A History of Regional Commercial Television in Australia 3031109430, 9783031109430

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A History of Regional Commercial Television in Australia Michael Thurlow

A History of Regional Commercial Television in Australia

Fig. i  BTV Ballarat, main studio, 1962. Copyright Wolfgang Sievers. Image courtesy of National Library of Australia (3309233)

Michael Thurlow

A History of Regional Commercial Television in Australia

Michael Thurlow Sydney, NSW, Australia

ISBN 978-3-031-10943-0    ISBN 978-3-031-10944-7 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-10944-7 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors, and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Cover illustration: Taras Vyshnya / Alamy Stock Photo This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG. The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland

Preface

Fig. ii  Television development in Australia, Stages 1–6. Copyright Michael Thurlow v

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PREFACE

Key No. Stage 1 2 3 4 Stage 5 6 7 8 9 10 Stage 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 Stage 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39

Station (by callsign and locality in commencement order) 1 commercial television stations (metropolitan) TCN Sydney (NSW) HSV Melbourne (Vic) ATN Sydney (NSW) GTV Melbourne (Vic) 2 commercial television stations (metropolitan) QTQ Brisbane (Qld) NWS Adelaide (SA) TVW Perth (WA) ADS Adelaide (SA) BTQ Brisbane (Qld) TVT Hobart (Tas) 3 commercial television stations (regional) GLV Latrobe Valley (Traralgon, Vic) GMV Goulburn Valley (Shepparton, Vic) BCV Bendigo (Vic) NBN Newcastle (NSW) CBN Central Tablelands (Orange, NSW) WIN Illawarra (Wollongong, NSW) BTV Ballarat (Vic) RTN Richmond-Tweed (Lismore, NSW) TNT North-Eastern Tasmania (Launceston, Tas) CTC Canberra (ACT) DDQ Darling Downs (Toowoomba, Qld) TNQ Townsville (Qld) RTQ Rockhampton (Qld) 4 commercial television stations (regional) RVN South Western Slopes and Eastern Riverina (Wagga, Wagga, NSW) AMV Upper Murray (Albury, NSW)a NRN Grafton-Kempsey (Coffs Harbour, NSW) NEN Upper Namoi (Tamworth, NSW) WBQ Wide Bay (Maryborough, Qld) STV Mildura (Vic) CWN Central Western Slopes (Dubbo, NSW) MTN Murrumbidgee Irrigation Areas (Griffith, NSW) SDQ Southern Downs (Warwick, Qld) SES South East South Australia (Mount Gambier, SA) ECN Manning River (Taree, NSW) FNQ Cairns (Qld) BTW Bunbury (WA) MVQ Mackay (Qld) BKN Broken Hill (NSW) GTS Spencer Gulf North (Port Pirie, SA)

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40 GSW Southern Agricultural (Albany, WA) Stage 5 commercial television stations (metropolitan) 41 ATV Melbourne (Vic) 42 TEN Sydney (NSW) 43 TVQ Brisbane (Qld) 44 SAS Adelaide (SA) 45 STW Perth (WA) Stage 6 commercial television stations (regional) 46 VEW Kalgoorlie (WA) 47 ITQ Mount Isa (Qld) 48 NTD Darwin (NT) 49 RTS Loxton/Renmark (SA) 50 GTW Geraldton (WA) a AMV was assigned a Victoria callsign, as its station (i.e. transmitter) was located in that state. The studio was located across the border, in Albury, NSW. This was, at that time, unique in Australian television. AMV was, in early marketing, referred to as the “two-state station”

Note on Australian Callsigns Television callsigns are comprised of three letters. The first two letters were chosen by the original licensee and were usually derived from the name of that company or the station’s geographical location. The third letter indicates the state or territory in which the station’s transmitter is located: N (New South Wales), V (Victoria), Q (Queensland), T (Tasmania), S (South Australia, W (Western Australia), C (Australian Capital Territory) and D (Northern Territory). For example, in the callsign FNQ, “FN” denotes “Far Northern” Television (the founding licensee), while “Q” denotes Queensland. Similarly, in the callsign CWN, “CW” denotes the “Central Western” Slopes and Plains region, while “N” denotes New South Wales. Radio callsigns feature a numerical prefix indicating the state or territory in which the station is located: 2 (New South Wales), 3 (Victoria), 4 (Queensland), 5 (South Australia), 6 (Western Australia), 7 (Tasmania) and 8 (Northern Territory). Callsigns should not be confused with the abbreviations used in this book to denote related entities such as licensee companies.

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PREFACE

Note on Program Sources “Imported” programs refer to those obtained from overseas sources, usually located in the United States or Great Britain. “Australian” programs denote those produced within Australia by “metropolitan/network” stations, “regional” stations, and “independent” producers. “Metropolitan” or “network” programs refer to those which are produced by the metropolitan commercial television stations. “Regional” programs denote those which are originated by regional commercial television stations in their own studios. “Independent” programs are those which are produced by independent (i.e. third-party) production companies.

Note on National Film and Sound Archive (NFSA) Links A unique feature of this work is the inclusion of cross-references to items held in the NFSA catalogue. These items comprise audio-visual recording (such as programs, historical and archival footage), oral history interviews, photographs, documents, and other artefacts and have been included as an aid to researchers, historians and others who are interested in exploring the NFSA’s collection. These items are presented in call-out boxes throughout the chapters. If using the digital version of this work, click the NFSA reference number hyperlink provided in the call-out box to access and view the relevant catalogue record. If a hyperlink is no longer active, or you are using the print version of this work, go to nfsa.gov.au and perform a manual search of the catalogue using the same NFSA reference number. Sydney, NSW, Australia

Michael Thurlow

Acknowledgments

I am grateful to Palgrave Macmillan and Springer Nature for publishing this work.  I am especially thankful to my commissioning  editor, Emily Russell, who recognised the value of my research and green-lit this project in mid-2021, and assistant editor Joseph Johnson, both in the United Kingdom, production coordinators Doerthe Mennecke-Buehler and Birke Dalia in Germany, and production editor Kishor Kannan Ramesh in India. I am grateful to Macquarie University for providing the scholarship and facilities to pursue my academic goals, and am deeply grateful to Professor Bridget Griffen-Foley and Dr Jeannine Baker for supervising my Masters and PhD theses on which this work is based. I also wish to thank the State Libraries of New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia, the National Library of Australia, the National Archives of Australia (Pamela Barnetta in Sydney) and the National Film and Sound Archive (Simon Drake in Sydney) for their assistance. I am extremely grateful to the Prime, WIN, Southern Cross and Seven television networks for providing information and access to archival material, and the following individuals: John Allott, David Astley, Amber Austin-Wright, Natalie Barr, Dick and Ursula Barton, Sylvia Bauers, Rhonda Bowen, Barry Brady, Remi Broadway, Steven Byers, Matt Cable, Shirley Cahill, Ian Cameron, Brian Carle, Sharon Carleton, Janelle Chapman, Russell Cheek, Barry Coleman, Jo-Anne Cracknell, Wes Crook, Alex Cullen, Peter Cummiskey, Lara Dalton, Darrin Davies, Jason Davis, Joanne Desmond, Melissa Doyle, Nick Duigan, Julie Dunlap, Roger Dunn, Steve Elcoate, Susie Elelman, Nick Erby, Stephen Fleay, Alistair Frew, William (Ray) Gamble, Ron Garbutt, John (Jack) Gleeson, Peter Greste, Aaron ix

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Haberfield, Kellie Hampton, Clarke Hansen, Bob Hardie, Margaret van Heekeren, Doug Hogan, Christina Holmdahl, Paul Howson, Scott Hunt, Steven Jacobs, Alistair Kingston, Greg Lederhose, Ian Leslie, Steve Liebmann, Herb, Lois and Peter Lilburn, Phil Lloyd, Antony Luciano, Prue Macsween, Steve Marshall, Richard Moran, Errol Morrison, Wendy Mudge, Wendy Mulry, Greg Murphy, Bruce Paige, Colin Pearce, Jill Ray-­ Black, Francene Reo, Glenn Ridge, Greg Robson, Antony Roth, Valerie Sarah, Rhonda Sharratt, Hyacinth Smith, Roy Taylor, Justin Thompson, Peter Twomey, Michael Usher, Geoff Vallance, Jim Waley, Jan Welsman, Hugh Whitfeld, Shauna Willis, Barry and Trish Wilmot, and Grant Wilson. Thanks also to Bruce Priddis and anyone who I have omitted. I thank my parents, Lorraine and Stan Thurlow, twin brother Iain, and other family and friends for their encouragement and support over many years. A special thank you to Robyn MacDougall.

Contents

1 Introduction  1 Part I Establishment (to 1966)  15 2 Power and Politics 17 3 Monopolies and Manoeuvres 53 Part II Expansion (1966–1976) 105 4 Dualities and Downturns107 5 Colour and Contrasts145 Part III Maturation (1976–1986) 191 6 Prosperity and Promise193 7 Security and Status237

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CONTENTS

Part IV Equalisation (1986–2000) 289 8 Aggregation and Aggravation291 9 Patronage and Protection325 Part V Disruption (2000–2022) 351 10 Incumbency and Influence353 11 Reform and Rationalisation389 12 Conclusion433 Appendices443 Bibliography447 Index467

Abbreviations

ABA ABA ABC ABCB ABCL ABL ABS ABT ACL ACMA ACT AFR AGL ALP AML APL ASL ASX ATL AUL AWA AWL AWW B&T BBC BCL BHL

Australian Broadcasting Act Australian Broadcasting Authority Australian Broadcasting Commission/Corporation Australian Broadcasting Control Board Australian Broadcasting Company Ltd Australian Broadcasting Co P/L Associated Broadcasting Services Ltd Australian Broadcasting Tribunal Australian Capital Equity P/L Australian Communications and Media Authority Australian Capital Territory Australian Financial Review Amalgamated Television Services P/L Australian Labor Party Albury Upper Murray TV Ltd Aspermont Ltd Associated Media Investments P/L Australian Stock Exchange Australian Capital Television P/L Austarama Television P/L Amalgamated Wireless Australasia Ltd Australasian Wireless Ltd Australian Women’s Weekly Broadcasting and Television British Broadcasting Corporation Bendigo and Central Victoria Telecasters Ltd Broken Hill Television Ltd xiii

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ABBREVIATIONS

BML BOL BRL BTA BTL CAG CBL CD CM CP CPD CPP CT CTL CW CWA CWD DA DT DTL ENT ETL FACTS FARB FNL GCL GML GT GTL GVL HOR HSL HWT IM LGL LRR MB MIA MIL MKL MNL MTL MWL

Bond Media Ltd Broadcast Operations Ltd/P/L Brisbane TV Ltd Broadcasting and Television Act Ballarat and Western Victoria Television Ltd Commonwealth of Australia Gazette Country Television Services Ltd Cabinet Decision Cabinet Minute Cairns Post Commonwealth Parliamentary Debates Commonwealth Parliamentary Papers Canberra Times Canberra Television Ltd Canberra Weekly Country Women’s Association Central Western Daily, Orange Daily Advertiser, Wagga Wagga Daily Telegraph, Sydney Darling Downs TV Ltd Examiner-Northern Television Ltd, later ENT Ltd East Coast Television Ltd Federation of Australian Commercial Television Stations Federation of Australian Radio Broadcasters Far Northern Television Ltd General Television Corporation Ltd Goulburn Murray Television Ltd Gippsland Times, Sale Geraldton Telecasters Ltd Gippsland-Latrobe Valley Telecasters Ltd House of Representatives Herald-Sun TV Ltd Herald and Weekly Times Ltd Illawarra Mercury, Wollongong Linter Group Ltd Licence renewal report Morning Bulletin, Rockhampton Media Information/International Australia Mount Isa Television P/L Mackay Television Ltd MTN Television P/L Murrumbidgee Television Ltd Mid-Western Television P/L

 ABBREVIATIONS 

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NAA National Archives of Australia NBL Newcastle Broadcasting and Television Corp. Ltd NDL Northern Daily Leader, Tamworth NEC Nine Entertainment Co. NFSA National Film and Sound Archive NFU National Farmers’ Union NHL Network Ten Holdings Ltd NMHMA Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate NPR Net profit ratio NRL Northern Rivers Television Ltd NS Northern Star, Lismore NSH Northern Star Holdings Ltd NSW New South Wales NT Northern Territory NTL Northern Television Ltd / Northern Television (TNT9) P/L P/L Pty Ltd PBL PBL Media Ltd PCL Parry Corporation Ltd PJCWB Parliamentary Joint Committee on Wireless Broadcasting PMG Postmaster General PML Prime Media Group Limited PSCB Parliamentary Standing Committee on Broadcasting PTL Prime Television Ltd PUB Publishing and Broadcasting Ltd QBL Quoiba P/L Qld Queensland QTL Queensland Television Ltd RCOT Royal Commission on Television RCOW Royal Commission on Wireless, 1927 RGP Reg Grundy Productions RKL Rockhampton Television Ltd RLL Riverland Television P/L RML Ramcorp Ltd RTL Richmond Tweed TV Ltd RVL Riverina Television Ltd, later Riverina and North-Eastern Victoria Television Ltd SA South Australia SCA Southern Cross Austereo P/L SCM Southern Cross Media Group Ltd SMH Sydney Morning Herald SR Statutory Rules STL South East Telecasters Ltd

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ABBREVIATIONS

SWL South Western Telecasters Ltd Tas Tasmania TQL Telecasters North Queensland Ltd TVT TV Times TVW TV Week UHF ultra-high frequency VBL VBN P/L VBN Victorian Broadcasting Network Ltd VBR Victorian Broadcasting Network (1983) P/L VCT Victorian Country Telecasters P/L VHF very high frequency Vic Victoria WA Western Australia WW Wireless Weekly

List of Figures

Fig. 1.1 Fig. 1.2 Fig. 1.3 Fig. 3.1 Fig. 3.2 Fig. 3.3 Fig. 3.4 Fig. 3.5 Fig. 3.6 Fig. 3.7

Localism marker, 1966–2019. Copyright Michael Thurlow 9 Independence quotient, 1966–2019. Copyright Michael Thurlow10 Localism-independence index, 1966–2019. Copyright Michael Thurlow10 BTV Ballarat, studio building exterior, 1962. Copyright Wolfgang Sievers. Image courtesy of State Library of Victoria, pictures collection (MP022885) 62 BTV Ballarat, studio reception, 1962. Copyright Wolfgang Sievers. Image courtesy of National Library of Australia (3309208)63 BTV Ballarat, master control, 1962. Copyright Wolfgang Sievers. Image courtesy of State Library of Victoria, pictures collection (MP022881) 64 BTV Ballarat, studio and gallery area, 1962. Copyright Wolfgang Sievers. Image courtesy of State Library of Victoria, pictures collection (MP022883) 65 BTV Ballarat, film room, 1962. Copyright Wolfgang Sievers. Image courtesy of State Library of Victoria, pictures collection (MP022882) 66 BTV Ballarat, technical area, 1962. Copyright Wolfgang Sievers. Image courtesy of National Library of Australia (4503650)67 GLV Latrobe Valley, studio exterior, c.1961. Image courtesy of State Library of Victoria, Pictures Collection, Rose Stenograph Company (RG009387) 72

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List of Figures

Fig. 3.8 Fig. 3.9 Fig. 4.1 Fig. 4.2 Fig. 5.1 Fig. 5.2 Fig. 6.1 Fig. 7.1 Fig. 9.1 Fig. 10.1 Fig. 10.2 Fig. 10.3 Fig. 10.4 Fig. 10.5

Regional commercial television, program sources, 1966. Copyright Michael Thurlow 84 GLV announcer Don Ewart, c.1961. Copyright Southern Cross Austereo. Image courtesy of National Film and Sound Archive (788850) 89 Regional commercial television, program sources, 1971. Copyright Michael Thurlow 123 The Channel Niners, membership certificate, c. 1967. Image courtesy of Greg Murphy 130 Regional commercial television, program sources, 1976. Copyright Michael Thurlow 167 You Say the Word, c.1975. Image courtesy of National Archives of Australia. NAA: A6135; K16/7/75/92 178 Regional commercial television, program sources, 1981. Copyright Michael Thurlow 207 Regional commercial television, program sources, 1986. Copyright Michael Thurlow 254 “TV Wars,” Canberra Weekly, 1993. Copyright Canberra Weekly336 Recording a voiceover, 2007. Copyright Michael Thurlow 366 Compiling news reports, 2007. Copyright Michael Thurlow 366 Producing a WIN News bulletin, 2007. Copyright Michael Thurlow367 Cueing and playing out news reports, 2007. Copyright Michael Thurlow 367 Susie host Susie Elelman with guests Leo Sayer and Rhonda Birchmore, episode 200, 2007. Copyright Susie Elelman 370

List of Tables

Table 2.1 Table 2.2 Table 2.3 Table 3.1 Table 4.1 Table 5.1 Table 5.2 Table 7.1 Table 8.1 Table 8.2 Table 9.1 Table 10.1 Table 10.2 Table 11.1

Stage 1 commercial television stations Stage 2 commercial television stations Stage 5 commercial television stations Stage 3 commercial television stations Stage 4 stations Stage 6 commercial television stations Colour commencement dates, selected stations, 1975 RCTS stations Licences eligible for consolidation Aggregation, 1989–91 Supplementary licences, 1995–98 Supplementary licences, 2002–04 Supplementary licences, 2004–11 VAST licences (s38C)

32 36 40 61 109 148 155 246 302 305 334 372 373 391

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List of Boxes

Box 2.1 Box 3.1 Box 3.2 Box 3.3 Box 3.4 Box 3.5 Box 3.6 Box 3.7 Box 3.8 Box 3.9 Box 3.10 Box 3.11 Box 3.12 Box 3.13 Box 3.14 Box 3.15 Box 3.16 Box 4.1 Box 4.2 Box 4.3 Box 4.4 Box 4.5 Box 4.6 Box 4.7 Box 4.8 Box 4.9 Box 4.10

First liminal moment 32 John (Jack) Gleeson 58 Second liminal moment 60 George Barlin 64 TNQ Townsville, Mount Stuart” 65 “You and CBN-8” 68 Crowds watch test transmissions 69 GLV Latrobe Valley, establishment 71 NBN Newcastle, establishment 71 CTC Canberra, establishment 72 Nancy Cato 78 Rosemary Eather 78 Alan Weatherley, BCV news van 78 Ampol Stamp Quiz85 Televille, Rosemary Eather 88 Murray Finlay 90 Jackpot Quiz92 Third liminal moment  109 RVN, official opening 111 FNQ, establishment and opening 111 Colour demonstration, Monaro Mall 112 Clarke Hansen, commercial production 114 John Worthy 115 Tom Warne 115 Jeanette Gatenby (nee Cooper) 116 Peter Meakin 116 Steve Liebmann 117 xxi

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List of Boxes

Box 4.11 Box 4.12 Box 4.13 Box 4.14 Box 4.15 Box 4.16 Box 4.17 Box 4.18 Box 4.19 Box 4.20 Box 5.1 Box 5.2 Box 5.3 Box 5.4 Box 5.5 Box 5.6 Box 5.7 Box 5.8 Box 5.9 Box 5.10 Box 5.11 Box 5.12 Box 5.13 Box 5.14 Box 6.1 Box 6.2 Box 6.3 Box 6.4 Box 6.5 Box 6.6 Box 6.7 Box 6.8 Box 6.9 Box 6.10 Box 6.11 Box 6.12 Box 6.13 Box 6.14 Box 6.15 Box 6.16 Box 7.1 Box 7.2

Sue Smith 117 Ken Sutcliffe 118 “The Provincial Television Network” 120 Isabel Angel and Edwin Maher, Apex Walk-a-thon 122 Denise Lawler 124 National Roving Eye126 Wayne Magee and Joey the Clown, Get Set129 An Evening With… Sandy Scott 132 Rural Topics and News133 On Stage (RTN), Fred Kehoe 133 Herb Lilburn 147 Fourth liminal moment 155 Ian Coughlan 158 Ron Wilson 158 Number 96168 The Box169 Ask the Leyland Brothers170 Travlin’ Out West171 Silent Number171 Woman’s World, Marg Watkins 173 Big Bloo Roo174 Six Tonight, Fred Fargher 175 You Say the Word179 The Executives179 Fifth Liminal Moment 197 North Queensland Television and Radio Centre 203 Are You Being Served? (Australian Version) 207 Our Australia208 National Star Quest208 A Sunburnt Country209 The Fabulous Century209 Young Ramsay210 The Restless Years211 Blankety Blanks, Hosted by Graham Kennedy 211 I’ve Got Gardenitis, Hosted by Laurie Ryan 216 Network217 Sounds of Sunday218 Meeting in the Middle219 The Owl and The Pussycat219 Carnival of Flowers Queen Crowning Ceremony220 Sixth liminal moment 245 The Prime Ministers255

  List of Boxes 

Box 7.3 Box 7.4 Box 7.5 Box 7.6 Box 7.7 Box 7.8 Box 7.9 Box 7.10 Box 7.11 Box 7.12 Box 7.13 Box 7.14 Box 7.15 Box 7.16 Box 7.17 Box 7.18 Box 7.19 Box 7.20 Box 7.21 Box 7.22 Box 7.23 Box 7.24 Box 7.25 Box 7.26 Box 7.27 Box 8.1 Box 8.2 Box 8.3 Box 8.4 Box 8.5 Box 8.6 Box 8.7 Box 8.8 Box 8.9 Box 9.1 Box 9.2 Box 9.3 Box 10.1 Box 10.2 Box 10.3 Box 10.4 Box 10.5

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It’s an Odd Country255 Angelos Frangopoulos 257 News Centre Six258 MidState News259 The Morning Show, Jan Deane 260 Wednesday Magazine, Denise Drysdale 260 Round About, Hazel Phillips 260 Jazzercise, Jan Strom 261 Trav’l Tips, Paul Sharratt 262 Kid’s Army263 Six’s Super Saturday Show, Glenn Ridge 264 Saturday Morning Live264 Thursday Night Live265 Nick Erby’s Country Close-up266 Must Be Country266 Police 7267 Outlook267 Hellfire Jack: The John Curtin Story268 Goodbye Blinky Bill268 This Dawning Land, Parts 1–3 268 Australia, Naturally, Bob Hardie 269 Last Chance270 Rape of the Big Scrub271 TV8 Newshour271 Eva Presser 274 Seventh liminal moment 296 Prime News Canberra307 WIN News Canberra307 Ten News Canberra308 QTV Eyewitness News Townsville308 Vic TV News, Shepparton 309 Dee Dee and Company311 Milbindi312 Nganampa Anwernekenhe312 Eighth liminal moment 328 Yamba’s Playtime338 Corroboree Rock338 Ninth liminal moment 359 Ten Local News 361 State Focus, Victoria edition 364 Susie, hosted by Susie Elelman 370 Footprints370

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List of Boxes

Box 11.1 Box 11.2 Box 11.3 Box 11.4 Box 11.5 Box 11.6 Box 11.7 Box 11.8 Box 11.9 Box 11.10

Tenth liminal moment 398 Prime7 Local News / Prime News at 6.30399 WIN News Mildura401 WIN News Central West402 Nightly News 7 Tasmania  404 Nightly News 7 Spencer Gulf405 Nine News Central Victoria406 Possum’s Club / Doopa’s Club408 CTC studios, final tour 410 Nine News Local, Victoria edition 418

CHAPTER 1

Introduction

There’s no question that the market is heading to a level where it can no longer support three regional commercial television [networks] … So, on any measure, the uniquely independent regional media voices are under threat like they’ve never been before.1 —John Hartigan, Prime Media Group chairman, 2019

On 9 December 1961, announcer Don Ewart stepped up to the microphone to welcome viewers to the opening of Australia’s first regional commercial television station, GLV Latrobe Valley, at Traralgon, around 100 miles east of Melbourne, Victoria. But a technical glitch—or first-night nerves—meant that Ewart’s microphone remained switched off.2 Even so, it is doubtful that Ewart’s first words would have been recorded since proceedings were transmitted live-to-air. Unlike the opening of Australia’s first metropolitan commercial television station, TCN Sydney, five years earlier—where a malfunctioning kinescope recorder caused the “official” opening to be re-enacted nine months later—no attempt appears to have been made to restage GLV’s commencement for posterity.3 In many respects, such neglect is reflective of Australian television history in general, and particularly that of television in regional areas. Television was introduced to Australia in seven stages. Stages 1, 2, and 5 established national and commercial stations in each of the capital cities.

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022 M. Thurlow, A History of Regional Commercial Television in Australia, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-10944-7_1

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Stages 3, 4, and 6 expanded services to regional areas (see Front Matter, Fig. ii). Stage 7 extended the national broadcaster only to some of the remotest parts of the continent; these were assessed as economically unfeasible for commercial operators. The Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC), as the national broadcaster, was tasked with providing a national service. Commercial stations, on the other hand, were intended to provide a local service of interest and relevance to viewers in their licence areas. In this context, the role of commercial television at the economic, cultural, and social heart of regional communities—particularly in its earlier years— should not be underestimated. From the early 1960s to late 1970s, 35 mostly independent commercial television stations were put to air across regional Australia. These stations cherry-picked programs from the Seven, Nine, and Ten networks. Many produced their own news, current affairs, children’s, cooking, quiz, variety, women’s, religious, documentary, information, and rural affairs programs, in addition to local advertising. Telethons were held to raise much-needed funds for local charities. A strong local identity, audience participation and community engagement were arguably key to their success. In many respects, the impact of commercial television was far greater and more meaningful in regional communities than in metropolitan areas, given the proximity to their audiences. The ABC, as a national broadcaster, did operate stand-­alone television stations such as those at Rockhampton, Townsville, Maryborough, and Darwin; however, their output was generally limited to news and current affairs.4 By the 1980s, regional commercial stations were operating as highly lucrative monopolies. Many were more profitable—and offered a much greater return to investors—than their much larger metropolitan counterparts. At their peak, the largest stations each employed more than 100 people, who were engaged in a variety of administrative, sales, program, and technical roles. Several stations were part of much larger media companies. Others diversified their businesses to include a wide range of interests including radio, film processing, water filtration systems and even travel agencies. Some larger stations made their facilities available to outside production companies. Many have provided entry-level employment and training for some of Australia’s best-known and accomplished television executives, personalities, newsreaders, journalists, and camera operators. Among those to have begun their television careers in the regions are Today host Karl Stefanovic; Sunrise presenters Melissa Doyle, Samantha Armytage, and Natalie Barr; Morning Show host Kylie Gillies; newsreaders Mark Ferguson, Michael Usher, and Chris Bath; 60 Minutes journalist

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Tara Brown; A Current Affair journalist Sue Smith; Logie Award-winning presenter Rosemary Eather; Q&A host Hamish Macdonald; Today weather presenter Steve Jacobs; sports presenter Erin Molin; and game show hosts Grant Denyer and Glenn Ridge. Prominent executives have included Peter Meakin, Allan Hoy, Gary Rice and former Sky News Australia, now GB News, executive Angelos Frangopoulos. Camera operators such as Richard Moran have captured the world through their lenses. Well-known metropolitan television personalities, including Ernie Sigley, Daryl Somers, Denise Drysdale, and Hazel Phillips, have also presented programs on regional television. For many, stations were the local “star factory” which manufactured home-grown celebrities.5 Technologies such as television have long played a role in modernising, democratising, and connecting society. Geoffrey Blainey notes the “tyranny of distance”, with its themes of isolation and remoteness, which has been central in shaping Australia’s history and identity.6 Brian Shoesmith describes technologies such as wireless telegraphy, newspapers, film, radio, and television as a form of “social glue” which helped to overcome this “tyranny” through binding regional and remote parts of the country to the “host culture” of our capital cities.7 Benedict Anderson explores the crucial role played by the media in creating a national imaginary of common values, institutions, laws, and symbols. Such “imagined communities” are central to governmental efforts to propagate a unified sense of nation, nationality, and nationalism.8 This has certainly been the case with broadcast media which, according to Paddy Scannell, is capable of creating a “dailiness” through familiar voices and scheduling patterns which can overcome feelings of alienation and reification and thereby restore the “ordinary magic” of everyday existence.9 This structuring of time through technology, observes British historian Edward Thompson, also signalled the arrival of modernity.10 Media anthropologist Brian Larkin notes that, conversely, any perception that a technology works effectively elsewhere, but not locally, can heighten a sense of isolation, even neglect.11 It is important to note that television, as with most technologies, was introduced in various stages over several decades. As Stephanie Hanson points out, the coming of television to regional Australia was neither swift nor consistent.12 The introduction of the first “communicative” and other “connective” technologies to my home town of Gilgandra, a small agricultural community located 500 kilometres west of Sydney in central NSW, was typical of many in regional Australia: post office (1867); telegraph office (1882); goods and passenger train services (1902); Castlereagh newspaper (1904);

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telephone exchange (1908); Coronation Hall travelling picture show (c.1908)13; Castlereagh Liberal (later Gilgandra Weekly) newspaper (1911); Crystal Palace electricity generator (1916); Western Monarch Theatre (1934); commercial radio (2DU Dubbo, 1936); ABC radio (2CR Cumnock, 1937); commercial television (CWN, 1965) ; and ABC television (ABQN, 1966).14 Television enabled regional communities to hold a mirror up to themselves as well as providing a window on the world. As my mother recalls, the arrival of television in Gilgandra in late 1965 helped residents to feel more connected: We got our local news from the Gilgandra Weekly. Our state, national and international news came from 2DU and ABC radio and the Sunday newspapers [from Sydney]. The only real glimpses beyond our own district were the Friday and Saturday night pictures and Movietone newsreels at the Western Monarch Theatre. [Television] brought the world to our doorstep for the first time.15

Television presented regional Australians with new perspectives, made people less parochial and more cosmopolitan, and encouraged a broad-­ based national identity.16 Television, as with radio, was also a modernising force which enabled the broadcaster and the audience to create, then re-­ create, “each other through space and time”.17 It is no coincidence that television was introduced post-Second World War, in the great nation-­ building years of the 1950s and 1960s. Local media also plays an important role in creating a sense of “place”. Harry Criticos notes that “familiarity provides us with that sense of attachment, a connection or belonging to the locale”. He observes that an important facet of the relationship between identity and belonging is nostalgia. Localism in broadcasting thus becomes the dialect through which it helps to bind a community to its location, especially in light of outside social influences.18 It is also important to note the fundamentally different roles of the national public service broadcaster and commercial stations, particularly in regional areas. The ABC, whose Reithian approach to radio broadcasting was subsequently transferred to television, believed it had a responsibility to “inform, educate and entertain”.19 In contrast, commercial broadcasters regarded their role as to entertain, then to inform, and finally to educate.20 Regional television, in its earlier years, offered something different by resisting national frames in favour of the local and the specific. As American writer and broadcaster Melody Kramer observes, localism in

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broadcasting “connects you to the place where you live … [it] frames the conversation in a community”.21 In this context it is useful to consider the meaning of the term “regional” as it applies to this study. In granting commercial television licences, the Menzies Liberal-Country Party Coalition government made a clear distinction between the six “metropolitan” state capital cities of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, and Hobart, and all other parts of Australia. For the purposes of brevity, “regional” is used throughout this book in place of similarly imprecise terms such as “rural”, “country”, and “provincial”, which permeate official records pertaining to Australia’s non-metropolitan areas. This includes the territorial capitals of Canberra and Darwin which were regarded as “provincial” for the purpose of granting the first commercial television licences. The primary exception to this schema is the term “remote”, which is used to reference the sparsely populated regions of central Australia when discussing the introduction of satellite broadcasting in the 1980s.22 Today, regional communities across Australia have access to three free-­ to-­air commercial television services and their numerous sub-channels, as well as the ABC, Special Broadcasting Service (SBS), pay television, and an ever-increasing array of subscription-based streaming services, including Amazon Prime, Netflix, and Stan. By late 2022, Australia’s 54 regional commercial television station licences were controlled by Seven West Media Ltd (“Seven”; 9 licences), WIN Corporation P/L (“WIN”; 16 licences), Southern Cross Media Group Ltd (“Southern Cross”; 14 licences), Nine Entertainment Co. Ltd (“Nine”; 2 licences), Imparja Television P/L (“Imparja”; 1 licence), and various joint ventures between these five entities (12 licences). These regional networks are, in turn, variously affiliated with each of the three metropolitan networks for program supply purposes. What remains of “local” production is highly centralised and mostly confined to the provision of local news. Examining the factors which have driven this decades-long shift is important for several reasons. Firstly, it offers a logical starting point for understanding the political, regulatory, economic, technological, industrial, and social history of a key sector in the Australian media. This history is undoubtedly linked, in part, to that of the metropolitan networks. However, as Liz Jacka points out, there is a danger that acceptance of the (albeit dominant) metropolitan commercial television history as the history of commercial television can lead to “a generalisation of patterns

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which may be true for one as if they were universal”.23 Similarly, Mark McKenna explains that while national histories have been prominent, we need to consider the specificities of place, particularly when telling the story of regional Australia. Furthermore, McKenna believes we might better understand the “national” by focusing on the “local”.24 In this context, we can view the history of television in Australia—both in terms of what has been “gained” and what has been “lost”—differently, by adopting a regional perspective.25 Secondly, it affords an opportunity to record something of life outside Australia’s capital cities. As Kate Darian-Smith points out, non-urban Australia has undoubtedly been given less attention than it deserves in historical scholarship.26 The diminishing status of regional commercial television has reflected broader declines in the financial and social prosperity of many regional communities amidst increased globalisation of agricultural markets, economic rationalism, metro-centrism, and urban drift.27 The seemingly ever-present themes of isolation, abandonment, and neglect, while a long-held feature of life in non-urban Australia, have undoubtedly been amplified in recent times with the withdrawal of government, health, banking, and other services. Thirdly, it provides a historical backdrop against which to critically examine the Turnbull government’s 2017 changes to media ownership rules. These have already triggered significant structural changes in Australia’s media, including American broadcaster CBS’ acquisition of Network Ten later that same year and Nine Entertainment’s 2018 purchase of Fairfax Media.28 Further ownership changes are likely in coming years as regional media companies, in particular, continue to lobby government for additional legislative change, including a relaxation of regulations which prevent a single entity controlling radio, television, and newspapers, as well as mergers between commercial television companies operating in the same market. Such highly political developments when, rather than if, successful would represent the final stage in the absolute and irrevocable merging of regional and metropolitan commercial television interests which, as we will see, began more than six decades earlier. The story of regional commercial television has, at various times, proven to be as dramatic, comedic, entertaining, and intriguing as the programs in its schedules. The aggregation of regional commercial television services in the late 1980s was rocked by Bruce Gordon’s last-minute acquisition of DDQ Darling Downs and his affiliation agreement with the Nine Network. This manoeuvre was at the detriment of Telecasters North

1 INTRODUCTION 

7

Queensland Ltd which, with Nine as its largest shareholder, had reasonably expected to carry that network’s programs. Instead, the company was forced to sign a program supply deal with the third-rated Ten Network. In 2016, Nine dumped WIN as its primary regional affiliate across regional Australia after forging an affiliation agreement with Southern Cross; this was reversed five years later. In 2021, Seven West Media, owner of the Seven Network, assumed control of its primary regional affiliate after acquiring the television assets of Prime Media Group. This transaction, discussed further in Chap. 11, is significant for several reasons, not least because it achieved, in a way first envisaged by Sir Frank Packer and others in the 1950s, the absolute and irrevocable merger of metropolitan and regional commercial television interests. These changes are but the latest in a long list of developments which stretch back more than 60 years. Yet paradoxically, for an industry which frequently trades on telling others’ stories, its own has never been told. This begs the question of why a history of regional commercial television has not previously been attempted. One reason, as suggested by Helen Wheatley, might be that the ephemeral and transient nature of the medium—evidenced in GLV’s first-night glitch—places it “beyond a historical materiality”.29 Another could be that the nature of the industry— where practitioners must have one eye on the present and the other on the future—leaves little or no time for reflection on the past.30 Yet another could be that those within the industry are simply too close to appreciate the value of its history. When I contacted a former (and extremely well-­ known) journalist who began her career in regional television, she questioned, somewhat dismissively, how this topic was sufficiently complex and significant to have maintained my interest over many years. In contrast, metropolitan television has attracted somewhat more attention. The minimisation and marginalisation of regional history does little to dispel the long-held perception by country people that metropolitan elites place little if any value on anything that happens beyond Sydney and Melbourne. Australia’s Great Dividing Range has long been as much a cultural phenomenon as it is a geographical feature. My own interest in the story of regional commercial television has resulted from direct involvement in the industry. As a schoolboy in the pre-aggregation years of the 1970s and 1980s, I recall having a choice of just one commercial television station and the ABC.  My local station, CWN Central Western Slopes (Dubbo, NSW) was, as discussed in Chap. 4, a direct relay of CBN Central Tablelands (Orange, NSW). The latter

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produced a range of news, sport, children’s, women’s, rural, and other programs of interest and relevance to the communities it serviced. It also cherry-picked what management considered to be the best national programs from the three metropolitan networks, as well as imported material from international distributors and from independent producers. I had the opportunity, in 1986 and again in 1988, to undertake work experience in the station’s Orange newsroom, under the tutelage of news editor Peter Andren. I recall the station was a hive of activity with around 80 employees working across the company’s television and radio operations. While my life initially took me in a completely different direction, those experiences left a positive, permanent impression which ultimately inspired me to join the industry. Fast-forward almost 20 years, and I was employed as a journalist, producer, and presenter for WIN Television in Rockhampton. The RTQ studios, by that time in continuous operation since the early 1960s, functioned as WIN’s main production centre for Queensland. A second, smaller facility was located at the former DDQ studio in Toowoomba. The Rockhampton studio produced dedicated WIN News bulletins each weekday for each of the Cairns, Townsville, and Rockhampton sub-markets, weather inserts, and news updates for all five regional Queensland markets in which WIN operated, as well as a state-wide WIN News Late Edition. In addition to reporting for the Rockhampton bulletin, I produced news bulletins and presented news updates for the other markets. But the availability of such well-rounded regional news gathering, production, and presentation experiences in regional areas was, by that time, the exception rather than the rule as such activities had mostly been centralised to national broadcast centres in far-away places. Unsurprisingly, many of my younger colleagues knew nothing of the industry they were inheriting. There was a common belief that the regionals were simply an extension of the metropolitan networks with local news and advertising and that this was how it had always been. My time in the industry unquestionably piqued my interest in its history. I was keen to understand the reasons behind the changes which had occurred since visiting CBN’s Orange studio in the 1980s and working for WIN in the mid-2000s. I was intrigued to find that almost nothing had been written about the history of regional commercial television. The most substantial recent effort to address the development of commercial television in the regions was Nick Herd’s Networking, released in 2012.31 However, this was done solely within the context of the predatory networking designs of the metropolitan stations, meaning there was scant opportunity to convey anything of the character of individual stations or to depict the people, places and programs which have characterised the

1 INTRODUCTION 

9

industry outside Australia’s state capitals. Peter Andren, who went on to become the independent member for the Federal seat of Calare, provided a useful—but brief—glimpse into his time at CBN Central Tablelands from the 1970s to the 1990s.32 My objective here has been to fill this void. The result is this book, which is the first dedicated history of regional commercial television in Australia. This study has been deliberately broad-brush in nature. It is a foundational history which I hope will provide a springboard for further scholarly inquiry on this subject. Such activity might involve a more in-­depth exploration of the hundreds of possible topics suggested herein, for example program analyses, individual station histories, Indigenous or even regional efforts at community broadcasting. There is also an opportunity to examine the industry through other lenses, such as gender or audience reception. This study incorporates three key measures. The localism marker indicates the proportion of programs that were produced locally by stations in their own studios (Fig. 1.1) (It is important to note the localism marker is based on data pertaining to primary channels only, since the proportion of local programs broadcast on secondary channels is statistically insignificant.) The independence quotient shows the number of ownership groups as a percentage of total number of licences in operation (Fig. 1.2). The localism-independence index, which overlays the previous two measures, is used to demonstrate a causal relationship between the consolidation in media ownership and reductions in  local program production over a 60-year period (Fig. 1.3).

