980: *20 January:

's ATV-0 converts to

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 ...

; after nearby La Trobe Valley regional station GLV-10 converts to

GLV-8 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 st ...

to facilitate this change, which concurrently frees up the frequency for Channel 0/28 later that same year. *14 July: Game show ''

Sale of the Century ''Sale of the Century'' (stylized as ''$ale of the Century'') is an American television game show that originally debuted on September 29, 1969, on NBC daytime. It was one of three NBC game shows to premiere on that date, the other two being th ...

'' debuts on the Nine Network. *24 October: Channel 0/28 is launched by

in Sydney and

. ;1982: *28 June: The Nine Network Australia premieres ''

Today Today (archaically to-day) may refer to: * Day of the present, the time that is perceived directly, often called ''now'' * Current era, present * The current calendar date Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Today'' (1930 film), a 1930 ...

''. ;1983: *1 July: The Australian Broadcasting Commission becomes the

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-own ...

. *16 October: Channel 0/28 expands into Canberra,

Cooma Cooma is a town in the south of New South Wales, Australia. It is located south of the national capital, Canberra, via the Monaro Highway. It is also on the Snowy Mountains Highway, connecting Bega with the Riverina. At the , Cooma had a ...

and

Goulburn Goulburn ( ) is a regional city in the Southern Tablelands of the Australian state of New South Wales, approximately south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Canberra. It was proclaimed as Australia's first inland city through letters pate ...

, and changes its name to Network 0-28. ;1984: *4 February: '' Hey Hey It's Saturday'' moves from its morning timeslot to the 9.30 pm timeslot. *July: The

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the sec ...

are broadcast on Network Ten. *26 July: US-French-Canadian animated series ''

Inspector Gadget ''Inspector Gadget'' is a media franchise that began in 1983 with the DIC Entertainment animated television series '' Inspector Gadget''. Since the original series, there have been many spin-offs based on the show, including additional animated ...

'' begins on

. ;1985: *18 February: Network 0-28 once again changes its name to SBS, and begins daytime transmissions. *4 March: ''ABC National'', a one-hour national news and current affairs program shown from 6.30 pm, replaces ABC TV's half-hour 7.00pm state news bulletins. *18 March: Soap opera '' Neighbours'' begins 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 ...

. *30 June:

SBS Television 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 Wor ...

expands into

, 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 ...

. *24 October: The

ABC Board The ABC Board is the body responsible for the operations of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. , Ita Buttrose is chair; David Anderson the managing director appointed by the board; Jane Connors is a staff-elected member. The chair and ot ...

elects to abandon ''ABC National''. ;1986: *5 January: SBS Television phases out its second VHF 0 channel. *16 March: SBS launches in

and Hobart. *19 August:

Treasurer A treasurer is the person responsible for running the treasury of an organization. The significant core functions of a corporate treasurer include cash and liquidity management, risk management, and corporate finance. Government The treasury ...

Paul Keating Paul John Keating (born 18 January 1944) is an Australian former politician and unionist who served as the 24th prime minister of Australia from 1991 to 1996, holding office as the leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). He previously serv ...

, in his budget speech, announces the amalgamation of the

and SBS. ;1987: *26 March: Bob Hawke calls off the proposed amalgamation of the ABC and SBS. *17 April: '' Rage'' begins on

. *27 December:

stations SAS-10 and ADS-7 swap frequencies to become SAS-7 and

ADS-10 ADS is an Australian television station based in Adelaide, South Australia. It is owned and operated by Paramount Networks UK & Australia through their Australian holdings Network 10. History ADS-10 began as ''ADS-7'' on 24 October 1959. In t ...

. ;1988: *1 January: Nine Network first use of SNG (Satellite News Gathering) in Australia. Transmission from Kingoonya SA for Australia Live 88 which showcased Australia remotely in a four hour broadcast. *2 January:

Imparja Television Imparja Television (IMP) is an independent Australian television station servicing over , across six states and territories: Northern Territory, South Australia, Tasmania, Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria. It is based in Alice Spring ...

launches in remote eastern and central Australia from studios in Alice Springs. *17 January: '' Home and Away'' premieres on the

as a two-hour pilot and begins as a regular weeknight soap opera the following evening. *20 May: NEW-10 launches in Perth. *10 September: TVQ-0 Brisbane becomes TVQ-10. ;1989: *31 March: Aggregation begins in 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 ...

1990s

;1990: *

begins producing 15-minute local news bulletins inserted into its ''

National Nine News ''Nine News'' (stylised ''9News'') is the national news service of the Nine Network in Australia. Its flagship program is the hour-long 6:00 pm state bulletin, produced by Nine's owned-and-operated stations in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, ...

