Thistimeline of Australian television lists importantstation launches,programs, major television events, and technological advancements that have significantly changed the forms ofbroadcasting available to viewers of television in Australia. Thehistory of television in Australia can be traced back to an announcement from theMenzies' government concerning plans for television services inSydney andMelbourne.[1]
The newmedium was introduced byBruce Gyngell with the words"Good evening, and welcome to television".[2]Colour television was introduced in 1975, whilesubscription television, initially on theGalaxy platform, began in the mid-1990s.Digital terrestrial television was introduced on 1 January 2001 in Australia's five largest capital cities, later to be expanded to smaller cities and regional areas.
Experimental TV broadcasts began as early as 1929 inMelbourne on stations3DB and3UZ using theRadiovision system by Gilbert Miles and Donal McDonald.[3]
Thomas (Tom) M. B. Elliott experiments with an electromechanical version of television using the Nipkow disc technique thatBaird employed.[4]
Other experimental transmissions followed in other cities, such as the 30 lineBaird system inBrisbane in 1934[5][6] by Tom Elliott and Dr Val McDowall, members of the Royal Society of Queensland, at the amateur station (VK)4CM.[7][8] By 1938 Elliot demonstrated an electronic 180 line version.[6]
Broadcasting tests halted due to the advent of World War 2.[6]
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.
June:Robert Menzies' government announces a gradual introduction oftelevision in Australia, with plans to launch anABC Television station inSydney and other areas subject to funding approval. As well as this, commercial television services in Sydney andMelbourne 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".[9]
1953
January: The Menzies government amends the1948 Broadcasting Act to provide legislative framework for commercial television licenses.[10]
13 July: Test transmissions commence in Sydney on TCN-9 in monochrome.[12]
16 July: HSV-7 Melbourne commences test transmissions in monochrome.[13]
16 September:TCN-9 Sydney launches at 7.00pm. Announcer John Godson is the first voice heard andBruce Gyngell is the first person seen in-vision, introducingThis is Television.[14]
13 March: Soap operaNumber 96 debuts, heralding the night 'Australian television lost its virginity'
20 March: Brisbane channelBTQ-7 claims Australia's first one-hour news bulletin, The Big News[40]
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.[42][43]
1 March: At midnight,colour television 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) and0 – First in Color (0-10 Network).[14]
1976
26 November:RTS-5A Loxton launches in theRiverland district.
1977
21 January:GTW-11Geraldton begins broadcasting, completing the roll-out of regional commercial television across Australia.
20 January:Melbourne'sATV-0 converts toATV-10; after nearby La Trobe Valley regional station GLV-10 converts toGLV-8 to facilitate this change, which concurrently frees up the frequency forChannel 0/28 later that same year.
18 February: Network 0-28 once again changes its name toSBS, and begins daytime transmissions.[45]
4 March:ABC National, a one-hour national news and current affairs program shown from 6.30 pm, replacesABC TV's half-hour 7.00pm state news bulletins.[44]
27 December:Adelaide stations SAS-10 and ADS-7 swap frequencies to becomeSAS-7 andADS-10.[45]
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.
3 February: Former Europe correspondent for the ABCIan Henderson takes over as newsreader for the 7.00 pm weeknightsABC News in Victoria.
8 May: An educational television series for children calledLift 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.
Unknown Date:The Wiggles Movie (1997 Version) is recorded on Channel 7. This is because earlier in 1998, it launched as a tv series. The TV Series of the wiggles is currently on DVD.
1 March:Television Sydney commences digital broadcasting on Channel 44.
10 April: Digital-only community stationWest TV launches in Perth, replacingAccess 31.
28 May:C31 Melbourne 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.
30 June: History is made, as Mildura/Sunraysia became the first region to shut down analogue tv.
22 July:ABC News 24 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 launches on Channel 73 by the Seven Network, replacing7HD on Channel 73 in Seven-owned areas and 63 in Prime areas. 7TWO changed its theme to a Best ofBritish-oriented format.
26 September:GEM launches on Channel 90 in Nine-owned areas and Channel 80 in WIN/NBN areas replacing9HD, two days late due to technical issues.
5 November:C31 Adelaide launches digital broadcasting on Channel 44 as 44 Adelaide, as allocated to all metropolitan community television services.