Fig. 1.1  Localism marker, 1966–2019. Copyright Michael Thurlow

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Fig. 1.2  Independence quotient, 1966–2019. Copyright Michael Thurlow

Fig. 1.3  Localism-independence index, 1966–2019. Copyright Michael Thurlow

1 INTRODUCTION 

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This history has been organised into five parts and 12 chapters which represent the key phases in regional commercial television development. Chapter 1, “Introduction”, outlines the rationale for, and approach to, writing a history of regional commercial television in Australia. Based on fine-grained empirical research, each chapter recovers and explores significant developments in the sector’s history. Particular attention is given to the operational, technical, financial, program, production, and ownership aspects of regional commercial television stations. Part I: Establishment focuses on the formation of Australia’s radio broadcasting and television systems to the 1960s. Chapter 2 traces the power and politics which accompanied the introduction of wireless telegraphy and radio, the public debates and Royal Commission on Television, and the Menzies Coalition government’s introduction of a dual television system of public and commercial stations in the early 1950s. Chapter 3 explores the monopolies and manoeuvres associated with establishing the first 13 regional commercial television stations controlled by local radio broadcasting and newspaper interests in the early 1960s. This created a sector which was at its most local and independent during these first years of operation. Part II: Expansion details the extension of commercial television to other parts of regional Australia in the 1960s and 1970s. Chapter 4 probes the dualities and downturns which shaped the establishment of a further 17 regional commercial stations in the late 1960s. Chapter 5 reviews the colour and contrasts of commercial television in the years immediately before and after the introduction of colour television. The extension of television to a further five areas in the remotest parts of regional Australia is also discussed. These developments brought the first significant decreases in both localism and independence. Part III: Maturation documents the evolution of regional commercial television between the mid-1970s and mid-1980s. Chapter 6 considers the prosperity and promise in the years following the introduction of colour including the effect of the Fraser government’s decision to introduce a domestic communications satellite. Chapter 7 looks at the security and status which accompanied governmental signals towards localism in the early 1980s. These years were notable for a slowing of recent declines in independence as well as the most significant increases in localism since the early 1960s. Part IV: Equalisation charts the politically motivated efforts to increase the number of television services in regional areas between 1986

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and 1999. Chapter 8 investigates the aggregation (sometimes referred to as aggravation within the industry) of regional commercial television between 1989 and 1992 which abolished long-held monopolies in the largest and most profitable markets of eastern Australia. Chapter 9 analyses the patronage and protection which stabilised and returned the sector to profitability in the 1990s. These conditions saw a return of declines in both localism and independence which had persisted up to the late 1970s. Part V: Disruption records the impact of technological convergence in the 2000s and 2010s. Chapter 10 considers the influence of digital television in further entrenching the incumbency of free-to-air operators in the 2000s. The emergence of Prime, WIN, and Southern Cross as the three dominant regional networks is also discussed. Chapter 11 examines the Turnbull Coalition government’s media ownership reforms which have paved the way for rationalising regional and metropolitan television interests. Localism and independence were at their lowest levels in these years. We conclude, in Chap. 12, by considering the relationship between the earlier phases and recent developments, including Seven West Media’s 2021 acquisition of Prime Media Group’s regional commercial television business, which have brought an absolute and irrevocable merger of metropolitan and regional commercial television interests. The result is a periodised and thematic history which, through case study examples, traces the foundation, development, maturation, equalisation, and disruption of a remarkable and unique industry which has contributed much to the economic, cultural, and social development of regional Australia.

Notes 1. Hartigan, quoted in SMH, 28/10/2019, p. 24. 2. https://www.nfsa.gov.au/latest/television-­c omes-­r egional-­a ustralia, accessed 1/2/2015. 3. Stone (2014, p. 199). 4. Cryle et al. (2010, pp. 47–57); ABCB, pp. 78–79. 5. Potts (2009). 6. Blainey (1966). 7. Shoesmith (1994, p. 1). 8. Anderson (1983, pp. 1–7). 9. Scannell (1996). 10. Thompson (1967, pp. 56–97). 11. Larkin (2004, pp. 289–314). 12. Hanson (2012, pp. 110–131).

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13. Walker (2018, pp. 71–83). See The Picture Show Man (1977) for a dramatised account of travelling picture shows in regional Australia in the 1920s. 14. Christison (2009). 15. Lorraine Thurlow, telephone conversation with Michael Thurlow, 3/11/2019. 16. Shoesmith and Edmonds (2003, p. 1). 17. Shoesmith and Edmonds (2003, p. 205). 18. https://www.anzca.net/conferences/past-­conferences/2015-­conf/p2. html, accessed 23/1/2018. 19. Shoesmith and Edmonds (2003, p. 212). John Reith was the first Managing Director of the British Broadcasting Company (1922) and the first Director-General of the British Broadcasting Corporation (1927). 20. TQL, 1977. 21. https://www.poynter.org/reporting-­e diting/2015/why-­d oes-­l ocal-­ matter-­lets-­ask-­our-­audience/, accessed 17/7/2015. 22. See Aveyard (2012 and 2015) for a discussion of “regional” within the context of cinema exhibition and film consumption in Australian and the United Kingdom. 23. Jacka (2004, p. 31). 24. McKenna (2002, p. 6). 25. McKenna (2016, p. xvi). 26. Darian-Smith (2002, pp. 90–99). 27. Falk (2001, p. 3). 28. Business Insider, 28/8/2017; ABC News, 26/7/2018. 29. Wheatley (2007, p. 3). 30. Bingham (2015, p. 19). 31. Herd (2012). 32. Andren (2003).

Bibliography Anderson, Benedict. Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism (London: Verso, 1983), pp. 1-7. Andren, Peter. The Andren Report: An Independent Way in Australian Politics (Melbourne: Scribe, 2003). Aveyard, Karina. ‘Rural Cinema: Film Exhibition and Consumption in Australia and the United Kingdom’, PhD thesis, Griffith University, 2012. Aveyard, Karina. Lure of the Big Screen (Bristol: Intellect, 2015). Bingham, Adrian. ‘Media Products as Historical Artefacts’, Martin Conboy and John Steel (eds.) The Routledge Companion to British Media History (London and New York: Routledge, 2015), p. 19.

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Blainey, Geoffrey. The Tyranny of Distance: How Distance Shaped Australia’s History (Melbourne: Sun Books, 1966). Christison, Ray. Gilgandra Shire Thematic History (Gilgandra, NSW: Gilgandra Shire Council, 2009). Cryle, Denis, Christina Hunt and Ross Quinn. ‘Researching ABC Rockhampton TV, 1963-85: Two Decades of Regional Television Broadcasting’, Queensland Review, Vol. 7, No. 1 (February 2010), pp. 47-57. Darian-Smith, Kate. ‘Up The Country: Histories and Communities’, Australian Historical Studies, Vol. 33, No. 118, 2002, pp. 90-99. Falk, Ian. Learning to Manage Change: Developing Regional Communities for a Local-Global Millennium (Leabrook, SA: NCVER, 2001). Hanson, Stephanie. ‘Chasing a Signal: Memories of Television Across the South-­ Eastern Corner of Australia’, in Kate Darian-Smith and Sue Turnbull (eds.), Remembering Television (Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Cambridge Scholars: 2012), pp. 110-131. Herd, Nick. Networking: Commercial Television in Australia (Sydney: Currency House, 2012). Jacka, Liz. ‘Doing the History of Television in Australia: Problems and Challenges’, Continuum: Journal of Media and Cultural Studies, Vol. 18, No. 1, 2004, p. 31. Larkin, Brian. ‘Degraded images, distorted sound: Nigerian video and the infrastructure of piracy’, Public Culture, Vol. 16, No. 2, 2004, pp. 289-314. McKenna, Mark. Looking for Blackfellas’ Point: An Australian History of Place (Sydney: UNSW Press, 2002). McKenna, Mark. From the Edge: Australia’s Lost Histories (Carlton, Vic: Miegunyah Press, 2016). Potts, John. A History of Charisma (Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009). Scannell, Paddy. Radio, Television and Modern Life (Oxford: Blackwell, 1996). Shoesmith, Brian (ed.). Media, Politics and Identity (Nedlands, WA: Centre for Western Australia History, University of Western Australia, 1994). Shoesmith, Brian and Edmonds, Leigh. ‘Making Culture Out of the Air’, in Geoffrey Bolton, Richard Rossiter and Jan Ryan (eds.), Farewell Cinderella: Creating Arts and Identity in Western Australia (Crawley, WA: UWA Press, 2003), pp. 203-240. Stone, Gerald. ‘Gyngell, Bruce’, in Bridget Griffen-Foley (ed.), A Companion to the Australian Media (North Melbourne: Australian Scholarly Publishing, 2014), p. 199. Thompson, Edward. ‘Time, Work-Discipline, and Industrial Capitalism’, Past and Present, No. 38, December 1967, pp. 56-97. Walker, Dylan. “The Only Fun We Have Once in Three Weeks’: The Travelling Picture Show in South Australia from Colonial Times to the Great Depression’, Journal of the Historical Association of South Australia, No. 46, 2018, pp. 71-83. Wheatley, Helen (ed). Re-viewing Television History: Critical Issues in Television Historiography (London: I.B. Taurus, 2007).

PART I

Establishment (to 1966)

CHAPTER 2

Power and Politics

The two big newspaper dominated sets of interests in Melbourne and Sydney have made up their minds to carve up the whole [television] empire in Australia, if they can manage it.1 —Ronald Mendelsohn, Prime Minister’s Department, 1959

Australian governments, like most others, have long sought to regulate the media because of its potential to influence community attitudes and political processes.2 The first such efforts can be traced to the earliest years of British colonial settlement when, in 1803, the Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser was published by George Howe under the authority of Governor Philip King.3 Telegraphy, which was partly started by private enterprise in the mid-nineteenth century, was quickly controlled by government.4 Julie James Bailey describes the history of television as one of “government policy and regulation … action and reaction to the various vested interests involved in broadcasting”.5 Liz Jacka and Lesley Johnson also suggest that such history might be interpreted as: [A] continuing tension between [centralising] and [regionalising] pressures, a struggle between large commercial television proprietors who wish to extend their reach over the entire nation … and those interests which seek to preserve the local and regional character of television.

This is, they say, “a struggle which has always been biased towards the former”.6 Ronald Mendelsohn, as cited above, observed this dynamic in © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022 M. Thurlow, A History of Regional Commercial Television in Australia, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-10944-7_2

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1959. Any study of regional commercial television must therefore begin with an examination of the regulatory frameworks, ownership patterns, industrial structures, and technological arrangements which were established for broadcasting and later inherited by television in the first half of the twentieth century. Australia’s broadcasting system had its beginnings in official, commercial, and amateur wireless experiments.7 In 1901, Tasmania sought to break its isolation by establishing direct wireless communication with the mainland in place of the unreliable cable service. It hoped to establish such a service using the Marconi system; however, the Commonwealth was reluctant to commit to one particular system.8 Given the political, economic, and social tensions inherent in media, it is unsurprising that, later that year, Postmaster-General (PMG) James Blake advised that only those authorised by his department could establish wireless stations.9 In 1905, Alfred Deakin’s Protectionist Party government passed the Wireless Telegraphy Act so that “wireless development could be properly regulated in the public interest”.10 This early consolidation of postal services, telegraph, and wireless under the PMG’s control was arguably an early mustering of the “protean forces of convergence” which continue to shape Australian—and global— media.11 Mark Armstrong notes the Act provided the “ultimate statutory power” over radiated communication and would continue to do so for many decades.12 But the Deakin government and its successors faced ongoing criticism for delays and inaction in developing wireless. The government’s inaction was, for the most part, due to a reluctance to favour one system over another or risk adopting a rapidly developing technology that had the potential to become obsolete within a short period of time. The PMG’s Department would, for many years, regard wireless as a problematic and loss-making proposition.13 Ross Curnow describes how Australia’s broadcasting system eventually emerged from a period of procrastination, disputes, scandals, political pressures, and compromise.8 By the early 1920s, there was growing agitation from manufacturers, distributors, retailers, and amateur experimenters for the introduction of a regular “radio concert” service.14 Systematic broadcasting commenced in August 1923. This comprised a “sealed set” scheme, which had been promoted by Amalgamated Wireless Australasia Ltd (AWA), whereby listeners were required to pay a licence fee under which sets were sealed to prevent listeners from receiving stations other than those for which they had paid a licence fee.15 But the scheme—which was later described as violating the

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“freedom of the air”16—proved to be unpopular with broadcasters, retailers, and the public. The surviving defenders of the sealed set system were, by this stage, AWA and Farmer and Co., which operated 2FC Sydney.17 This was replaced by a bifurcated system of “A”- and “B”-class licences.18 The former were operated by broadcasting companies and funded by revenue from listeners’ licence fees, while the latter were self-supporting through the sale of advertising. A third category—“C” class—was created for stations receiving corporate advertising from large sponsors; however, no such licences were issued.19 But the new system, too, had its weaknesses. A-class stations relied on subscriber revenue so there was a natural tendency to establish stations in more populous cities, thereby neglecting rural areas.20 The 1927 Royal Commission on Wireless drew attention to numerous deficiencies in the existing system but did not offer any real solutions for improving radio broadcasting on a national basis. In July 1928, Prime Minister Stanley Bruce announced the government would establish a National Broadcasting Service in place of the A-class stations.21 This would operate as a “national” network and broadcast programs, supplied by the Australian Broadcasting Company (ABL), which were of relevance and interest to the whole nation. B-class stations would continue to obtain their revenue from advertising and broadcast programs of relevance and interest to their “local” communities.22 This hybrid scheme was similar to that which had been proposed by prominent commercial interests around the time of the 1924 wireless conference. Significantly, this distinction between the role of A- and B-class stations appears to be the first articulation of a government policy on localism in Australian broadcasting.23 Australia’s first regional B-class station, 3WR Wangaratta (Vic), commenced operation on 25 February 1925 but proved to be financially unviable and was closed later that year.24 The first viable regional B-class station—2HD Newcastle—was established by Harry Douglas and commenced operation on 27 January 1925.25 Mobile radio stations 2XT and 3YB sought to extend the pleasures of radio to audiences in outlying areas in the 1920s and 1930s.26 Mark Armstrong describes the granting of B-class licences by a simple executive act of the PMG as “the currency of political and personal patronage”.27 As Ken Inglis points out, B-class stations became increasingly attractive to advertisers from 1929 as hard times kept people at home.28 Dozens of regional B-class stations had commenced by the mid-1930s. Twelve were established in 1931 alone.29

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Nevertheless, public interest groups remained critical of the A-class service, which had largely failed to provide for regional communities.30 They continued to call for a fully government-funded service which could provide a reasonable service to all Australians. On 1 July 1932, the Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC) was established to take over ABL’s studios.31 The PMG remained responsible for technical services, including the provision of transmission lines for program relays.32 The ABC was established as a public service broadcaster modelled on the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). Its activities were financed by a proportion of the receipts from listeners’ licence fees. Bridget Griffen-Foley notes the ABC assumed “a special responsibility for rural dwellers”.30 B-class stations were increasingly acquired by regional and metropolitan newspaper interests which regarded broadcasting as a natural extension of their existing businesses. This is perhaps unsurprising given their early concerns, first expressed at the 1923 wireless conference, that the “rip and read” broadcasting of printed material by radio stations would undermine newspaper sales.33 Other prominent investors included AWA, Broadcast Associates (a company ultimately controlled by Britain’s Daily Mirror and Sunday Pictorial newspapers) and metropolitan radio interests. Enterprising individuals such as 4AY’s Jack Gleeson sought to invest privately in radio. There would be 82 regional commercial radio stations in operation by mid-1956, just prior to the commencement of television.34 Significantly, more than half of these would later be associated with applications for regional commercial television station licences.35 The 1930s also gave rise to the first commercial radio networks.36 In its purest sense, “networking” referred to the linking of stations for the simultaneous broadcasting of a specific program. In a more general sense, network stations included those which were owned and controlled by a “parent” company; “affiliates”, which held shares in the network company and were committed to broadcasting certain programs; and “co-­operating” stations, which accepted network programs on a more casual basis.37 Radio networks enabled metropolitan stations to deliver larger audiences to advertisers. It also allowed regional stations to reduce their expenses and provide higher-quality programs than could often be produced in their own studios. Such arrangements were arguably the “economic salvation” for many small regional stations.38 The constantly shifting patterns of ownership and the formation of radio networks was not without controversy. In January 1934, Truth described the emerging links between the powerful publishing group the

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Herald and Weekly Times Ltd (HWT) and its radio operations as “an octopus in the air”.39 On 23 October 1935, partly in response to the growing influence of the HWT and AWA (reportedly controlling 24 stations between them),40 the United Australia Party (UAP)-Country Party coalition government headed by Prime Minister Joseph Lyons introduced regulations to limit control by a single interest to five radio stations nationally.41 The Federation of Australian Radio Broadcasters (FARB), which had been formed in 1930 as the main industry body,42 railed against “government by regulation” and claimed the policy would “flat-iron” commercial stations. In November 1935, after strong backbench support for major commercial interests, the government legislated that a maximum of eight—rather than five—broadcasting stations could be owned by a single interest.43 Bridget Griffen-Foley suggests that Keith Murdoch, who had earlier endorsed Lyons’ defection from Labor and his formation of the United Australia Party (UAP), had likely used his influence for a more favourable outcome. The Lyons UAP/Country Party coalition’s regulations were the first to limit media ownership and control. But its decision to legislate for a limit of eight—rather than five—stations, demonstrates the ability of powerful commercial interests to find favour at the highest levels of government.

Early Television Developments Australian television—as with radio—had its beginnings in official, commercial, and amateur experiments. In country Victoria in 1887, prolific inventor Henry Sutton had reportedly “designed but not yet constructed” the “telephane”, a device by which he hoped one day “to see here in Ballarat, by the aid of electricity, the race for the Melbourne Cup”.44 Sutton proposed that the telephane—an early prototype for “mechanical” television—would operate using a lens and Nipkow disk to capture and convert images to electrical signals using a selenium photocell. These would then be transmitted by telegraph wires to an apparatus for viewing.45 Although it would be almost another 80 years before television reached Ballarat, Sutton’s work establishes an intriguing “spiritual” link between television and regional Australia.46 Sutton was also arguably one of the first inventers who sought to address the issues of isolation and lack of amenity which had long characterised the physical and psychological divide between metropolitan and regional Australia.47

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The first significant developments came in the 1920s. Television and Radio Laboratories P/L (TRL) was established in 1928 “to provide country newspapers with pictures of current events minutes after they occurred”.48 On 10 January 1929, the company conducted Australia’s first tests of “Radiovision” using 3UZ’s transmitter.49 These primitive broadcasts featured simple animated silhouette films alternated with printed titles and spoken announcements. The first image transmitted was that of a rotating windmill; other subjects included “a leopard which [bounded] in, [took] its tail off, put it back on … then [bounded] out again”.50 Similar tests using John Logie Baird’s rival system were conducted by 3DB the following week.49 The first public demonstration was held in September 1929.51 TRL also put forward a scheme whereby regional newspapers might receive images of current events soon after they occurred. The company was reportedly successful in transmitting still pictures that were received in Ballarat and Bendigo.52 The “business” of television soon attracted the attention of amateur technicians and the public, as well as some nefarious commercial interests. In one instance, TRL received a dubious request to stage bogus clairvoyant séances in which a photograph of a client’s dearly departed would be transmitted from another room.50 (This example is distinct from legitimate and sincere efforts such as those by AWA’s Ernest Fisk, who had lost his son in the First World War, to use technology to contact the dead.) Harry Brown, perhaps in response to such questionable commercial applications, warned the public against investing in the new medium, which he thought would likely be restricted to government-run stations.53 Nevertheless, both 3UZ and 3DB continued to undertake sporadic tests.54 The first intercity transmission was reportedly conducted between 2UE Sydney and the Newcastle Sun in October 1930.55 In Brisbane, persistent tests were conducted by amateur experimenters Val McDowell and Tom Elliott.56 By mid-1935, the PMG’s Department had issued seven licences for experimental television.57 Despite this apparent softening in government attitudes, the Great Depression ensured it would be at least another decade before the government gave serious consideration to the introduction of “radio with pictures”. In regional Australia, Blake Horrocks began working on mechanical television systems at Harvey, around 140 kilometres south of Perth, Western Australia, in the 1930s. On one occasion, Horrocks was reportedly visited by two inquisitive nuns from a nearby convent who were intrigued—and impressed—by his work. On another occasion, he was

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called on by three women who were concerned his apparatus might be used to see into their homes. (These remarks demonstrate something of the wide-ranging attitudes to television in those early years.) Horrocks conducted the first public demonstration of electronic television in Western Australia, in 1948. He was also involved in conducting television experiments for the PMG’s Department in the 1950s.58 The first substantial governmental efforts towards television came in July 1941, when the Menzies UAP/Country Party government appointed a Parliamentary Joint Committee on Wireless Broadcasting (PJCWB) to advise on broadcasting arrangements.59 This committee, chaired by Senator William Gibson, anticipated many of the debates which would surround television over the next 14 years. These included the issue of public, private, or dual ownership and control; the claims of newspaper and radio interests on television; and the inequality between urban and rural areas posed by the great expense of servicing scattered populations. This was followed, in June 1942, with the proclamation of the Australian Broadcasting Act for the “maintenance, development and regulation” of the Australian broadcasting system. The Act provided more stringent controls than had previously existed but left both national and commercial stations relatively free of government interference and direction. This legislation, although designed specifically for radio, undoubtedly provided a basis for future discussions on television ownership and control. The Act also established a joint Parliamentary Standing Committee on Broadcasting (PSCB), as recommended by the PJCWB, to advise on a range of broadcasting issues which would later include television.60 The challenge of uniting small populations across vast distances presented both economic and logistical challenges which called for creative solutions.61 In 1942, the PJCWB heard that people “in the outback will (someday) be able to read their newspapers by pressing a button”. This “radio newspaper” (or facsimile) would enable the householder to “go to his radio set when he rises in the morning and find there a reproduction of a radio newspaper containing news, editorials, pictures, advertisements, and everything else, complete”. In 1945, Melbourne-based aviation writer, Stanley Brogden, envisaged a system of “flying stratovision stations” in which a television studio in Sydney or Melbourne would convey programs to aircraft over the state capitals and regional areas including Tamworth, Broken Hill, and Kalgoorlie. These would then transmit a signal to viewers on the ground. Each location would be served by three separate crews and aircraft working 8-hour shifts to provide 24-hour

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coverage. The first successful demonstration of stratovision was reportedly conducted in Cuba in 1954.62 In 1946, the PSCB recommended the establishment of experimental television stations by the National Broadcasting Service (but not commercial interests) to help ascertain likely start-up and operating costs and devise standards.63 In March 1947, the Ben Chifley Labor government’s PMG, Donald Cameron, recommended that further advice was needed and that nothing should be done for the time being.64 Perhaps one reason for such guidance was that the PMG had already received 34 unsolicited applications for television licences. Six appeared in 1944 alone. In 1945, while the committee’s inquiries were underway, 13 more applications were made. Unsurprisingly, most were from existing commercial radio stations. It is likely the number of unsolicited licence applications received by the PMG was greater than the ABCB’s list suggests. In his evidence to the Royal Commission, Clive Ogilvy, a director of the Macquarie Broadcasting Service, stated that “all the country stations” in which he was a director had submitted applications, yet details of these stations (i.e. 2CA Canberra, 2LT Lithgow, 2LF Young, 2HR Maitland, 2WL Wollongong, and 3CV Colac) do not appear on the ABCB’s list. Similarly, Bernard McCann, the chairman of Metropolitan Broadcasters P/L (7HT Hobart), stated in his evidence at a 1958 public hearing for a commercial television licence to serve Hobart that his company had lodged an application for a television licence for that area in 1949; the ABCB’s list omits any such reference to an application for that area at that time.65 Meanwhile, the discourse surrounding broadcasting was shadowed by broader debates over public and private ownership in banking, medicine and airlines, and heightened fears of another war. In this context, the Labor government was increasingly identified as wanting political control of broadcasting. The Liberal-Country Party opposition positioned itself as a champion of free speech by opposing government regulation while supporting commercial as well as national involvement.66 On 27 October 1948, PMG Cameron introduced the Broadcasting Bill, which prohibited the PMG outright from granting a commercial television licence. It further reduced the powers of the PMG by requiring him to consult a board which had exclusive concern with broadcasting issues, and which would report independently and annually to Parliament.67 Although both aspects of the bill were contentious, it was the matter of

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control which met with the most resistance. Liberal Senator Annabelle Rankin described the proposal as “the most insidious and dangerous attack upon the Australian way of life” and one step further towards the development of a totalitarian state under which “conditioning of the minds of the people” would commence.68 Nevertheless, the bill passed both houses of Parliament and the amendments to the Australian Broadcasting Act came into force on 6 December 1948.69 The ABCB was established on 15 March 1949 and was responsible for most aspects of broadcasting planning and regulation as well as program standards.70 The PMG’s Department remained responsible for engineering functions.71 One of the first matters to receive ABCB attention was the introduction of television. On 3 June 1949, it submitted a report to the PMG for consideration by the PSCB which recommended the establishment of a national television service in the six state capitals, which would reach 60 per cent of the population. The ABCB indicated that the possibility of extending television to regional areas should be kept in mind.72 The Board also recommended the adoption of the European 625-line (CCIR B) transmission standards over the British 405-line (CCIR A) and American 525-line (CCIR M) systems.73 Cabinet accepted the ABCB’s recommendations to establish the capital city stations, with programs to be supplied by a yet-to-be-determined national television authority, in June 1949.74 The decision to exclude commercial interests provided the coalition with further proof of the government’s socialist tendencies.75 Unsurprisingly, the Australian Federation of Commercial Broadcasters (AFCB, formerly FARB) continued to agitate for commercial involvement. AFCB president Jack Ridley (who was also chairman of 2GZ Orange and managing director of 2UE Sydney) contended that Australians could not expect as good a service from a government monopoly as from private enterprise.76 Regional newspaper interests, which no doubt harboured plans to obtain television licences, labelled the exclusion of commercial interests “another step along the road to socialised serfdom” under Labor.77 The Liberal-Country Party opposition frequently accused Labor of harbouring socialist tendencies, as evidenced by Senator Annabelle Rankin’s remarks in 1948. But D.B.  Waterson argues the Chifley administration of 1946-49 was among the most creative of all Australian governments, whose initiatives were neither socialist nor radical.78 In any case, the Chifley government lost office in December 1949, thus ending its hopes of introducing a truly non-commercial service.72

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Dual Television System The incoming Menzies Liberal-Country Party coalition adopted a vastly different approach to television.79 In January 1950, PMG Larry Anthony forecast that television would be established “within two or three years”. Anthony (who hailed from the Country Party side of the coalition) also indicated he was investigating the possible participation of commercial interests.80 This announcement stimulated another rush of unsolicited applications for commercial television licences, including proposals for stations at Newcastle (NSW), Tamworth (NSW), Mackay (Qld) and regional Tasmania.81 In February, Anthony recommended that one national and one commercial station be established in each state capital city. But some ministers regarded television as a luxury which drained resources from more fundamental projects, so Cabinet deferred the matter for the time being.82 Later that year, Anthony recommended a more gradual introduction of television with the initial establishment of public and commercial stations in Sydney and Melbourne only.83 But in June 1951, Cabinet approved an even more modest plan for just one national station in Sydney. This would be followed by one commercial station in Sydney and Melbourne and any other capital city where an applicant demonstrated the required capacity. The national service would eventually be extended to other capital cities and larger regional areas once further experience of television was obtained.84 Instead of being handed a monopoly, as had been envisioned by the ALP, the ABC now faced being relegated to a more limited role in the development of television. The introduction of television was, as observed by Ann Curthoys, accompanied by considerable debates as to its structure and function.85 The process of dividing the broadcast spectrum into channels and allocating these to private interests created valuable property rights which manifested in the form of a station.86 Unsurprisingly, those in favour of television included electronics manufacturers, who stood to receive a substantial boost to their industry, and commercial radio and newspaper interests, who regarded television as a natural extension of their existing businesses. The argument against it was led by the churches, which were concerned by the possible influence on Australia’s moral life; women’s and educational groups, which stressed the possibly deleterious effects on children; community groups, which were wary of the impact on Australia’s cultural

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and social institutions; and the Labor Party, which feared that commercial television operators were more likely to support its conservative opponents.85 Significantly, rural groups were among those most in favour of commercial interests taking a lead role in television. The National Farmers’ Union (NFU) was concerned a national service would divert funds and resources from essential infrastructure projects such as expanding the telephone system in regional areas. It argued that “private enterprise would add a drive to the development of television which would help to ensure its early appearance in country areas”. Its vice-president, Brian Foley, maintained “a serious drift of population from the land due in part to [a] lack of amenities” might be stemmed by television which “would bring to every farm and homestead a wealth of light and cultural entertainment that would help overcome this deficiency of country life”.87 (Similar sentiments had been expressed in relation to the introduction of radio broadcasting in the 1920s and 1930s.) Foley also believed television could assist the “tremendous amount” of extension work needed to keep primary producers informed on new developments in animal husbandry and farming methods.88 In January 1953, PMG Anthony recommended to Cabinet that a dual television system be developed in four stages. The first would establish transmitters in Sydney and Melbourne for joint use by the national authority and commercial interests. The second would extend the same system to other capital cities, then regional areas in the third. The fourth would see a second station licensed in each capital city and suitable country areas. Anthony regarded this approach as a cost-effective means of preserving the dual (i.e. commercial and national) system while enabling significant control over commercial operation.89 The government’s decision to introduce a dual television service was arguably due, in part, to lobbying from Anthony’s Country Party colleagues, whose regional constituents feared a purely national service would divert government funds from other essential projects, including the provision of telephone and water supplies. But on 16 January, in a key moment, Cabinet moved on the television issue, but not in the way proposed. It decided to introduce a bill which simultaneously enabled television and established a Royal Commission to advise on issues such as the number of channels, standards, and hours of transmission.90 A week later, the government approved the Commission’s terms of reference.91 It again moved quickly in February, introducing a

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Television Bill which authorised the PMG to “grant to a person a licence for a commercial television station” but left its details open. The Television Act 1953, which paved the way for the introduction of commercial services, passed into law on 20 March and took effect from 17 April.92 The Menzies government’s decision to introduce its Television Bill prior to the Royal Commission reporting prevented the latter from developing a basic philosophy for television or determining its fundamental structure.93 The enabling of commercial television left the Commission open to claims it was nothing more than an instrument of the government and powerful commercial interests. The Royal Commission on Television began its public hearings on 11 March 1953, the very same day as the Television Bill was debated in the Senate.94 It was headed by Professor George Paton, vice-chancellor of the University of Melbourne. Its members comprised the Courier-Mail’s managing editor Colin Bednall, ABCB chairman Robert Osborne, New South Wales Liberal politician Robert Wilson (who also held interests in radio), and Adelaide accountant (and News Ltd director) Norman Young.95 Maud Foxton, the West Australian State president of the Country Women’s Association (CWA), was the sole female and country representative.96 In this context, it is worth noting the long-running role of the CWA in improving the quality of life for families, women, and children in rural and remote communities.97 Ann Curthoys describes the commissioners as being “in no way a distinguished group” but one which “could be trusted not to report in an embarrassing way”. The broad spectrum of people opposing the introduction of commercial television on moral, cultural, educational, and political grounds were not represented, or perhaps inexpertly by Foxton.98 Nevertheless, Foxton undoubtedly understood the potential of television in rural and remote communities and had noted the role of radio in breaking through “the isolation of my State”.99 The Commission attracted submissions from arts and cultural organisations, unions, newspaper, radio and commercial interests, women’s and farmers’ groups, the ABCB and the ABC, academics, and others. While the crucial question of whether television would be a national or dual system had already been decided by the government, most (if not all) of those giving evidence held clear positions on whether television should be open to commercial interests. In this context, it is worth noting representations from several prominent rural organisations. In many cases, witnesses emphasised the potential of television to “bring to country people a wide variety of entertainment and cultural expression such as a city

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enjoys”.100 This position was, perhaps unsurprisingly, adopted by a number of regional commercial radio interests appearing before the Commission. Others, such as the Victorian Wheat and Wool Growers’ Association’s Francis Howell, were against the introduction of television in general (but specifically in metropolitan areas) as this would make it difficult to attract labourers to regional areas not serviced by television.101 Howell’s position implied that television development should therefore occur simultaneously in metropolitan and regional areas to prevent a labour shortage. The NFU’s Brian Foley believed such issues could be overcome through the early involvement of commercial interests, which would also lessen the drain on the public purse.102 The CWA’s Barbara Cullen was similarly against spending large amounts of taxpayers’ funds on national television to the detriment of rural telephone and transport services, electrification, and water conservation but was not opposed to expenditure of private funds on a commercial service.103 The CWA also called for a restriction of program hours to limit disruption to children’s night-time routines.104 In February 1954, the Royal Commission recommended television be introduced on a gradual basis, commencing with the establishment of one national and two commercial stations in both Sydney and Melbourne. The extension to other parts of Australia—including regional areas—would occur “as soon as there is evidence that a satisfactory service can be provided”.105 Furthermore, television would adopt the regulatory system in place for radio with few fundamental changes, apart from the introduction of public hearings for granting and renewing licences. The report also nominated arrangements for conducting annual performance reviews.106 The rhetoric may have appeared strong, but the recommendations could lead only to a mildly regulatory system. The proposed rules governing ownership of commercial stations were not stringent. There was no mention of restricting cross-media (i.e. investment by existing radio or newspaper interests) or foreign ownership. Similarly, the proposed rules for concentration of ownership (i.e. the number of stations which could be owned or controlled by an entity) were not heavily restrictive. The Commission had also considered whether commercial interests should erect and own their transmitters, as in the United States, or lease them from the government, as proposed in Britain in November 1953. It rejected the latter idea for unspecified “practical considerations” but in doing so removed the ultimate regulatory mechanism for exerting public control over commercial television. The ABC’s general manager, Charles

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Moses, in a letter to Prime Minister Robert Menzies, quoted the ABCB’s Ray Allsop as stating that if any organisation was authorised to spend £300,000 on a transmitter, “you’ll never get rid of them”.107 Intriguingly, Mark Armstrong reveals that, for various reasons, the ABCB’s Osborne supervised much of the writing of the Commission’s report. It could be argued that the result was partly shaped by a desire to ensure the ABCB’s future survival by not offending the government or other influential interests.108 The Commission’s recommendations were, according to Cameron Hazlehurst, a “compromise” which more or less rubber-stamped the government’s blueprint for television.109 This was perhaps unsurprising, given the over-representation of those in favour of commercial television among its membership. But the PMG’s submission to cabinet in July 1954 deviated from the Commission’s recommendations in certain important respects.110 Anthony reiterated his January 1953 position that the number of television stations should be limited, and that national and commercial services should share the same transmitter. Furthermore, he raised the possibility of an “intermediate scheme” as an interim step towards establishing the dual system in its complete form. This would see the government own and operate the transmitters but issue a “limited form of licence” to the ABC and commercial program contractors who would each operate the network at different times of the week.111 Anthony also recommended that priority be given to introducing television in Melbourne in view of its hosting of the Olympic Games in 1956.112 Anthony was challenged to find a compromise solution which would satisfy a Prime Minister who had expressed a general disdain for television, Liberal Party colleagues who were generally sympathetic to the involvement of commercial interests, Country Party colleagues who remained firmly opposed to television, and those whose constituents believed the high cost of establishing television should be met from private funds. By late August 1954, Anthony had, for “practicable” reasons, abandoned his position both in relation to adopting an interim scheme as well as the use of shared, government-owned transmitters.113 The government finally confirmed it would introduce a dual television system on 10 September 1954.114