'' simulcast, entitled ''Imparja Local News''. *27 January: Long running children's wrapper program ''

Saturday Disney ''Saturday Disney'' is a long running Australian children's television program which aired on the Seven Network in Australia for over 26 years, with the first episode going to air on 27 January 1990. The show was a television block which aired ...

'' which airs television shows from

The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Disney Stud ...

begins on

. *3 September: Children's TV series ''

Johnson and Friends ''Johnson and Friends'' is an Australian live action/puppet children’s television program that originally aired on ABC from 3 September 1990 to 10 July 1997. It was produced by Film Australia and was created by Ron Saunders, John Patterson ...

'' begins on ABC. *21 December: James Valentine leaves ''

The Afternoon Show ''The Afternoon Show'' is Raidió Teilifís Éireann's former live flagship daytime show. It ran from 2004 until May 2010. The programme was dropped by RTÉ as part of its new season of television in 2010, to be replaced by two afternoon pro ...

'' after his final day of presenting the weekday afternoon magazine program. *24 December:

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 ...

purchases Network Ten affiliate-to-be Star Television and switches its affiliation to the Nine Network for

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 , establishe ...

. *31 December: Regional

is aggregated. ;1991: *10 February: US animated comedy series ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer Simpson, Homer, Marge ...

'' begins on Network Ten. *14 June:

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 ...

is permitted by the government to broadcast five minutes of

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 ...

per hour, as a form of additional funding. *31 December: Northern

is aggregated. ;1992: *1 January: Aggregation begins to take place 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 ...

. *3 February: Midday news program '' The World at Noon'' is launched on ABC TV. *3 February: Former Europe correspondent for the ABC Ian Henderson takes over as newsreader for the 7.00 pm weeknights

ABC News ABC News is the news division of the American broadcast network ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast ''ABC World News Tonight, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other programs include Breakfast television, morning ...

in Victoria. *8 May: An educational television series for children called '' Lift Off'' begins being broadcast on ABC every Friday afternoon at 2:00pm. The show will later air on weekdays at 4:30pm on 29 June and on Saturday evenings at 6:00pm on 19 September. *20 July: Children's TV series ''

Bananas in Pyjamas ''Bananas in Pyjamas'' is an Australian children's television series that first aired on 20 July 1992 on ABC. It has since been syndicated in many countries and dubbed into other languages. In the United States, the "Pyjamas" in the title wa ...

'' begins on ABC. *27 November:

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

passes a bill permitting the ABC to provide

services. ;1993: *26 January: Early morning news program '' First Edition'' begins on the ABC. *17 February: The

Australia Television International ABC Australia, formerly Australia Television International (or just Australia Television), ABC Asia Pacific, Australia Network and Australia Plus, is an Australian pay television channel, launched in 1993 and operated by the Australian Broadca ...

is launched by Prime Minister of Australia's Paul John Keating. *September: The Victorian arm of the Southern Cross Network changes its name to ''SCN''. ;1994: *

Southern Cross Broadcasting Southern Cross Broadcasting (Australia) Limited was a diversified Australian media company, that owned and operated a variety of media businesses, primarily in radio and television. History Tony Bell was managing director of the business betwe ...

purchases Canberra-based station Capital Television. *20 May: Darwin is the last capital city to begin receiving SBS. *30 April:

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

is aggregated, as a two-station market. *31 July: Community station Briz 31 commences transmission. *October:

expands into

and

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

, purchasing

ENT Limited ENT Ltd, standing for Examiner-Northern TV Ltd, is a private shell company owned by WIN Corporation. In its heyday, ENT was a publicly listed Australian media company based in Launceston, Tasmania. It was run by major shareholder Edmund Rouse unt ...

, owners of TasTV and Vic Television. *6 October: Community station

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 ...

launches. ;1995: *26 January: Galaxy launches Australia's first subscription television service on MMDS. *19 September: Australia's first cable TV provider,

Optus Vision 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 media ...

, begins broadcasting. *22 October: Foxtel was founded and introduced into Australia. *4 December: State editions of '' The 7.30 Report'' are merged into a single national program, presented from Sydney by Kerry O'Brien. ;1996: *

Prime Television Prime7, formerly Prime Television and other names, was an Australian television network. Prime Television launched on 17 March 1962 as '' CBN-8'' in Orange, and later expanded to cover regional New South Wales, Victoria and the Australian Cap ...

expands into

as PTV-31, after being granted the area's second commercial licence. *December: Prime Television purchases the

Golden West Network 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 ...

for $71 million. ;1997: *8 July: Ownership of Australia Television International moves from the

to the

. *December: Prime Television Limited purchases Canal 9 in

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

. ;1998: *16 February: UK children's television series ''

Teletubbies ''Teletubbies'' is a British children's television series created by Anne Wood and Andrew Davenport for the BBC. The programme focuses on four differently coloured characters known as the Teletubbies, named after the television screens on t ...