10 December:Viewer Access Satellite Television launches for NSW, VIC, QLD, SA, TAS and NT, for viewers who cannot get TV Reception from their transmitters.
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 namesPrime7 andGWN7
2 May:Central Digital Television, a Network Ten affiliate, commences digital broadcasting in remote areas.ABC for Kids on 2 rebrands asABC4 Kids, and expands its time to 6am to 7pm.
8 May: One HD rebrands asOne, 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 launches on Channel 64 in Prime areas.
December: Television 4 rebrands asTV4ME 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 theCentral Coast to as far north as the Gold Coast and as far west asGunnedah.
26 March:Extra 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 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 channelTVSN on LCN 14.
27 November: Shutdown of analogue television services: Northern NSW
12 December:NITV 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.
13 July: Gold’s 5 hour timeshift channel,Gold 2 (Australian TV Channel) is launched on LCN 82 in WIN, VTV, Queensland and Tasmania WIN Channels.
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.
26 November:9Life launches on channel 94, along with a relaunch of9HD on channel 90.GEM is renamed 9Gem and moved to channel 92 andGO! is renamed 9Go! and moved to channel 93 with the quality of 9Gem changed from HD to SD.
30 November: TheAustralian Communications & Media Authority introduced sweeping changes to theratings 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.[88][89]
2016
19 January: Gold 2 shuts down and gets replaced by Extra in WIN Areas.
1 March: NBN relaunches9HD, as well as9Life launching for NBN audiences.
1 March: WIN relaunches their version of9HD,WIN HD.9Life launches for WIN audiences.
2 March: Ten relaunchesTen HD and the quality ofOne changes from HD to SD. WIN also relaunchesWIN HD and launches9Life in some areas after technical issues on the previous day.
30 April:4ME shuts down, being replaced by a simulcast ofishop tv (simulcast later removed in June).
10 May: Seven relaunches7HD (HD simulcast of Seven in Melbourne and Adelaide, HD simulcast of 7mate in other markets) and the quality of7mate changes from HD to SD.
1 July:Southern Cross Austereo switches affiliation from Network Ten to the Nine Network in Southern NSW, Australian Capital Territory, Regional Queensland, Regional Victoria and Tasmania.
1 July:WIN Television 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.
1 July: Extra on WIN Regions: Southern NSW, ACT, Regional Queensland, Regional Victoria, Mildura, Regional WA, Tasmania and Eastern SA and gets replaced by a placeholder with some music in the background, which is similar toViewer Access Satellite Television scenic loop on Regional News Channels. The Channels Range as WIN on Channel 8, WIN HD on Channel 80, ONE on Channel 81, Eleven on Channel 82, TVSN on Channel 84 and GOLD on Channel 85.
17 July:9Life relaunches in Southern NSW, Australian Capital Territory, Regional Queensland and Regional Victoria due to the affiliate swap.
2 September:Sky News on WIN (now Sky News Regional) was launched on free-to-air TV in regional Australia.
1 October:Your Money launches to be broadcast on channel 95/85.
31 October: Network 10 launches a major network branding. Channel Ten becomesChannel 10, while multichannels ONE and ELEVEN are rebranded as 10 Boss (later renamed to10 Bold) and10 Peach respectively.
8 February: TheNine Network, theSeven Network,Network 10 andSBS along with regional networksPrime7,GWN7,WIN Television,NBN Television stopped using full-screen and voiced-overclassification warning boards before the beginning of a program. However,ABC continues to use full-screen and voiced-over boards before the start of a program.[90], now showing classifications at the very start of the show/movie instead.
17 May:Your Money ceases to broadcast on channel 95/85.[91]
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.[92]
20 June:WIN Television axes four local news bulletins, which were, the Central West, Riverina, Border North East (Albury-Wodonga) and theWide Bay because of insufficient commercial viability to fund those regional news operations.[93]
1 July: 10 Peach Comedy and 10 Bold Drama were both replaced by ‘10 Comedy’ and ‘10 Drama’ to embrace their real genres of their channels.
11 August: Southern Cross Austereo owned Tasmania cancels its long-running regional news service effectively immediately, ending over 50 years of news operations for the Tasmania region.
22 October: Foxtel celebrates 30 years.
2026
7 January: Seven West Media merges with Southern Cross Media.
^"Digital switchover date confirmed". Senator the Hon Stephen Conroy, Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy. 18 December 2007. Retrieved13 January 2008.