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Stage 1 Television Development Australia’s first stations (one public, two commercial) would be established in Sydney and Melbourne, in time for the 1956 Olympic Games.115 Services would, in time, be extended to other capital cities and regional areas.116 In October, acting PMG Philip McBride invited applications to operate two commercial television stations in both Sydney and Melbourne.117 Eight applications were received for the former city and four for the latter. In its inquiries, the Board noted these were drawn from a relatively narrow field of newspaper, radio broadcasting, radio manufacturing, motion picture, theatre, and political interests. The ALP, whose Arthur Calwell had been vehemently opposed to commercial television, sponsored applications for licences in both cities. The primary issue to be addressed by the ABCB was the extent to which the first commercial licences in the most lucrative television markets should be controlled by existing newspaper and radio broadcasting interests.118 Significantly, one outcome was to clarify the qualities sought in applicants for licences. These included good character and high reputation; directors and executives with a proper appreciation of the responsibilities imposed by a licence and a willingness to comply with the conditions of the licence; the genuine intention to commence on high standards even at financial loss; financial stability; a good record in allied fields; and the ability to provide a satisfactory service.119 But on the basis of the penultimate criterion alone, it was practically guaranteed that licensees would be drawn from existing newspaper, radio broadcasting, theatre and radio manufacturing interests. The apparent discrepancy between the ABCB’s vision for commercial television to be more “widely spread” and its subsequent recommendations to grant licences to existing media interests was undoubtedly influenced by both the practical need to involve allied fields with relevant experience in the establishment of television as well as political pressure to keep incumbent media owners onside. In making its recommendations to the PMG, the Board conceded the first Sydney and Melbourne stations would undoubtedly acquire “great advantages” over others which would follow.120 In this connection, it recommended that licences be subject to 12 conditions. These included that not less than 80 per cent of the issued capital should be held by Australian residents or companies controlled by them; not more than 15 per cent of issued capital should be held by a non-resident, or company controlled by them; the control of stations should not be varied in any manner without the consent of the Minister; the licence should be granted for a period of

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three years, then renewable annually; the televising political and controversial matter should be on the basis of equal treatment as recommended by the Royal Commission; the televising of religious matter should be on the same basis as for radio broadcasting; and programs and advertising should be televised in accordance with the Board’s standards.121 Cabinet, after accepting the ABCB’s recommendations on 18 April 1955, granted all four licences for an initial five years effective from 1 December (Table 2.1; see also Front Matter, Fig. ii).122 The Broadcasting and Television Act took effect in mid-1956 and authorised the first stations to commence later that year in time for the Melbourne Olympics.123 The government’s decision to grant licences for an initial five—rather than three—years (as recommended by the ABCB) was made as it felt it would be “better from the view-point of both Government and licensee” to do so. This was undoubtedly influenced by commercial interests which sought to recoup costs and ensure their tenure in the first years of operation. Significantly, three of the four licensee companies were dominated by existing metropolitan newspaper interests. Legislation was also passed which introduced a television viewers’ licence, from 1 January 1957, to fund the National Television Service.125 This licencing regime remained until the early 1970s.126 Box 2.1  First liminal moment

The Menzies government’s decision to grant the first Sydney and Melbourne commercial television licences, and ownership of the transmitters, to powerful metropolitan newspaper interests was arguably the first liminal moment for regional commercial television. Trevor Barr cites this as defining the “destiny” for control of commercial television in the rest of Australia.127 This decision, coupled with the establishment of the first networks, set up a dynamic which would dominate the industry for decades to come. Table 2.1  Stage 1 commercial television stations124 Licence (by callsign and locality)

Licensee (abbreviation used hereafter)

ATN Sydney (NSW) TCN Sydney (NSW) GTV Melbourne (Vic) HSV Melbourne (Vic)

Amalgamated Television Services Ltd (ATL) Television Corporation Ltd (TCL) General Television Corporation Ltd (GCL) Herald-Sun TV Ltd (HSL)

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Television has always had a voracious appetite for content.128 According to John Ellis, programs are the “building blocks” of television.129 In her detailed history of Sydney commercial television programming, Madeleine Hastie argues that programs reflect both the medium’s ability to reinvent itself as well as the risk-adverse conservatism of decision-makers. As we have seen, program producers initially drew heavily on radio program formats which had been tried and tested over many years.130 Indeed, Hector and Dorothy Crawford successfully transitioned their radio production house to television.131 Francis Bonner observes the centrality of game shows to television from the very beginning, with Name that Tune included in TCN’s opening night schedule.132 Popular music, talk, and children’s television were also among the first to make the transition from radio to television.133 Television comedy drew on variety performers such as Dawn Lake and Syd Heylen, who were well-established on radio and on stage.134 Australian television drama, though slow to develop, increased in the 1960s after the success of the police procedural, Homicide, produced by Crawfords for HSV.135 Television would also develop its own genres— such as cooking, lifestyle, and travel magazines—which were highly visual in nature and therefore well suited to the medium.136 Other formats, most notably rural affairs, point to the differing needs of regional viewers. If programs are television’s building blocks, then the schedule is its architecture.137 Given that radio interests were prominent among the founders of the Sydney and Melbourne stations, it is unsurprising that television programming strategies initially mirrored those of commercial radio. Daytime schedules addressed the housewife, afternoons were devoted to children, with the evening centred on family viewing. Sport panel discussions and results, aimed at men, dominated Saturday schedules. Sunday sought to maintain the separation between the sacred and the profane with religious programs.138 This practice—known as dayparting— involved segmenting the day into parts to target programs and advertising to whoever was assumed to be watching at that time. These segments usually reflected large portions of most people’s lives, for example, “morning” targeted the housewife going about her domestic routine once her husband had departed for work and children for school.139 Networking, as we have seen, had existed in radio since the 1930s so it is unsurprising that television would seek to adopt a similar modus operandi.140 In less than a year of opening the Sydney and Melbourne stations, concerns were raised in government about the level of control exercised by metropolitan newspaper interests over commercial television. Robert

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Durie from the Prime Minister’s Department articulated this anxiety in a note to Cabinet on 9 April 1957, in which he remarked that press interests tended to regard ownership of commercial television stations as their “natural right”.141 ATN Sydney and GTV Melbourne in particular had envisaged their role as “factories for the production of Australian content” even before they had commenced operation.142 The establishment of large-scale networks would provide the means to quickly and efficiently distribute their products to stations around Australia. In this context, it is important to note that the Seven and Nine networks as they exist today did not come into operation until the early 1960s. Prior to this, TCN (Channel 9) Sydney and HSV (Channel 7) Melbourne operated as “loose” networks, as did ATN (Channel 7) Sydney and GTV (Channel 9) Melbourne. By late 1957, the ABCB observed that ATN/GTV and TCN/HSV were “obviously beginning on a network operation which would extend throughout Australia”.143 The metropolitan stations were initially restricted in their plans for full-­ scale networking by a lack of telecommunications capacity between Sydney and Melbourne. On 15 February 1956, GTV Melbourne’s managing director, Colin Bednall, wrote to the PMG raising the possibility of establishing television relays between the two cities. On 28 February, the PMG’s Director-General, Giles Chippindall, advised Bednall that for “ordinary telephone needs we will probably find it necessary to provide a coaxial cable between Sydney and Melbourne in about five to six years’ time” and that “we will naturally provide for television relays, although the precise provision to be met in this direction has not yet been determined”.144 Planning for the coaxial cable surfaced regional anxieties of being left behind in this early development period. In 1957, the recently appointed PMG, Charles Davidson, received representations from Cootamundra, in the Riverina region of New South Wales, requesting the cable be routed through the town to enable establishment of a television station.145 The route was later confirmed as Sydney-Goulburn-Canberra-Yass-Wagga Wagga-Albury-Wangaratta-Euroa-Melbourne.146 A subsequent representation from Cootamundra urged the government to “reconsider the route the cable is to take … so not allowing this area to become one of the ‘backblocks’ of television as it has with radio broadcasting”.147 In June 1959, after addressing numerous economic and logistical considerations, the PMG invited tenders for “the provision of a coaxial cable and associated telecommunication and sound broadcasting and television

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relay equipment between Sydney and Melbourne via Canberra”.148 The scheme was described as “the most modern development in long distance telecommunication techniques” and represented a significant advancement in relation to relaying television programs between Australia’s two largest cities.149 The cable was officially opened on 9 April 1962 when Prime Minister Menzies “threw the switch” to complete the link at a ceremony at the Hotel Canberra. One of the more innovative uses of the connection came in 1965 when In Melbourne Tonight (GTV) compere, Graham Kennedy, appeared on a live, split screen link with the host of Sydney Tonight (TCN), Don Lane.150

Stage 2 Television Development The introduction of the coaxial cable would, in time, facilitate the Sydney and Melbourne stations’ networking ambitions by providing a reliable and efficient means by which to interchange and distribute program material.151 Meanwhile, there was increasing demand for television beyond Sydney and Melbourne. In May 1957, the ABCB informed Davidson that consideration should be given to establishing stations in the other state capital cities.152 On 27 August, Cabinet gave approval for services in Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, and Hobart. A key issue to be addressed by the ABCB was the extent to which existing commercial television, newspaper, and radio broadcasting interests should be permitted to control the Brisbane and Adelaide stations.153 Evidence was heard regarding a meeting on 23 April 1957 which included Rupert Henderson (ATN), John Williams (HSV), Frank Packer (TCN), Arthur Warner (GTV),154 and Clive Ogilvy (Macquarie Broadcasting Service). A notable exclusion from the meeting was Rupert Murdoch, who has been described as an “outsider”. The sale of the Courier-Mail after Sir Keith Murdoch’s death in 1952 was against the 21-year-old Murdoch’s wishes as it confined his media interests to Adelaide.155 A memorandum of that meeting recorded that the Sydney and Melbourne stations “were obviously beginning on network operation that would extend throughout Australia”. The inquiry was also told that GCL (GTV) harboured designs to establish relay stations in regional Victoria.156 In July 1958, the ABCB recommended that fresh applications be called for one licence only in each city. It indicated that as far as practicable, applicants should be substantially locally owned and not controlled in any way by the Sydney or Melbourne stations or their significant shareholders.157

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Table 2.2  Stage 2 commercial television stations Licence (by callsign and locality)

Licensee (abbreviation used hereafter)

BTQ Brisbane (Qld) QTQ Brisbane (Qld) ADS Adelaide (SA) NWS Adelaide (SA) TVW Perth (WA) TVT Hobart (Tas)

Brisbane TV Ltd (BRL) Queensland Television Ltd (QTL) Television Broadcasters Ltd (TBL) Southern Television Corporation Ltd (SOL) TVW Ltd (TVL) Tasmanian Television Ltd (TSL)

But on 11 September, PMG Davidson informed the House of Representatives that the government had decided to grant two licences in both Brisbane and Adelaide and directed the ABCB to recommend which of the original applicants should receive them.158 The Board, in response, stated it had no option but to set aside considerations involving local station operation and the question of newspaper control upon television as such matters “now seem inapplicable in view of the Government’s decision”.159 As a result, it recommended licences be granted to groups dominated by existing newspaper interests. The granting of licences in Perth and Hobart proved to be much less controversial, with one licence granted in each area (Table  2.2; see also Front Matter, Fig. ii). Stage 2 stations went to air between August 1959 and May 1960.160 Television had now arrived in all state capital cities, but at a cost. Sandra Hall notes the irrelevance of what the Control Board thought was, by this stage, obvious.161 The government’s willingness to override its own regulator for political purposes intensified the metropolitan networks’ ambition to dominate regional television even before it had begun.

Stage 5 Television Development Before we begin our detailed examination of regional commercial television (which was introduced in Stages 3, 4, and 6 of the government’s development program), it is worth considering the circumstances surrounding Stage 5, which granted additional licences for metropolitan areas in the early 1960s. In 1959, the PMG expressed concerns at the extent to which the Sydney and Melbourne stations had secured control of the Brisbane and Adelaide stations. In some cases, such control had been acquired through the purchase of shares in licensee companies on the open share market. In other cases, it had been achieved through changes

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in control of companies which, in turn, held shares in licensee companies. Davidson was particularly concerned by the latter transactions as they were not subject to the provisions of existing legislation. Later that year, Cabinet was alerted to what it described as “coercive activities” by the Sydney and Melbourne stations in relation to program supplies.162 In August, Rupert Murdoch (NWS) advised Menzies that the Warner-Henderson (GTV/ATN) and Williams-Packer (HSV/TCN) groups had declared they would not buy from any program supplier who sold programs solely to his Adelaide station. Murdoch’s “very simple answer” was for the government to grant more television licences wherever the market could support them. It seems that Murdoch hoped to use the predatory behaviour of the Sydney and Melbourne stations as the basis for obtaining a third licence in each of those cities. E.J. (John) Bunting, Secretary of the Prime Minister’s Department, appeared somewhat sympathetic to the suggestion that Murdoch was “being bullied by the Warner/Henderson group (and perhaps also by the Williams/Packer group)”. In a note to the Prime Minister, Bunting suggested the number of stations in Sydney and Melbourne might even be increased to four.163 Davidson subsequently advised Cabinet that there was “considerable reason to believe that attempts are being made by the Sydney-Melbourne stations to secure control, in one way or another, of Australian country television services [to] dictate the programming arrangements of those stations”.164 While existing legislation placed limitations on station ownership and control, such restrictions did not extend to the control of program sources, as we will see in Chap. 4. In early September, after deliberating with Attorney-General Garfield Barwick and Minister for Territories Paul Hasluck, Davidson advised there were no economic or technical impediments to establishing a third station in Sydney and Melbourne. But he expressed doubt as to whether such a move would eliminate the metropolitan networks’ designs to gain control of regional television. There was even a risk it “might merely produce the result that the dominance is shared by the third group”. Furthermore, considerable resentment was expected to develop in regional areas not yet provided with television if priority was given to additional facilities for metropolitan viewers. Any decision to proceed as per the PMG’s advice undoubtedly risked upsetting the powerful commercial interests (most notably Murdoch) who had agitated for additional stations. On 8 September, Cabinet deferred the matter for the foreseeable future after agreement could not be reached on a way forward.165

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The move towards network operation, the consolidation of ownership, and the predatory behaviour of the Sydney and Melbourne stations brought the first important changes to existing media ownership rules since the Broadcasting and Television Act 1956 had been introduced. On 6 June 1959, the Act was amended to specify ownership as an ability to control more than 15 per cent of the voting rights of a company. The amendments were devised as an attempt to extend the concept of control beyond that of “legal” control to include “practical and commercial control by any means”.166 But in August, despite anxieties concerning the influence of newspaper groups in television, Davidson announced that, under section 92F of the amended Act, he had approved a transfer of shares in GCL (GTV Melbourne, Vic) from Electronic Industries to Independent Television Corporation P/L, a wholly owned subsidiary of Sir Frank Packer’s TCL (TCN Sydney, NSW).167 The combining of TCN and GTV under common ownership also resulted in an “uneasy alliance” between ATN and HSV.168 Packer’s acquisition of GTV was significant as it placed control of two commercial television stations under a single entity for the first time. Nigel Dick maintains the transaction was integral to his dominance of commercial television. The consolidation and realignment of TCN and GTV under common ownership laid the foundations for the Nine Network as it exists today. In October 1963, it was announced that stations formerly known as the “Channel 9 Network” would be known as the National Television Network. From December 1963, stations formerly known as “Network 7” become the Australian Television Network. By the early 1960s, it was obvious television had been a success, at least from an economic perspective. In February 1962, in response to “pressure from certain sources” (potentially advertisers who wanted more airtime, and investors), PMG Davidson authorised applications for a third commercial television licence in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, and Adelaide and a second in Perth.169 The government framed this decision by stating that greater competition would benefit both the residents of the areas concerned as well as the ultimate development of the television service as a whole.170 In the first instance, applications for Sydney and Melbourne would be considered, with Brisbane, Adelaide, and Perth to be dealt with separately. The ABCB received nine applications for Sydney and six for Melbourne. In conducting its inquiries, the Board maintained the fundamental reason

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for granting a third licence was “so that viewers will have a wider and better choice of programmes”. It also noted a level of “public dissatisfaction” with the quality of programs—including the amount of Australian content—which had been transmitted by existing stations since the commencement of services. On that basis, the Board “called for a reconsideration of the criteria to be applied”. It concluded that successful applicants would need to demonstrate the usual qualities of competence, financial stability, and integrity, as well as “imagination and intelligence in the presentation of programmes”.171 The ABCB also noted the “gradual and, in some cases, substantial” changes in ownership which had occurred at the existing stations. It argued these changes had resulted in a consolidation of ownership and control and “a diminution of the extent of public participation” in licensee companies. While the Board accepted that changes in shareholdings were an inevitable development with public companies, it found the constitution of companies to which it recommended the granting licences should offer stability over the longer term. In February 1963, the ABCB recommended licences be granted to applicants associated with AWA (and others) in Sydney and businessman and aviator Reg Ansett in Melbourne.172 In Brisbane, the ABCB heard from the licensees of existing stations that a third licence should not be granted unless and until the economic capacity for a third station could be demonstrated. Furthermore, the stations argued that such a proposition would not be viable “for some years to come”, and the fact that three stations had been licenced in Sydney and Melbourne was not a valid argument for transferring this pattern to other capital cities. The ABCB, however, was not convinced that additional licences would have a negative impact on financial performance or program quality. On 31 October 1963, it recommended that licences should be granted to applicants associated with Central Queensland Broadcasting Corporation P/L in Brisbane, and Reg Ansett in Melbourne, Adelaide, and (to a lesser extent) Perth (Table 2.3; see also Front Matter, Fig. ii).173 Writing a few years later, Ken Davidson suggested the Menzies government’s decision to grant licences to companies associated with Ansett was to ensure the viability of its two-airline policy.174 Stage 5 stations went to air between August 1964 and July 1965.175 This resulted in three commercial stations for Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, and Adelaide, and two for Perth.176 This fifth stage of television development was significant in that ownership and control of the stations was mostly vested in radio broadcasting and industrial, rather than newspaper, interests. The “Channel 0” stations

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Table 2.3  Stage 5 commercial television stations Licence (by callsign and locality)

Licensee (abbreviation used hereafter)

TEN Sydney (NSW) ATV Melbourne (Vic) TVQ Brisbane (Qld) SAS Adelaide (SA) STW Perth (WA)

United Telecasters Sydney Ltd (USL) Austarama Television P/L (AUL) Universal Telecasters Qld Ltd (UQL) South Australian Telecasters Ltd (SAL) Swan Television Ltd (SVL)

(ATV and TVQ) joined with the “Channel 10” stations (TEN and SAS) to establish the Independent Television System of Australia.177 This was a forerunner to the 0/10 (later Ten) Network. STW became a member of the Nine Network.178 The introduction of a fourth program buying group caused the cost of imported programs to double between 1963 and 1966. This instability was eventually overcome by the establishment of the Australian Overseas Buying Pool as a single point of negotiation with international distributors. There was also a shift towards selling four-city rather than all-­ Australian rights, which enabled the regionals to buy directly from American suppliers.179 Meanwhile, by late 1964, several companies had also sought to circumvent the intention of the government’s 1960 ownership requirement. This involved amending their articles of association to limit the voting rights of a shareholder, no matter how high his shareholding, to a maximum of 15 per cent.180 Sandra Hall cites such efforts as “corporate cunning” outwitting “legislatory skill”.181 In June 1965, the Act was further amended to differentiate a “shareholding” interest (where a person had a beneficial interest in any shares in a company) from a “prescribed” interest (where a person held or controlled a licence, or held more than 5 per cent of voting rights and/or paid shares in a licensee company).182 However, the government also concluded “that there would be serious difficulties in making the provisions … apply retrospectively”, so shareholding arrangements in place prior to 17 December 1964 were grandfathered.183 This decision is significant in that while it sought to limit control on the one hand, on the other it also preserved the television interests of the Fairfax (ATN), Australian Consolidated Press Ltd (TCN/GTV), and Herald and Weekly Times (HSV) newspaper groups in more than the maximum two stations.

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Conclusion The origins of Australia’s broadcasting system to 1960 were founded in the ongoing political brinkmanship between governments which sought to control access to it, and powerful commercial interests who desired to exploit it. The Wireless Telegraphy Act and later the Broadcasting and Television Act provided the basis for regulating electronic media. Radio broadcasting produced the dual system of public and commercial stations. The extension of radio to regional areas created prominent local media ownership groups and established networking as common practice. The ABCB, established in 1949, was charged with introducing the Chifley Labor government’s vision for television, which was to be restricted to a publicly funded service. This was overturned by the Menzies Coalition government which, after coming to power in 1950, favoured a dual system involving the ABC commercial interests. It proceeded to established metropolitan television in three stages between the mid-1950s and mid-­1960s. But it was the government’s 1955 decision to grant Stage 1 commercial television licences to powerful newspaper and radio interests which ultimately proved to be the first liminal moment for regional commercial television. This placed the Sydney and Melbourne stations as the centre of Australia’s television universe and set important precedents regarding their claim on the new medium in other parts of the country. As we will see in Chap. 3, these conditions created a power dynamic which would have immediate and long-term consequences for regional commercial television.

Notes 1. NAA/ACT: A4940, C1814 Part 1: Mendelsohn, 10/4/1959. 2. BTCE 1996, p. 6. 3. Goff 1998, pp. 101-120; Sydney Gazette, 1803, p. 1. 4. Moyal 2014, pp.  459-461; Putnis 2014, pp.  328-329; Osborne and Lewis 2001, pp. 17-22. 5. James Bailey 1979, pp. 510-515, 584-585. 6. Jacka and Johnson 1998, p. 208. 7. Griffen-Foley 2009, pp. 3-4. 8. Curnow 1963, p. 50. 9. Commonwealth, Parliamentary Debates, 26/11/1901, p.  7781. Australia’s first PMG, John Forrest, had held the position for just 16 days, from 1-17/1/1901.

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10. WTA 1905; NAA/NSW: C3548, 4: PMG’s Department, Wireless services, [n.d]. 11. Cunningham 2014, pp. 116-117. 12. Armstrong 1982, p. 21. 13. Commonwealth, Parliamentary Debates, 15/9/1909, pp. 3436-3438. 14. Counihan 1981, p. 3. 15. Armstrong 1982, p. 35, describes the sealed set scheme as being similar in concept to modern subscription television. 16. Faulkner and Corbett 1934, p. 8. 17. Counihan 1981, p. 70. 18. Commonwealth 1924, p. 4. 19. ABCB 1949, p. 3; Harte 2002, p. 68. 20. DOC 1984, p. 9; Cole 1966, p. 18. 21. ABCB 1949, p. 4. 22. NAA/ACT: A2718 VOLUME 5, PART 2: CM, 26/9/1928. 23. DOC 1984, p. 12. 24. Advertiser (Shepparton), 13/3/1925, p. 3. 3WR was resurrected by the Wangaratta Broadcasting Company P/L in 1930 but again proved unpopular. The licensee company was renamed as Goulburn Valley and North Eastern Broadcasters P/L, with the station re-established as 3SR Shepparton. 25. ABCL 1930, p. 12. 26. Foskett 2014, pp. 15-24; Adams 1981. 27. Armstrong 1982, p. 36. 28. Inglis 2006a, p. 16. 29. Griffen-Foley 2009, pp.  423-425 for a list of commercial radio station establishment dates. 30. Griffen-Foley 2009, pp. 10-11. 31. SR No. 14 of 1932; Inglis 2006a, 2006b; Dempster 2014, pp. 42-46. 32. ABCB 1949, p. 4. 33. Daily Standard (Brisbane), 25/5/1923, p. 5. 34. ABCB, 1956, pp. 11-13 for details of major shareholders in broadcasting stations at that time. 35. ABCB, 1960b, 1962b, 1963b, 1965b, 1966b, 1970b, 1975a, 1975b and 1975c. 36. Criticos 2014, pp. 103-104. 37. ABCB, 1958a, p. 11. 38. DOC 1984, p. 14. 39. Truth, 14/1/1934, p. 12. 40. Griffen-Foley 2009, p. 21. 41. CT, 25/10/1935, p. 1; SR No. 104 of 1935. 42. Griffen-Foley 2014, pp. 101-103.

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43. Armstrong, 1984, pp. 36-37; SR No. 120 of 1935. 44. Star (Ballarat), 29/12/1887, p.  4; Beggs Sunter 2005; Moyal 1983, pp. 23-41. 45. Herd 2012, p. 11. 46. http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/sutton-­h enry-­4 675/text7729, accessed 18/6/2019. Sutton’s great granddaughter, Lorayne Branch (2018, pp. 179-189), claims that her grandfather had successfully constructed a working model of his system, which was demonstrated at Ballarat in 1888 and London in 1892. 47. C-Scott 2019. 48. Mercury (Hobart), 10/8/1939, 12. 49. Radiovision, January 1929, p. 1. 50. Long 2009, pp. 61-67. 51. Age (Melbourne), 1/10/1929, p. 13. 52. Age (Melbourne), 3/9/1930, p. 13; 6/9/1930, p. 14. 53. SMH, 6/12/1928, p. 3. 54. Herd 2012, pp. 13-14; Long 2009, pp. 65-66; WA, 28/7/1930, p. 14. 55. Sun (Newcastle), 4/10/1930, p. 3. 56. Hall et al. 1996, pp. 1-16; Herd 2012, p. 15. 57. SMH, 12/11/1935, p. 11. 58. Rennie 2012, pp. 82-84. 59. Herd 2012, pp. 17-21. 60. Australian Broadcasting Act 1942. 61. Cairns Post, 24/6/1942, p. 4. 62. Argus (Melbourne), 15/12/1945, p. 12; UNESCO 1955, pp. 15-16. 63. Commonwealth 1946, p. 40. 64. NAA/ACT: A2700, 1312: Frequency Modulation, 1947. 65. NAA/Vic: MP1228/3, BOX 5: RCOT, Exhibits Vol. 1; NAA/Vic: MP1233/4, 4: ABCB, Hobart licence hearing transcripts, 1958. 66. Curthoys 1996, pp. 123-154. 67. Australian Broadcasting Bill 1948. 68. Senate, Hansard, 9/11/1948, p. 2592. 69. Australian Broadcasting Act 1948. 70. Armstrong 2014, pp. 41-42. 71. Inglis 2006a, pp. 131-132. 72. NAA/NSW: C3548, 11: ABCB, 26/10/1949. 73. ABCB 1949, p. 10. 74. NAA/ACT: A2700, 1312B: CD No. 257, 14/6/1949. 75. West Australian, 15/6/1949, p. 3. 76. SMH, 16/6/1949, p. 9. 77. Express (Armidale), 15/6/1949, p. 8.

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78. http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/chifley-­joseph-­benedict-­ben-­9738/ text17199, accessed 16/6/2019. 79. Herd 2012, pp. 28-30. 80. SMH, 17/1/1950, p. 5. 81. NAA/NSW: C3548/1, 3: ABCB, RCOT, 1953. 82. NAA/NSW: C3548/1, 8: ABCB, Television  – Summary of developments in Australia to June 1952 [n.d.]. 83. NAA/ACT: A4940, C58: CM No. 6, 25/8/1954. 84. NAA/ACT: A4639, 51A: Cabinet Secretary, 29/6/1950. 85. Curthoys 1991, 1996. 86. Herd 2012, pp. 52-53. 87. Counihan 1981; Johnson 1988. 88. Farmer & Settler, 17/4/1953, p. 2. 89. NAA/ACT: A4905, 384: Anthony, 10/1/1953. 90. NAA/ACT: A4905, 384: CD No. 628, 16/1/1953. 91. Commonwealth 1954, p. 12. 92. Television Act 1953. 93. James Bailey 1979, p. 512. 94. Herd 2012, pp. 30-39. 95. NAA/ACT: A462, 547/2: CD No. 635, 23/1/1953. 96. NAA/ACT: A4909, 640: CD No. 640, 5/2/1953. 97. Lovelace 2012, pp. 601-614; Teather 1994, pp. 67-78. 98. Curthoys 1996, p. 141. 99. SMH, 5/3/1953, p. 5. 100. Commonwealth 1954, p. 63. 101. NAA/Vic: MP1228/3, BOX 6: RCOT, Evidence, Francis Howell, 1953. 102. NAA/Vic: MP1228/3, BOX 5: RCOT, Evidence, Brian Foley, 1953. 103. Commonwealth 1954, p.  52; NAA/Vic: MP1228/3, BOX 6: RCOT, Evidence, Barbara Cullen, 1953. 104. Cullen, quoted in Commonwealth 1954, p. 84. 105. Commonwealth 1954, pp. 102-106; ABCB, 1954, pp. 9-11. 106. Armstrong, 1984, pp. 39-40. 107. NLA: MS 4936, Menzies Papers, Box 61, File 213: Moses, letter to Menzies, 8/8/1954. 108. Armstrong 1982, p. 39. 109. Hazlehurst 1983, pp. 104-119. 110. Curthoys 1996, p.  150; NAA/ACT: A4906, VOLUME 2: CM, Television, 28/7/1954. 111. NAA/ACT: A4906, 51: CD No. 51 and 86, 1954 for details of alternative schemes considered by the Menzies government. 112. NAA/ACT: A4906, VOLUME 2: CM, 28/7/1954. 113. NAA/ACT: A4940, C58: CM No. 6, 25/8/1954.

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114. Herd 2012, pp. 39-42. 115. Herd 2014, pp. 104-107. 116. NAA/ACT: A4940, C58: CD No. 86, 10/9/1954; ABCB, 1954, p. 11. 117. CAG, 28/10/1954, p. 3078. 118. ABCB 1955. 119. ABCB 1955, p. 19. 120. ABCB 1955, p. 18. 121. ABCB 1955, pp. 25-27 122. NAA/ACT: A4910, VOLUME 2: CD No. 393, 18/4/1955; ABCB, 1957, p. 29. 123. Broadcasting and Television Act 1956; ABCB 1955; ABCB, 1956, pp. 30; ABCB, 1957, p. 28; Herd 2012, pp. 48-49. Stage 1 stations commenced as follows: TCN (16/9/1956), HSV (4/11/1956), ATN (2/12/1956) and GTV (19/1/1957). 124. Herd 2012, pp. 42-46. 125. ABCB, 1957, p. 52. 126. ABCB, 1975a, p. 12. 127. Barr 1985, p. 15. 128. Kanter 2003, p. 9. 129. Ellis 2000, p. 25. 130. Hastie 2014. 131. Davey 2014, pp. 123-124. 132. Bonner 2014a, pp. 188-189. 133. Rutherford 2014, pp. 91-94. 134. Bye 2014, pp. 462-464. 135. May 2014, pp. 466-468. 136. Bonner 2014b, pp. 243-244; Elder 2014, pp. 476-477. 137. Ellis 2000, p. 25. 138. Shoesmith and Edmonds 2003, p. 222. 139. Tyler Eastman and Ferguson 2013, pp. 287-298. 140. Herd 2012, 2014, pp. 104-107. 141. NAA/ACT: A4910, C1814 Part 1: Durie, 20/6/1957. 142. Herd 2012, pp. 53-56, 96. 143. ABCB, 1958b, p. 20-22; ESM/Appendices/Appendix-1.4. 144. NAA/Vic: MP1170/4, TR/2/1 PART 1: Chippindall, letter to Bednall, 28/2/1956. 145. NAA/Vic: MP1170/4, TR/2/1 Part 1: ABCB, Extract regarding route of proposed coaxial cable [n.d.]. 146. Telecommunications Journal of Australia, Vol. 13, No. 3, February 1962, p. 169. 147. NAA/Vic: MP1170/4, TL/1/1 PART 1: ABCB, Licences  – Policy, 1954-59; Hanson, 2010, pp. 110-131.

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148. NAA/ACT: A463, 1957/2492: Sydney-Melbourne Trunk Line Scheme, 11/6/1957. 149. NAA/ACT: A463, 1957/2492: Coaxial Cable Sydney/Melbourne, 9/3/1962. The Canberra-Sydney section of the cable commenced limited operation in July 1961. 150. AWW, 24/11/1965, p. 15. 151. CT, 10/4/1962, p. 1. 152. NAA/ACT: A4926, 670: Osborne, 15/5/1957. 153. Herd 2012, pp. 56-65. 154. http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/warner-­sir-­arthur-­george-­11967/ text21451, accessed 5/5/2019. 155. Herd 2012, p. 58. 156. ABCB 1958a, pp. 20-21, 28-29. 157. ABCB 1958a, p. 31. 158. House of Representatives, Hansard, 11/9/1958, p. 1119-1120. 159. ABCB 1958b, p. 2. 160. ABCB, 1959b, p. 2; ABCB, 1958a, pp. 22-26; ABCB, 1959a, pp. 26-28; ABCB, 1960a, p. 25. Beck 1984 for a history of BTQ, QTQ, and TVQ Brisbane. 161. Hall 1976, p. 76. 162. NAA/ACT: A4943, 408: CD No. 408, 25/8/1959. 163. NAA/ACT: A4940, C1814 Part 1: Bunting, 25/8/1959. 164. NAA/ACT: A5818, Volume 8/Agendum 370: Davidson, 28/8/1959. 165. NAA/ACT: A5818, Volume 8/Agendum 370: CD No. 439, 8/9/1959. 166. Hall 1976, pp. 40-41; NAA/ACT: A1838, 575/1 Part 1: Department of External Affairs, Circular Memorandum No. 46/60, 30/6/1960; BTA 1960. 167. ABCB, 1959a, p. 28; ABCB, 1960a, p. 28; Herd 2012, p. 64. In 1960, the Warner family sold their interest in Electronic Industries to Pye of England; however, Arthur Warner remained as managing director. The change in Electronic Industries shareholding was necessary to remedy a breach of foreign ownership rules under the BTA 1960. 168. Dick 2015. 169. ABCB 1963a, p. 3; Herd 2012, p. 75; CAG, 8/3/1962, p. 819. 170. ABCB 1963a, p. 60. 171. ABCB 1963a, pp. 68-69. 172. ABCB 1963a, pp. 101-107; 1963b, p. 59. 173. ABCB 1963b. 174. Davidson 1968, p. 15. 175. ABCB, 1963a, pp.  39-48; ABCB, 1964, pp.  42-50; ABCB, 1965a, p. 34, 50. 176. Walden 2003.

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177. CT, 30/1/1965, p. 14. 178. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-1.4. 179. Herd 2012, pp. 103-105. 180. ABCB, 1964, p. 37. 181. Hall 1976, p. 24. 182. Broadcasting and Television Act 1965. 183. ABCB, 1965a, pp. 37-42.

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Griffen-Foley, Bridget. ‘Commercial Radio Australia’, in Bridget Griffen-Foley (ed.), A Companion to the Australian Media (North Melbourne: Australian Scholarly Publishing, 2014), pp. 101-103. Hall, Jay, Jonathan Prangnall and Bruno David. ‘The Tower Mill: an archaeological excavation of Queensland’s most extant building’, Queensland Archaeological Research, Vol. 10, (1996), pp. 1-16. Hall, Sandra. Supertoy (Melbourne: Sun Books, 1976). Harte, Bernard. When Radio Was the Cat’s Whiskers (Dural, NSW: Rosenberg, 2002). Hastie, Madeleine. ‘Free to Air: A History of Sydney’s Commercial Television Programming, 1956-2012’, PhD thesis, Macquarie University, 2014. Hazlehurst, Cameron. ‘The Advent of Commercial Television’, Australian Cultural History, No. 2, 1983, pp. 104-119. Herd, Nick. Networking: Commercial Television in Australia (Sydney: Currency House, 2012). Herd, Nick. ‘Commercial Television Networks’, in Bridget Griffen-Foley (ed.), A Companion to the Australian Media (North Melbourne: Australian Scholarly Publishing, 2014), pp. 104-107. Inglis, Ken. This is the ABC: The Australian Broadcasting Commission, 1932-1983 (Melbourne: Black Inc, 2006a). Inglis, Ken. Whose ABC? The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 1983-2000 (Melbourne: Black Inc, 2006b). Jacka, Liz, and Lesley Johnson. ‘Australia,” in Anthony Smith (ed.), Television: An International History (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998), pp. 208-222. James Bailey, Julie. ‘Australian Television: Why It Is The Way It Is’, Cinema Papers (September-October 1979), pp. 510-515, 584-585. Johnson, Lesley. The Unseen Voice: A Cultural Study of Early Australian Radio (London: Routledge, 1988). Kanter, Hal. ‘Hope Everlasting’, Television Week, Vol. 22, No. 31, 8 April 2003, p. 9. Long, Chris. ‘The Forgotten Beginnings of Australian Television’, Australian Heritage (Spring 2009), pp. 61-67. Lovelace, Norma. ‘History of the Queensland Country Women’s Association: More Than Tea and Scones’, Queensland History Journal, Vol. 21, No. 9 (May 2012), pp. 601-614. May, Harvey. ‘Television drama’, in Bridget Griffen-Foley (ed.), A Companion to the Australian Media (North Melbourne: Australian Scholarly Publishing, 2014), pp. 466-468 Moyal, Ann. ‘Telecommunications in Australia: An Historical Perspective, 1854-1930’, Prometheus, Vol. 1, No. 1 (June 1983), pp. 23-41, DOI: https:// doi.org/10.1080/08109028308628914.

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Moyal, Ann. ‘Telecommunications’, in Bridget Griffen-Foley (ed.), A Companion to the Australian Media (North Melbourne: Australian Scholarly Publishing, 2014), p. 459-461. Osborne, Graeme and Lewis, Glen. Communication Traditions in Australia (South Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 2001). Putnis, Peter. ‘Overland Telegraph Line’, in Bridget Griffen-Foley (ed.), A Companion to the Australian Media (North Melbourne: Australian Scholarly Publishing, 2014), p. 328-329. Rennie, Richard. Encyclopedia of Western Australian Wirelesses and Gramophones. (Melville, WA: Papyrus, 2012). Rutherford, Leonie. ‘Children and the Media’, in Bridget Griffen-Foley (ed.), A Companion to the Australian Media (North Melbourne: Australian Scholarly Publishing, 2014), pp. 91-94. Shoesmith, Brian and Edmonds, Leigh. ‘Making Culture Out of the Air’, in Geoffrey Bolton, Richard Rossiter and Jan Ryan (eds.), Farewell Cinderella: Creating Arts and Identity in Western Australia (Crawley, WA: UWA Press, 2003), pp. 203-240. Teather, Elizabeth. ‘The Country Women’s Association in the 1920s and 1930s as a Counter-revolutionary Organisation’, Journal of Australian Studies, Vol. 18, No. 41 (June 1994), pp. 67-78. Tyler Eastman, Susan and Douglas A. Ferguson, Media Programming: Strategies and Practices, 9th ed (Boston, MA: Wadsworth, 2013). UNESCO. Television: A World Survey Supplement 1955 (Paris, UNESCO, 1955). Walden, Mal. From The Word Go! Forty Years of Ten Melbourne (Melbourne: Network Ten, 2003).