'' begins on

. *27 March: TND-34 Darwin, a Seven Network affiliate, is officially inaugurated by

Chief Minister of the Northern Territory The chief minister of the Northern Territory is the head of government of the Northern Territory. The office is the equivalent of a state premier. When the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly was created in 1974, the head of government was ...

Shane Stone Shane Leslie Stone (born 25 September 1950) is an Australian political figure. He is currently the Chair of the Council for the Order of Australia. He was also the Coordinator-General of the National Recovery and Resilience Agency and its pre ...

. *10 May: Drama ''

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 ...

'' begins on

. *1 July: The

WIN Corporation WIN Corporation is a private Australian media company, that owns assets including the WIN Television network, Crawford Productions and several local radio stations. The company is based in Wollongong, New South Wales. History Founding The WIN b ...

acquires

and supplementary licence AMN-31. *31 July:

The Wiggles The Wiggles are an Australian children's music group formed in Sydney in 1991. The group are currently composed of Anthony Field, Lachlan Gillespie, Simon Pryce and Tsehay Hawkins, as well as supporting members Evie Ferris, John Pearce, ...

' television show is launched on

. *30 August:

Prime Television New Zealand Prime is a New Zealand free-to-air television network. It airs a varied mix of programming, largely imported from Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States. It was originally owned by Prime Television Limited in Australia. Prime late ...

is launched, owned by Prime Television's parent company Prime Television Limited. *5 October: '' Pokémon'' begins on Network Ten. *20 December: The

Disney Channel Australia Disney Channel (originally called The Disney Channel from 1996 to 1997) was an Australian pay television channel. It was the flagship television property owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company in Australia. Launched in 1996, the network ...

premieres a TV special: The Wiggles Live at Disneyland to launch

' debut. ;1999: *26 March: WOW, regional

's second commercial television network owned by

, launches. *18 June: Perth community station Access 31 officially commences transmission. *15 August: WIN South Australia is established following the buyout SES-8 Mount Gambier and RTS-5A Loxton by

. *31 December:

is the Australian broadcaster of the global television event '' 2000 Today''.

2000s

;2000:

*15 September: The

2000 Summer Olympics Opening Ceremony The opening ceremony of the 2000 Summer Olympics took place on the evening of Friday 15 September 2000 in Stadium Australia, Sydney, during which the Games were formally opened by Governor-General Sir William Deane. As mandated by the Olympi ...

is broadcast by the

– one of the highest-rating programs ever shown on

Australian television Television in Australia began experimentally as early as 1929 in Melbourne with radio stations 3DB and 3UZ, and 2UE in Sydney, using the ''Radiovision'' system by Gilbert Miles and Donald McDonald, and later from other locations, such as Bris ...

. ;2001: *1 January:

is introduced to audiences in Sydney,

and

. *8 June:

axes local news services in Canberra,

and

. *4 September:

acquires Telecasters Australia, gaining control of Ten Queensland, Ten Northern NSW, Seven Darwin and

Seven Central QQQ is an Australian television station broadcasting in remote central and eastern areas of Australia, owned by Southern Cross Austereo. The station is available via satellite and terrestrial platforms – mostly through community retransmissio ...

. *1 August:

launches its first digital-only multichannel, ABC Kids. *1 November:

Fly TV ABC Kids is the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's part-time channel, broadcasting shows between the hours of 5am and 7:30pm for children under 6 years old in each local Australian channel. It shares the same bandwidth as ABC TV Plus which ...

launches, sharing bandwidth with ABC Kids. *22 November: Ten Capital's local news bulletin, ''

Ten Capital News CTC is a television station in Canberra, Australia. The station was the tenth to begin transmission in regional Australia, and the 26th station in Australia as a whole. CTC has an affiliation agreement to show content from Network 10. Just as i ...

'', is axed. ;2002: *18 February:

and

Publishing and Broadcasting Limited Publishing and Broadcasting Limited (PBL) was one of Australia's largest corporations. With interests primarily in media and gambling, for the entirety of its existence it was largely controlled by the Packer family. History Predecessors PB ...

form a partnership for the supply of Nine Network programming to the

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

network. *1 April:

acquires Spencer Gulf Telecasters, gaining control of Central GTS/BKN in parts of regional

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

and Broken Hill. *22 June: The

SBS World News Channel The SBS World News Channel was an Australian television channel broadcast by SBS Television that launched on 12 June 2002. The channel, which used to be available only to digital television viewers in Australia, was the first digital-only mu ...

is officially launched by the Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, Senator Richard Alston. ;2003 *22 May: The

decides to close the ABC Kids and

channels. *22 December:

Tasmanian Digital Television TDT is a digital television station in Tasmania, Australia. It is jointly owned by WIN Corporation and Southern Cross Austereo, operating as ''Tasmanian Digital Television''. History In Australia, the major capital cities, and a majority of th ...