CHAPTER 3

Monopolies and Manoeuvres

As with radio so, too, can the local television stations, through cameramen out in the countryside, penetrate into the heart of country life, show its problems, and enlist the sympathy of all in solving them.1 —Regional broadcaster, 1959

Since the early 1950s, state premiers, local government bodies, chambers of commerce, and others had lobbied the federal government to introduce television to regional areas.2 Such efforts gained momentum after the ABCB called applicants for Sydney and Melbourne. In August 1955, the acting town clerk at Forbes Shire Council, S.T. Gale, wrote to the Federal Member for Calare, John Howse, with a request that “when television is available for country areas, this section of the Central West be given a priority for such a service”. Similar representations were received from organisations across the state, including the Guyra, Narrabri, Nowra, Shoalhaven and Wellington Chambers of Commerce, Grenfell, Kempsey and Jindalee Shire Councils, and the Yanco Progress Association.3 Meanwhile, several regional newspaper, radio, and other business interests established companies in readiness to apply for regional commercial television licences. The first of these included Television Wollongong Transmissions Ltd (TWL) on 4 October 1955, and Newcastle Broadcasting and Television Corporation Ltd (NBL) on 15 May 1958.4 Metropolitan stations, too, were making plans to spread their tentacles into regional

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areas. Newcastle and Wollongong were the epicentres of this interest, as both were close enough to Sydney for signal coverage areas to overlap. In 1955, even before the Sydney stations had opened, TCN’s Frank Packer approached NBL’s Stewart Lamb with an offer of programs and financial backing. Lamb was initially supportive of such an association but later changed his mind when it became apparent that preference for regional licences would be given to local applicants not associated with the metropolitan stations.5 In December 1956, Packer wrote to TWL with an offer “to co-operate with you and if a station is established in Wollongong, be in it with you”.6 In May 1957, Clive Ogilvy (who had resigned from the ABCB to join the Macquarie Broadcasting Service) made a similar approach. Ogilvy became a director of TWL which, by June 1957, had distanced itself from Packer. In early 1959, ATN’s Jim Oswin approached the directors of TWL to become a shareholder in that company, but this offer was rejected.7 Oswin and Rupert Henderson then made a similar offer to NBL on behalf of ATN. Lamb rejected the advance, which reportedly provoked Henderson into threatening to withhold programs: He thumped the table and said: “I tell you that you can’t do it on your own. It is impossible, because we own all the prints in this country, and when we have completed … screening we will return these prints to … the United States”.8

Lamb inferred that his rejection of the Sydney stations’ advances would likely cause Packer to apply for a Newcastle licence, which would then prompt ATN to do the same (see note 6). In light of such threats, Lamb joined with other regional applicants to establish Australian Television Facilities P/L (ATF) for the joint buying of programs. As we will see later in this chapter, this threat to the metropolitan stations’ supremacy would bring the Newcastle and Wollongong stations to the brink of bankruptcy and demonstrate the inability of the PMG and ABCB to constrain the ambitions of powerful commercial interests. But Packer was also making plans to bypass the emerging regional television companies altogether. On 4 December 1958, he wrote to both PMG Davidson and the ABCB with a proposal to extend TCN’s signal into Newcastle, Wollongong, Canberra, and the Central Tablelands of New South Wales. On the same day, the company’s Canberra manager, Ken Schapel, forwarded a copy of its proposals to the acting Secretary of the PM’s Department, John Bunting, along with an invitation to make

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personal contact if more information was required.9 Such approaches demonstrate the extent of the company’s influence at the highest levels of government as well as the lengths to which its executives would go to gain a stranglehold on regional television. The PM’s response is unknown; however, Packer’s efforts to control country television—even before it began—would (at least in the short term) prove to be unsuccessful. Similar proposals were put forward by the other metropolitan stations. ATN proposed to establish relay stations in the same areas with at least some of these stations to be operated by “independent companies”. GTV’s Arthur Warner suggested that relay stations should be established in five or six centres in regional Victoria for the retransmission of Melbourne programs. HSV formally applied to establish low power relay stations at Ballarat, Bendigo, and Traralgon “and in such other areas in Victoria as may be desired” to retransmit its programs (see note 2). In the meantime, consumer demand for television in regional areas continued to grow. In February 1959, the ABCB advised PMG Davidson of the “surprisingly high number” of viewers’ licences issued to residents of regional areas outside the expected coverage of the Sydney and Melbourne stations which indicated “that public interest in the services will be, at least, as great in provincial and rural areas as the capital cities”.10 It recommended the PMG approve a third stage in television development which would extend services to 13 of the most populous areas in regional Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, and Tasmania, including Newcastle, Wollongong, Canberra, Orange, Ballarat, Bendigo, Toowoomba, Townsville, and Launceston. Predictably, communities which had been omitted from the government’s immediate plans expressed their disappointment. This discontent was especially acute in the northern and Riverina regions of New South Wales, whose representatives had lobbied to be among the first regional areas to receive a television service.11 On 10 March 1959, Davidson told Cabinet “there is a very real public demand for television stations in provincial and country areas and some impatience at the delay in meeting this demand”.12 The extension to the 13 areas nominated by the ABCB would increase the potential television audience from 60 to 75 per cent of the population.13 Davidson argued this consideration, together with recent economic improvements, meant the extension of services to these areas would not have any adverse effect on the economy. But Davidson was, as discussed in Chap. 2, increasingly concerned by the extent to which Sydney and Melbourne interests had secured control of stations in Brisbane and Adelaide. In that context, he

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also considered the potential for them to dominate regional television. The PMG told Cabinet he was—apparently at the suggestion of the Prime Minister—“inclined to think … there would be some advantage in exploring the situation unofficially” with potential licensees “to determine the precise areas in respect of which applications should be invited” (see note 2). In early April 1959, radio industry stalwart Jack Ridley provided the Minister for Labour and National Service, William McMahon, and the ABCB’s Robert Osborne with his views on regional television.14 Ridley was well-regarded—and connected—in broadcasting, business, and political circles. In his letter, Ridley addressed the ABCB chairman, Robert Osborne, as “Dear Bob”, which indicates his good relations with senior government officials. In 1949, he had been appointed as a member of the ABCB’s Broadcasting Advisory Committee for New South Wales.15 In 1953, he had assisted the Royal Commission on Television by providing much evidence in his capacities as a former president of FABCS,16 the chairman of 2GZ Orange, and director of 2NZ Inverell, and a likely future applicant for a regional commercial television licence.17 In late 1955, Ridley had travelled to north America to study developments in television and their impacts on radio broadcasting.18 In 1960, CBL (of which Ridley was chairman) was granted the Central Tablelands commercial television licence. In 1962, it was one of the first three companies to be granted a second Australian commercial television licence by the government, for the Central Western Slopes area. Ridley identified five possible operating models for regional stations: (a) a direct, owned, and operated relay of a metropolitan station; (b) a direct relay of a metropolitan station but not owned by it; (c) an independent, locally owned station which relayed programs from any one of the metropolitan stations including the national station; (d) an independent, locally owned station without relay facilities reliant wholly on filmed programs; and (e) an independent, locally owned station without any exclusive network affiliation, free to take relays from any one of the metropolitan stations, but equipped to supply local program material and advertising. Unsurprisingly, Ridley seemed to favour the last option, citing local television in both Canada and the United States as examples. Furthermore, he maintained a population of at least 100,000 would be needed to adequately support one independent, locally owned, high-powered station. Less populous areas could be served by a low-powered station on relay from the nearest provincial station “thus ensuring the local (program) and

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public service content, so necessary to integrate the station with the community it serves”. Ridley also argued that, even if country areas were given a choice of one national and two commercial stations, “any such advantage would be offset by the absence of local program material unless the local commercial station was in a position to devote time and money to the finding and encouragement of local talent”. On 10 April, Cabinet decided there were two key questions of policy which had to be addressed before any extension of service could be approved, namely the number of stations to be established in each area and whether these stations should be owned and controlled by local independent companies or existing metropolitan television interests (see note 12). Cabinet asked the Prime Minister, the Attorney-General, and the PMG to investigate the likely impact of the establishment of a “satellite” operation linked to a metropolitan station on the formation and operation of “local” stations in the same regional area. Despite an apparent suggestion from Menzies—and approaches from Jack Ridley and others—the ABCB advised the PMG “it would be both improper and dangerous” to consult with “local” companies (affiliated with the likes of Ridley and Lamb) which would be seeking licences as this could be misconstrued as favouritism. The note for the PMG concluded “the only proper and safe course” was to call applications for examination by the Board.19 In April 1959, the Assistant Secretary of the PM’s Department, Ron Mendelsohn, told Cabinet that “we can summon no real enthusiasm for the extension of television services to further areas, but we think that the volume of public demand is such that the movement is almost inevitable”. While there “may be some semblance of local ownership”, Mendelsohn believed “these stations would be the puppets of the Sydney and Melbourne chains”. He was sceptical about whether genuine local interests would emerge and—if they did—whether they could be “protected from strangulation by the metropolitan interests”. Mendelsohn was also worried about a backlash from the regional areas which had been omitted from Stage 3. He suggested “any announcement of the decision should foreshadow further developments to other areas, to the extent that these are justified”. In an amazingly accurate foretelling of developments many years into the future, Mendelsohn suggested the most appropriate course of action might simply be “to capitulate from the beginning and let the two groups extend their hold over the country areas (since) … events may prove … the Government might as well have done it from the very beginning”.

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In April 1959, PMG Davidson formally announced the government’s decision to extend television to the 13 previously nominated regional centres. His announcement triggered the establishment of yet more companies with aspirations to secure a licence. More than 30 applicant companies were established in 1959 alone.20 Many were headed by existing radio and newspaper proprietors including 2GZ’s Jack Ridley, 4AY’s Jack Gleeson (Box 3.1), and Canberra Times chairman Arthur Shakespeare.21 Television, as in radio, also attracted various entrepreneurs who sought to capitalise on its expansion to new areas. In May 1959, Australia Fair, a private company whose principals included Neil Maver, a director of TCN, submitted to the ABCB a proposal to conduct a railway exhibition to promote trade and stimulate consumer demand for goods (including television) across regional New South Wales. The exposition, which was planned to commence on Australia Day, 1960, promised entertainments including lectures, films, fashion parades, fireworks, processions, and bands with performances by artists “of a quality never before presented outside the capital cities”.22 Intriguingly, the company had, for unknown reasons, decided against mounting a portable transmitter on its trains. Instead, it proposed to obtain licences to erect temporary television transmitters in the dozens of areas to be visited. This, combined with the involvement of Maver, raises the possibility that Frank Packer might have considered this enterprise as a back door into regional television. But ABCB chairman, Robert Osborne, was unsure as to how such an “absurd” scheme might even fit under the Broadcasting and Television Act and Australia Fair failed to materialise.23

Box 3.1  John (Jack) Gleeson • Type: Oral history interview • Interviewed by: Danny O’Neill, 11 March 2012 • NFSA reference: 1056817

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Later that same month, Davidson invited applications for the first 13 regional areas.24 Applicants were asked to provide basic company details as well as proposed financial, technical, and program arrangements for establishing the stations. They were also required to state whether they expected to operate an exclusive commercial service (i.e. one station), a competitive service (i.e. two stations), or both.25 The ABCB received 45 applications including eight from companies to be formed on behalf of existing metropolitan television interests, eight from companies in which existing metropolitan television interests were shareholders, and four from companies associated with electronics manufacturer Pye Industries Ltd. The remaining 21 were from independent applicants sponsored by regional newspaper, radio, and business interests. Some applications were arguably more feasible, and realistic, than others. Percival Yeomans, an applicant for the Central Tablelands licence, proposed a viewing schedule which included live farming demonstrations beamed from a studio built on his property near Orange.26 His application was remarkable for its proposal to provide a complete farm television station, equipped with outdoor runways for cameras. Unsurprisingly, the cross-examination questioned whether local audiences—particularly those residing in major towns—and advertisers would be attracted to a station so rural in character. When questioned as to whether audiences would have “(an) interest in seeing herds of cattle on your farm”, Yeomans responded, “I think so. They like it in (the American western television series) Rawhide”.27 In August 1960, the ABCB presented the PMG with two options. If one licence was to be allocated for each area, it recommended they be granted to 13 non-associated applicants. If two licences were to be made, it suggested they be awarded to companies associated with metropolitan stations from which they would be operated on an exclusive and practically continuous relay. In any case, the ABCB indicated the only areas likely to support more than one station were Newcastle, Illawarra, Canberra, and Central Tablelands.28 In October, Cabinet decided at the urging of the Country Party to grant just one licence in each area.29 Furthermore, it accepted that the association of local newspaper and radio interests “with their experience and knowledge of local interest not elsewhere easily obtainable” was both an advantage and a “natural development” (Box 3.2).30

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Box 3.2  Second liminal moment

The government’s decision to grant just one commercial television licence in each area was the industry’s second liminal moment. This established valuable state-sanctioned monopolies which were controlled by existing regional radio, newspaper, and business interests. But it also thwarted the networking plans of the metropolitan stations. As we will see later in this chapter, these conditions led to a chain of events which threatened to bankrupt several stations and created a dynamic between regional and metropolitan television interests that would persist for the next six decades. Menzies government’s decision to grant the first Sydney and Melbourne commercial television licences, and ownership of the transmitters, to powerful metropolitan newspaper interests was arguably the first liminal moment for regional commercial television. Trevor Barr cites this as defining the “destiny” for control of commercial television in the rest of Australia.31 This decision, coupled with the establishment of the first networks, set up a dynamic which would dominate the industry for decades to come.

Nevertheless, in announcing the successful applicants in November (Table  3.1; see also Front Matter, Fig. ii), PMG Davidson stressed the decision to grant one licence in each area must not to be taken to indicate a permanent or exclusive arrangement in perpetuity.32

Station Establishment The PMG’s notification gave successful applicants the certainty required to raise funds from public share offers and commence construction. In all cases, Stage 3 studios were accommodated in purpose-built facilities. In the first arrangement of its kind, RTN was co-located with the Northern Star and 2LM at Goonellabah, east of Lismore.33 BCV was situated on the southern slopes of Old Chum Hill, a former gold mine. A newspaper reported there were “no working gold mines left in Bendigo, although many people in the district call their (television) station the ‘local gold mine’”.34 This latter remark was seemingly a reference to the profitability of regional commercial television if not its anticipated entertainments.

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Table 3.1  Stage 3 commercial television stations Licence (by callsign and locality)

Licensee (abbreviation used hereafter)

BCV Bendigo (Vic)

Bendigo and Central Victoria Telecasters Ltd (BCL) Ballarat and Western Victoria Television Ltd (BTL) Country Television Services Ltd (CBL) Canberra Television Ltd (CTL) Darling Downs TV Ltd (DTL) Gippsland-Latrobe Valley Telecasters Ltd (GVL) Goulburn Murray Television Ltd (GML) Newcastle B’casting & Television Corp Ltd (NBL) Richmond Tweed TV Ltd (RTL)

BTV Ballarat (Vic) CBN Central Tablelands (Orange, NSW) CTC Canberra (ACT) DDQ Darling Downs (Toowoomba, Qld) GLV Latrobe Valley (Traralgon, Vic) GMV Goulburn Valley (Shepparton, Vic) NBN Newcastle (NSW) RTN Richmond-Tweed Heads (Lismore, NSW) RTQ Rockhampton (Qld) TNQ Townsville (Qld) TNT NE Tasmania (Launceston, Tas) WIN Illawarra (Wollongong, NSW)

Rockhampton Television Ltd (RKL) Telecasters North Queensland Ltd (TQL) Northern Television Ltd (NTL) Television Wollongong Transmissions Ltd (TWL)

BTV (Ballarat, Vic) was typical of the larger Stage 3 stations. Its key operational areas are shown in a series of photographs taken by renowned architectural and industrial photographer Wolfgang Sievers. It is possible he was engaged by the station or its architects, Hassell and McConnell (who subsequently designed ATV Melbourne’s Nanawading studios), to commemorate the station just prior to its opening in 1962. Sievers was clearly interested in capturing the modernity of television: he also photographed the newly constructed ATV studios in 1964.35 BTV’s studio was located on four-and-a-half acres  of land at Walker Street in the north-eastern corner of the city. A feature in the Ballarat Courier, one of BTL’s main sponsors, is notable for its detailed description of the station’s layout. It reported that the “modern, attractive and utilitarian” building contained 15,620 square feet of space and was constructed from 120,000 bricks, 3300 bags of cement, and 45 tons of steel (Fig. 3.1). The station’s main entrance included an ornamental garden display. The foyer and reception area had been “most tastefully … executed” with decorated wall panels (Fig. 3.2). The administrative area included offices and a canteen furnished with “most modern, highest quality carpets, furniture, venetian blinds and drapes” from the Myer department store in Ballarat.36

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Fig. 3.1  BTV Ballarat, studio building exterior, 1962. Copyright Wolfgang Sievers. Image courtesy of State Library of Victoria, pictures collection (MP022885)

The main studio, measuring 55 feet by 40 feet, was insulated throughout with double walls and six-inch double doors for sound control (see Front Matter, Fig. i). The roof was “of special construction, concrete, sand and tar being used for sound proofing”. A smaller presentation studio measuring 20 feet by 18 feet was provided “for news and intimate type” programs such as interviews and panel discussions. The studio was overlooked by the master control room and announcer’s booth. The master control room was the station’s “nerve centre”, co-ordinating signals from the studio cameras (for live programs) and telecine chains (for programs on film) for broadcast (Fig. 3.3). Provision was made above the master control area for a future studio control room (Fig. 3.4). The film room was used for all processing, editing, and checking activities (Fig. 3.5). The telecine area accommodated two vidicon telecine chains with 16mm Bell and Howell projectors and an RCA slide projector (Fig. 3.6). In an interesting sidenote, BTV was itself depicted as the scene of the electrocution murders of two quiz show contestants in a 2013 episode of the popular ABC series the Doctor Blake Mysteries. Despite the fictional storyline and liberal use of artistic licence—most notably citing BTV’s frequency as “Channel 8” rather than “Channel 6”—the

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Fig. 3.2  BTV Ballarat, studio reception, 1962. Copyright Wolfgang Sievers. Image courtesy of National Library of Australia (3309208)

portrayal hints at a once-flourishing regional television industry which played an important role in local economies.37 Studio exteriors ranged from the utilitarian to the ornate. TNT’s studio façade was finished with a sculpture panel by prominent local sculptor Stephen Walker. The work, entitled “Corroboree”, featured dancing figures in welded bronze relief on a background of salt-glazed tiles of irregular shape. This theme was chosen to represent the world of entertainment, in which the sculpture’s welded bronze rods and wires and enamel discs hinted at the electronic transmission and reception of television and radio. The complex also contained a courtyard garden with cast bronze fountain.38

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Fig. 3.3  BTV Ballarat, master control, 1962. Copyright Wolfgang Sievers. Image courtesy of State Library of Victoria, pictures collection (MP022881)

Transmission sites were mostly separate to—but in line-of-sight from— the studio. The main exceptions were at Canberra (ACT) and Townsville (Qld) where studios and transmitters were co-located. Radiators were usually situated on the most elevated piece of land in the area to avoid interference from natural and man-made structures. George Barlin, in a 1990 oral history interview (Box 3.3), recalls using a model of the local topography and a small light bulb (representing the transmitter) to identify the preferred location for the CTC transmission site according to where the shadows fell.39

Box 3.3  George Barlin • Type: Oral history interview • Interviewed by: Terry Calhoun, 4–18 May 1990 • NFSA reference: 224309

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Fig. 3.4  BTV Ballarat, studio and gallery area, 1962. Copyright Wolfgang Sievers. Image courtesy of State Library of Victoria, pictures collection (MP022883)

In most cases, site preparation necessitated the construction of an access road and provision of power supplies through rugged (and often snake-­ infested) bushland. The ABCB noted the considerable difficulties associated with terrain and climate at many sites.40 The situation was especially challenging in Townsville, where the station and transmitter were situated on remote Mount Stuart, more than 20  kilometres south of the city (Box 3.4).

Box 3.4  TNQ Townsville, Mount Stuart” • Type: Audio-visual recording • Produced by: TNQ Townsville (Qld), 1962 • NFSA reference: 408302

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Fig. 3.5  BTV Ballarat, film room, 1962. Copyright Wolfgang Sievers. Image courtesy of State Library of Victoria, pictures collection (MP022882)

In some areas, commercial transmission facilities were co-located with those of the ABC. BTV commenced service using a separate aerial on a shared mast in April 1962. RTQ commenced operation in September 1963 using a shared mast and transmission facilities operated by the PMG’s Department. The ABCB anticipated such arrangements would be commonplace in later stages of television development.41 Transmission masts were supplied by firms including Johns and Waygood Ltd and in many cases were erected by teams of migrant riggers who had settled in Australia from southern Europe after the Second World War. Italian riggers were renowned for their agility and fearlessness when working in strong winds or poor weather.42 TNT’s aerial system at Mount Barrow was completely enclosed in a cylindrical fibre glass radome to protect it from ice damage.43 The A-frame transmitter building was described as having a chalet-style roof similar to those in Switzerland and the Bavarian Alps where extremely low temperatures were experienced.44

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Fig. 3.6  BTV Ballarat, technical area, 1962. Copyright Wolfgang Sievers. Image courtesy of National Library of Australia (4503650)

Regional stations were generally equipped with two vidicon cameras operating in a single studio of moderate size. Larger stations such as CBN employed four-and-a-half-inch image orthicon cameras in its main studio, with a single vidicon camera in a second, smaller presentation studio. In a pre-opening feature spread, the Launceston Examiner described TNT’s studio floor as a “smooth and silent” surface “made up of cork, sawdust and liquid plastic”. The studio equipment was usually operated in conjunction with at least two vidicon telecine “chains” which comprised film and slide projectors connected to a television camera. The telecine process enabled motion picture images on film to be captured and broadcast at the higher frame-per-second rate required for television. One slide projector could be used for studio tests or previews while the other was on air. Each telecine chain included a caption scanner which was used to reproduce caption cards, photographs, “or a clock which will be used frequently for time checks”.45 Technical equipment (and training) was supplied by companies including AWA, Philips, and Marconi. The transportation of

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delicate electrical equipment over poor-quality roads took several days and sometimes weeks. Programs were relayed from the studio to the transmission site via a line-of-sight radio link. In some cases, considerably longer studio-­ transmitter link paths than those previously employed were in use. BTV’s booster installation at Mount Buninyong (having a direct 75-mile line-of-­ sight with the metropolitan transmitters) would pick up signals from the Melbourne stations.46 These were conveyed to the Ballarat studio by two south-facing microwave dishes installed behind specially designed fibreglass windows on the roof, then relayed in a westerly direction to the Lookout Hill transmitter. All Stage 3 stations transmitted with a power of 100 kW e.r.p. (see note 40). Personnel were employed in sales, administrative, programs, and technical roles. Some had experience in radio, metropolitan, and even international television. TNQ’s managing director Jack Gleeson had worked at 4TO and 4CA before acquiring 4AY in 1950. Chief announcer Jack Grant was the breakfast announcer at 4BU.  Chief engineer Peter Crosthwaite joined from the ABC’s Hobart television station. Program supervisor John Phillips had spent six years at HSV. Film supervisor Trevor Hayward brought extensive experience from working in Britain and Canada, as well as with ATN, ABN, and ABQ. Sales manager Keith Christensen had been employed by National Cash Register (NCR). The station’s “hostess”, Glenice Hodges, was previously a teacher at Hermit Park Infants’ School.47 Elsewhere, BTV announcer Valerie Oldfield had gained presentation experience at Anglia Television in Norwich,48 while TNT program producer Joan Pratt had worked at Associated Television in Birmingham and London, and Southern Television in Southampton.49 The majority of employees were new to the world of television. CBN staff members were provided with a handbook, “You and CBN-8” which set out the company structure, work standards, facilities, awards, hours of work, pay and entitlements, company property, security and workplace health, and safety arrangements applicable to their employment (Box 3.5).

Box 3.5  “You and CBN-8” • Type: Document • Produced by: CBN Central Tablelands (Orange, NSW), c.1965 • NFSA reference: 1054651

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Callsigns and frequencies were allocated to stations on a progressive basis.50 Licensees were asked to nominate their preferred frequencies for ABCB approval. CBL (CBN) had, for example, nominated CTN as its preferred call-sign; however, this was rejected by the Board for unknown reasons. ABCB inspections of GLV, GMV, and BCV in December 1961 found management and their staffs working at “top pressure”.51 Test patterns were aired in the lead-up to commencing regular transmission. RTN conducted daily tests using a video pattern and music between 10.00 am and noon.52 Retailers used these transmissions to tune the AWA, Philips, Astor, and HMV sets being sold to the public. Crowds frequently gathered on footpaths outside electronics retailers to watch test transmissions (Box 3.6). Test pattern advertising was permitted subject to certain conditions. In December 1961, the ABCB was informed that EIL had tried unsuccessfully to obtain exclusive test pattern advertising at GLV, GMV, and BCV. In December 1961, the latter station received numerous complaints from Bendigo residents that its test patterns were “blocking” signals from the Melbourne stations (see note 51). This issue of overlapping would be a constant headache for both stations and viewers in the first years of operation. Local newspapers (as co-sponsors) frequently cross-promoted stations in the lead-up to their opening. In Ballarat and Launceston, for example, the Courier and Examiner each devoted many pages to pre-opening spreads which covered most aspects of station preparations. In addition, editorials instructed the “television hostess” on how to “look elegant when she opens the door to her callers”. Readers were warned that “long sessions lounging in an armchair have been found to play havoc with formal day and evening wear”. They were advised “the accent for all-evening viewing is on informality” and recommended an ensemble of “tapered

Box 3.6  Crowds watch test transmissions • Type: Photograph • Produced by: Astor Electronics, 1962 • NFSA reference: 809738

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slacks in brilliant, solid colours topped with (blouses) in futuristic designs”.53 The most prolific advertisers included electronics manufacturers AWA, Philips, Astor, and HMV along with antenna installation and hire-­purchase firms. “Telesurance” companies warned anxious consumers to protect themselves against costly repairs, picture tube failures, fire, theft, accidental damage, and occasional adjustments.54 Radio Rentals touted itself as a lower-cost alternative to set ownership.55 Others, such as the Newcastle and Suburban Co-operative department store, sought to capitalise on the “glamour” of television through a process of associating its retail products with the local television station in newspaper advertisements.56 In contrast, non-associated newspapers provided little if any television-­ related content apart from paid advertising.57 Features included updates on station construction, consumer-related information such as “how a television works”, and guidelines to assist when purchasing a receiver.58 But not all stations were well received by other media. In Townsville, the Daily Bulletin sought, on one hand, to invest in television by acquiring shares in TNQ, but also refused to promote the station since it was also a competitor. ABCB program services director, Adrian Jose, remarked the newspaper’s stance was, perhaps, “inevitable”, given its hostile attitude towards local radio stations over many years.59 Television, as with radio, influenced new styles of furniture “to suit television viewing conditions”.60 Modular lounge suites “fitted with special fittings to hold glasses or ashtrays” were said to “save space and are ideal for family or party viewing”. In addition, “special types of crockery, larger ashtrays, new types of food trolleys and many other furniture refinements” had been introduced. Television had also “produced a revolution in lighting” with wall, floor and table lamps designed “for more comfortable television viewing”.61 In 1961, the Gippsland Times even reported that a local resident had returned from the historic Italian city of Pompeii with a “delightful TV lamp”; such was the excitement surrounding the impending arrival of television in the local area.62 The PMG’s Department reminded the public of the need to obtain a television viewer’s licence. In March 1962, a survey of towns around Orange, in central NSW, found that dozens of licences had been issued; however, enquiries at electrical retailers suggested these represented a fraction of the sets installed. Unlicensed viewers were liable for a fine of up to £100 or six months’ gaol—or both.63

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Opening Night Opening night was the culmination of many years’ effort from staff and sponsors. As one editorial pointed out, only those directly associated with the establishment of the station could appreciate the planning, engineering and technical skill, initial vision, and sheer hard work which preceded the start of regular transmission.64 Station management often marked the event with an invitation-only function for company directors and local dignitaries. In Townsville, more than 100 guests were treated to dinner at the Hotel Allen.65 The ABCB described the evening as “one of Townsville’s most glittering affairs for a long time” and estimated the cost at several hundred pounds.66 Australia’s first regional commercial television station, GLV Latrobe Valley commenced regular service from its Traralgon (Vic) studio at 5.45pm on Saturday, 9 December 1961 (Fig.  3.7). The opening night program was introduced by station announcer Don Ewart; unfortunately, Ewart’s first words were not heard as his microphone was switched off. GLV was officially opened by ABCB chairman Robert Osborne.67 Special guests included entertainers Bobby Limb, Horrie Dargie, Johnny Chester, and Happy Hammond.68 The first-night program included Touring Gippsland, which featured footage of the local area; Jungle Jim starring Johnny Weismuller; Whirlybirds; Kovacs on Music; and the BP Super Show. Results from that day’s federal election were also relayed to the new commercial station from the ABC’s national tally room (Box 3.7). The remaining Stage 3 stations were put to air over the next three years. NBN Newcastle, the first station in New South Wales, commenced operation on 4 March 1962 (Box 3.8). This was followed by CBN Central Tablelands, then CTC Canberra (Box 3.9). Box 3.7  GLV Latrobe Valley, establishment • Type: Audio-visual recording • Produced by: GLV Latrobe Valley (Traralgon, Vic), c.1961 • NFSA reference: 788850

Box 3.8  NBN Newcastle, establishment • Type: Audio-visual recording • Produced by: NBN Newcastle (NSW), 2012 • NFSA reference: 1053704

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Fig. 3.7  GLV Latrobe Valley, studio exterior, c.1961. Image courtesy of State Library of Victoria, Pictures Collection, Rose Stenograph Company (RG009387)

Box 3.9  CTC Canberra, establishment • Type: Audio-visual material • Produced by: CTC Canberra (ACT), 1962 • NFSA reference: 568609 In all cases, commercial stations commenced ahead of the national broadcaster.69 Viewers crowded around newly installed sets in private homes, hotels, clubs, and outside local electrical retailers. In Orange, “hundreds of viewers” reportedly “blocked Summer (Street) footpaths as they jostled to see screens” where “police ordered a number of viewers who were blocking the footpaths with make-shift seats to remove them and clear a path”.70 CBN’s Bathurst Road studio was “flooded with hundreds of congratulatory telegrams and telephone calls” from across the viewing area despite a minor technical fault (see note 70). In Townsville, a film handler reportedly omitted to load a reel of film for the evening’s feature movie, The Great Ziegfeld, which resulted in the lead character mysteriously acquiring a new wife with no explanation. Interestingly, the station did not receive a single complaint.71

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Early Tensions The government’s decision to exclude the metropolitan stations from regional television resulted in the first major flashpoint in relations between them. In October 1961, five months before commencing operation, WIN informed the PMG of difficulties in obtaining programs on film from various distributors. NBN informed the ABCB of similar difficulties in April 1962. In May, the PMG wrote to television film distributors seeking an explanation. The distributors advised that the Sydney stations had presented them with the proposition of either supplying programs to them or WIN and NBN. Subsequently the PMG conferred with the Attorney-­ General and film distributors as well as representatives from ATN, TCN, NBN, and WIN. A later conference of the four stations involved failed to resolve the impasse.72 In January 1963, the PMG announced his intention to impose further licence conditions which would prevent one station from obstructing the supply of programs to another. The Sydney stations responded by initiating High Court proceedings to have the proposed conditions declared invalid. Similar proceedings were instituted by GTV and QTQ in the Supreme Court. In August, a High Court majority ruled the PMG had no power to impose the intended conditions.73 The High Court’s decision effectively neutered the PMG’s Department and left regional stations with little option other than to concede to the demands of their more powerful metropolitan counterparts. As discussed later in this chapter, the matter was finally resolved after the PMG approved the transfer of shares in both NBN and WIN to Frank Packer and Rupert Murdoch. In this context, the regional stations emerged as pawns in a much larger game of political and economic brinkmanship between Packer and Murdoch. In April 1963, Murdoch’s Mirror Newspapers Ltd, acquired control of WIN (see note 72). But the Wollongong station was just one part of a larger picture. Nigel Dick notes that Murdoch also purchased land at Rushcutters Bay with plans to build a television centre to beam programs into Sydney using the WIN transmitter.74 As Murdoch publicly stated, he “had no intention of confining it to a country audience. There are two million Sydney viewers within WIN’s range, and we intend to get after them”.75 The matter was exacerbated by Murdoch’s purchase of the American ABC television network’s entire program library. ABC was one of the largest suppliers to TCN and GTV. Furthermore, Murdoch sought to recover his £1  million investment by on-selling rights to the ABC library to

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ATV. There was also an implied risk that Murdoch would strike a similar deal with TEN. Murdoch thus deprived Packer of a major program source. The prospect of competition from Murdoch brought Packer to the negotiating table. In a transaction, known as the “Murdoch deal”, Packer acquired an interest in WIN and offered Murdoch a 25 per cent stake in TCN in return for rights to the ABC program library. Furthermore, both now had an interest in selling those programs to regional stations in order to recoup their acquisition costs.76 This led the metropolitan networks to place even more pressure on regional stations to acquire programs from them. The situation was further compounded by turmoil in the foreign program-supply market and the introduction of additional capital city stations, which caused the cost of imported programs to double between 1963 and 1966, thereby creating a seller’s market.

Station Operations Despite the initial tensions between regional and metropolitan interests, the first five years of operation brought gradual and sustained operational and financial improvements at most Stage 3 stations. The most obvious performance indicator is a station’s weekly hours of operation. GLV had transmitted for around 33 hours in its first week. By the following year, the first 10 stations were transmitting for an average of 37  hours each week. These were gradually increased, to 55  hours, by mid-1966. This increase in weekly hours was both in response to, and enabled by, growing demand for airtime from advertisers. Advertising was (and still is) the main source of revenue for commercial television.77 In 1962, the ABCB found regional stations were receiving “reasonable support” from both national and local advertisers.78 BCV, for example, reported good local support (both in terms of revenue and appeal to advertisers) within the first months of operation. Beehive, a general retailer, attributed a 20 per cent increase in its January sale to 5- and 10-second spots. Geo. Jalland and Son reportedly sold 232 foam pillows and 24 baby pushers from one 60-second Sunday spot. Bennet’s Hardware sold £350 worth of Black and Decker drills from two 30-second live commercials.79 Transmission did not generally commence until mid-to-late afternoon. Most advertising was placed in day viewing; however, the highest concentration was in the evening peak viewing period. The ABCB’s time standards, which aimed to restrict advertising times to protect audiences, was

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one factor (along with limited hours of operation) that created a market in which demand from advertisers almost always exceeded supply. As noted in Chap. 2, the practice of “dayparting” enabled advertising to be targeted to specific audience segments. Over time, stations found more sophisticated ways to dynamically price airtime to extract the maximum possible from advertisers.80 Local advertising was arranged directly by each station. National advertising was generally arranged by sales representatives based in major capital cities. (A precedent in this area had been set with the Victorian Country Broadcasters’ Publicity Committee in which rival stations combined to promote regional—as opposed to metropolitan—radio.) These included Television Associates (BTV, CTC, GMV, and RVN) and Provincial Television Services (AMV, BCV, and NRN), which were established by member stations. In Melbourne, WIN (Wollongong, NSW) based its agent at GTV, while NBN was represented in Adelaide by the NWS sales department.81 In June 1963, GLV and GTV combined to sell advertising as part of their simultaneous transmission agreement. The arrangement was expected to result in a significant increase in revenue for the ailing Gippsland station.82 The combine, while unsuccessful, was the first of several promotional networks which would become commonplace in later years.83 Advertisements took the form of 15-, 30-, or 60-second “spot” announcements, or sponsorship of an entire program. As early as 1962, the ABCB noted a tendency towards spot announcements over sponsored programs. By mid-1966, spot announcements accounted for 93 per cent of advertising, with seven per cent as sponsored programs. The average rate was $99 for a 30-second spot or $416 for a 60-minute sponsored program in AAA time.84 Cigarette advertisers were among the first—and most lucrative— national advertisers. On BTV’s opening night in 1962, the station’s test pattern, then station clock, gave way to a Rothman’s commercial. In many ways, the placement of this commercial is symbolic as it represented the significant amount of revenue (around 10 per cent) generated by regional commercial television stations from cigarette advertising.85 In January 1966, a voluntary code governing the advertising of cigarettes on television, agreed by manufacturers and industry, came into effect. The code arose from a request by state and Commonwealth health authorities to the tobacco industry and was the first step towards an eventual ban on cigarette advertising.86

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Regional commercial stations faced competition for viewers from the ABC as well as overlapping signals from adjoining areas.87 GLV to the east of Melbourne and WIN to the south of Sydney experienced severe financial impairment as a result. Other stations, notably those in Victoria and southern New South Wales, also faced incursions from other regional signals. Nevertheless, most regional commercial stations attracted a far greater proportion of local viewers than their metropolitan counterparts. By 1965, the regionals attracted around 48 per cent of available viewers in peak viewing, rising to 52 per cent by mid-1966. In comparison, the Sydney stations each attracted between 20 and 30 per cent.88 In children’s viewing, regional stations garnered around 58 per cent of the audience.89 Stations generally identified themselves on air using their call sign, channel number, or a combination of both. Promotional activities were often conducted in conjunction with a major advertiser or sponsor. In February 1962, BCV conducted a distant viewers competition to determine the maximum receiving area. Letters were received from as far away as Hamilton (140  miles west-south-west), Lockhart (180  miles north-­ east) and Hay (180 miles north).90 GLV conducted a similar promotion in mid-1963. On two or three nights a week, a young man under the fictitious name of Bernie Briquette was sent to a large town in the viewing area. His location, along with a code word, was then announced on air. The first person to arrive received a half-ton of briquettes. The next six people received gift packs of Tom Piper grocery products.91 In early 1966, RTQ ran a 20-week competition in which 110 car keys were hidden across Rockhampton. The station gave viewers a clue to their location each evening. Keyholders were then invited to the studio to see whether their key fitted the major prize, a Ford Falcon.92 Stations also provided significant support to local community groups. This mostly took the form of free announcements. In 1964, for example, GMV provided publicity for the Red Cross, the Asthma Foundation of Victoria and the Wangaratta Arts Festival.93 In that same year, RTN was one of the first regional stations to stage a telethon, in aid of the Weowna disaster.94 On 19 December 1965, TNT staged its Festival of Northern Lights, raising $12,500 from viewers for distribution to children’s charities.95 American historian Paul Longmore describes the telethon as a combination of “spectacle, disability and the business of charity”. Nevertheless, such initiatives were a vital part of community engagement and undoubtedly provided local charities with publicity and financial support which might otherwise be achievable.96

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Personnel Total staff numbers averaged 46 by mid-1966, with most employed in program production roles. As in early radio, there was an almost universal need and expectation that staff members would “roll up their sleeves” wherever possible. It was not unusual, for example, for the station secretary to also host the children’s session.97 Regional stations operated using significantly less staff than the metropolitan networks. ATN, for example, employed around 400 staff at its Epping television centre with a further 90 at the Artransa Park film studios by 1967 (see note 88). A shortage of qualified engineering staff was reported at some stations within the first few years. This was mostly due to competition from Stage 4 regional and Stage 5 metropolitan stations.98 In some cases, licensees sought to recruit replacements from overseas.99 The role of women in establishing regional commercial television should not be underestimated. As Gillian Murray points out, the position of women in regional British commercial television in the 1960s was “bound up in their potential to embody the glamourous femininity”.100 This was especially the case for on-camera roles, where such representation was central to “television’s strikingly overt address to women”, 101 particularly in the heavily feminised daytime viewing period. This is hardly surprising, given the visual nature of the medium and social expectations of the period. The same aesthetic considerations undoubtedly influenced recruitment decisions pertaining to women in Australian regional commercial television. However, the economic realities of television outside metropolitan areas left little room for “frivolity” nor limited the role of women to that of a “telly-bird” (see note 100). Station “hostesses” were required to perform a range of presentation, production, and promotional activities. Furthermore, female presenters were expected to have a “sound education” as well as an “ability to use initiative and creative ideas” particularly when producing and presenting programs.102 Regional stations have, since inception, provided a training ground for industry professionals. Max Bartlett began his television career as the host of BTV Juniors. Bartlett was later involved in developing the Fat Cat children’s character for TVW Perth.103 Nancy Cato (Box 3.10), GMV’s inaugural hostess, presented GMV Juniors and Women’s Magazine.104 In 1964, she was described by TV Week as the “first lady” of Victorian regional television, whose popularity “was equal to any metropolitan TV personality”. That same year, Cato resigned from GMV for “very personal”

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Box 3.10  Nancy Cato • Type: Oral history interview • Interviewed by: Brendan Horgan, 1999 • NFSA reference: 408262

Box 3.11  Rosemary Eather • Type: Artefact • Description: Logie Award, 1969 • NFSA reference: 1647538

Box 3.12  Alan Weatherley, BCV news van • Type: Photograph • Produced by: BCV Bendigo (Vic), c.1965 • NFSA reference: 710028 reasons.105 She later hosted The Magic Circle Club, alongside ex-BTV compere Max Bartlett and others, for ATV Melbourne. Ian Leslie commenced at DDQ as a cadet journalist and trainee cine cameraman in June 1962. He later achieved prominence as a founding reporter for the Australian version of 60 Minutes alongside Ray Martin and George Negus (and later Jana Wendt).106 Rosemary Eather joined TNQ in 1963 as the station’s second hostess and weather presenter. She later worked at all three metropolitan networks on programs including At Home with Rosemary (BTQ) , Rosemary’s Roundabout (QTQ), and Good Morning with Rosemary (TEN).107 In 1969, Eather received a Silver Logie Award for Best Female Personality in New South Wales (Box 3.11).108 Behind the scenes, BCV cameraman, Alan Weatherley (Box 3.12), began his television career in Bendigo before joining ATV Melbourne. Weatherley was among the first of many camera operators who would learn their craft in the regions, which were regarded by the industry as a valuable training ground, before taking up employment opportunities at metropolitan stations, and overseas.

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Technical Operations Regional television, especially in its early years, was very much a product of Australia’s geography. Regional stations faced significant logistical challenges in obtaining programs on film. Metropolitan stations often provided recordings of live-to-air programs as poor-quality kinescopes. These were produced by focusing a camera lens at a television monitor and recording the image as the program was put to air. The Delo and Daly Show is one example of a program supplied as a kinescope recording by HSV Melbourne to regional stations.109 The logistics of circulating filmed programs presented major hurdles. A limited number of prints often needed to be shared between multiple stations, travelling hundreds of miles in a matter of weeks. The Sydney- or Melbourne-based distributors who were responsible for coordinating the pick-up and dispatch of programs occasionally failed to consider the distances involved. Stations maintained a small library of back-up programs in case scheduled items failed to arrive in time. Film assistants were adept at the art of splicing. Incoming film would be carefully cut with a razor blade and local commercials inserted before being put to air. The next morning, in a process of reverse splicing, the commercials would be cut out and the film stuck back together before being dispatched to the next station.110 From the early 1960s, programs were increasingly supplied on videotape. In comparison to film, videotape provided a reliable, lightweight, inexpensive, reusable, and less labour-intensive means of recording and playing back programs and commercials.111 In 1962, CTC was the first regional station to commence videotape operation with the installation of an RCA TRT-1B machine.112 By mid-1963, videotape equipment was in use at three regional stations.113 This had increased to at least nine stations by mid-1966.114 But the high cost of videotape equipment—the cost of an RCA unit was around £38,000—was a barrier for some stations, impacting on their ability to obtain up-to-date programs and (in due course) meet Australian content quotas.115 CBN adopted a somewhat unorthodox approach by using an RCA TR5 machine—which was intended by the manufacturer to be operated for recording only—to play back certain programs on videotape.116 Regional stations did not initially possess outside broadcast (OB) facilities. A basic film coverage was provided for sports finals, street parades, agricultural shows, and other items of local interest.117 In October 1962, BTV conducted an OB (using ABC equipment) of Prime Minister

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Menzies’ visit to Ballarat College. In 1965, RTQ conducted live telecasts of the Rockhampton Capricornia Festival using equipment situated on a shop awning. A three-hour coverage of the Fitzroy River Water Festival was televised the following day using a studio camera set up on the riverbank.118 There was also a growing tendency towards outsourcing operation and maintenance of television transmission sites to the PMG’s Department. By mid-1964, WIN had outsourced operation and maintenance of its transmission and link facilities; GLV did likewise the following year.119 The first relay, as we have seen, was conducted by GLV on its first day of operation. But relay operation was, in many respects, a double-edged sword for the regionals. On one hand, it gave stations access to an easy supply of programs.120 On the other hand, it made them vulnerable to the coercive tactics and predatory designs of the metropolitan networks which aimed to place the whole country on relay from Sydney and Melbourne. Nevertheless, casual relays of notable events were undertaken from time to time. In 1962, RTN relayed a direct telecast of the last two hours’ play on each of the five days of the first Australia–England cricket test.121 Regional stations were forbidden from entering into extensive and exclusive relay arrangements with the networks. But in June 1963, GLV established the first regular simultaneous retransmission of up to 20 hours of weekly programming from GTV Melbourne. This arrangement was approved by the ABCB out of economic necessity and was intended to counter severe overlap from the Melbourne stations which threatened to bankrupt the station. A similar arrangement was established between GLV and HSV Melbourne.122 Nevertheless, it was only a matter of time before the “octopus of the air”—which had surfaced in radio broadcasting—would seek to extend its tentacles to television. On 27 September 1963, the ABCB’s Victorian program officer, R.W. Fox, noted a “brief but most enlightened reference” to off-air relays in a conversation with GMV general manager, Ron Williams. Fox was advised that “all country stations are vitally concerned” at plans by BTV to take an off-air news relay from GTV. (The proposal was similar to one being negotiated between DDQ and QTQ.) If such an arrangement proceeded, BCV and GMV would—because of the overlap problem—be forced to follow suit. Fox asserted that the issue was “an interesting and vital one”, as distance from the metropolitan stations was no longer a guarantee of independence.123 In November 1963, Fox reported that the National Television Network (Nine) had also negotiated

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relay arrangements with NBN and WIN in addition to GLV.124 GTV’s seemingly “philanthropical attitude” had even extended to releasing its assistant sales manager to manage GLV. Furthermore, the Packer stations were reportedly wooing (then endeavouring to coerce) CTC, BTV, BCV, and GMV to take off-air relays of its programs. Packer and GTV’s Colin Bednall were especially keen to pressure the Canberra station into utilising the Sydney-to-Melbourne coaxial cable which was virtually on permanent lease to them. This precipitated a meeting between the regionals and resulted in representations to the PMG and other MPs. Ironically, such tactics unified the regionals in resisting restrictive relay arrangements. A planned simultaneous relay of HSV’s The Delo and Daly Show did not materialise on the grounds that stations were keen to avoid establishing a regular relay precedent.125 Yet another issue, as discussed in Chap. 2, was the Murdoch/Ansett purchase of American programs for their soon-to-be-established Independent Television System of Australia. The competitive stimulus created by a third Australian buying group reportedly increased program prices by 10 per cent. Bednall was especially concerned that Murdoch’s willingness to supply programs to the regionals could result in certain programs appearing on those stations before GTV. Furthermore, it was believed that Murdoch’s program rates would be “far lower” than those currently in place. The ABCB’s R.W. Fox concluded that “elation at the unexpected windfall” of cheap programs from Murdoch was tempered by the long-term impact of increased prices and the likelihood that purchasing groups would seek to obtain Australia-wide rights to future buys (see note 125). The regionals were particularly anxious to avoid any arrangement whereby a metropolitan station might sell advertising time in relay programs at “network” rates, which were generally lower than “solus” rates offered by individual stations. Furthermore, they feared that such arrangements might cannibalise their existing national client base. The situation was further complicated by a need not to prejudice existing program supply arrangements. Interestingly, the regionals were—to some extent—initially protected from the predations of networking by certain technical limitations. BCV and GMV lacked full off-air relay facilities while BTV was literally shielded from the GTV signal by interference from TNT in north-­eastern Tasmania (see note 125). In the end, the need for a reliable and economical supply of up-to-date programs won out. By mid-1966, regular program relays had commenced at six stations, with news relays at seven.126 The latter

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included feeds from the ABC, which were taken by RTN from 4 January 1965, and STV (a Stage 4 station discussed in Chap. 4). But such exchanges were not one way; CTC, for example, relayed coverage of Canberra-based news events to Sydney and Melbourne on several occasions.127

Financial Performance The first years of operation also brought a steady improvement in financial performance at most stations. Income was mostly derived from the sale of airtime to advertisers. In some cases, revenue was also generated from provision of studio facilities and art department services.128 NBN, Australia’s largest regional commercial station, was the first to achieve income of more than $1  million in 1965. In many respects, NBN was similar in scale to the smaller capital city stations in Perth and Hobart. Its financial performance was exceptional when compared to other regional stations. By mid-1966, Stage 3 station income ranged from $298,458 at GLV to $1,551,550 at NBN, with an average of $678,000.129 Major expenses included film rental, salaries, and sales agency commissions. In 1962, CBN paid around $49,000, $45,000, and $12,600, respectively, for these items. In late 1961, the cost of acquiring an imported series on film directly from a distributor was around $24 per half-hour.130 The station’s news service cost $5,000 (see note 128). Salaries were generally the largest expense. RTQ weekly staff salaries ranged from around $22 for a cadet announcer, $32 for a hostess, $48 for a male announcer, and $66 for a program manager. The latter also received a weekly $4 car allowance.131 The average station expenditure was around $470,000  in 1965, rising to $514,000 in the following year.132 A major expense was the annual licence fee. From 1964, this comprised a flat fee of £100 together with an amount calculated as a percentage of gross advertising receipts.133 Licensees sought to spread program acquisition costs through co-­ operative buying groups. Soon after deciding to apply for licences, the four independent applicants for regional Victoria established Victorian Country Telecasters P/L (VCT) to provide program advice and procurement, technical advice, equipment purchase and spares, national and external territorial sales, staff recruitment and relief, and operational support to member stations. The group planned—but did not proceed—to establish a common distribution centre in the Melbourne suburb of Lalor from which jointly subsidised live programming would be radiated to the four stations via a microwave link system. The proposal envisaged a

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common transmission format from the Melbourne centre with agreed opt-­outs for local programs and advertising. The company also planned to buy live programming from the national and commercial stations and to sell live programming to them.134 The independent applicants for Townsville, Rockhampton, and the Darling Downs also proposed the formation of Queensland Provincial Telecasters (QPT). It was intended to be formed “with the object of representing the Queensland independent television in negotiations for programmes and other matters of mutual interest, the sharing of information, and the pooling of resources in respect to reserve plant and spare parts”.135 Ultimately, neither VCT or QPT proceeded, as member stations joined other successful Stage 3 applicants in 1961 to establish Australian Television Facilities P/L (ATF) for “the purchasing or hiring [of programs] on a cooperative basis”.136 ATF was able to negotiate with film producers and their distributors on behalf of all member stations.137 Each station paid a onethirteenth share of freight, duty, censorship, editing, and distribution costs.138 Metropolitan networks continued to hold the Australian rights for a number of imported programs and most feature films (see note 130). The combined bargaining power of ATF along with an initial exemption from the ABCB’s Australian content quotas, provided further protections against the metropolitan stations’ networking ambitions. Most stations had anticipated a loss in their first two years of operation, with a profit by the third.139 In practice, most achieved profitability sooner than expected. GMV declared a profit in its first full year of operation. Most stations were profitable by their second year, with all except GLV declaring a profit in the third.140 The average efficiency ratio was around 78 per cent.141 While profits were not as large as those achieved at metropolitan stations, the average net profit ratio (NPR) was generally higher. In mid-1965, the average NPR for Stage 3 stations was 18 per cent. This rose to 22 per cent in the following year.142 In comparison, the NPR at ATN was 14 per cent (see note 88).

Programs The vast majority of programs televised by regional commercial television stations have always consisted of imported series, and Australian programs from the metropolitan networks. In 1962, 75 per cent of programs were imported, mostly from the United States or Great Britain. The remaining 25 per cent were sourced from the metropolitan networks or produced by the regionals in their own studios.

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Regional stations were forbidden from exclusive program supply arrangements as a condition of their licence. They were, however, able to “cherry pick” programs from the metropolitan networks, distributors, and independent producers in addition to originating programs in their own studios.143 Programs were subject to ABCB standards. In 1962, the ABCB began to analyse programs according to 12 generic categories. These were further divided into sub-categories such as music, variety, and children’s programs. The Board’s initial analysis found that drama represented 61 per cent of total programs transmitted by regional stations.144 But a range of factors—most notably a steep rise in prices because of competitive bids by Australian film buyers—had, by the early 1960s, brought a reduction in both the quality and quantity of programs obtained from the United States.145 Consideration was also given to making greater use of programs from the United Kingdom and new sources, such as Japan, which could be acquired on a more economical basis.146 Regional stations were not initially required to meet the ABCB’s Australian content quotas.147 In 1964, the ABCB’s Adrian Jose told his Queensland program officer that, while it was impractical to “press too hard for distinctly Australian programs from country stations”, the matter would need to be reviewed in the not-so-distant future.148 By mid-1966, imported content had decreased slightly, to 65 per cent (Fig. 3.8). Popular

Fig. 3.8  Regional commercial television, program sources, 1966. Copyright Michael Thurlow

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imported series included sit-coms I Love Lucy and The Beverly Hillbillies, and McHale’s Navy, western series Rawhide and Wagon Train, children’s programs The Mickey Mouse Club, Superman, and the animated series The Flintstones, and British soap opera Coronation Street. Australian programs acquired from the metropolitan networks accounted for 18 per cent of total programs. The National Television Network (Nine) was the largest supplier, followed by the Australian Television Network (Seven), then the Independent Television System of Australia (0/10).149 Popular Australian series included Bandstand (hosted by Brian Henderson), In Melbourne Tonight (compered by Graham Kennedy, with Bert Newton), police procedural Homicide, game show Pick a Box (presented by Bob and Dolly Dyer), sketch comedy revue The Mavis Bramston Show, and children’s program The Magic Circle Club. The remaining programs were either produced by regional stations in their own studios (16 per cent) or obtained from independent producers (one per cent). An early example of the latter was Ampol Stamp Quiz (Box 3.13), a children’s program aired by CBN in 1964. It was hosted by pop stars Digby Richards and “Little Pattie” Amphlett and produced by Reg Grundy Productions.150 Australian television stations had, from 1960, been required to include “A” and “AO” film classifications in program schedules (including newspaper TV guides); however there was no requirement to display them on-­screen at the time of presentation. From 1966, stations were required to screen classifications for “A” (unsuitable for children) and “AO” (unsuitable for children and adolescents) films at the time of presentation.151 The localism marker indicates this period was the high point for locally produced content, with around 16 per cent of total programs produced by stations in their own studios (see Chap. 1, Fig. 1.1).

Box 3.13  Ampol Stamp Quiz • Type: Audio-visual recording • Produced by: Reg Grundy Productions, 1964 • NFSA reference: 1537144

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Production Regional stations were never intended to be large-scale program producers. Nevertheless, in 1963, the ABCB noted most were making substantial efforts to provide local news bulletins and rural service programs, live children’s, religious, and sporting material, and—in some cases—quite ambitious regular live variety shows.152 Local production efforts were mostly focused on news, women’s, children’s, and religious programs. Many of these emulated program formats produced at metropolitan stations— though on a much smaller scale—which, in turn, were adaptations of those first used in radio. The largest regional station, NBN, introduced a range of “experimental” formats in its first year of operation. Home on Three was a weekday afternoon women’s program hosted by Ken Eady and Barbara Kaye. For children, there was the Three Cheers Show, compered by comedian Norman Brown and Murray Finlay. Allan Lappan presented popular music in Tempo, which later became Teenbeat, hosted by Laurie Burrows. Sincerely Yours featured Newcastle musician Al Vincer and singers Joan Hines and Mike Rounce. Astor Showcase (later described by the station as probably the most important local production in its first year) was a weekly musical talent program. In the station’s first week of operation, the news magazine, Focus, looked at the issue of water fluoridation.153 On 26 March 1963, NBN was recognised for these early efforts with a TV Week Logie Award for enterprising programming.154 Family programs (54 per cent of local production), as defined by the ABCB for monitoring purposes, was a somewhat analogous category comprising women’s, children’s, and religious programs. Family programs directed at women were, ironically, frequently hosted by men. These mostly dealt with cooking, house and garden, hobbies, pets, health, fitness, fashion, personal safety, and shopping guides.155 Such programs arguably mirrored broader discourses surrounding the gendered home and domestic space and women’s “proper” role within.156 Wednesday Magazine (BTV) was presented by Valerie Oldfield, who had previously worked as an announcer for Anglia Television in Norwich, England. She described the program as “a window on the world for women in rural … communities … which overcame the tyranny of distance for those in the less populated parts of the state”. From March 1967, Oldfield also hosted the Midday Show, which aired on Tuesdays and adopted a similar format to Wednesday Magazine. She left BTV in 1976

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but continued to work with the station on an occasional basis. In 1983, she co-hosted BTV’s coverage of Prince Charles and Princess Diana’s visit to Ballarat.157 Cooking Better Electrically (TNQ) was a live, 20-minute cooking session shown at 4.30 pm on Wednesdays. The program was hosted by Yvonne Kaye, a home service advisor from the Townsville Regional Electricity Board. By mid-1965, the program was distributing more than 1400 recipes each week for dishes including Risotto Milanese and Apricot Charlotte.158 Shopping guides, an early, blatant form of advertorial, included CBN’s Western Stores Session and Edgell’s Country Kitchen, both hosted by Elizabeth Middleton on behalf of the respective companies.159 The Angus and Coote Session, presented by Roger Wilcock and Helen Sampson, included cash and time payment prices for featured merchandise. Travel Time with Jayes (NBN), hosted by Jim Jenkins and Roy Earl, first aired in 1962. It offered travel advice and suggestions but was decidedly advertorial in nature.160 Travel Time would become NBN’s longest-running non-­ news program with a run of more than 20 years. Children’s programs were a particular area of contention given the perceived need from some quarters of the community to shield younger viewers from the potentially harmful effects of television. In 1962, a delegate to a Victorian Family Council symposium on the social impacts of television declared the medium to be “the one poison cupboard in the house which cannot be locked up”.161 The first regionally produced children’s sessions consisted mostly of live studio-based segments, or filmed material such as cartoons interspersed with live host links and birthday calls. These were usually compered by the station announcer or “hostess”, who performed a similar function to radio’s “aunts and uncles”.162 Hostesses sometimes had a background in children’s education but were often recruited after participating in  local beauty or Miss Australia contests. GMV announcer Rob Brow identified the essential qualities for television comperes as being (in order of importance) a pleasant and natural personality, intelligence, pleasant speaking voice, and grooming.163 Romper Room (CBN) was a live, 45-minute version of the international preschool franchise produced under licence. The program was hosted by “Miss Rosemary” Hunter and later “Miss Karen” Knight. The former was described somewhat uncharitably by an ABCB program inspector as “a country girl with a rather broad accent”, which hints at the difficulties in recruiting suitable on-camera personnel in some regional areas (see note 116). Scripts and props were supplied by Fremantle International.164 Local

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editions of Romper Room were also produced under licence by NBN, MTN, and RTN. The latter commenced production of its version, hosted by “Miss Annette” Holder, on 27 April 1965. Televille (TNQ) was a live, 20-minute (later 45-minute) children’s program which commenced on 29 November 1962. It was hosted by Glenice Hodges, then Rosemary Eather (Box 3.14) and later Andrea Meahan. The format comprised cartoons on film interspersed with live material. Regular guests included pet shop owner Billy Duckworth, “Joseph” the pet wallaby, and puppets “Socko” and “Boppo the Birthday Boy”. Live segments incorporated Fun with Words, Story Book, Drawing Time, and World of Nature.165 Junior Auction (NBN) aired at 5.30 pm on Saturday. Children between the ages of 7 and 14 were invited to collect bottle tops and labels which each carried a points value. These could then be used to bid for items including toys and books.166 As in radio, several stations conducted children’s clubs.167 RTN reported 1861 members of its RTN Juniors Club within the first months of operation.168 Club members usually received a membership card, participated in contests and attended live studio sessions. Children’s characters included Strawberry Scarecrow (BCV) and Cedric (CTC), a ventriloquist’s doll operated by Reverend Jack Leonard.169 Religious programs were, according to Madeleine Hastie, “television’s sacrificial lamb” because of their inability to secure a prominent presence on commercial television.170 This was despite a legislative requirement that stations were to allocate at least one per cent of total weekly hours (or a minimum of 30  minutes) to televising matter originated by or for recognised religious bodies.171 Religious material consisted mostly of segments consigned to what the Christian Television Association’s Donald Tasker later grimly described as the Sunday religious “ghetto”.172 Nevertheless, in 1962, the ABCB found regional church authorities were generally keen to assist in producing local religious programs. Church groups increasingly adopted modern television methods such as one- or two-minute religious scatter announcements produced by the CTA and televised in regular Box 3.14  Televille, Rosemary Eather • Type: Audio-visual recording • Produced by: TNQ Townsville (Qld), 1964 • NFSA reference: 1648099

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programming.173 Time to Live (CBN) was a 40-minute session produced in conjunction with local Protestant and Roman Catholic churches on a fourweekly rotational basis.174 Such long-form programs were augmented by a brief meditation or thought of the day at the end of transmission. Epilogue (BTV) consisted of a short prayer read by the station’s assistant manager, John Stapp), with the full approval of local church groups.175 These segments were often repeated at the start of transmission the next day (see note 166). The ABCB did, however, advise that epilogues were acceptable as supplementary material but could not be the only form of religious programs.176 News programs (26 per cent) comprised news bulletins, as well as magazine-­style sessions. These were designed as “the glue that traps and holds the audience” to establish viewer loyalty.177 This is, according to veteran news producer Gerald Stone, achieved through a perception that a similar demographic is simultaneously viewing and sharing in a commonality of ideas and opinions.178 The first regionally produced commercial television news bulletin was presented by Don Ewart (Fig.  3.9) on GLV’s opening night in December 1961.179

Fig. 3.9  GLV announcer Don Ewart, c.1961. Copyright Southern Cross Austereo. Image courtesy of National Film and Sound Archive (788850)

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Box 3.15  Murray Finlay • Type: Oral history interview • Interviewed by: Wendy Borchers, 2012 • NFSA reference: 1127893

News bulletins were—in the days before relays—a composite of local, national, and international reports and generally ran for between 5 and 20  minutes. NBN was the first regional station to provide a 30-minute news service, presented by Murray Finlay (Box 3.15), in 1962.180 RTN was among the first to introduce two newsreaders on-camera “to give change of face and voice”.181 News arrangements at BTV were typical for the time. The station initially provided a comprehensive coverage of local, Australian, and overseas news presented live to air. News copy was provided by the HSV/Herald-­ Sun teleprinter link service. Australian and overseas news film was received as freight from HSV which went to air one day later. BTV was equipped with an Auricon Cinevoice camera and Pathé 16mm camera for coverage of local events.182 In October 1964, the station joined with GMV to take a direct relay of HSV’s evening news service. A six-minute local news service, compiled from Ballarat and district newspapers, aired prior to the HSV relay. By mid-1966, BTV was also providing a late evening, 15- to 20-minute composite bulletin of Australian, overseas, and local news items.183 News bulletins were supplemented by news magazine programs. These often took the form of a 5- or 10-minute feature or summary which was aired on Sunday evenings. Sport has, since colonial times, assumed a vital role in Australian social and cultural life. Sporting culture has, according to Brian Stoddart, united an increasingly diverse Australia and forged shared identity, common self-­ respect, and agreed “sense of self”.184 Unsurprisingly, television has sought to capitalise on this cultural currency.185 The limited resources of regional stations meant the first sport programs (seven per cent) were mostly studio-­based previews, summaries, news, and panel discussions, rather than live coverage of sporting events.186

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RTQ’s three sport programs were typical of the various formats produced by regional stations at this time. Sports Parade was a 15-minute rundown of weekend sporting fixtures aired on Friday night and sponsored by the Ford Motor Company. Sports Review was a 40-minute coverage of the day’s sporting events including studio interviews each Saturday. Scoreboard was a 15-minute round-up of sporting results presented on Sunday. All three programs were hosted by Jim Verney.187 As we will see in later chapters, local sport programs would evolve to include coverage of live fixtures. Information programs (seven per cent) encompassed agriculture, industry, nature, science, and foreign lands and people (see note 189). Prominent among this genre were rural interest programs which sought to address the specific needs of primary producers. Junior Farmers (DDQ) was one such program which aired for 10 minutes at 5.30 pm on Mondays and produced by members of the Toowoomba Junior Farmers group. Segments included “News Spot”, “Feature of the Week”, “Farm Topic”, and “What’s Next?” Rural Views (DDQ), a Sunday evening session hosted by Bob Perry and Bob Hargraves, which contained items from the State Agriculture Department as well as “women’s interest material from the Country Women’s Association and kindred organisations”. Top Town Quest (DDQ) catered for farming families with material on local industries, interviews, and a talent quest. It was presented on film with segments shot on location at towns across the service area. The talent quest segments culminated in a series of live finals. The station had produced 44 episodes at the time of its 1966 licence renewal.188 Light entertainment programs (three per cent) offered a “mixed bag of tricks” which offered a range of economical formats and the opportunity for audience participation, despite its “lowly” status in comparison to other genres such as “quality” drama.189 These included talent quests, variety programs, including those directed at teenagers, musical interludes, quiz shows, and panel discussions.190 One of the first programs in this genre was Cinderella Story (GLV), a 30-minute live quiz and talent quest hosted by Garry Ord and Terry Beatty, which ran for four weeks from 21 March 1962.191 Teen variety programs included Junior Magazine (RTN), a 30-minute, teen-orientated session initially telecast at 4.30 pm on Sunday and hosted by Ron Lawrence. From 10 November 1962, it became Magazine Time (RTN), a two-hour Sunday afternoon session featuring filmed and live segments on history, poetry, drama, and Japanese floral arranging, as well

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as discussion panels. The Allan Hoy Show (WIN) was a teenage musical variety program whose host would later become CEO of Prime Television. Music programs included Matinee Melody (CBN), a 15-minute music segment in which organist Stephen Fleay performed viewer requests. The segment featured occasional guest vocalists and musicians. Music, Music, Music (CBN) was a similar format initially presented live but later pre-­ recorded.192 Hammond Harmonies (RTN), hosted by Barry Bailey, was a 15-minute organ music program which was later extended to 30 minutes, such was its popularity.193 Quiz programs were especially popular. Jackpot Quiz (CBN) was hosted by Bob McGready and sponsored by the Western Stores (Box 3.16). The host was seemingly a salesman-come-entrepreneur who arranged his own sponsorship and paid the station for production time and facilities. Unsurprisingly, the program was described by an ABCB inspector as being heavy in advertising.194 At one point, McGready simultaneously produced and hosted local editions of Jackpot Quiz for CBN, CTC, and NBN. Chalk It Up (CBN), hosted by Stan Murray, challenged contestants to identify graphics as they were drawn on a sheet of glass. Noughts and Crosses (RTQ) was a “weekly quiz for adults” conducted for “some months” and offering a grand prize of a washing machine and electric stove. Weekly consolation prizes included tie and sock sets, with semi-­ finalists receiving flights to Brisbane and Sydney. Current affairs programs (two per cent) covered what Madeleine Hastie refers to as “the story behind the story-makers”.195 These provided an opportunity for long-form discussion of local history, national events, festivals and gatherings, and social, political, and controversial matter.196 What’s Your Opinion? (DDQ) was a 15-minute program of vox pop-style interviews “in which the man in the street is invited to express his opinion on a topical subject”. The first topic, screened in the station’s first week of operation, was “Should Toowoomba have a closer commercial airport?” A station spokesman reported residents (who were undoubtedly unfamiliar Box 3.16  Jackpot Quiz • Type: Audio-visual recording • Produced by: CBN Central Tablelands  (Orange, NSW), 18 December 1969 • NFSA reference: 1490295

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with the new medium) were “most reluctant to appear on camera to express their views”. He appealed to locals in the viewing area “not to be reluctant to give an interview when approached by an interviewer and a cameraman”.197 In her analysis of commercial television, Madeleine Hastie notes the long-standing debate on “high” and “low” culture and its impacts on programming decisions.198 Arts programs comprised less than one per cent of local programs. This is perhaps unsurprising given commercial television’s quest to capture a mass audience. It is also possible that the provision of such programs was regarded as the province of the ABC.  Nevertheless, some stations embarked on notable productions in the first years of operation. On 24 December 1962, RTN presented a live production of No Room at the Inn.199 This was followed by A Christmas Carol in 1963 and Christmas at the Inn in 1964.200 In December 1965, CBN staged an original pantomime, In the Land of Old King Cole, with 84 cast and crew. There was, by this time, growing public interest in the use of television for educational or professional instruction purposes.201 In 1961, the ABCB authorised commercial licensees to televise programs for the information of professions. These sessions were not to be publicised and were to be televised either 15 minutes before opening or 15 minutes after closedown. Telecasts were initially directed to the medical and dental professions then expanded to include material of interest to chemists, whitegoods retailers, and department stores.202 In 1963, TNQ conducted telecasts for local medical professionals; however, staff were not paid overtime.203 This concept arguably had much potential for regional areas but does not appear to have been widely used. In 1964, the Advisory Committee on Educational Television Services (the “Weeden Committee”) recommended a separate network of educational television stations should be established.204 But the government determined that the facilities of the ABC and commercial stations were, at that time, adequate for providing a satisfactory educational television service.205 Nevertheless, education programs accounted for less than one per cent of local production at regional stations.

Ownership and Control The Menzies government’s decision to grant licences to companies which were mostly associated with local radio broadcasting and newspaper interests was the primary factor affecting ownership and control in this period. But within a few years, metropolitan media interests, which the

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government had originally sought to exclude, had acquired significant holdings in—if not outright control of—three of the largest regional stations.206 The first significant transactions had resulted from Frank Packer and Rupert Murdoch holding regionals to ransom in order to ensure a reliable supply of programs, as discussed earlier in this chapter. In August 1963, following his humiliating defeat in the High Court, PMG Davidson approved the transfer of 600,000 shares held by the Lamb family’s United Broadcasting Company in NBN to various interests, including 200,000 each to Packer’s Australian Consolidated Press and Murdoch’s News Ltd. TWL (WIN) also was granted approval to increase its issued capital to grant 320,000 shares to Murdoch’s Mirror Newspapers.207 By mid-1964, Packer’s Consolidated Press Holdings had also acquired a financial interest in WIN.208 These changes had an almost instant beneficial effect on the stations’ bottom lines. In mid-1965, NBN reported a 350 per cent increase in profit from the previous year.209 John Fairfax, too, had gained a foothold in regional television. In June 1964, the company purchased the Australian interests of Associated Television Ltd, London, including holdings held by ATV (Australia) P/L in CTC, RTN, CBN, WIN, and BTV.210 The growing interest of Packer, Murdoch, and others in multiple stations prompted the government to make changes to ownership and control provisions. As discussed previously, the concepts of “prescribed interest” and “controlling interest” were introduced into legislation in 1965. Packer sought to evade these provisions by transferring shares in NBN and WIN to a family company, Far P/L . This entity was named after the Packer wives—Florence (Frank), Angela (Clyde), and Ros (Kerry)—who were also its directors. In the late 1960s, Clyde Packer (amidst divorce proceedings) is reported to have asked ABCB chairman Myles Wright, “How do I get out of this Far P/L business? My ex-wife won’t give me back my shares”.211 But the accepted convention that commercial television was a licence to print money had failed to eventuate for Australia’s first regional station. GLV had, from inception, had difficulty attracting viewers and advertisers due to signal incursions from the Melbourne stations. On 2 October 1964, Victorian Broadcasting Network Ltd (VBN), the major shareholder in GLV, launched a takeover offer for the station.212 The offer was subsequently accepted by most other shareholders and the remaining shares were acquired compulsorily. On 15 December, the PMG approved the takeover on the basis that continued poor financial results would likely

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cause the station to cease transmission.213 On 11 February 1965, GVL was removed from the Melbourne Stock Exchange. It was renamed as VBN Ltd (VBN) on 22 March.214 VBN held (or proposed to hold) minor interests in a further six companies including several Stage 4 stations which had yet to commence operation.215 Despite GLV’s failure and the entry of the Packer, Murdoch, and Fairfax newspaper groups, the inception period was overwhelmingly one of profitability, stability, and independence. In most cases, the principal shareholders were the same entities which had sponsored the establishment of the stations just five years previously. Regional radio broadcasters comprised the largest bloc of principal shareholders, with interests in four stations. AWA remained a prolific investor in both regional and metropolitan commercial television stations.216 It is worth noting the emergence of several cross-media groups and private family investment companies as significant shareholders in several stations. Woodrow Corporation, a company associated with the Ogilvy family, was the single largest direct shareholder in BTV.217 The Henderson family held investments in CBN and CTC while the Packer’s (through Far P/L) had stakes in NBN and WIN.218 Nevertheless, the first 13 stations were, by mid-1966, still controlled by 13 separate ownership groups. This equated to an independence quotient of 100 per cent (see Chap. 1, Fig. 1.2).

Conclusion The introduction of television to regional areas had been no mean feat. The government’s regulatory efforts—led by the Country Party—which had sought to achieve a balance between localism, independence, and viability, had  created valuable, state-sanctioned monopolies were largely protected from the predatory designs of the metropolitan networks. The Menzies government’s 1960 decision to grant a single licence in each area to local newspaper, radio, and business interests thus became the sector’s second liminal moment. In this regard, the ABCB was mostly successful in its objectives, with stations at their most local and independent in the first few years of operation (see Chap. 1, Fig. 1.3). NBN had been recognised for innovative programming with a Logie Award in 1963. These measures mark the early 1960s as regional commercial television’s first “golden age”. The notion of a golden age originates in Greek mythology where it denoted an era of great accomplishment.219 These days, it is often used to reference a period of high prosperity, creativity, innovation, and/or

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popularity in a particular field, for example American and British radio in the 1920s, cinema in the 1930s, and television in the 1950s.220 But the regionals had also emerged as pawns in a game of political brinkmanship between the government and powerful metropolitan television interests which had threatened to bankrupt stations in Newcastle and Wollongong. This resulted in Frank Packer and Rupert Murdoch gaining a foothold in regional television. Furthermore, the High Court’s 1964 ruling against the PMG had seriously undermined the regulator’s authority. As we will see in Chap. 4, these developments set the pattern for expanding commercial television to other regional areas.