, a Network Ten affiliate, launches. ;2004 *17 March: Trial

datacast Datacasting (data broadcasting) is the broadcasting of data over a wide area via radio waves. It most often refers to supplemental information sent by television stations along with digital terrestrial television (DTT), but may also be applied ...

service

Digital Forty Four Digital Forty Four was a Sydney-only trial datacasting service that was licensed by the Australian Broadcasting Authority (now the Australian Communications and Media Authority) beginning on 17 March 2004 for an initial three-year run until lat ...

begins in Sydney. *23 April: Community station

C31 Adelaide Channel 44 (C44, call-sign CTS33) is a free-to-air community television channel in Adelaide, South Australia. C44 features locally and nationally made content and has been broadcasting since 23 April 2004. Previously known as C31 when on analo ...

launches. *18 July: Senator

Helen Coonan Helen Lloyd Coonan (born 29 October 1947) is a former Australian politician who was a Senator for New South Wales from 1996 to 2011, representing the Liberal Party. She was a minister in the Howard Government, serving as Minister for Revenue ...

becomes the Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts. ;2005: *7 March:

ABC2 ABC TV Plus (formerly ABC2 and ABC Comedy) is an Australian free-to-air television channel owned by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and part of its ABC Television network. The channel broadcasts a range of general entertainment pr ...

launches with an episode of ''

Landline A landline (land line, land-line, main line, home phone, fixed-line, and wireline) is a telephone connection that uses metal wires or optical fiber telephone line for transmission, as distinguished from a mobile cellular network, which uses ...

'' at 6.35 am. *10 March: ABC2 is officially inaugurated by Senator

, at the Australian Parliament House in Canberra. *1 July: The

Australian Broadcasting Authority The Australian Broadcasting Authority (ABA) was an Australian government agency whose main roles were to regulate broadcasting, radiocommunications and telecommunications. The Authority took over the functions of the Australian Broadcasting Trib ...

and Australian Communications Authority are replaced by the Australian Communications and Media Authority. *21 November: Community station

Television Sydney Television Sydney (TVS) (call sign TSN-31) was a free-to-air sponsors-based community television station broadcasting in Sydney, Australia. The station lost both its community franchise and the battle to remain on the air on 8 December 2015 an ...

commences broadcasting. *12 December: The

Australian Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Like other Westminster-style systems of government, the Australian Government ...

renews

's contract to manage the Asia Pacific television service for five years, providing A$100 million in funding. ;2006: *1 January:

Mildura Digital Television MDV is a joint venture television station between Seven West Media and WIN Corporation. Based in Mildura, Victoria, Australia, it is a digital-only Network 10 affiliate run under the company name ''Mildura Digital Television Pty Ltd'', and be ...

, a Network Ten affiliate, launches. *8 February: Prime Television Limited sells

to Sky Television for

NZ$ The New Zealand dollar ( mi, tāra o Aotearoa; sign: $, NZ$; code: NZD) is the official currency and legal tender of New Zealand, the Cook Islands, Niue, the Ross Dependency, Tokelau, and a British territory, the Pitcairn Islands. Within New ...

30 million. *18 July: '' Play School'' celebrates 40 years *16 September: Australian Television's 50th anniversary. ;2007: *13 March: Channels are reserved for the introduction of

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 ...

to remote areas such as Alice Springs,

, and regional

. *28 March: The Australian Communications and Media Authority extends

's trial datacast licence. *18 May: ACMA grants a licence to

Darwin Digital Television DTD, also known as 10 Darwin, is a digital television station in Darwin, Northern Territory. It is jointly owned by Nine Entertainment (owner of Nine Darwin) and the Southern Cross Austereo (owner of Seven Darwin) and operates under the company ...

, owned by

PBL Media Nine Entertainment (registered as Nine Entertainment Co. Pty Ltd) is an Australian publicly listed media company with holdings in radio and television broadcasting, newspaper publications and digital media. It uses Nine as its corporate brand ...

and Southern Cross Broadcasting. *30 May:

announces the sale of

station

for $105 million. *8 June: WIN Television completes its takeover of STW-9

for $163.1 million. *13 June:

's trial licence is extended for a further twelve months. *13 July:

National Indigenous Television National Indigenous Television (NITV) is an Australian free-to-air television channel that broadcasts programming produced and presented largely by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. It includes the half-hourly nightly ''NITV News'' ...

launches as Australia's 'third public broadcaster'. *14 September: Network Ten announces

Ten HD 10 HD is an Australian free-to-air television channel that was originally launched on 16 December 2007 on channel 1. The channel was available to high definition digital television viewers through Network 10 owned-and-operated stations. The ...