Notes 1. Unnamed “experienced country broadcaster” (possibly Jack Ridley), cited by ABCB chairman Robert Osborne. NAA Melbourne: A5818, VOLUME 3/AGENDUM 104: Osborne, 16/2/1959. 2. NAA/Vic: MP1170/4, TL/1/4 Part 1: Davidson, 10/3/1959. 3. NAA/Vic: MP1170/4, TL/1/1 PART 1: ABCB, various papers, 1954–59. 4. ABCB, 1960b, p. 21, 30. 5. SMH, 17/12/1959, p. 15. 6. SMH, 12/2/1960, p. 16. 7. Herd 2012, p. 71; SMH, 19/2/1960, p. 21. 8. SMH, 14/1/1960, p. 58. 9. NAA/ACT: A463, 1958/4413: Schapel, letter to Bunting, 10/12/1958. 10. NAA/Vic: MP1170/4 TL/1/4 Part 1: Osborne, 16/2/1959. 11. NAA/Vic: MP1170/4 TL/1/1 PART 1: ABCB, various. 12. NAA/Vic: A5818, Volume 3/Agendum 104: CD No. 128, 10/4/1959. 13. ABCB, 1959a, p. 25. 14. NAA/Vic: MP1170/4, TD/2/2 PART 1: Ridley, 1/4/1959; 2/4/1959. 15. ABCB 1949, p. 12. 16. NAA/Vic: MP1228/3, Box 5: J. Ridley, Evidence to RCOT, 1953. 17. ABCB, 1960b, p. 44. 18. B&T, 13/1/1956. 19. NAA/ACT: MP1170/4, TD/2/2 Part 1: ABCB, Extension of Television Services, April 1959. 20. ABCB, 1960b, pp. 13–76. 21. Kirkpatrick 2014, pp. 425–426.

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22. NAA/Vic: MP1170/4, TL/1/1 PART 1: Australia Fair, Summary, 3/3/1959. 23. NAA/Vic: MP1170/4, TL/1/1 PART 1: ABCB, Australia Fair, 8/5/1959. 24. CAG, No. 31, 21/5/1959, p. 1772. 25. ABCB, 1960b. 26. ABCB, 1960b, pp. 45–46. 27. NAA/NSW: C546, VOLUME 22: ABCB, 29/3/1960, pp.  157–158. Yeomans’ reference is to the Rawhide western television series produced and aired by the CBS network. 28. ABCB, 1960b, pp. 153–157. 29. NAA/ACT: A5818, VOLUME 23/AGENDUM 950: CD No. 1091, 28/10/1960. 30. ABCB, 1960b, p. 151. 31. Barr 1985, p. 15. 32. House of Representatives, Hansard, 8/11/1960, pp. 2546–2547. 33. TVW, 15/2/1962, p. 22. 34. NAA/Vic: MP1897/1, BCV/19: newspaper article (n.d.). 35. Some images appear in BTL’s 1963 and 1964 annual reports “by courtesy Wolfgang Sievers”. See, for example, NLA: PIC P2027/1-3 LOC Q59; SMH, 20/8/2007, p. 18. 36. B&T, 16/4/1962, p. 14; Courier (Ballarat), 27/4/1962, p. 13; 16. 37. The Doctor Blake Mysteries, series 1, episode 8, directed by Ian Barry, aired 22/3/2013, on ABC TV. Channel 8 was, in fact, allocated to the adjoining Bendigo commercial television station. 38. Examiner (Launceston), 26/5/1962, p. 19. 39. NFSA: 224309. 40. ABCB, 1962a, p. 36. 41. ABCB, 1963a, pp. 49–50. BTV and the ABC transmitted from separate aerials on a common mast; however, transmission equipment was housed in separate buildings. 42. Age (Melbourne), 15/11/2012, p. 24. 43. NTL, 1962; Examiner (Launceston), 26/5/1962, p. 10. 44. Examiner (Launceston), 26/5/1962, p. 11. 45. Examiner (Launceston), 26/5/1962, p. 12, 17. 46. B&T, 26/4/1962, p. 14. 47. NAA/Vic: MP1897/1, TNQ/19. Press clipping, 9/11/1962. 48. Val Sarah (Oldfield), email to Michael Thurlow, 23/4/2019. 49. Examiner (Launceston), 26/5/1962, p. 18; Bevan 2019, pp. 460–474. 50. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-6.1. 51. NAA/Vic: MP1897/1, GLV/19: ABCB, 29/12/1961. 52. NS (Lismore), 17/4/1962.

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53. Courier (Ballarat), 27/4/1962, pp.  9–22; Examiner (Launceston), 26/5/1962, pp. 9–22. 54. CT, 9/3/1962. 55. IM, 14/3/1962. 56. Herald (Newcastle), 2/3/1962, p. 9. See Fiske 2002 for a study of semiotics in communication and advertising. 57. IM (Wollongong), January to March 1962 for examples. 58. Courier (Ballarat), 27/4/1962, pp.  9–22; Morning Bulletin (Rockhampton), 7/9/1963, pp.  12–33; DA (Wagga Wagga), 16/6/1964, pp. 11–18 for examples. 59. NAA/Vic: MP1897/1, TNQ/19: Jose, 19/11/1962. 60. Griffen-Foley 2009, pp. 15–16 and Johnson 1988, pp. 11–23 for comparisons with radio. 61. Courier (Ballarat), 27/4/1962, p. 13. 62. Gippsland Times, 8/12/1961, p. 18. 63. CWD (Orange), 17/3/1962, p. 1. This report appeared on the same day as CBN commenced regular transmission. 64. CWD (Orange), 19/3/1962, p. 2. 65. B&T, 22/11/1962. 66. NAA/Vic: MP1897/1, TNQ/19: Wiltshire, 7/11/1962. 67. Gippsland Times, “Television Supplement,” 8/12/1961. 68. https://www.nfsa.gov.au/latest/television-­comes-­r egional-­australia, accessed 1/2/2015. 69. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-1.9. 70. CWD (Orange), 19/3/1962, p. 1. 71. Barry Wilmot, telephone conversation with Michael Thurlow, 26/11/2018. 72. ABCB, 1963a, pp. 35–37. 73. ABCB, 1964, p. 38. 74. Dick 2001, p. 39. 75. B&T, 7/6/1963, p. 1. 76. Dick 2001, p. 39; Herd 2012, pp. 101–104. 77. ABA, 2001a, p. 10. 78. ABCB, 1962a, p. 54. 79. B&T, 3/5/1962, p. 5. 80. Herd 2014, pp. 107–109. 81. Greater Publications 1965, pp. 133–134. 82. Age (Melbourne), 27/6/1963, p. 13. 83. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-2.15. 84. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-2.3. 85. “BTV6 Programme Log, 27/4/1962,” Roy Taylor papers. 86. ABCB, 1966a, p. 59; ABCB, 1974, pp. 36–37; CT, 9/10/1965, p. 1.

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87. Cryle et al. (2010). In nearly all cases, ABC stations were operated on a national relay basis. Notable exceptions included the provision of local television news services by ABC stations, including those in Rockhampton, Townsville, and Darwin. 88. NAA/Vic: B2152, ATN/4 PART 3: ABCB, ATN LRR, 1967. 89. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-2.4. 90. NAA/Vic: MP1897/1, BCV/19: BCV, February 1962. 91. B&T, 4/7/1963, p 15. 92. TVW, 9/4/1966, p. 16. 93. NAA/Vic: MP1897/1, GMV/19: ABCB, GMV LRR, 1966. 94. RTL, annual report (1964). 95. NTL, annual report (1966). 96. Longmore (2015). 97. Griffen-Foley (2009, p. 119). 98. BTL, annual report (1964). 99. TWL, annual report (1965). 100. Murray (2013, pp. 635–649). 101. Thumin (1998, pp. 91–104). 102. TVW, 20/8/1966, p. 15. 103. The Fat Cat character was developed in Perth for TVW in 1968. Fat Cat and Friends was produced at SAS Adelaide from 1972 to 1991. 104. NFSA: 408626. In this interview, Cato remarks that her starting salary was £15 per week. 105. TVW (country edition), 15/1/1964, p. 1. 106. Ian Leslie, email to Michael Thurlow, 15/4/2019. 107. http://www.rosemaryeather.com/. 108. SMH, 20/7/2009, p. 2. 109. https://www.nfsa.gov.au/preser vation/preser vation-­g lossar y/ kinescope. 110. Barry Wilmot, telephone conversation with Michael Thurlow, 1/10/2009. 111. B&T, 31/3/1960, p. 37. 112. ABCB, 1962a, p. 36. RCA 1975, pp. 43–49. 113. ABCB, 1963a, p. 50. 114. Refers to Stage 3 stations only. RVN South Western Slopes, a Stage 4 station (discussed in Chap. 4), had also commenced videotape operation in April 1966. 115. CTL, annual report (1963). 116. NAA/Vic: MP1170/5, CBN/4 PART 1: ABCB, CBN LRR, 1966. 117. NAA/Vic: MP1170/5, NBN/4 PART 2: ABCB, NBN LRR, 1966. 118. B&T, 23/9/1965, p. 44. 119. ABCB, 1966a, p. 46.

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120. This was especially important from 1967 when regional stations were subject to the ABCB’s Australian content requirements for the first time. 121. B&T, 20/12/1962, p. 5. 122. Age (Melbourne), 27/6/1963, p.  13. NAA/NSW: B2305, TR/2/15 PART 1: ABCB, Agendum No. 1963/78, July 1963. 123. NAA/NSW: B2305, TR/2/15 PART 1: Fox, 27/9/1963. 124. The licensees subsequently advised the ABCB that such arrangements consisted of a loose affiliation which did not amount to a networking arrangement. 125. NAA/NSW: B2305, TR/2/11 PART 1: Fox, 12/2/1963. 126. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-6.2. 127. NAA/Vic: MP1170/5, CTC/4 PART 1: ABCB, CTC LRR, 1966. 128. NAA/Vic: MP1170/5, CBN/4 PART 1: CBL, 31/12/1962. 129. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-2.6. 130. NAA/Vic: MP1897/1, GLV/19: ABCB, 29/12/1961. 131. RKL, RTQ staff files, WIN Television archive (Rockhampton). 132. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-2.7. 133. ABCB, 1964, p. 31. 134. NAA/Vic: MP1228/4, 46: VCT, Description, c.1959; ABCB, 1960b, p. 107. 135. NAA/Vic: MP1228/4, 29: DTL, licence application, 30/9/1959; ABCB, 1960b, p. 107. 136. ABCB, 1960b, p. 107. 137. CT, 16/5/1961, p. 1 138. CT, 28/5/1962, p. 9. 139. ABCB, 1960b, pp. 13–76. 140. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-2.10. 141. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-2.5. 142. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-2.7. 143. Herd 2012, pp. 106–107. 144. ABCB, 1961, pp. 73–75, 81; Hastie, 2012 pp. 354–395. 145. ABCB, 1964, p. 59. 146. ABCB 1965a, p. 60; Dick 2015, p. 161. 147. Herd 2012, pp. 110–120. 148. NAA/Vic: MP1897/1, DDQ/19: Jose, 3/4/1964. 149. Hastie, 2012. 150. NFSA: 1537144. 151. ABCB, 1960a, pp. 36–37; 1966a, pp. 55–56. 152. ABCB, 1963a, p. 53. 153. NBL, annual report (1972), p. 11. 154. CT, 27/3/1963, p. 8; Vered 2014; ESM/Appendices/Appendix-3.3. 155. ABCB, 1964, pp. 60, 95–97.

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156. Place and Roberts 2006, p. 226. 157. Val Sarah (Oldfield), email to Michael Thurlow, 23/4/2019. 158. B&T, 10/6/1965, p. 44. 159. NAA/Vic: MP1897/1, RTN/19: ABCB, Country Stations, September 1964. 160. Jan Welsman, email to Michael Thurlow, 14/11/2019. 161. Mrs E. Shann, quoted in Hastie, 2012 p. 270. 162. Griffen-Foley 2020. 163. TVW, 9/5/1964, p. 1. 164. NAA/Vic: MP1897/1, CBN/19 PART 1: ABCB, 6/11/1964. 165. NAA/Vic: MP1170/5, TNQ/1 PART 1: ABCB, TNQ LRR, 1967. 166. NAA/Vic: MP1170/5, NBN/4 PART 2: ABCB, NBN LRR, 1966. 167. Griffen-Foley 2009, pp. 118–148. 168. RTL, annual report (1962). 169. CT, 1/11/2016, p. 7. 170. Hastie, 2012, pp. 179–220. 171. ABCB, 1964, pp. 60, 95–97. 172. Tasker 1980, p. 350. 173. ABCB, 1962a, p. 52. 174. NAA Melbourne: MP1170/5, CBN/4 PART 1: ABCB, CBN LRR, 1966. 175. NAA/Vic: MP1170/5, BTV/4 PART 1: ABCB, BTV LRR, 1966. 176. ABCB, 1963a, p. 59. 177. Hastie, 2012, pp. 83–133. 178. Stone 2000, p. 290. 179. Don Ewart had, by the late 1960s, joined WBQ as program manager. B&T, 20/6/1968, p. 27. 180. NFSA: 1127893. 181. NAA/Vic: MP1897/1, RTN/19: RTN, press release, April 1964. 182. B&T, 26/4/1962, p. 14. 183. NAA/Vic: MP1170/5, BTV/4 PART 1: ABCB, BTV LRR, 1966. 184. Stoddart 1986, p. 71. 185. Hastie, 2012, pp. 221–265. 186. ABCB, 1964, p. 60, 95–97. 187. NAA/Vic: MP1897/1, RTQ/19: ABCB, RTN LRR, 1966. 188. NAA/Vic: MP1170/5, DDQ/4 PART 1: ABCB, DDQ LRR, 1966. 189. Hastie, 2012, pp. 314–353. 190. ABCB, 1964, pp. 60, 95–97. 191. TVW, 29/3/1962, p. 29. 192. Stephen Fleay, email to Michael Thurlow, 9/4/2019. 193. RTL, annual report (1964). 194. NAA/Vic: MP1897/1, CBN/19 PART 1: ABCB, Observations, 6/11/1964.

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195. Hastie, 2012, pp. 134–177. 196. ABCB, 1964, pp. 60, 95–97. 197. Chronicle (Toowoomba), 13/7/1962, p. 1. 198. Hastie, 2012, pp. 4–5, 38. 199. NS (Lismore), [n.d.]; TVT, 17/1/1963. 200. RTL, annual reports (1964; 1965). 201. ABCB, 1963a, p. 64. 202. ABT, 1980a, pp. 66–67. 203. Barry Wilmot, email to Michael Thurlow, 20/11/2018. 204. Commonwealth 1964. 205. ABCB, 1966a, pp. 61–62. See Perlgut 2014. 206. ABCB, 1965a, pp. 88–90. 207. ABCB, 1963a, p. 34. 208. ABCB, 1964, p. 32. 209. CT, 10/9/1965, p. 10. 210. ABCB, 1964, p. 33, 37–38. ATV was renamed as Interstate Television Holdings P/L from 12/7/1965. 211. Clyde Packer, in conversation with Myles Wright, quoted in Dick 1999, p. 60. 212. GVL, annual report (1964). 213. NAA/Vic: MP1170/5, GLV/4 PART 1: ABCB, 28/9/1964. 214. VBL (GLV) was then operated as a wholly owned subsidiary of VBN. 215. NAA/Vic: MP1170/5, GLV/4 PART 1: ABCB, GLV LRR, 1966. 216. NAA/Vic: MP1170/5, BCV/4 PART 1: ABCB, BCV LRR, 1966. 217. NAA/Vic: MP1170/5, BTV/4 PART 1: ABCB, BTV LRR, 1966. Clive Ogilvy was chairman of Macquarie Broadcasting Service which, along with the Fairfax newspaper group, held interests in ATN Sydney; http:// adb.anu.edu.au/biography/ogilvy-­clive-­david-­11290. 218. NAA/Vic: MP1170/5, CTC/4 PART 1: ABCB, CTC LRR, 1967. CBN interest held by A&F Sullivan P/L. CTC interest held by Daniels Bros & Co P/L, which was wholly owned by the first company. Henderson family companies also held interests in Stage 4 stations, including RVN and AMV. 219. Bartlett 2006, pp. 177–205. 220. Marschall 1987, p. 6.

Bibliography Australian Broadcasting Control Board (ABCB), Annual Report (Canberra: AGPS, 1949, 1954, 1956, 1957, 1958a, 1959a, 1960a, 1961, 1962a, 1963a, 1964, 1965, 1966a, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970a, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974a, 1975a, 1976).

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Barr, Trevor. The Electronic Estate (Ringwood, Vic: Penguin Books, 1985). Bartlett, Robert. ‘An Introduction to Hesiod’s Works and Days’, The Review of Politics, Vol. 68, 2006, pp. 177-205. Bevan, Alex. ‘Transferring Below-the-Line Skillsets Across Creative Industries in Early Television’, Continuum, Vol. 33, No. 4, 2019, pp. 460-474. Commonwealth. Report of the Advisory Committee on Educational Television Services to the ABCB (Canberra: AGPS, 1964). Cryle, Denis, Christina Hunt and Ross Quinn. ‘Researching ABC Rockhampton TV, 1963-85: Two Decades of Regional Television Broadcasting’, Queensland Review, Vol. 7, No. 1 (February 2010), pp. 47-57. Dick, Nigel. ‘The Conception and Development of Commercial Television in Australia’, MA thesis, RMIT, 1999. Dick, Nigel. ‘The Road to Television Networking’, MIA, No. 99, May 2001, pp. 67-70. Dick, Nigel. ‘Media Mavericks: The History of Free-To-Air Television’, PhD thesis, University of Melbourne, 2015. Fiske, John. Introduction to Communication Studies (London: Routledge, 2002). Greater Publications. The Broadcasting and Television Yearbook, eighth edition (Sydney: Greater Publications, 1965), pp. 133-134. Griffen-Foley, Bridget. Changing Stations: The Story of Australian Commercial Radio (Sydney: UNSW Press, 2009). Griffen-Foley, Bridget. Australian Radio Listeners and Television Viewers (Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan, 2020). Herd, Nick. Networking: Commercial Television in Australia (Sydney: Currency House, 2012). Herd, Nick. ‘Commercial Television Networks’, in Bridget Griffen-Foley (ed.), A Companion to the Australian Media (North Melbourne: Australian Scholarly Publishing, 2014), pp. 104-107. Johnson, Lesley. The Unseen Voice: A Cultural Study of Early Australian Radio (London: Routledge, 1988). Kirkpatrick, Rod. ‘Shakespeare Family’, in Bridget Griffen-Foley (ed.), A Companion to the Australian Media (North Melbourne: Australian Scholarly Publishing, 2014), pp. 425-426. Longmore, Paul K. Telethons: Spectacle, Disability and the Business of Charity (New York: Oxford University Press, 2015). Marschall, Rick. The Golden Age of Television (Greenwich, CT: Brompton Books, 1987). Murray, Gillian. ‘Glamour and Aspiration: Women’s Employment and the Establishment of Midlands ATV, 1956-68’, Journal of British Cinema and Television, Vol. 10, No. 3, 2013, pp. 635-649.

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Perlgut, Don. ‘Educational media’, in Bridget Griffen-Foley (ed.), A Companion to the Australian Media (North Melbourne: Australian Scholarly Publishing, 2014), pp. 148-149. Place, Nick and Michael Roberts (eds.). 50 Years of Television in Australia (Prahran, Vic: Hardie Grant, 2006). RCA, ‘CTC-7 Canberra’, RCA Broadcast News, Vol. 156, 1975, pp. 43-49. Stoddart, Brian. Saturday Afternoon Fever: Sport in the Australian Culture (North Ryde, NSW: Angus and Robertson, 1986). Stone, Gerald. Compulsive Viewing: The Inside Story of Packer’s Nine Network (Sydney: Viking, 2000). Tasker, Donald. ‘The Place of Religion in Commercial Television in Australia from 1956 to 1978’, PhD thesis, University of Melbourne, 1980. Thumin, Janet. “Mrs Knight Must Be Balanced’: Methodological Problems in Researching Early British Television’, in Cynthia Carter, Gill Branston and Stuart Allen (eds.), News, Gender and Power (London: Routledge, 1998), pp. 91-104. Vered, Karen. ‘Logie Awards’, in Bridget Griffen-Foley (ed.), A Companion to the Australian Media (North Melbourne: Australian Scholarly Publishing, 2014), p. 248.

PART II

Expansion (1966–1976)

CHAPTER 4

Dualities and Downturns

The establishment of stations in (these) areas … because of their relatively low population densities, raises different questions from those relating to the establishment of stations in the more populous areas of earlier television development. It is evident that they are, for the most part, areas … where the prospects of commercial operation are marginal.1 —Australian Broadcasting Control Board (ABCB), 1963

Since the government’s April 1959 announcement regarding the third stage of its television development program, the ABCB had received numerous representations—from members of parliament, local government authorities, chambers of commerce and individuals—to extend services to other regional areas. Many emphasised the role of television in aiding decentralisation and retaining workers in rural areas. The ABCB reported that, because of a lack of amenities, the progress of television in regional areas might even be more rapid than in the capital cities. In August 1961, the Board informed the Postmaster-General (PMG) that, subject to economic considerations, it would be difficult to justify any further delay in extending the national television service (ABC) to a further 20 regional areas, with commercial stations to be established, wherever practicable, in the same regions to conform with the policy of providing a dual service. But the Board also counselled that the licences should not be granted for areas where there were doubts as to the economic feasibility of the service, as any loss to local shareholders would be a serious matter.2 © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022 M. Thurlow, A History of Regional Commercial Television in Australia, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-10944-7_4

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The ABCB concluded it would be unsafe to contemplate licencing stations in regions with a population much less than 70,000. For comparative purposes, the approximate populations in Stage 3 had ranged from 76,000 in the Rockhampton region to 381,000 (including a 12,000 overlap) for the Newcastle-Hunter area.3 It also considered the most economic means by which commercial services might be extended to such areas, namely the operation of relay stations associated with commercial stations in nearby areas using “off air” pick-up techniques; relay stations associated with other commercial stations to which they would be joined by microwave links; or low-budget stations with limited program facilities to serve concentrated population centres. All three options entailed difficulties. The Board determined the only safe way to proceed was to invite applications for the six most populous regional areas, in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, and South Australia. It cautiously suggested that consideration might then be given to extending television to 14 additional areas once the ABC had commenced, and further knowledge and experience of small station economics and operation had been obtained. But despite these recommendations, Cabinet approved the expansion of both national and commercial services to all 20 areas in October 1961.4 This decision was undoubtedly intended to keep regional voters onside in the lead-up to the upcoming federal election in December. The ABCB invited applications for Stage 4 licences in two rounds, beginning in November. Given the marginal nature of some areas, as remarked in the epigraph, it is perhaps unsurprising that difficulties arose in attracting suitable applicants.5 Just one application was received in seven areas. Two areas initially received none.6 Applications were twice invited for four areas. After a convoluted process, the government progressively granted licences in 17 of the 20 areas between 1963 and 1967 for an initial five-year period (Table 4.1; see also Front Matter, Fig. ii).7 The remaining three areas—Bega/Cooma, Murray Valley, and Central Agricultural—were later served by translator stations from CTC, GMV, and BTW, respectively. Significantly, for the first time in Australia, the government decided to grant three licences—CWN, GSW, and SDQ—to existing operators in adjoining areas, mostly for economic reasons (Box 4.1).

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Box 4.1  Third liminal moment

The government’s decision to grant three of the licences to existing operators was arguably the sector’s third liminal moment as it directly established the first dual station ownership groups. Such decisions were undoubtedly prompted by economic concerns but were also counter to the ABCB’s previous recommendation that licences should, as far as practicable, be granted to local interests. These early tie-ups would also lay the foundations for the emergence of the first major regional networks in the 1980s.

Table 4.1  Stage 4 stations Licence (by callsign and locality)

Licensee (abbreviation used hereafter)

RVN SW Slopes and Eastern Riverina (Wagga Wagga, NSW) NEN Upper Namoi (Tamworth, NSW) NRN Grafton-Kempsey (Coffs Harbour, NSW) AMV Upper Murray (Albury NSW) WBQ Wide Bay (Maryborough, NSW) ECN Manning River (Taree, NSW) CWN Central Western Slopes (Dubbo, NSW) MTN Murrumbidgee Irrigation Areas (Griffith NSW) BKN Broken Hill (NSW) STV Mildura (Vic) FNQ Cairns (Qld) MVQ Mackay (Qld) SDQ Southern Downs (Warwick, Qld) SES SE South Australia (Mount Gambier, SA) BTW Bunbury (WA) GSW Southern Agricultural (Albany, WA) GTS Spencer Gulf North (Port Pirie, SA)

Riverina Television Ltd (RVL) Television New England Ltd (TEL) Northern Rivers Television Ltd (NRL) Albury Upper Murray TV Ltd (AML) Wide Bay Burnett TV Ltd (WBL) East Coast Television Ltd (ETL) Country Television Services Ltd (CBL) Murrumbidgee Television Ltd (MTL) Broken Hill Television Ltd (BHL) Sunraysia Television Ltd (SRL) Far Northern Television Ltd (FNL) Mackay Television Ltd (MKL)8 Darling Downs TV Ltd (DTL) South East Telecasters Ltd (STL) South Western Telecasters Ltd (SWL) South Western Telecasters Ltd (SWL) Spencer Gulf Telecasters Ltd (SGL)

In this context, it could be argued that North Western Telecasters P/L, which was principally sponsored by local radio broadcasting, newspaper, cinema, and business interests (and chaired by a sitting member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly), was as much (if not more) “suitably qualified” for the licence (and able to provide a service that was more “local” in nature) than CBL (CBN) to which the Central Western Slopes (CWN)

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licence was granted. CBL’s chairman, Jack Ridley, was well established in broadcasting, business, and political circles and had assisted the government with information at the Royal Commission on Television and in the lead-up to the granting of the first regional commercial licences in Stage 3. Stage 4 stations were generally established on a smaller scale than those in Stage 3.9 The most obvious differences were in the number and size of studio and camera facilities. Nevertheless, some early-Stage 4 stations— most notably NEN, NRN, RVN, and WBQ—were arguably more similar in scale to some late-Stage 3 stations (e.g. RTQ and TNQ) than late-Stage 4 stations (e.g. GTS and MTN). NEN, an early-Stage 4 station, operated a 2700-square-foot studio equipped with two EMI Vidicon studio cameras. NEN, as with TNT, chose a symbol of Indigenous Australia—one of the world’s oldest cultures—to depict a modern communication system. The idea reportedly emerged when the managing director’s daughter, Darien Higginbotham, was asked by her father to sketch an Aborigine making a smoke signal. The company asked artist Dennis Adams to re-­ sketch the figure before commissioning Clifford Industries of Sydney to produce a life-size, four-foot six-inch, model using fibreglass impregnated with powdered copper. This model was later installed above the station’s entrance.10 The image was also used for on-air identification and in the NEN news set. The significance of a mainstream Australian media company incorporating an image of an Aboriginal man in its own corporate identity—at a time when Indigenous Australians were not even permitted to vote—should not be overlooked.11 AMV utilised a 2000-square-foot studio and was also reportedly the first regional station to install an infinity cyclorama at its Lavington studios.12 MTN comprised a single 1848-square-foot studio equipped with two Vidicon cameras.13 The station was apparently modelled on KCRL-TV Channel 4 Reno in Nevada, United States, which was one of several visited by director William (Ray) Gamble in 1963.14 BKN operated using a 700-square-foot studio with two Pye Vidicon cameras.15 In most cases, Stage 4 commercial stations shared their transmission facilities with the ABC to reduce costs.16 This often involved a common radiator used with a channel diplexer that effectively isolated inputs from the two transmitters.17 RVN was reportedly the first television station in the southern hemisphere to adopt unattended operation. 18 AMV was unique among Australian television stations in that its studios were located in one state (NSW) while its transmitter was located in another (Vic). As a result, the station was marketed to potential national advertisers as “the two states station”.19

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The first Stage 4 station, RVN, commenced operation at Wagga Wagga, an agricultural and military town on the South West Slopes of New South Wales, on 19 June 1964. At 7 pm, announcer Paul Griffiths welcomed viewers to “the first program transmission from RVN Channel Two” (Box 4.2).20 The remaining Stage 4 stations went to air between 1964 and 1968.21 In around half these areas, the ABC commenced weeks, months, or even years before commercial stations, which indicates some of the financial and logistical challenges faced by licensees. In Broken Hill, for example, the national station ABLN commenced in 1965 while the commercial station BKN commenced in 1968.22 But the commencement of Stage 4 stations had not been without difficulty. RVN’s scheduled 8 May 1964 opening had been postponed until mid-June after construction at its Mount Ulandra transmission site was hindered by bad weather.23 Delays were also experienced at SES when, in October 1965, the station’s mast collapsed during installation, forcing it to postpone its planned November 1965 opening by four months.24 The development of the Cairns station was hampered by formidable access problems at the Mount Bartle Frere transmission site, which was estimated to be many times the cost of other Stage 4 stations.25 In September 1966, FNQ commenced operation from a temporary transmission site adjacent to its Aumuller Street studio (Box 4.3). The station’s permanent transmission arrangements, which included a transmitter at Mount Bellenden Ker—opened in 1972 and accessed by the longest cableway in the Box 4.2  RVN, official opening

• Type: Audio-visual recording • Produced by: RVN  SW Slopes and Eastern Riverina  (Wagga Wagga, NSW), 1964 • NFSA reference: 675965

Box 4.3  FNQ, establishment and opening

• Type: Audio-visual recording • Produced by: FNQ Cairns (Qld), 1966 • NFSA reference: 545572

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world—and a chain of nine translator stations was arguably the most complex engineering arrangement of its type in Australia at that time.26 The ABCB was especially concerned at the unduly slow progress in establishing MVQ due to access problems at the Mount Blackwood transmission site. Progress was further delayed by the ineligibility of Mackay Broadcasting Service P/L to participate as a founding sponsor following its takeover by VBN, which held extensive radio interests in Victoria and Western Australia as well as the GLV commercial television licence.27 MVQ eventually commenced operation in August 1968.28 On 19 January 1966, within months of opening, NRN’s frequency was changed from Channel 10 to Channel 11 to avoid interference from the ABC in the Richmond-Tweed area (ABRN).29 NRN chairman, Arnold Forsyth, when asked many years later about the coming of television to the mid north coast of New South Wales, replied somewhat tongue-in-cheek: “It was a wonderful thing for Coffs Harbour, as great an event as the coming of sewerage”.30 Amid the commencement of Stage 4 stations, further tentative steps were taken towards the introduction of colour television.31 Several regional television executives undertook international study tours to assist with planning. In June 1967, BCV general manager Frank McManus commenced an eight-week trip to the United States, United Kingdom, and Europe to study colour television, modern production and transmission techniques, advertising trends, and developments in station operation.32 Similar excursions were undertaken by Jack Gleeson (TNQ) and Peter Twomey (GMV). In December 1968, the Board determined the PAL colour system would be used in Australia.33 In February 1969, the PMG cautioned that this decision should not be construed as indicating colour television was imminent.34 In October, the ABCB surveyed the PMG, ABC, commercial licensees, program producers, manufacturers, and retailers to obtain their views on aspects of colour television.35 A few weeks earlier, Canberrans were given their first glimpse of colour programs with a demonstration of Commonwealth Film Unit films at Monaro Mall (Box 4.4).36

Box 4.4  Colour demonstration, Monaro Mall

• Type: Audio-visual recording • Produced by: CTC Canberra (ACT), 1969 • NFSA reference: 676800

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113

In April 1970, the ABCB issued revised Technical Standards for the Australian Television Service to assist station engineers in assessing the extent to which existing transmission equipment would need to be replaced or modified in preparation for colour operation. These were distinct from the ABCB’s Standards for the Technical Equipment and Operation of Television Stations and replaced initial standards which had been determined for television in 1950.37 Meanwhile, in 1966, seven Stage 3 licences were subject to renewal for the first time.38 The ABCB found most had gradually extended their hours of operation and were providing a considerable range of programs. A high standard of technical efficiency was maintained in all but two cases, and licences were renewed for 12 months.39 In 1968, the PMG recommended amending the Act to enable licences to be renewed for up to two years (perhaps to reduce the associated workload) but this was rejected by Cabinet.40

Station Operations The first years of Stage 4 station operation coincided with prolonged drought conditions, which resulted in a general economic downturn in most parts of regional Australia.41 This deterioration was exacerbated by a decrease in advertising from manufacturers of rural commodities such as farm machinery as well as a rise in metropolitan advertising rates which caused national clients to reduce their spending at regional stations.42 The introduction of the Television Industry (Provincial Stations) Award in 1970 and a rise in the Journalists’ Award and National Wage Case increase, both in 1971, added to cost pressures.43 In this context, overall station performance declined against most measures, although the more established Stage 3 stations continued to make good progress. The new Stage 4 stations were steered through these challenging times by a number of highly experienced and innovative senior executives, including William Marsden (RVN), Ray Gamble (MTN), Ernest Higginbotham (NEN), and Herb Lilburn (FNQ), who mostly came to television after long careers in radio (see note 21). The introduction of Stage 4 stations saw an initial decrease in average weekly hours to 49, down from 55 at the larger Stage 3 stations in mid-1966. These increased to 56 by mid-1968, but a further deterioration in market conditions again saw a reduction, to 54, by mid-1970. This was partially due to a cessation of morning transmission at some stations

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following the discontinuation of certain metropolitan programs, including Nine’s Today, which had been taken on relay.44 (This program is not to be confused with the Today show, also on the Nine Network, which commenced on 28 June 1982.) By mid-1971, average weekly hours had increased slightly to 56 following a minor improvement in trading conditions and the re-introduction of early morning transmissions at stations including NBN and WIN.45 The degraded economic conditions also reduced the proportion of national advertising at regional stations to 81 per cent, down from 89 per cent in mid-1966.46 Local advertising, produced by stations in-house (Box  4.5), accounted for the remaining 19 per cent and continued to achieve good results for advertisers. In 1967, RVN reported that a 30-second spot, which cost less than $100 to produce, boosted sales of Ropel sheep hormone pellets by 35 per cent.47 Most advertising continued to take the form of spot announcements; however, sponsored programs were also common at the newer Stage 4 stations such as AMV), where they accounted for 12 per cent of paid airtime. The average 30-second peak viewing spot rate also fell slightly, from $99 in mid-1966 to $98 by mid-1971.48 Local audience share in the peak viewing period remained steady, at 53 per cent.49 This compared favourably with the Sydney commercial stations which held between 19 and 32 per cent share in that city.50 ABC audience share in peak viewing was particularly strong in regional Queensland and ranged from 38 per cent in Townsville (TNQ) to 48 per cent in Cairns (FNQ). Metropolitan overlap decreased to eight per cent but remained an issue for stations adjoining Sydney, Brisbane, and Melbourne. Regional overlap was around seven per cent and was especially acute in regional Victoria and south-western New South Wales. In the afternoon children’s viewing period, average audience share decreased slightly, from 58 per cent in 1966 to 55 per cent in 1971, as stations faced increased competition for younger viewers from the ABC. In this context, it is worth noting the increased emphasis given by the ABC Box 4.5  Clarke Hansen, commercial production

• Type: Photograph • Produced by: NRN Grafton-Kempsey  (Coffs NSW), c.1967 • NFSA reference: 1196751

Harbour,

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to children’s programs. Play School, a local adaptation of the BBC preschool series, was broadcast on weekday mornings and afternoons from July 1966.51 The well-regarded Australian children’s news/current affairs magazine, Behind The News, commenced production in 1969.52 Sesame Street, produced by the New York-based Children’s Television Workshop for NET, later PBS, began airing locally in January 1971.53 Commercial stations constantly sought new and appealing methods to entice viewers. In mid-1969, BTW/GSW was providing a five-minute “mail order service” in which advertised products were presented for out-­ of-­town viewers.54 In 1971, RVN conducted an art-drawing competition in conjunction with Edmondson’s department store which attracted thousands of entries.55

Personnel The prevailing conditions also saw a decrease in the average number of station employees to 37 by mid-1971, down from 46 just five years earlier.56 This was also partially due to the leaner staffing requirements at the smaller Stage 4 stations, as well as competition for trained personnel between stations. John Worthy (Box 4.6) joined AMV from radio. Tom Warne (Box 4.7) joined NRN’s initial staff as program manager after working at TVT Hobart.

Box 4.6  John Worthy

• Type: Oral history interview • Interviewed by: Denzil Howson, 1995 • NFSA reference: 280264

Box 4.7  Tom Warne

• Type: Oral history interview • Interviewed by: Brendan Horgan, 2009 • NFSA reference: 792864

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Jeanette Cooper (Box 4.8) was initially hired by TNT as a receptionist but later presented programs including Children’s Time on Nine, Arabella’s Attic, and Kaleidoscope. On air talent, especially women, were expected to maintain a high level of personal presentation. Prior to opening night in 1963, RVN general manager, William Marsden, arranged for inaugural station hostess, Colleen Schoff (who he described as “quite ‘green’, although with a natural charm”), to attend a one-day “crash course’ in deportment at the June Daly-Watkins school in Sydney. Marsden later described the results as “remarkable”.57 Schoff gave up her hostess position at RVN just prior to her marriage in 1967.58 She was replaced by Isabel Angel, a local doctor’s secretary.59 In this context, it is worth noting the existence of a so-called “marriage bar” which required some women to resign from work prior to marrying. This mostly applied to women working in the federal and state public service; however, an informal marriage bar also existed in some private sector organisations; however, this was not set in law.60 Staff shortages and heavy workloads were reported at several regional television companies. Nevertheless, stations continued to provide a training ground for up-and-coming talent. News supremo Peter Meakin (Box 4.9) began his television news career at SES in 1966, where he “learnt about television in a hell of a hurry”.61 Meakin later held senior news roles at the Nine, Seven, and Ten networks.