. *15 September: The

Seven Media Group Seven West Media Limited is an ASX-listed media company and is Australia's largest diversified media business, with an extensive presence in broadcast television, print and online publishing. Seven Group Holdings Ltd (SGH), a company contro ...

announces a high definition multichannel, to be launched in December 2007. *23 September: The Australian Government proposes a new children's multichannel,

ABC3 ABC Me (stylised as ABC ME) is an Australian English language children's free-to-air television channel owned by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. It was officially launched by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on 4 December 2009 as ABC3. Hist ...

. *15 October: The

launch

7HD 7HD is an Australian television channel, owned by Seven West Media, originally launched on 15 October 2007 featuring unique breakaway programming from 10 December 2007 to 4 October 2009 and a HD simulcast of Seven until 25 September 2010. The ...

, a high definition multichannel. *16 December: Network Ten launches

, a high definition multichannel. *18 December: Minister for Communications,

Stephen Conroy Stephen Michael Conroy (born 18 January 1963) is an Australian former politician who was an Australian Labor Party member of the Senate from 1996 to 2016, representing the state of Victoria. He served as a minister in the Rudd and Gillard go ...

announces switch-off of analogue television signals will take place between 2010 and 2013. ;2008: *1 January: ABC TV becomes

ABC1 ABC TV, formerly known as ABC1, is an Australian national public television network. It is owned and operated by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, and is the flagship ABC Television network. The headquarters of the ABC TV channel an ...

and changes its logo along with

. *17 March: The Nine Network launches its new high definition multichannel,

9HD 9HD is an Australian television channel owned by Nine Entertainment, originally launched on 17 March 2008 featuring unique "breakaway" programming until 2009 and a high-definition simulcast of the Nine Network from 2009 to 2010 and again s ...

. *28 April:

, a Network Ten affiliate, is launched. *7 May: SBS TV changes its logo and its on-air look and along with it comes a new slogan - "Six Billion Stories and Counting" and SBS HD become

720p 720p (1280×720 px; also called HD ready, standard HD or just HD) is a progressive HDTV signal format with 720 horizontal lines/1280 columns and an aspect ratio (AR) of 16:9, normally known as widescreen HDTV (1.78:1). All major HDTV broadcast ...

. *3 August: Nine airs the last ever edition of long-running Canberra-based political program, ''Sunday'' after 27 years. *8 – 24 August: SBS TV partners up with the Seven Network for joint coverage of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. *20 October: Nine relaunches ''

'' as ''Nine News''. *24 November: Freeview Australia is launched across Australia at 6:29pm ;2009: *26 March: One HD launches – the first commercial digital-only network in Australia. *3 May: Nine launches ''The Morning News Hour'' and ''The Late News'' (renamed ''Nightline'') *1 June: SBS TV becomes

SBS ONE SBS is a national public television network in Australia. Launched on 24 October 1980, it is the responsibility of SBS's television division, and is available nationally. In 2018, SBS had a 7.7% audience share. As of 2022, SBS is the lowe ...

and

SBS TWO SBS Viceland (stylised as SBS VICELAND) is an Australian free-to-air television channel owned by the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS). It began as SBS TWO on 1 June 2009, and was branded as SBS 2 between 2013 and 2016. On 8 April 2017, SBS ...

launches on digital television. *9 August: GO! launches on Channel 99 in Nine-owned areas and Channel 88 in WIN/NBN areas. *1 November: 7TWO launches on Channel 72 in Seven-owned areas. *4 December:

launches on Channel 23. ABC for Kids on 2, a block on

from 9am (on weekends, 6am) to 6pm, launches.

2010s

;2010: *1 March:

commences digital broadcasting on Channel 44. *10 April: Digital-only community station

West TV West TV (WTV, call-sign CTW32) was a free-to-air community television station that began broadcasting in standard-definition digital format on logical channel 44 in Perth, Western Australia at 10 am on 10 April 2010.https://www.facebook.com/ ...

launches in Perth, replacing Access 31. *28 May:

commences digital broadcasting on Channel 44. *7 June: 31 Brisbane commences digital broadcasting on Channel 44. *10 June: West Digital Television, a Network Ten affiliate, commences digital broadcasting in Western Australia. *22 July:

ABC News 24 ABC News (formerly ABC News 24; also referred to as the ABC News channel) is an Australian 24-hour news channel launched and owned by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. The channel replaced the former ABC HD channel (which simulcast AB ...