Box 4.8  Jeanette Gatenby (nee Cooper)

• Type: Oral history interview • Interviewed by: Brendan Horgan, 2002 • NFSA reference: 571533

Box 4.9  Peter Meakin

• Type: Oral history interview • Interviewed by: Anita Jacoby, 2013 • NFSA reference: 1136273

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Steve Liebmann (Box 4.10) honed his broadcasting skills at 2XL Cooma, then 2CA Canberra before joining CTC in 1967 where he worked on programs including Tonight In Canberra with David Brice.62 He later worked at 2UE, 2SM, and the Seven Network before achieving national prominence as co-host of the Nine Network’s relaunched Today breakfast program in 1982.63 (This later version of Today is not to be confused with the earlier version, also on the Nine Network, which had aired in the late 1960s.) Sue Smith (Box 4.11) started at CBN/CWN in 1968, where she presented news, commercials, and Jackpot Quiz alongside Bob McGready.64 Smith later joined Nine’s A Current Affair as its first female journalist, then anchor.65 Jason Davis, a former British Merchant Navy seaman, began his television news career at GMV in 1968 after calling the station on a whim. He was later employed at GTV Melbourne before relocating to the United States where he worked for stations including KSTP-TV, the American Broadcasting Company affiliate for Saint Paul, Minnesota.66 Newsreader Bruce Paige commenced at WBQ in early 1969, where his duties included writing scripts, recording voice-overs, and playing the “internals” of a robot on Teleclub. 67 Paige later joined the Nine Network but would return to regional television in the early 1990s to present news for Townsville-based QTV (TNQ).

Box 4.10  Steve Liebmann

• Type: Oral history interview • Interviewed by: Sandra Odorisio, 2015 • NFSA reference: 1383133

Box 4.11  Sue Smith

• Type: Photograph • Produced by: Stephen Fleay, c.1968 • NFSA reference: 1491432

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Box 4.12  Ken Sutcliffe

• Type: Oral history interview • Interviewed by: Sandra Odorisio, 2013 • NFSA reference: 1144511 Ken Sutcliffe (Box 4.12) began his broadcasting career at 2MG Mudgee then 2LF Young. He joined CBN/CWN in 1969 where he worked in publicity, produced commercials, and presented news. Deciding it was “better to be poor and warm than to be poor and cold”, Sutcliffe relocated to Townsville in early 1971 where he joined TNQ. He later rose to national prominence at the Nine Network as host of Wide World of Sport and other programs.68 On air personnel were frequently feted as local celebrities, even after they left their stations. Former AMV hostess Olgamary Whelan was reportedly mobbed by “several hundred” young fans on her wedding day in 1965.69

Technical Operations The prevailing economic situation (which required stations to make better use of scarce resources), coupled with technological advances, encouraged adoption of videotape operation, automation, and outsourcing of transmission site operation and maintenance. RVN, for example, noted that simplification of equipment control through automation or semi-­ automation freed staff to focus on program presentation and quality.70 Videotape operation increasingly replaced more labour-intensive film-­ handling practices. But in 1969, the ABCB found a lack of such facilities at FNQ, MVQ, BTW/GSW, SES, and GTS impacted their ability to televise up-to-date Australian programs, since these were mostly being supplied on videotape rather than film. The situation was compounded by the relative remoteness of these stations, which precluded the use of off-air relays.71 The issue was mostly resolved after the Board authorised use of helical-scan videotape equipment for single-generation recordings (up to 10 per cent of program time) even though the performance of such machines fell short of that achieved using four head scan machines.72 Regular program relays from metropolitan stations, discussed later in this chapter, were now more frequent. This was partly due to a need to

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comply with the ABCB’s Australian content requirements and facilitated by improvements in telecommunications infrastructure. Relay arrangements required significant co-ordination and were not without incident. In 1968, the Board observed that some regional stations were taking programs on relay without its approval. It wrote to stations reminding them of these requirements and to obtain details of all such programs.73 In 1971, the ABCB reported that the GTV-GLV relay required a “great deal” of coordination to ensure local advertisements coincided with the time and duration of those in the relayed program from Melbourne.74 In most cases, a station’s transmission equipment was located some distance from its studios and offices. By 1969, the GLV, WIN, and DDQ transmitters had been converted to semi-attended operation by the PMG’s Department to reduce costs.75 Unattended operation, too, was increasingly commonplace as it enabled transmitters to operate automatically or by remote control. The first station, RVN, was authorised to commence unattended operation in 1964. Others, including RTN and GMV, were soon converted from attended operation.76 As a result, the Board issued its Tentative Standards for Unattended Television Station Operation. Such arrangements were subject to the provision of suitable control point, standby, precision monitoring, and supervisory facilities.77 By mid-1971, at least nine commercial stations had introduced unattended operation at their transmission sites.78 The period was especially notable for the first program relays between regional stations. These were initially established between stations under common ownership—CBN/CWN, DDQ/SDQ, and BTW/GSW— where one was placed on full-time relay from the other. Such arrangements were gradually expanded to include third-party relays to stations under independent ownership which were experiencing financial difficulties. In 1966, RVN and AMV considered (but did not proceed with) an arrangement by which the latter station would receive programs on relay from the former.79 Similarly, in 1969, AMV management met with the ABCB to discuss the possibility of establishing a full-time relay from either RVN or GMV.80 In both cases, the ABCB raised concerns in relation to localism and independence, which would come under the spotlight in the years ahead. The first third-party relay was established in March 1969 when a financially crippled ECN began taking all programs from NRN.81 These tie-ups arguably represented the first regional commercial television networks.82 By 1970, CBN/CWN was promoting itself to advertisers as The Provincial Television Network (Box 4.13).

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Box 4.13  “The Provincial Television Network”

• Type: Promotional material • Produced by: CBN Central Tablelands (Orange, NSW), c.1970 • NFSA reference: 1054655 The provision of an acceptable television service to some parts proved problematic. Service to fringe areas posed its own challenges. The situation in Bega-Cooma was, as Stephanie Hanson notes, especially problematic due to economic considerations and the “uncompromising character” of the local terrain, which prevented a decent signal from being received.83 As a result, residents experienced significant difficulties in “chasing a signal” from the Canberra and Wollongong stations using do-it-yourself aerials. In October 1963, the Act was amended to enable the establishment of low-powered television translator stations for the re-transmission of signals from the main transmitter to outlying districts.84 But the use of translators remained complicated as they were subject to the same legislative requirements as television transmitter stations, thereby restricting each station to operating its main transmitter and just one translator. The Act was amended further in 1964 to overcome this anomaly.85 The first regional commercial translator stations were established by the Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Authority to provide the amenity of television to its employees at Khancoban NSW and in construction camps.86 These stations—at Mount Youngal and Twin Peak—commenced in September 1964 and re-transmitted the AMV signal.87 In 1965, the ABCB approved the use of television translator stations for Bega-Cooma: CTC Cooma commenced in 1966 followed by WIN Bega in 1971. Nevertheless, the area continued to be plagued by pockets of poor reception well into the 1970s. Applications to provide translator stations were often as competitive as those for full-power stations. In arriving at a recommendation, the Board increasingly sought to ascertain the degree of community of interest between the area to be served and that already covered by applicant stations.88 In 1968, it noted the continued interest from mining companies

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and other third parties in establishing translators to service their interests in remote areas. In addition to the SMHA, commercial translator station licences were granted to organisations including Northern Electric Authority of Queensland (Cardstone Village), Utah Development Authority (Blackwater), and Golden Plateau No Liability (Cracow).89 There were 37 regional commercial translators in operation by mid-1971.90

Financial Performance The  prevailing market conditions brought a deterioration in short-term financial performance.91 Average income rose by just under three per cent between mid-1966 and mid-1971.92 But this was accompanied by a 4.5 per cent rise in expenditure over the same period.93 In 1971, GMV advised the ABCB it was under pressure to raise the rate it paid to its six freelance “stringer” cameramen from $6 to $12 per item. This followed the ABC’s decision to raise its fee from $14.50 to $22. GMV station manager Peter Twomey stated he would prefer to employ an additional full-time cameraman rather than meet the demands of freelance stringers.94 Program costs were around $44–$55 per hour for imported series and $50–$60 for top-­ rating Australian series.95 Station licence fees also rose, by nine per cent.96 The average efficiency ratio deteriorated from 78 per cent in mid-1966 to 84 per cent by mid-1971.97 Station profitability also fell, from $164,755 to $159,474, while the average net profit ratio dropped from 22 to around 16 per cent over the same period.98 It is, however, important to note the large disparity in financial performance, particularly between some of the larger, more established Stage 3 stations and smaller Stage 4 stations. In mid-1971, STV, a newer Stage 4 station, declared a loss of $36,148. GLV, which had experienced extreme overlap issues from the Melbourne stations since inception, declared a $7219 profit. In contrast, NBN, the largest regional station, achieved a profit of just under $900,000. Despite the hardships, overall financial performance compared favourably to the newer 0–10 Network stations as well as those in Adelaide and Perth. For example, ATV had an NPR of 10 per cent, STW 15 per cent, ATN 23 per cent, and HSV 35 per cent. Some regional television companies were at least partially shielded from the worst of the economic downturn on account of being subsidiaries of

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larger media organisations. TNT, for example, was part of Examiner-­ Northern TV Limited which owned the Examiner newspaper and numerous radio stations. CBN/CWN, NEN, MTN, GMV, and TNQ were also associated with radio. VBN’s 1968 acquisition of BCL (BCV), discussed later in this chapter, transformed it into Australia’s largest non-newspaper-­ controlled media group. Other operators diversified their businesses to protect against seasonal fluctuations in advertising revenue.99 One of the first was CTL (CTC), which established its Canlab Film Laboratory, Canberra’s only commercial cine-film processing facility. By mid-1970, it was processing more than 10,000 feet of 16 mm film each week for the networks, ABC, government departments, and local film producers.100 The first efforts towards attracting third-party producers to make use of regional production facilities occurred in November 1965 when NEN proposed that the ABC could (undoubtedly for a fee) make use of its Tamworth studios for local program production; however, this did not eventuate for various reasons.101 Stations continued to be active in community service. In 1967, RVN raised funds for improvements to the children’s ward at Wagga Wagga Base Hospital (see note 55). Isabel Angel, on her first day as RVN hostess, joined compere Edwin Maher for a rendition of “Hello Dolly” in exchange for a $300 donation from viewers (Box 4.14).102 NBN provided more than $100,000 in free air time and facilities in 1968, along with a $2000 art prize in conjunction with the Newcastle City Art Gallery.103 Around this time, AMV staged a 13-week “speed knitting” competition in aid of local charities. Telethons were increasingly a major fund-raising initiative. On 13 October 1968, AMV held its first telethon to help North Albury Apex Club raise money to send Christmas gifts to Australians serving in Vietnam.104 In March 1971, WIN’s first telethon raised $70,000 for the Illawarra Society for Crippled Children.105

Box 4.14  Isabel Angel and Edwin Maher, Apex Walk-a-thon

• Type: Photograph • Produced by: RVN SW Slopes and Eastern Riverina,  (Wagga Wagga, NSW) 1967 • NFSA reference: 532161

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Programs Regional stations had not initially been subject to the ABCB’s Australian content requirements. But in August 1966, after a period of Cabinet inaction following the 1963 Vincent Committee report on the encouragement of Australian productions for television, the ABCB announced a percentage-based system incorporating quotas and qualitative loadings to stimulate production of quality drama and what it considered to be “constructive and informative” (i.e. quality) children’s programs.106 PMG Hulme also wrote to all Australian stations, reminding them of their “obligation to work towards the development of a television service that will be essentially Australian”.107 Regional stations which had completed three years of regular transmission were expected to implement the changes “without delay”, with full compliance by July 1967.108 The commencement of Stage 4 stations initially saw a rise in the proportion of relatively inexpensive imported content on regional stations. But by mid-1971, this had decreased to around 48 per cent as more stations became subject to the Board’s quotas for the first time (Fig. 4.1).109 Popular imported series included soap operas Days of Our Lives and Coronation Street; situation comedies Bewitched, Get Smart, I Dream of Jeannie, Hogan’s Heroes, and Lost in Space; Western series Maverick and Wagon Train; and drama series Peyton Place.

Fig. 4.1  Regional commercial television, program sources, 1971. Copyright Michael Thurlow

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Australian programs acquired from the metropolitan networks accounted for 37 per cent of total programs. These were mostly obtained from the Seven and Nine networks, with a smaller proportion from the 0/10 network. Popular Australian series included the police procedurals Homicide and Division 4, live music and variety show Bandstand, and children’s programs Here’s Humphrey and The Magic Circle Club. On 5 July 1967, in what was hailed as a first for regional television, (AMV) hosted a gala preview of  Hunter, the Australian spy drama produced by Crawford Productions. Actors Gerard Kennedy and Fernande Glyn joined more than 100 guests for a wine tasting and premiere at the station’s Lavington studios. The program’s sponsor, Ampol, provided uniformed parking attendants.110 On 4 May, RTN hosted the first regional edition of the national panel program Beauty and the Beast (ATN) in which host Stuart Wagstaff was joined by local “beauties”, including station hostess Denise Lawler (Box 4.15) and reigning Jacaranda Queen, Lynette Biffen.111 The remaining programs were either produced by regional stations in their own studios (11 per cent) or obtained from independent producers (four per cent). The localism marker indicates a 31 per cent decrease in local program production from 1966 (see Chap. 1, Fig. 1.1). At least nine stations were taking some programs by relay from metropolitan stations by mid-1971. News relays were especially common. By mid-1968, HSV (Melbourne) and ATN (Sydney) had leased the protection channels of the PMG Department’s microwave system between Sydney and Melbourne for the relay of around 15 hours of programs each week. Arrangements were subsequently made by CTC, CBN/CWN, MTN, and RVN to take certain programs, mostly news services, from ATN. A similar arrangement was made between HSV and AMV.112 In a particularly convoluted arrangement, the Sydney to Orange link was (from March 1971) used to relay the ATN news—via CBN, then CWN—to NEN.113 AMV re-transmitted the first 15  minutes of the ABC national Box 4.15  Denise Lawler

• Type: Photograph • Produced by: RTN Richmond-Tweed  Heads NSW), c.1967 • NFSA reference: 529460

(Lismore,

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service, supplementing it with 15 minutes of local and district news. MTN and STV also relayed the ABC news at different times. In late 1965, AMV changed to the GTV Melbourne service which provided news copy by teleprinter supplemented with the previous day’s news, which was supplied on film and sent by train. GTV later air-freighted videotaped copies of whatever news material was available to catch the mid-afternoon flight to Albury. In March 1968, AMV commenced a direct relay of the HSV news service via the PMG’s Sydney-Melbourne microwave link. This was supplemented with five minutes of local and district news at 6.25 pm. AMV also co-operated with RVN in the exchange of news items of local interest on film.114 But the cost of national news relays was beyond the means of some stations. The situation was especially acute in Queensland, where WBQ, RTQ and TNQ had found the cost of using the Seacom link for relaying the BTQ (Brisbane) evening news prohibitive.115 From March 1970 to June 1971, RTN was unable to provide a regular national news program except for brief voice-over-slide bulletins using material obtained by telex from the Macquarie Broadcasting Service radio network.116 The station even considered asking NBN to provide national news content (from ATN Sydney) free of charge; however, this did not eventuate due to the $51,000 annual cost of a bearer link from Newcastle. Although more economical link facilities were available from Brisbane for around $20,000, RTN believed an interstate news service would be of less interest and relevance to local viewers (see note 116). NRN/ECN was unable to provide a news service due to the high cost of PMG link facilities.117 All three stations commenced taking a relay of ATN’s news service from June 1971 (see note 116). Meanwhile, the Board’s Victorian program officer, R.W. Fox, reported that AMV) had decided not to take relays of the VFL replay from HSV due to the “very high” ATN/HSV link fee and $5300 annual rental for links from the PMG Department’s relay point to its Lavington studios (see note 114). The long-standing relay agreement between GLV and GTV (Melbourne), discussed in Chap. 3, ended in 1971.118 Regional stations also carried the first network breakfast programs on relay. The National Nine Network’s Today commenced in 1968 and was aired by at least eight stations in New South Wales and Victoria.119 It was hosted by Diana Ward and described as “television’s first talking morning newspaper”.120 (This program is not to be confused with the Today show, also on the Nine Network, which commenced on 28 June 1982). TEN’s

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Box 4.16  National Roving Eye

• Type: Audio-visual recording • Produced by: Australian Television Facilities P/L, 1969–78 • NFSA reference: 138349 offering, Good Morning, hosted by ex-TNQ hostess Rosemary Eather, was dismissed by the same television critic as “strictly kindergarten—child-­ minding punctuated with news”.121 These formats proved to be less popular than expected and were discontinued around 1970.122 The regional combine, Australian Television Facilities P/L (ATF), entered the program production arena in 1969 with National Roving Eye, a five-minute documentary series in which a film with local interest was produced for prime-time presentation by other regional stations (Box 4.16).123 The first series included segments on the Gundagai horseback postman (CTC), Cobb and Co. historical coach service (DDQ), Bundaberg rum (WBQ), and the Rockhampton radio-controlled model aircraft flying group (RTQ).124 ATF also contributed to the capital cost of several pilots by independent producers, including sitcoms The Group and The Undertakers, drama series Catwalk and E-Force, and suspense anthology Kill or Cure.125 Elsewhere, the BTV-produced Cooking with Julie, a 30-episode series, was sold nationally to 12 stations including ATV, TEN, NWS, TVT, CTC and BCV. Host Julie McGinn prepared inexpensive but exotic dishes for that time, including bacon scallops, lotus fried rice, orange cinnamon crisps, and dim sims.126

Production The ABCB generally commended regional station efforts to provide programs of relevance to their local communities.127 But by mid-1971, there had been an overall decrease in local content as a proportion of total programs to around 11 per cent, down from 16 per cent in mid-1966 (see Chap. 1, Fig. 1.1) (see note 109). This equated to around 4.5 hours per week, which represented a 55 per cent reduction over the previous five years. The decline was due to several factors, including the commencement of smaller Stage 4 stations with fewer resources, the more

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challenging economic environment, and a need to comply with the ABCB’s Australian content quotas which could be met through acquiring relatively inexpensive programs from the metropolitan stations.128 Nevertheless, the regionals continued to originate a range of news, sport, family, children’s, and other programs (see note 109). NBN, for example, was producing around 18  hours of programs in its own studios each week.129 In FNQ’s first licence renewal report, the ABCB noted the substantial amount of “unusual”, “fresh”, and “untried” local production at the station, staffed by just 15 people, in its early years of operation.130 Regional stations devoted most of their production resources to local news, which accounted for 40 per cent of local production. These generally comprised a 5- to 15-minute service each weeknight; however, NBN and TNT were the main exceptions, with each producing 30-minute bulletins of local, national, and international news. In contrast, BKN presented what an ABCB inspector described as a meagre, inadequate, and haphazard news service. The station’s first effort consisted of a live, five-­ minute bulletin at 6.55 pm on weeknights. This was extended to 15 minutes following the installation of a teleprinter in September 1968. The station did not provide film coverage of local news, deeming it to be uneconomical (see note 138). In October 1968, the station was twice observed presenting just a four-minute bulletin read on-camera by the station announcer. These comprised three items sourced from the local newspaper and one short national or international segment on film. A one-minute service was presented at the close of transmission.131 Several stations had, at various times, abandoned their news services due to economic or technical factors. The situation was again particularly acute in Queensland, where the ABCB noted the provision of a comprehensive news service appeared to be beyond the resources of several stations. FNQ had commenced in 1966 with a 15-minute evening news service, providing an additional 5 to 10 minutes on Saturday mornings. The evening service was reduced from 15 to 10 minutes in August 1967, then abandoned in December. A 30-minute evening news service was introduced in April 1968 but abandoned in May 1969. Landline costs for a teleprinter service from Brisbane were high. Overseas and national news items on film were dated by the time they reached Cairns. The station’s efforts to rent (at an economical figure) the spare bearer on the Seacom cable for relaying news services from Brisbane failed. The only news program televised by FNQ at the time of its 1971 licence renewal was an imported round-up of overseas news televised for five minutes on Saturday

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evenings and 10 minutes on Wednesday afternoons.132 In December 1969, DDQ discontinued its local news service as the annual cost of $30,000 was considered prohibitive. A shorter, five-minute local news service was reinstated in 1971.133 In June 1970, NRN discontinued its 15-minute nightly news service due to the absence of suitable link facilities.134 News bulletins were supplemented by news magazine programs. These generally comprised a 5- or 10-minute in-depth coverage of a current topic or subject of interest to local viewers. Programs included Roving Eye (CBN), Focus (NBN), and Sunday Review (WIN). The late 1960s was especially notable for the first forays into regional breakfast television. Ten for Breakfast (FNQ) was a two-hour program telecast from March 1967 to September 1968 at 7.30am on Saturdays. It comprised live hosted segments and film features such as “Ozzie and Harriet” and “My Mother the Car”.135 A garden studio was established to host crocodile wrangling and other acts with a uniquely Far North Queensland flavour.136 Breakfast at Seven (CTC), a two-hour Saturday morning program hosted by David Brice, commenced on 6 May 1967. It included news headlines and interviews interspersed with film clips from light entertainment shows, weather reports, sports news, gardening notes, cartoons, and music. Regular station identification with a clock would keep people aware of the time and assist them to plan their morning’s activities.137 Saturday on Seven (BKN) was arguably an ambitious undertaking given the station’s limited resources. Hosted by Peter Jinks, the live, two-hour program premiered at 7.00am on 17 August 1968. Segments included news, sport, interviews, discussions, and music. A similar program, Wednesday Matinee, was also hosted by Jinks.138 Intriguingly, all three stations—FNQ, CTC, and BKN—claimed, at different times, to have been the first to pioneer the breakfast television format in regional television. Children’s programs (19 per cent), while popular, had generally decreased in scope and scale since the mid-1960s.139 Nevertheless, some stations put a great deal of effort into their production. Local versions of Romper Room, the perennially popular international preschool program, were produced by MTN and NBN. The former, which first aired on 12 December 1966, was hosted by “Miss Karen” Knight, who had previously conducted the session in Orange.140 The latter, which commenced in 1967, was initially presented by “Miss Anne” Campbell, a 22-year-old school teacher from Kurri Kurri who was chosen from over 70 applicants.141 The locally produced CBN/CWN and RTN (discussed in Chap. 3), MTN, and NBN versions of Romper Room were in addition to the national version

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Box 4.17  Wayne Magee and Joey the Clown, Get Set

• Type: Photograph • Produced by: NRN Grafton-Kempsey  (Coffs NSW), c.1966 • NFSA reference: 532158

Harbour,

produced at ATN Sydney, and those of ATV Melbourne and SAS Adelaide. Other offerings included Teleclub (WBQ), Arabella’s Attic (TNT), Ten Club (FNQ), and Fun Time with John Tyler (WIN). Children’s presenters included Olgamary Whelan (AMV), Andrew Noblett (SES), Diana Craig-Gardiner (WBQ), Colleen Schoff and Isabel Angel (RVN), and Wayne Magee (NRN), who were often the public faces of stations. Human comperes were often joined by a range of characters designed to appeal to children. These included Strawberry Scarecrow (BCV), bumbling janitor Victor Featherhead (SES) played by John Norton, studio cleaner Barney Sludge (AMV) portrayed by Denzil Howson, and Joey the Clown (NRN) (Box 4.17). Children’s television clubs, too, remained popular with younger viewers. The Channel 2 Children’s Club (RVN) encouraged a responsible attitude towards television. Its membership card included a message from hostess Isabel Angel encouraging youngsters to “Finish homework before TV,” “Accept parents’ selections of programs you should watch,” “Go to bed early—with a smile”, and “Help others before helping yourself”.142 The Channel Niners’ Club (MTN) had reportedly amassed almost 2000 members within weeks of commencing and had reportedly reached 10,000 by 1970.143 A young Greg Murphy, whose father worked at MTN, was member 28; Greg was, at the time of writing, the station manager (Fig. 4.2). The station’s “Birthday Book” segment—in which members’ birthdays were read out live—was especially popular and remained on air until 2006. Children’s entertainment was a particular strength of AMV in its early years of operation. This was, in large part, due to Denzil Howson, the station’s program manager, who possessed an extensive background in acting, theatre, radio, and television. Cohns Cobbers Teleclub was sponsored by Cohns soft drinks and based on Howson’s earlier Tarax Show at GTV Melbourne. Howson appeared as a variety of characters, including studio cleaner Barney Sludge, on Teleclub and other local programs. Howson’s

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Fig. 4.2  The Channel Niners, membership certificate, c. 1967. Image courtesy of Greg Murphy

son, Paul, also performed a weekly puppet sequence. In October 1967, AMV produced The Adventures of Bernie and Buttsy, a series of 13 five-­ minute “shorts” featuring station characters “Captain” Bernie Harper and his sidekick, Buttsy (played by Brian Butts), in a range of comical situations. The shorts adopted a similar format to that used in silent films where footage is accompanied by music. Sport (14 per cent) continued to be an ideal topic for local coverage due to its wide appeal and limited television production costs. FNQ sport programs were typical of the formats adopted by regional stations. Hook, Line and Sinker, was a 10-minute session directed at recreational fishermen. Its popularity was unsurprising given Cairns’ reputation as a big game fishing destination. Sporting Roundup provided a 30-minute summary of local horse racing and sport results. Spotlight on Sport was presented on Sunday evenings and included live interviews and results. The format was developed over time to incorporate highlights of major local sporting events. All three programs were presented by Dick Chant.144 Kick

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for Kick (SES) was a live, Sunday afternoon football panel show hosted by local sporting personality and racing commentator George Kay. The program later became World of Sport which aired until the 1970s. Family programs (11 per cent) were mostly directed at women and included discussion/panel and cooking sessions (see note 139). Wednesday Woman (SES) commenced in 1967 and was presented live-to-air by Graeme Gilbertson each Wednesday between 2.00 and 3.00pm. The program, filmed in front of a live studio audience, included interviews with local women of renown and advertorial segments featuring local retailers. Wednesday Woman, later Woman’s World, remained in production until the 1990s.145 Petticoat Panel (RVN), hosted by Edwin Maher and several local women of renown, presented viewer’s questions to a mystery guest for “frank” discussion.146 Tea and Biscuits (BTW/GSW) was a 40-minute program hosted by Liz Clarke and televised at 2.00pm on Wednesdays. Segments included shopping guides, talent quests, social news and viewer letters, musical interludes, and telephone interviews. The latter comprised a single pre-recorded call, originating from BTW, to a subscriber selected at random from the telephone directory. The resultant “interview” dealt with an item of local interest. The “on-air” portion of the call was then mimed by the hostess. In 1969, an ABCB inspector remarked that, while the program “could easily degenerate into dreary mediocrity”, a little imagination could see it “take on a positive character”.147 Radiant Living (FNQ), a 30-minute live cooking program sponsored by the Cairns Regional Electricity Board (CREB), commenced on 8 September 1966 and is believed to have been the longest-running locally produced non-news program on regional commercial television.148 It was hosted by Hyacinth Smith, a Rockhampton school teacher who joined CREB as a demonstrator and unexpectantly found her role expanded to include television presentation.149 Similar programs were sponsored by local electricity authorities on several stations, including CBN/CWN, MTN, and WIN to promote electricity in the home. Current affairs programs, including political matter (eight per cent), were confined to a relatively small number of stations. Comment (FNQ) was a 30-minute weekly panel discussion presented at 4.00pm (later 9.30pm) on Sundays. The panel featured several “very intelligent and forthright” people who debated controversial national, state, and local topics. For a time, the station also presented The Voice of Youth, a 15-­minute weekly segment in which teenagers had an opportunity to air their views on issues.150 University Comment (NEN) was a 10-minute commentary on

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news and current affairs topics presented by University of New England academics at 9.50pm each Thursday. Religious programs (five per cent) generally consisted of a locally produced epilogue supplemented with Australian or imported films. In April 1969, the ABCB extended the minimum requirement to 30 minutes each week on an experimental basis regardless of stations’ weekly hours.151 In 1970, the Board’s Advisory Committee on Religious Programmes expressed “grave concern” for the future of religious broadcasting in the context of social and cultural changes and the development of modern broadcasting techniques.152 Nevertheless, it envisaged the presentation of religious matter in a form which would match the surrounding programs, believing that relatively little opportunity existed to televise lengthy religious programs such as church services. The Board also amended its Television Programme Standards to provide for the inclusion of advertisements in religious programs (presumably as an incentive to keep them on air) other than those devoted to Divine Worship after consultation with religious organisations.153 Light entertainment (two per cent) consisted mostly of music, quiz, and panel programs. Matinee Melody continued to be presented by Stephen Fleay.154 Music Man (BTW/GSW) was hosted by John Batchelor. BHP High School Quiz (NBN) was a 30-minute student quiz which was sponsored by the eponymous steel manufacturer from 1967 until the early 1970s.155 BHP sponsored a similar quiz, produced at WIN, in the early 1970s.156 Other programs in this genre included An Evening With (Box 4.18) and Tonight In Canberra (CTC) hosted by David Brice, who was joined by Steve Liebmann for the latter, and Here Tonight (NBN). Information programs accounted for around one per cent of local production. Farm Topics (MTN), a five-minute, weekly rural segment produced by the NSW Department of Agriculture and telecast at 7.25pm on Tuesdays. It commenced on 28 February 1967 to provide information of interest and use to local farmers. The first program demonstrated how

Box 4.18  An Evening With… Sandy Scott

• Type: Audio-visual recording • Produced by: CTC Canberra (ACT), 1966 • NFSA reference: 1551983

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Box 4.19  Rural Topics and News

• Type: Audio-visual recording • Produced by: RTN Richmond-Tweed  Heads NSW), c.1967 • NFSA reference: 554852

(Lismore,

Box 4.20  On Stage (RTN), Fred Kehoe

• Type: Photograph • Produced by: RTN Richmond-Tweed  Heads NSW), c.1968 • NFSA reference: 529427

(Lismore,

grape growers could test their own table grapes for maturity.157 Rural Topics and News (RTN) was a 15-minute program which covered items of interest to primary producers each Wednesday at 6.45pm (Box 4.19). Also at RTN, On Stage, a 15-minute program presented by Fred Kehoe each Sunday evening, provided details of amateur theatre activities in the station’s viewing area (Box 4.20).158 There were also several notable efforts in locally produced education and arts programming.159 In 1964, AMV aired a live production of the hoary Victorian melodrama East Lynne performed by the Albury Repertory Club.160 In 1968, the station staged scenes from the Albury High School’s production of the comic operetta The Mikado in its studio. These were presented as a half-hour teaser to attract an audience to the stage production.161 Junior News and Sport (NBN) was a noteworthy attempt to introduce school students to the television newsgathering process. The Friday afternoon program, devised as part of 1967 Education Week, adopted a traditional news format and was presented by high school students Vicki Lever and Stephen Owens.162 That year, FNQ produced a 30-minute weekly series of adult education lectures on subjects including “History of Life”, “Divorce in Queensland”, “Reason and Religious Belief”, and “Art of Cartoonists”.163 Outside broadcasts were more commonplace by the late 1960s. WIN became the first Australian regional station to film overseas when it was

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chosen by the Canadian government to produce a half-hour documentary on the 1967 World’s Fair in Montreal.164 In that same year, NBN provided coverage of significant local events including the Mattara Festival, the Miss Newcastle Ball and the annual agricultural show.165 In 1968, BTV staged a 90-minute direct telecast of Ballarat’s annual Begonia Festival, while CBN/CWN conducted a three-day broadcast from its OB caravan at the National Field Days.166 In early 1970, CTC acquired a four-camera OB van from Associated Television, London, which was first used to televise the presentation of colours at Duntroon Military College by Queen Elizabeth II on 27 April.167

Ownership and Control The late 1960s was, as we have discussed, notable for a tendency towards dual-station ownership. This began with the government’s decision to grant licences for the Central Western Slopes (CWN), Southern Downs (SDQ) and Southern Agricultural (GSW) areas to operators in adjoining markets. The prevailing economic conditions also brought the first station mergers, beginning in October 1968, when VBN (GLV) made an offer to purchase all the shares it did not own in BCL (BCV) .168 This acquisition of the more profitable Bendigo station was undoubtedly intended to offset continuing losses at the ailing Gippsland operation which, as we have seen, had struggled against overlap from the Melbourne stations since commencing in 1961. The proposal was approved by the PMG on 2 December 1968, and BCL was delisted from the Melbourne Stock Exchange on 27 December.169 Significantly, this deal made VBN the largest non-newspaper-controlled media group in Australia.170 Other transactions soon followed. In November 1969, TQL (TNQ) acquired FNL (FNQ), which had experienced financial duress. Telecasters North Queensland Ltd (TNQ) hoped consolidation of two northernmost regional Queensland commercial television markets would create efficiencies and curtail losses at the Cairns station. Acceptances were received from around 90 per cent of shareholders, and FNL was delisted from the Brisbane Stock Exchange on 28 November. This transaction was complicated by TNL’s financial interest in MVL (MVQ) and AWA’s interests in Townsville and Cairns which contravened existing ownership and control regulations. Nevertheless, in December, the PMG approved the takeover subject to TQL divesting excess shareholdings in MVL and AWA reducing its interest in TQL.171

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In 1970, ABS purchased all the shares which it did not already own in GML (GMV). ABS controlled radio stations 3YB Warrnambool, 3UL Warragul, 3SR Shepparton, and 3CS Colac, with additional minor television interests in NEN, RTQ, TNQ, and WBQ. The proposal was approved by the PMG in November and GML was delisted from the Melbourne Stock Exchange in January 1970.172 In mid-1971, after a particularly complicated process, NRL (NRN) merged with RTL (RTN). In January 1971, NRL (NRN) announced plans to acquire all shares in RTL (RTN). The merger plans initially involved transferring the NRN and RTN licences from NRL and RTL, respectively, to a new company, North Coast Television Holdings Ltd. 173 The deal was, however, complicated by a bid from TNL (NEN) to merge with NRL.174 But NRL rejected the TNL advance on the basis that the Coffs Harbour and Tamworth viewing areas were incompatible.175 After various manoeuvres, NRL shareholders and the PMG approved the RTL takeover in mid-1971.176 RTN was placed on full relay from NRN on 7 August.177 In late 1974, the RTN studios were leased to the Northern Rivers College of Advanced Education for three years. The arrangement, which was the first of its kind in Australia, gave the college access to a fully equipped television facility for use in drama, music, communication, and production courses. The agreement also gave NRL full use of the facilities at any time.178 Other notable changes included major restructures at NTL (TNT) and CBL (CBN/CWN). In mid-1969, NTL acquired its major shareholder, W.R. Rolph & Sons P/L. Its television operations were then transferred to the new subsidiary, Northern Television (TNT9) P/L, and NTL was renamed as Examiner-Northern TV Ltd.179 The acquisition consolidated a range of assets under the company’s ownership, including the Examiner newspaper, radio station 7EX, and a “while-you-wait” commercial printing service.180 The Sevenex Record Bar was opened in the following year.181 In 1970, CBL advised the ABCB that it would acquire its main shareholder, Country Broadcasting and Television Services Ltd.182 But it is the fate of ECN which most demonstrates the tenuous financial situation in some areas. The station had commenced operation from its Taree studio on 27 May 1966; however, its licensee, ECL, failed to attract sufficient viewers and advertising to achieve a profit in its first four years of operation. Station management partly attributed this to severe ghosting, which was due to residents attempting to receive vertically polarised ECN transmissions using horizontally polarised aerials directed at more established stations in adjoining areas.183 In March 1969, ECN

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commenced a full relay of programs from NRN. But ECL’s financial situation was so parlous that, under the terms of the relay arrangement, the company was required to sell studio equipment (to GMV) to pay creditors.184 In February 1970, an ABCB inspector reported the station had been completely stripped of all fittings except a telephone, describing his inspection of the “ghost-like” station as “a pretty sad experience”.185 The NRN relay was discontinued and the company was the first Australian commercial television to cease trading, in August 1970. A new relay arrangement with NRN was negotiated by receivers to keep the station on air.186 In November 1971, the NRN relay was replaced by a service from NEN.187 Despite such failures, cross-investment in other stations was regarded as good business. By mid-1971, at least four companies—BTL (BTV), CTL (CTC), NBL (NBN), and TQL (TNQ/FNQ)—held minor interests in other regional stations. Licensees had also begun to acquire shares in metropolitan stations. ABS (GMV), for example, held a minor interest in TVW Perth. Metropolitan stations, too, had acquired interests in the regionals. The Murdoch-controlled Southern Television Corporation (NWS Adelaide) acquired a minor shareholding in STL (SES) and (BTL) BTW/GSW, as did TTL (TVT Hobart) in DTL (DDQ/SDQ) and SES.188 By mid-1971, there were 30 regional licences held by 24 ownership groups.189 In just five years, and despite the granting of an additional 17 licences, the independence quotient had decreased by 13 points, to 87 per cent (see Chap. 1,  Fig. 1.2). Principal shareholders were mostly radio broadcasters and newspapers along with an increasing number of non-­ media and private or family investment interests.190 The latter group included whitegoods manufacturer Email Ltd (CBN/CWN), Electronic Industries Ltd (SES, GTS), food processor Henry Jones (IXL) Ltd (MTN), and Swan Brewery Co. Ltd (BTW/GSW). Minor interests in multiple stations were held by the Australian Mutual Provident Society and The Mutual Life & Citizen’s Assurance Co. Ltd. The latter included entities associated with Sydney businessman Eric Dare (ECN) and Jim Sturrock (BKN). Nationwide Finance Ltd, a company substantially held by VBN, held minor interests in GLV and RTQ. NBN shares were held by Bank of NSW Nominees P/L for Tanate P/L on behalf of the estate of the late S.M.B.  Wansey, and Wales Nominees (Canberra) P/L on behalf of Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate P/L. NBN chairman Lawford Richardson and company director Alec Forsythe also held

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significant interests in the station.191 As we saw in Chap. 3, the Packer family held private investments in NBN and WIN through Far P/L. Perhaps the most controversial holdings were those associated with Rupert (“RAGs”) Henderson, which held (through A&F Sullivan P/L) a 15 per cent interest in RVN, 14.5 per cent of AMV, and similar interests in CBN/ CWN and CTC. Henderson had been the chairman of directors of John Fairfax Ltd until 1964, thereafter a director until 1978. He was also the chairman of Amalgamated Television Services Ltd (ATN Sydney) until 1974.192 The estate of the late H.E.  Hendy, through various associated entities, held minor interests in six regional licences. Both groups were subject to investigation by the ABCB, which was concerned at possible links to the Fairfax newspaper group; however, these proved to be unfounded.193

Conclusion The expansion of commercial television to other regional areas in the late 1960s presented numerous economic challenges. Stage 4 in the government’s television development program provided services to a further 17 areas where prospects of commercial operation were generally considered to be marginal. Subsequently, the Menzies government granted the Central Western Slopes (CWN), Southern Downs (SDQ), and Southern Agricultural (GSW) licences to operators in adjoining areas. This decision was the sector’s fourth liminal moment as it set an important precedent for dual-station ownership. The commencement of Stage 4 stations coincided with a general economic downturn in most parts of regional Australia, which impacted advertising revenue. The resultant decline in financial performance at some stations brought a reduction in weekly hours of transmission. Some stations, most notably those in the Cairns (FNQ) and Manning River (ECN) areas, faced financial ruin. Together, these developments resulted in several stations being placed on full or substantial relay from adjoining markets. Such initiatives were undoubtedly imperative for the continuation of commercial television on a financially viable basis in some areas. But it had also come at the cost of both localism and independence (see Chap. 1, Fig. 1.3). As we will see in Chap. 5, this trend towards dual station ownership and inter-regional relays would continue in the lead-up to colour television in the 1970s.