launches on channel 24 by the ABC as Australia's first free-to-air English news channel. (SBS originally had an international news channel) *25 September:

7mate 7mate is an Australian free-to-air digital television multichannel, which was launched by the Seven Network on 25 September 2010. The channel contains sport and regular programs aimed primarily to a male audience, with programming drawn from a c ...

launches on Channel 73 by the Seven Network, replacing

on Channel 73 in Seven-owned areas and 63 in Prime areas. 7TWO changed its theme to a Best of

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

-oriented format. *26 September:

GEM A gemstone (also called a fine gem, jewel, precious stone, or semiprecious stone) is a piece of mineral crystal which, in cut and polished form, is used to make jewelry or other adornments. However, certain rocks (such as lapis lazuli, opal, a ...

launches on Channel 90 in Nine-owned areas and Channel 80 in WIN/NBN areas replacing

, two days late due to technical issues. *5 November:

launches digital broadcasting on Channel 44 as 44 Adelaide, as allocated to all metropolitan community television services. *1 December:

commences broadcast of Network Ten in the

Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area The Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area (MIA) is geographically located within the Riverina area of New South Wales. It was created to control and divert the flow of local river and creek systems for the purpose of food production. The main river s ...

. ;2011: * 11 January: Eleven launches on Channel 11 in Metro and Channel 55 in Regional areas. * 16 January: The Big Red "7" logo expands to Prime & GWN as names

Prime7 Prime7, formerly Prime Television and other names, was an Australian television network. Prime Television launched on 17 March 1962 as '' CBN-8'' in Orange, and later expanded to cover regional New South Wales, Victoria and the Australian Ca ...

and

GWN7 GWN7 was an Australian television network serving all of Western Australia outside metropolitan Perth. It launched on 10 March 1967 as ''BTW-3'' in Bunbury. It was an affiliate of the Seven Network and served one of the largest geographic tel ...

* 2 May:

Central Digital Television CDT is an Australian digital television station broadcasting in remote central and eastern Australia. It is jointly owned by Southern Cross Austereo (owner of Southern Cross Central) and Imparja Television Pty Ltd (owner of Imparja Television ...

, a Network Ten affiliate, commences digital broadcasting in remote areas. ABC for Kids on 2 rebrands as ''ABC4 Kids'', and expands its time to 6am to 7pm. * 8 May: One HD rebrands as '' One'', launching the format with entertainment targeting 25 to 54-year-old men. *18 July: '' Play School'' celebrates its 45-year anniversary. * 28 July: The channels: 7TWO, GO!, GEM, One, Eleven & 7mate, became available in Albany/Bunbury. * 16 September: Television in Australia celebrates its 55th anniversary. * 18 September:

Television 4 4ME was a digital advertorial datacasting service that launched on 18 September 2011 by Prime Media Group and Brand New Media. It was formerly available to homes in the Prime7/GWN7 viewing area on channel 64, and the Seven Network, Seven-owned ...

launches on Channel 64 in Prime areas. * December: Television 4 rebrands as '' TV4ME'' and launches on Channel 74 in Seven-owned areas. * 11 November – February 2012: 7TWO, GO!, GEM, One, Eleven & 7mate launches in Mount Gambier/Riverland. ;2012: * 13 January: WIN Television commenced broadcasting of GEM, GO!, One, and Eleven in the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area (MIA). * 4 March: NBN Television (The first regional television station in NSW as NBN-3 Newcastle) celebrates broadcasting for 50 years to Newcastle and Northern NSW, from as far south as the Central Coast to as far north as the Gold Coast and as far west as

Gunnedah Gunnedah is a town in north-eastern New South Wales, Australia and is the seat of the Gunnedah Shire local government area. In the the town recorded a population of 9,726. Gunnedah is situated within the Liverpool Plains, a fertile agricultu ...

. * 26 March:

Extra Extra or Xtra may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Film * ''The Extra'' (1962 film), a Mexican film * ''The Extra'' (2005 film), an Australian film Literature * ''Extra'' (newspaper), a Brazilian newspaper * ''Extra!'', an American me ...

launches on Channel 94 in Eastern Seaboard Metro Markets and Channel 84 in the Northern NSW market. * 20 April: WIN Television commenced broadcasting of 7mate in the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area (MIA) on LCN 60. * 1 May: WIN Gold launches on Channel 84 and Channel 94 in metropolitan areas Perth and Adelaide. * 5 May: WIN Gold rebrands as ''

Gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...

''. * 5 June: WIN Television commenced broadcasting of 7TWO in the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area (MIA) on LCN 66. * 24 September: Network Ten to commence broadcasting of datacasting channel

TVSN TVSN (an acronym for "Television Shopping Network") is an Australian and New Zealand broadcast, cable television and satellite television network specializing in home shopping. It is owned by parent company Direct Group Pty Ltd, a home marketi ...

on LCN 14. * 27 November: Shutdown of analogue television services: Northern NSW * 12 December:

NITV National Indigenous Television (NITV) is an Australian free-to-air television channel that broadcasts programming produced and presented largely by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. It includes the half-hourly nightly ''NITV News'' ...

commences free-to-air broadcast via SBS ;2013: * Conversion from analogue to digital television is completed: Shutdown of analogue television services: Adelaide SA (2 April); Tasmania (9 April); Perth WA (16 April); Brisbane, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast QLD (28 May); Regional and Remote WA (25 June); Darwin NT (30 July); Sydney, Central Coast NSW (3 December); Melbourne VIC, Remote Central and Eastern Australia (10 December). * 1 April: SBS relaunches digital channel SBS TWO (SBS 2) with a focus on the under-40 age group. * C31 Melbourne, C31 Adelaide, C31 Perth, C31 Brisbane, and TVS C31 Sydney goes to Digital 44. ;2014: * 2 February: GO! changes its branding and logo to new ones. * 7 July: ABC4 Kids expands its time to 5am to 7pm on ABC2. * 20 July:

rebrands as ''ABC''. ;2015: * 2 March: ABC4 Kids rebrands as ''ABC Kids''. * 18 March: '' Neighbours'' celebrates 30 years. * 5 July:

rebrands as ''SBS''. * 29 August: Racing.com (A horse racing channel) launches on channel 78 in metro places and channel 68 in regional places. * 17 November:

Food Network Food Network is an American basic cable channel owned by Television Food Network, G.P., a joint venture and general partnership between Warner Bros. Discovery Networks (which holds a 69% ownership stake of the network) and Nexstar Media Group ( ...

(SBS's fourth channel featuring food shows) launches on Channel 33, replacing SBS 3. * 26 November:

9Life 9Life is an Australian free-to-air digital television multichannel owned by Nine Entertainment. The channel airs mostly foreign lifestyle and reality programs, with the channel having a licensing agreement with Discovery Inc. (previously Scripp ...

launches on channel 94, along with a relaunch of

on channel 90.

is renamed 9Gem and moved to channel 92 and GO! is renamed 9Go! and moved to channel 93 with the quality of 9Gem changed from HD to SD. * 30 November: The

Australian Communications & Media Authority The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) is an Australian government statutory authority within the Communications portfolio. ACMA was formed on 1 July 2005 with the merger of the Australian Broadcasting Authority and the Aus ...

introduced sweeping changes to the ratings system for commercial networks. Among them were allowing M and MA15+ programs to air an hour earlier then they were previously allowed, from 7:30 pm and 8:30 pm respectively, PG programmes can air all day, dissolving the AV15+ classification, as well as changes to when adverts with higher classifications program can air. ;2016: * 28 February:

7flix 7flix is an Australian free-to-air digital television multichannel, which was launched by the Seven Network on 28 February 2016. 7flix targets a variety of viewers and offers drama, comedy, reality, docusoap, and movies. History On 18 Decembe ...

launches on channel 76. * 1 March: NBN relaunches

, as well as

launching for NBN audiences. * 1 March: WIN relaunches their version of

WIN HD WIN Television is an Australian television broadcasting, 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 ...

launches for WIN audiences. * 2 March: Ten relaunches

and the quality of One changes from HD to SD. WIN also relaunches

and launches

in some areas after technical issues on the previous day. * 30 April: 4ME shuts down, being replaced by a simulcast of

ishop tv ishop TV is an Australian free-to-air television channel and a digital advertorial datacasting service that was launched on 30 April 2013. The channel is owned by Seven West Media (formerly Prime Media Group) and Brand Developers, broadcastin ...

(simulcast later removed in June). * 10 May: Seven relaunches

(HD simulcast of Seven in Melbourne and Adelaide, HD simulcast of 7mate in other markets) and the quality of

changes from HD to SD. * 1 July:

Southern Cross Austereo Southern Cross Media Group Limited, doing business as Southern Cross Austereo, is an Australian media company which operates broadcast radio and television stations. It is the largest radio broadcaster in Australia, operating 86 radio stati ...

switches affiliation from Network Ten to the Nine Network in Southern NSW, Australian Capital Territory, Regional Queensland, Regional Victoria and Tasmania. * 1 July:

switches affiliation from the Nine Network to Network Ten in Southern NSW, Australian Capital Territory, Regional Queensland, Regional Victoria, Mildura, Regional WA, Tasmania and Eastern SA. * 17 July:

relaunches in Southern NSW, Australian Capital Territory, Regional Queensland and Regional Victoria due to the affiliate swap. * 18 July: Play School celebrates 50 years. * 16 September: 60th anniversary of television in Australia. * 19 September:

rebrands as ''ABC Me''. * 15 November:

SBS 2 SBS Viceland (stylised as SBS VICELAND) is an Australian free-to-air television channel owned by the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS). It began as SBS TWO on 1 June 2009, and was branded as SBS 2 between 2013 and 2016. On 8 April 2017, SBS ...

''rebrands'' as SBS Viceland. * 6 December: ABC relaunches ABC HD and the quality of

changes from HD to SD. ;2017: * 1 January: ABC Kids expands its time to 5am to 7.30pm, ABC2 also expands its time to 7:30pm to 2am. * 23 March:

Southern Cross Television Seven Regional is an Australian television network owned by Southern Cross Austereo that is available in Tasmania, Darwin, Spencer Gulf, Broken Hill and Remote Australia (Eastern and Central). The network is the primary affiliate of the S ...

relaunches a high definition simulcast of their main channel, ''Southern Cross HD'', in Tasmania on channel 60. * 8 April: SBS launches a high definition simulcast of

SBS Viceland SBS Viceland (stylised as SBS VICELAND) is an Australian free-to-air television channel owned by the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS). It began as SBS TWO on 1 June 2009, and was branded as SBS 2 between 2013 and 2016. On 8 April 2017, SBS ...

on channel 31. * 10 April: ABC News 24 rebrands as ''ABC News''. * 31 May: WIN Television purchases

NRN NRN is a television station originating in Coffs Harbour, Australia owned by WIN Corporation as part of the WIN Television network, affiliated to Network 10. The station was formally a partnership between NRN-11 Coffs Harbour (launched 23 Januar ...

from Southern Cross. * 4 December:

''rebrands'' as ABC Comedy. ;2019 *8 February: The Nine Network, the

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 ...

and SBS along with regional networks

NBN Television NBN is an Australian television station based in Newcastle, Australia. The station was inaugurated on 4 March 1962 as the first regional commercial television station in New South Wales, and has since expanded to 39 transmitters throughout Nor ...

stopped using full-screen and voiced-over classification warning boards before the beginning of a program. However,

continues to use full-screen and voiced-over boards before the start of a program. *17 May: Your Money ceases to broadcast on channel 95/85. *June: 9Gem HD launches on the space vacated by Your Money; in Darwin on 14 June; in Adelaide, Brisbane and Perth on 20 June; and in Sydney and Melbourne on 21 June. *20 June:

axes four local news bulletins, which were, the Central West, Riverina, Border North East ( Albury-Wodonga) and the Wide Bay because of insufficient commercial viability to fund those regional news operations.

2020s

;2020: * 16 January: Seven launches a high definition simulcast of

on channel 74. * 5 April:

9Rush 9Rush is an Australian free-to-air digital television multichannel, launched by the Nine Network on 5 April 2020. The channel is a joint venture with Warner Bros. Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific Pte. Ltd (which also supplies its programming) ...

launches on channel 96. * 27 September:

10 Shake 10 Shake is an Australian free-to-air digital television multichannel owned by Network 10. It launched on 27 September 2020 at 6am. The channel includes a mix of shows for people aged forty and under. It broadcasts programming for children fr ...

launches on channel 13. ;2021: * 1 January: ABC Comedy ''rebrands'' as

ABC TV Plus ABC TV Plus (formerly ABC2 and ABC Comedy) is an Australian free-to-air television channel owned by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and part of its ABC Television network. The channel broadcasts a range of general entertainment pr ...

, returning to its general entertainment format. * 1 July:

switches affiliation back to Network Ten from the Nine Network in most markets. * 1 July:

switches affiliation back to the Nine Network from Network Ten in most markets. (excluding

) * 18 July: Play School celebrates 55 years. * 16 September: 65th anniversary of television in Australia. ;2022: * 28 July: The final episode of '' Neighbours'' goes to air on

and 10 Peach. ;2023: * 15 January: 7Bravo launches on channel 75. * 12 April:

-owned

GTS/BKN GTS/BKN are Australian regional television stations serving the Spencer Gulf of South Australia and the Broken Hill area of New South Wales. Based in Port Pirie with satellite offices in Broken Hill, Port Augusta, Whyalla and Port Lincoln, and s ...

cancels its long-running regional news service effectively immediately. ending over 50 years of news operations for the Spencer Gulf and Broken Hill regions * 16 August: 11.15 million people nationwide view the semi-final of the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

between Australia's Matildas and England's Lionesses.

References

External links

Free TV Australia

National Film and Sound Archive homepage
{{Television in Australia Television, Australian, Timeline of Australia Television, Timeline of Australian Australian television, Timeline of