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Notes 1. ABCB, 1963a, p. 7. 2. NAA/Vic: MP1170/4, TD/2/2 Part 1: ABCB, Report for the PMG, 1961. 3. NAA/Vic: MP1170/4, TD/2/2 Part 1: ABCB, Fourth Stage; ESM/ Appendices/Appendix-1.6. 4. NAA/ACT: A5818, VOLUME 22/AGENDUM 1374: CD No. 1657, 17/10/1961. 5. ABCB, 1962b; 1963. 6. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-1.1. 7. NAA/ACT: A5827, VOLUME 37/AGENDUM 1167: CD No. 1427, 2/12/1965; NAA/ACT: A5841, 109: CD No. 177, 20/4/1966; ESM/Appendices/Appendix-1.3. 8. Mackay Television Ltd was, at the time of the licence grant, a private company named Mackay Television Development P/L.  The company was required to convert to a public company as a condition of the licence. The company was renamed as Mackay Television Ltd from 20/4/1967. 9. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-1.7. 10. NDL (Tamworth), 10/7/1964, p. 1. 11. Harper and White 2010. 12. AML, 1964. 13. Greater Publications 1968, p. 164. 14. Ray Gamble, conversation with Michael Thurlow, 10/11/2010; Area News (Griffith), 10/12/1965, p. 13. 15. Greater Publications 1971, p. 163. 16. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-1.8. 17. ABCB, 1965a, p. 52. 18. ABCB, 1965a, pp. 107–108. 19. B&T, 11/6/1964, (supplement). 20. NFSA: 675965. 21. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-1.3. 22. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-1.9. 23. DA (Wagga Wagga), 20/5/1964, p. 1. 24. STL, 1966; Border Watch (Mount Gambier), supplement, 25/3/1996. 25. ABCB, 1965a, p. 55. 26. ABCB, 1969, pp. 88–90; 1973, p. 95; 1975a, pp. 89–90. 27. ABCB, 1967, p. 67. 28. ABCB, 1969, p. 81. 29. ABCB, 1966a, p. 47. See ESM/Appendices/Appendix-6.1. 30. Arnold Forsyth, cited in Yeates 1993, p. 266. 31. ABCB, 1967, pp. 76–78; 1968, p. 71.

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32. B&T, 29/6/1967, p. 6. 33. Herd 2012, pp. 215–216. 34. ABCB, 1969, pp. 37–38. 35. ABCB, 1970a, pp. 160–161. 36. CT, 3/9/1969, p. 11. 37. ABCB, 1970a, pp. 165–176. 38. These stations comprised BCV, BTV, GLV, GMV, CTC, WIN and DDQ. 39. ABCB, 1966a, p. 34. 40. NAA/ACT: A5868, 31: CD No. 159, 30/4/1968. 41. CT, 12/3/1968, p. 3. 42. CBL, 1971, p. 3. 43. TWL, 1971. 44. AWW, 2/10/1968, p. 15. 45. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-2.1. 46. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-2.2. 47. B&T, 26/1/1967. 48. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-2.3. 49. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-2.4. 50. NAA/Vic: B2152, ATN/4 Part 3: ABCB, ATN LRR, 1968. Local station audience share in Sydney ranged from 19 per cent at ABN (ABC) and TEN, 30 per cent at TCN, to 32 per cent at ATN. 51. CT, 2/5/1966, p. 21; 22/7/1966, p. 13. 52. https://abcnewsgathering.tumblr.com/post/87729098641/behind-­ the-­news-­celebrates-­45-­years-­on-­air, accessed 26/6/2019. 53. CT, 5/1/1971, p. 3. See Gikow 2009). 54. NAA/Vic: MP1897/1, BTW/19: Armstrong, 3/6/1969. 55. NAA/Vic: B2152, RVN/4 Part 2: ABCB, RVN LRR, 1969, 1971. 56. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-2.5. 57. Marsden, manuscript, [n.d.]. 58. DA, 9/1/1967 59. B&T, 26/1/1967. 60. Sheridan, et  al., 2004, pp.  84–101; Jeannine Baker, email to Michael Thurlow, 24/8/2021. 61. NFSA: 1479353. 62. CT, 27/2/1967, p. 13; 15/4/1968, p. 13; NFSA 1383133. 63. Steve Liebmann, email to Michael Thurlow, 18/9/2019. 64. Stephen Fleay, email to Michael Thurlow, 8/4/2019. 65. SMH, 23/5/2006, p. 16. 66. Jason Davis, conversation with Michael Thurlow, 2/4/2019. 67. Bruce Paige, email to Michael Thurlow, 1/4/2019. 68. NFSA: 1144511. 69. TV Times, 17/11/1965, p. 4.

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70. B&T, 16/4/1964, p. 26. 71. ABCB, 1969, pp. 100–101. 72. ABCB, 1968, p. 70; 1971, p. 97. 73. NAA/NSW: B2305, TR/2/10 Part 1: ABCB, circular T.18, 1/10/1968. 74. NAA/Vic: MP1839/2, GLV/4 Part 2: ABCB, GLV LRR, 1971. 75. ABCB, 1966a, p. 46; 1969, p. 87. 76. ABCB, 1968, p. 73. 77. ABCB, 1965a, pp. 107–108. 78. These comprised RVN, NBN, BCV, TNT, RTN, GMV, BTV, CBN and MVQ. 79. NAA/Vic: MP1170/5, AMV/4 Part 1: ABCB, file note, 23/2/1966. 80. NAA/Vic: B2152/5, AMV/4 Part 2: ABCB, various memoranda, 1969. 81. NAA/Vic: B2152, ECN/4 Part 2: ABCB, ECN LRR, 1970; ESM/ Appendices/Appendix-6.2. 82. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-2.15. 83. Hanson 2012, pp.  110–131. CTC Cooma commenced operation on 29/9/1966. WIN Bega commenced operation on 2/11/1971. 84. Broadcasting and Television, No. 82 of 1963. 85. ABCB, 1964, pp. 51–53. 86. NAA/ACT: A5628, C1961/1522: Hudson (SMHA), letter to ABCB, 5/6/1963; ABCB, 1964, p. 58. 87. ABCB, 1966a, p.  49. The Twin Peak translator ceased operation June 1966 following the closure of nearby workers’ accommodation. 88. ABCB, 1967, p. 69. 89. ABCB, 1968, p. 20; ABCB, 1969, p. 131. 90. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-6.3. 91. NAA/Vic: B2152, RTN/4 Part 2: ABCB, RTN LRR, 1969; NAA/Vic: MP1839/2, CTC/4 Part 2: ABCB, CTC LRR, 1970. 92. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-2.6. 93. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-2.7. 94. NAA/NSW: C3868, 393: ABCB, GMV LRR, 1971. 95. NAA Melbourne: B2152, BTW/11 Part 1: ABCB, Programme and Operational Trends, 1970. 96. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-2.8. 97. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-2.9. 98. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-2.10; 2.11. 99. Bonney and Wilson 1983, pp. 39–40. 100. CTL, 1970, p. 2. 101. NAA/Vic: MP1839/2, NEN/4 Part 2: ABCB, NEN LRR, 1968. 102. DA, 13/2/1967. 103. NBL, 1968, p. 5. 104. Listener In, 3/8/1968, 17/9/1968.

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105. NAA/Vic: B2152, WIN/4 Part 2: ABCB, WIN LRR, 1971. 106. ABCB, 1966a, p. 54. 107. NAA/Vic: B2152, WIN/11 Part 1: Hulme, letter to Simpson, 23/8/1966. 108. ABCB, 1966a, pp. 57–58. 109. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-3.1. 110. BMM (Albury), 5/7/1967. 111. NS (Lismore), 5/5/1967. 112. ABCB, 1968, p. 70. 113. NAA/Vic: MP1839/2, NEN/4 Part 2: ABCB, NEN LRR, 1976. 114. NAA/Vic: MP1170/5, AMV/4 Part 1: ABCB, AMV LRR, 1968, 1971. 115. NAA/Vic: MP1897/1, RTQ/4 Part 1: ABCB, RTQ LRR, 1967. 116. NAA/Vic: B2152, RTN/2 Part 2: ABCB, RTN LRR, 1969, 1970, 1972. 117. NAA/Vic: B2152, NRN/4 Part 1: ABCB, NRN LRR, 1971. 118. NAA/Vic: MP1839/2, GLV/4 Part 2: ABCB, GLV LRR, 1971. GLV then sourced programs through ATF. 119. ABCB, 1969, p. 102. 120. AWW, 2/10/1968. 121. AWW, 5/2/1969, p. 7. 122. ABCB, 1970a, p. 115. 123. NAA/Vic: MP1897/1, RTQ/4 Part 1: ABCB, RTQ LRR, 1970; NAA/ Vic: MP1897/1, TNT/4 Part 2: ABCB, TNT LRR, 1971. 124. CT, 21/4/1969, p.  15; 26/5/1969, p.  17; 12/5/1969, p.  13; 28/4/1969, p. 17; 14/7/1969, p. 15; NFSA: 398338. 125. NAA/Vic: MP1897/1, TNT/4 Part 2: ABCB, TNT LRR, 1971; http:// www.classicaustraliantv.com/catwalk.htm, accessed 19/10/2019. 126. NAA/Vic: B2152, BTV/4 Part 2: ABCB, BTV LRR, 1966; CT, 22/4/1971, p. 18. 127. ESM/Appendices/Appendices 7.1–7.15. 128. ABCB, 1969, p. 102. 129. NAA/Vic: B2152, NBN/4 Part 3: ABCB, NBN LRR, 1971. 130. NAA/Vic: MP1839/2, FNQ/4 Part 1: ABCB, FNQ LRR, 1971. 131. NAA/Vic: MP1897/1, BKN/19: ABCB, BKN LRR, 1969. 132. NAA/Vic: MP1839/2, FNQ/4 PT 1: ABCB, FNQ LRR, 1971. 133. NAA/NSW: B2152, DDQ/4 PART 2: ABCB, DDQ LRR, 1971. 134. NAA/Vic: B2152, NRN/4 PART 1: ABCB, NRN LRR, 1971. 135. NAA/Vic: B2152, FNQ/11 Part 1: ABCB, FNQ, various papers, 1967–1978. 136. Barry Wilmot, conversation with Michael Thurlow, 1/10/2009. 137. CT, 6/4/1967, p. 27. 138. Barrier Miner (Broken Hill), 16/8/1968, pp. 6–7.

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139. Prior to 1968, the ABCB had categorised children’s programs as a sub-­ category of “family programs” and religious programs as a subset of “current affairs” programs. 140. Riverine Grazier (Hay), 13/12/1966. 141. Barry Brady, email to Michael Thurlow, 24/1/2010. 142. ‘Channel 2 Children’s Club’ membership card, c.1967. Prime Television archive. 143. Area News, 22/3/1966; NAA/Vic: MP1897/2, MTN/4 Part 1: ABCB, MTN LRR, 1970. 144. Flynn 2008, pp. 52–54. 145. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-­04-­01/television-­begins-­in-­the-­ south-­east/7291214, accessed 1/7/2018. 146. TV Times, 19/4/1967. 147. NAA/Vic: MP1897/1, BTW/19: ABCB, memorandum, 5/2/1969. 148. CP, 7/9/1966; 14/10/1966, p. 12. 149. Hyacinth Smith, email to Michael Thurlow, 15/12/2018. 150. NAA/Vic: MP1839/2, FNQ/4 Part 1: ABCB, FNQ LRR, 1971. 151. This minimum requirement was further extended (on an experimental basis) in April 1971. 152. ABCB, 1970a, pp. 186–194; Griffen-Foley 2009, pp. 190–192. 153. ABCB, 1971, p. 130. 154. Stephen Fleay, email to Michael Thurlow, 9/4/2019. 155. NAA/Vic: MP1170/5, NBN/4 Part 2: ABCB, NBN LRR, 1968. 156. TWL, 1972. 157. Area News (Griffith), 7/3/1967. 158. ABCB, RTN LRR 1967, p. 3. 159. ABCB, 1964, pp. 60, 95–97. 160. Howson, “Chapter 11”; Paul Howson, email to Michael Thurlow, 13/1/2010. 161. NAA/Vic: B2152, AMV/4 Part 2: ABCB, AMV LRR, 1970. 162. Barry Brady, email to Michael Thurlow, 24/1/2010. 163. NAA/Vic: MP1839/2, FNQ/4 Part 1: ABCB, FNQ LRR, 1971. 164. IM (Wollongong), 5/10/1966, p. 2. 165. NAA/Vic: MP1170/5, NBN/4 Part 2: ABCB, NBN LRR, 1968. 166. B&T, 11/4/1968, p. 18; B&T, 10/10/1968. 167. CTL, 1970, p. 2. 168. VBN 1968a, 1968b. 169. NAA/NSW: B2305, TO/1/20 Part 1: ABCB, BCV various papers, 1968. 170. AFR, 8/10/1968. 171. NAA/NSW: B2305, TO/1/35 Part 2: ABCB, various papers, 1969–71. 172. NAA/NSW: B2305, TO/1/36 PART 1: Wright, 20/11/1969; http:// www.delisted.com.au/company/goulburn-­murray-­television-­limited.

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173. NAA/Vic: B2152, NRN/4 PART 1: ABCB, NRN LRR, 1972; NAA/ NSW: B2305, TO/1/48 PART 2: Advertising and Newspaper News, 19/3/1971. 174. AFR, 3/3/1971. 175. DT, 17/3/1971. 176. NAA/Vic: B2305, TO/1/48 PART 2: Wright, 11/6/1971; DT, 6/5/1971; 29/5/1971. RTL was delisted from the Sydney Stock Exchange on 30/6/1971. 177. NAA/Vic: B2152, RTN/4 PART 2: ABCB, RTN LRR, 1972. 178. NS (Lismore), 24/12/1974, p. 2. 179. NAA/Vic: MP1170/5, TNT/4 PART 1: Wright, 10/7/1969; NTL, 1969. 180. NTL, 1969. 181. NTL, 1971. 182. CBL, 1970, p. 5; NAA/NSW: B2305, TO/1/33 PART 1: ABCB, CBL (various papers), 1969. 183. NAA/NSW: B2152/5, ECN/4 Part 3: ECN LRR 1970. 184. NAA/Vic: B2152, GMV/4 Part 1: ABCB, GMV LRR, 1970. 185. NAA/Vic: MP1170/5, ECN/4 Part 1: Miller, 24/2/1970. 186. ABCB, 1971, pp. 84–85. 187. NAA/Vic: MP1839/2, NEN/4 Part 2: ABCB, NEN LRR, 1972; ECL, 1971; Sawtell Guardian, 14/10/1971, p. 2. 188. ABCB, 1971, pp. 167–190; Mitchell 2014, p. 203. 189. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-4.2. 190. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-5.2. 191. ABCB, 1971, pp. 167–190. 192. http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/henderson-­r uper t-­a lber t-­ geary-­12621, accessed 13/12/2018. 193. NAA/ACT: A432, 1963/1239 Part 1: ABCB, various papers, for details of investigations dating back to 1964.

Bibliography Australian Broadcasting Control Board (ABCB). Report and Recommendations to the Postmaster General on Applications for Licences for Commercial Television Stations in the Manning River, Central Western Slopes, Murrumbidgee Irrigation, Bega-Cooma, Broken Hill, Mildura, Murray Valley, Cairns, Mackay, Southern Downs, South East (South Australia) and Bunbury Areas (Canberra: AGPS, 1963). Bonney, Bill and Wilson, Helen. Australia’s Commercial Media (South Melbourne: Macmillan, 1983).

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Flynn, John. ‘Locally Significant Content on Regional Television: A Case Study of North Queensland Commercial Television Before and After Aggregation’, MA thesis, Queensland University of Technology, 2008. Gikow, Louise. Sesame Street: A Celebration of 40 Years of Life on the Street (New York: Black Dog and Leventhal, 2009). Greater Publications. The Broadcasting and Television Yearbook, eleventh edition (Sydney: Greater Publications, 1968). Greater Publications. The Broadcasting and Television Yearbook, fourteenth edition (Sydney: Greater Publications, 1971). Griffen-Foley, Bridget. Changing Stations: The Story of Australian Commercial Radio (Sydney: UNSW Press, 2009). Hanson, Stephanie. ‘Chasing a Signal: Memories of Television Across the South-­ Eastern Corner of Australia’, in Kate Darian-Smith and Sue Turnbull (eds.), Remembering Television (Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Cambridge Scholars: 2012), pp. 110-131. Harper, Melissa and Richard White (eds.). Symbols of Australia: Uncovering the Stories Behind the Myths (Sydney: UNSW Press, 2010). Herd, Nick. Networking: Commercial Television in Australia (Sydney: Currency House, 2012). Mitchell, Alex. ‘Henderson, Rupert Albert Geary’, in Bridget Griffen-Foley (ed.), A Companion to the Australian Media (North Melbourne: Australian Scholarly Publishing, 2014) p. 203. Victorian Broadcasting Network (VBN), Annual Report (Melbourne: VBN, 1968a) Victorian Broadcasting Network (VBN). Offer to purchase Ordinary Shares in Bendigo and Central Victoria Telecasters Ltd (Melbourne: VBN, 1968b). Yeates, Neil. Coffs Harbour Vol. II: 1946 to 1964 (Coffs Harbour, NSW: Neil Yeates/Coffs Harbour City Council, 1993).

CHAPTER 5

Colour and Contrasts

The advent of regular colour television programming … had had a most significant effect on … Australian commercial television … The high rate of [colour penetration] … has not been paralleled in any other country in the world.1 —Australian Broadcasting Control Board (ABCB), 1976

The completion of Stage 4  in the government’s television development program had delivered the medium to 95 per cent of the population across 15 per cent of Australia’s land mass. This was followed by Stage 5 which, as discussed in Chap. 2, provided a second commercial service for Perth and a third for each of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, and Adelaide. But as with radio, the problem of extending television to communities in the more remote parts of Australia was one of appreciable complexity.2 As early as 1964, Darwin pharmacist Roy Barden discussed the possibility of establishing of a small, package-type commercial station in that city with EMI representatives. Barden had first raised the matter with an EMI sales representative around a year earlier. He forwarded copies of his latest correspondence to the NT Administrator and Minister for Territories; however, his plans for a Darwin station did not proceed for reasons that are unclear.3

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022 M. Thurlow, A History of Regional Commercial Television in Australia, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-10944-7_5

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In 1966, TVW and STW Perth approached the ABCB with a proposal to provide similar operations for Kalgoorlie and Geraldton. This was rejected on the grounds it would constitute a form of relay from metropolitan stations. In response, Western Australian Liberal Senator George Branson condemned the ABCB as “one of the greatest dictatorships that we … have ever set up” for its reluctance to consider the scheme. His colleague, Senator Malcolm Scott, said “the Board needs to be severely castigated for its complete lack of understanding of the requirements of … outback areas” in terms of their lack of amenity and the need for cost-­ effective solutions.4 In September 1966, the ABCB identified Kalgoorlie and Geraldton (WA), Mount Isa and Charleville (Qld), and Darwin (NT) as the only regional populations greater than 5000 which could not feasibly be serviced by translators from existing stations. Renmark (SA) was also given special consideration due to technical difficulties in providing a translator service. The Board recommended the establishment of full-powered ABC transmitters in all areas except Charleville. (ABC translator stations were proposed for a further 38 areas.) A commercial service was considered unfeasible in all areas except Renmark.2 In May 1967, Harold Holt’s Coalition government announced Stage 6 in television development which would extend the ABC to these areas. The PMG indicated the government would also consider proposals for commercial stations. In the first instance, the ABCB recommended that applications be called for Darwin, Kalgoorlie, and Mount Isa with other areas to be kept under review.5 Stage 6 commercial stations would ultimately be delivered between 1971 and 1978. The protracted nature of this stage demonstrates the considerable economic and technical challenges associated with extending television to remote areas. In May 1969, even before Stage 6 applications had been called, PMG Hulme announced further plans, for Stage 7, which would extend the publicly funded ABC only to areas including Cloncurry and Julia Creek (Qld), Carnarvon (WA), and King Island (Tas). Significantly, all 40 Stage 7 ABC stations were operational by mid-1975, almost three years prior to the completion of Stage 6.6 Hulme invited Stage 6 applications for Darwin, Kalgoorlie, and Mount Isa in August.7 The ABCB’s initial task was to establish whether there were reasonable prospects for a commercial station in each area.8 It then needed to ascertain whether any of the applicants could operate a viable service. In this context, the Board determined that only modest operations would be

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practicable with basic studio facilities and most programs on film.9 Furthermore, no issue of shares to the public would be involved except for the Darwin station, thereby limiting financial risks associated with establishing television in highly marginal areas to the sponsors of applicant companies. A key feature of Stage 6 applications was the involvement of Group Television Services P/L, a facilities company associated with Herb Lilburn (Box 5.1). It proposed to provide program acquisition, sales representation, engineering and staffing services to the stations on a cost-effective basis. The ABCB regarded the scheme as an ingenious (but as yet untried) approach to addressing many of the problems associated with establishing stations in marginal areas.10 (This arrangement was similar to that proposed, but not proceeded with, by Victorian Country Telecasters in Stage 3.) Lilburn was, in varying capacities, involved with establishing WBQ, FNQ, MVQ, VEW, ITQ, NTD, and RTS.11 He has been credited with adopting novel and inspired approaches in setting up stations in marginal areas for which television might otherwise have been an unfeasible proposition.12 In August 1970, an ABCB majority recommended a commercial television licence should be granted for all three areas. Notably, the ABCB’s vice-chairman, James Donovan, recommended against granting a commercial licence for Kalgoorlie13 Cabinet accepted the Board’s recommendations and licences were granted to the successful applicants between June and November 1971.14 The first Stage 6 station, VEW (Kalgoorlie, WA) , commenced on 18 June 1971.15 It was housed in a modest building in Killarney Avenue which contained offices, a technical area, and small studio. The station’s transmission site was located at Peter’s Hill near the town’s golf course. VEW employed seven personnel and was initially on air for four hours daily. The first-night program commenced at 5.30pm with Birthday Book and a children’s painting competition with station hostess Judith Marwick (who was also the station’s graphic artist). This was followed by Skippy, Bandstand, and The Seekers Down Under. The Box 5.1  Herb Lilburn

• Type: Oral history interview • Interviewed by: Brendan Horgan, 1999 • NFSA reference: 408267

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evening’s movie, Tunnel of Love, starred Richard Widmark, Doris Day, and Gig Young. The schedule concluded with a program summary for the following day and a religious epilogue.16 Just prior to opening, VEW approached the ABCB with a novel request to utilise a VHF two-way radio system for “news flash” presentations. Under the plan, personnel would convey “on-the-spot” audio-based news and sport reports to the station. These would be recorded then put to air with a still photograph of the reporter or generic footage.17 The ABCB regarded the system as irregular in nature but concluded that “if used with discretion [it] may have some merit” given the station’s limited resources. The Board approved the arrangement while advising that any attempt to provide lengthy live audio coverages of sporting events would be regarded as a simulated radio program.18 In 1972, the recently installed Whitlam Labor government established the Department of the Media, under Minister for the Media Senator Douglas McClelland and headed by commercial television executive Jim Oswin.19 Unsurprisingly, its establishment was cited as evidence of Labor’s socialist tendencies, in a manner which had accompanied early television debates in the late 1940s.20 As Mark Armstrong notes, the department’s formation meant the executive government was no longer reliant on the ABCB for advice; however, there was little change to the Board or the Act since the government did not control the Senate.21 In February 1974, Minister McClelland, invited applications for Geraldton, Renmark/Loxton, and Mawson (WA).22 Applicants varied widely in their proposals which included the use of translator stations, permanent relays, and modest local stations. The ABCB ultimately recommended the granting of licences to independent interests in both Geraldton and Loxton.23 Translator stations were recommended for Mawson and Northam (WA) on economic grounds. The Geraldton and Loxton/ Renmark stations commenced in 1976 and 1977 (Table  5.1; see also Table 5.1  Stage 6 commercial television stations Licence (by callsign and locality)

Licensee (abbreviation used hereafter)

VEW Kalgoorlie (WA) ITQ Mount Isa (Qld) NTD Darwin (NT) GTW Geraldton (WA) RTS Loxton/Renmark (SA)

Mid-Western Television P/L (MWL) Mount Isa Television P/L (MIL) Territory Television P/L (TTL) Geraldton Telecasters P/L (GTL) Riverland Television P/L (RLL)

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Front Matter,  Fig. ii).24 It is also worth noting that the Mawson and Northam translators did not commence until 1979–1980. This is arguably further evidence of the considerable economic and technical challenges associated with extending commercial television to remote areas.25 In all cases, the ABC commenced prior to the commercial stations.26 Stage 6 stations were established on a much smaller scale than those in previous stages. ITQ (Mount Isa, Qld) was situated in a converted residential property. GTW (Geraldton, WA) was established in the Wonthella Memorial Hall. In all cases, transmission facilities were co-located with the ABC.27 It is worth noting that ABCB regarded the introduction of Stage 6 stations as one of the last opportunities to assess the impact of television on isolated Australian communities. A pre-television survey was conducted in Geraldton in 1969, prior to the commencement of the national station.28 The study obtained information about viewers’ habits, interests, and leisure activities as well as their attitudes to various social issues.29 Concurrent studies were undertaken in Carnarvon, a non-television town, and in Perth, a television city, used as controls to indicate possible effects on the Geraldton findings of the normal processes of social change. A similar study was made in Darwin in early 1970.30 A post-television survey of Geraldton was planned for 1972. The ABCB’s final annual report, in 1976, indicates these surveys were completed; however, it has not been possible to locate either the data or any reports that were produced.31 It has been suggested by one of the ABCB personnel involved in the surveys that these records may have been destroyed in a fire, which caused considerable damage to the offices and records of the ABCB’s successor, the Australian Broadcasting Tribunal, in February 1978.32 A single file note reference by an ABCB official gives us some insight into those early observations: It does appear that the people interviewed have, for instance, few feelings of alienation from their fellow-man … So perhaps there is a lot to be said for living in a quiet back-water!33

While Stage 6  in television development was undoubtedly of importance to the communities concerned, the first half of the 1970s is perhaps more significant for a range of regulatory and technological developments. In August 1971, the Senate requested its Standing Committee on Education, Science and the Arts (SSCESA), headed by Senator James

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McClelland (who was no relation to Douglas McClelland) to inquire into “all aspects of broadcasting and television including Australian content of television programs”. This inquiry, initially chaired by Liberal Senator Gordon Davidson, represented the most wide-ranging review of broadcasting since television had commenced in the mid-1950s. Rod Kirkpatrick notes the Department of the Media also tried, unsuccessfully, to increase the number of television services available in regional areas although details of how this might have been achieved remain unclear.34 Such discussions might have been stimulated by the SSCESA’s suggestion that metropolitan licensees might—either through networking or direct ownership—be given access to a station in each capital city and some regional areas in order to reduce costs so that increased profits any could be spent on improving program quality.35 It is also possible that such a notion had emanated from early discussions between Minister McClelland and metropolitan commercial television interests (most likely the Nine and Seven networks) as to the possibility of the government compulsorily acquiring one commercial television licence in each of the four major capital cities (most likely the 0/10 stations) and making these facilities available to the ABC to operate an additional channel.36 The plan was reportedly conceived by industry as it faced increased costs associated with the government’s new Australian content quotas, the introduction of colour, and the ban on cigarette advertising.37 This plan was reportedly abandoned after the minister met with station executives;38 however, it is worth noting that the ABCB’s Advisory Committee on Program Standards proposed a similar scheme, in 1976.39 The committee believed this would increase revenue for the remaining stations, which could then be spent on programs. There was also a proposal from Senator James McClelland to replace the ABCB with a body similar to Britain’s Independent Television Authority. Under this scheme, the new entity would assume ownership of all commercial television transmitters. The number of commercial stations in each capital city would also be reduced to two. Licences would then be granted to independent contractors to produce programs for transmission.40 The Department of the Media’s consideration of such schemes would be unsurprising given that staff in its broadcasting division had been drawn from the radio and television industry. Furthermore, Minister McClelland (who was clearly a supporter of metropolitan television interests) believed that regional stations should do more to offset Australian production

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costs; he told the Senate in May 1973 of the “undue burden” placed on the networks, whereby programs which cost $25,000 or more per episode were being acquired by the regionals for as low as $20.41 In any case, the Department was “all heart and no teeth,” and the opposition-controlled Senate was hardly likely to approve changes to the Broadcasting and Television Act that would be uncongenial to commercial operators.42 As we will see later in this chapter, regional stations (through their Australian Television Facilities combine) began to invest in major series; this move was undoubtedly intended to stave off efforts by the Minister for the Media to introduce competition in the manner described above. Around the same time, the ABCB conducted a public inquiry into the desirability of FM broadcasting.43 It recommended FM be introduced to provide a second ABC service in regional areas, a fine music station in each capital city, additional commercial stations, and non-profit “public stations” to cater for educational, professional, musical, religious, and other interests.44 The Board also recommended FM services operate in the Ultra High Frequency (UHF) rather than Very High Frequency (VHF) band. Meanwhile, the SSCESA identified a number of matters for further discussion, including the desirability of diversity in broadcasting.45 The committee’s second report suggested that such diversity might be achieved through maximising the number of broadcasting services, including publicly owned radio stations and “non-commercial, non-ABC stations owned by a single licensee”. It also recommended utilising the VHF—rather than UHF, as recommended by the ABCB—band for proposed FM radio services.46 In its third report, the committee stressed the impact of technological changes in broadcasting. It warned there was “an ever-present danger that the potentially revolutionary effects” of advances such as FM broadcasting, satellite, and cable television “may be under-rated or ignored”. This report is notable for its prescient description of cable television as a “wired city” with the potential to provide subscribers with access to information “from the news or shopping prices to the latest dissertation on the theory of relativity”. It even suggested establishing an “Institute of the Future” to investigate the ramifications of technological change on society.47 On 10 October 1972, not long before a federal election, PMG Hulme announced William McMahon’s Coalition government had accepted the ABCB’s recommendations for FM broadcasting.48 But in November 1973, the Whitlam Labor government’s Special Minister of State, Senator Don Willesee, appointed Sir Francis McLean as the chairman of an

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independent, two-man inquiry into the technical, social, and economic implications of FM radio broadcasting. The Inquiry’s report, tendered in March 1974, envisaged the development of VHF (not UHF as preferred by the Board) FM services in four phases. This would require, over many years, the clearance of television transmissions on Channels 3, 4, and 5 (i.e. Band II clearance) to other frequencies, including non-standard Channel 5A, and a new channel to be established between existing Channels 9 and 10. In effect, the report called for a substantial reversal of the Huxley Committee plans put forward in 1961.49 In April 1974, Douglas McClelland informed Parliament that the Whitlam government had accepted the McLean report in principle. However, in June, the Prime Minister informed McClelland that the Priorities Review Staff should report to the government on the allocation of FM and AM channels. In response, the ABCB highlighted numerous “disadvantages” associated with the McLean proposals, most notably the permanent loss of VHF television Channel 5, the increased use of non-­ standard Channel 5A (which was subject to higher levels of interference compared to other channels), and the earlier use of the UHF band for television.50 The Board also produced a new (fourth) edition of the Technical Standards for the Australian Television Service, incorporating information on UHF channels. While the ABCB did not anticipate the need to allocate channels within the UHF band for at least five years, it was likely that UHF transmissions might be needed for “fill-in”-type services where existing VHF reception was poor. This was because the number of additional VHF channels in each area was extremely limited.51 The first phase of the Band II clearance, involving the clearance of television transmissions from Channel 5, affected a small number of regional commercial television translator stations. The second phase, involving the clearance of television transmissions from Channel 4, impacted 16 television stations and translators serving about one million people. The cost of transferring these services to the UHF band was estimated to “exceed $100  million by a considerable amount”. To avoid this upheaval, the McLean Report suggested these services might instead be transferred to a new VHF channel between existing Channels 9 and 10 which was then occupied by the Australian VHF DME or navigation service. The cost of this option was estimated at $20  million. Both options involved a lead time of 6–10 years. The ABCB expressed concern that unless planning for the necessary changes commenced immediately, further development of FM services from the mid-1980s onwards would be severely hindered.52

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The 1970s also brought a growing interest in community and educational television. As Ellie Rennie notes, community television emerged from the video access movement of the early 1970s.53 According to Susan Forde and Michael Meadows, the first steps towards community broadcasting were taken when the Whitlam government issued temporary radio licences to 12 educational institutions in 1972.54 By 1973, the PMG’s Department had granted television licences under the Wireless Telegraphy Act to the University of New South Wales and Monash University for educational purposes.55 In January 1975, CTC (Canberra, ACT) general manager George Barlin reportedly offered transmitter time and discarded equipment to community groups wanting access to television.56 By mid-1976, the ABCB had received three proposals to establish low-­ coverage mobile television stations which would operate from caravans. Significantly two of these were for stations to provide foreign language programs for ethnic communities.57 But the first metropolitan community television licences would not be granted until the 1980s.58 The first tentative discussions regarding cable and satellite television were also taking place. These will be discussed in more detail in Chaps. 6 and 7. Amid these pending social and technological changes, Doug McClelland warned (somewhat prosaically given the later advent of social media) of the danger of “electronic sterilisation”: [People might] become so saturated with the new aids … that they become lazy … sterile in a contributory sense … There is a risk they will turn inward, forgetting about participation within the rest of the community, burying kindness, love and charity—a world of indolent, selfish introverts.59

In December 1970, Cabinet considered but deferred an ABCB proposal that colour should be introduced from July 1973. In February 1972, Prime Minister McMahon announced that colour would commence on 1 March 1975.60 BCV (Bendigo, Vic) is reported to have conducted the first full transmission of the PAL colour system on 23 May 1972. This demonstration—which featured an episode of the US sitcom Nanny and the Professor—was authorised by ABCB chairman Myles Wright, and attended by representatives from Australian Television Facilities (ATF), the Federation of Australian Commercial Television Stations (FACTS), and the PMG’s Department.61 Public awareness was integral to the acceptance of colour. In June, CTC staged a demonstration at the Monaro Mall following acquisition of

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colour videotape equipment.62 In mid-1974, WIN invited 80 people to its studio each Tuesday and Thursday for a preview of colour programs. WIN’s general manager, Bill Lean, hoped the demonstrations under “ideal” studio conditions would stimulate local demand for colour television.63 Meanwhile, the ABCB’s Standards for the Technical Equipment and Operation of Television Stations were updated.64 Its Recommended Standard for Colour Television Receivers was issued in August 1974 to assist manufacturers, importers, and retailers.65 The Television Operator’s Certificate of Proficiency syllabus was also modified to include material about colour.66 The introduction of colour posed logistical as well as financial challenges for most stations. Perhaps the most significant investment was made at the Canberra station. By the early 1970s, CTC’s Black Mountain studio had become so overcrowded that administrative staff were transferred to a rented building in Dickson.67 In 1973, the company commenced construction of replacement studios in another Canberra suburb, Watson. Costing more than $3 million, the complex became fully operational in October 1974.68 Stations were authorised (subject to certain conditions) to undertake colour test pattern (“trade”) transmissions during normal operating hours from 7 October 1974. Colour program transmissions were permitted from 19 October.69 Viewers were given their first major glimpse in the aftermath of Cyclone Tracy, which devastated Darwin (NT) on Christmas Eve of that year. The ABCB granted approval for colour-ready stations to broadcast the Nine Network-News Limited Darwin Appeal telethon in colour on 31 December 1974 and 1 January 1975, two months ahead of the official launch.70 Colour transmission commenced in most areas on 1 March 1975; however, a small number of regional stations were unable to convert until that year (Table 5.2). Some black-and-white programs continued to be telecast as existing film stocks were run down. In late 1975, GMV reported all daytime and evening programs (except for the midday movie televised Monday to Friday), practically all local commercials and more than 90 per cent of national advertising was in colour.71 A high percentage of programs were being transmitted in colour by mid-1976.72 The cost of colour conversion varied considerably between stations. CTL put the cost of upgrading CBN/CWN at $450,000.79 ABS expended more than $830,000 on plant, equipment, and building extensions at GMV.80 RVL reportedly spent around $1  million re-equipping ­RVN/

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Table 5.2  Colour commencement dates, selected stations, 1975 Station

Commenced

BTW (Bunbury, WA) ITQ (Mount Isa, Qld) STV (Mildura, Vic) GSW Southern Agricultural (Albany, WA) NTD (Darwin, NT) BKN (Broken Hill, NSW)

14 May 197573 May 197574 12 July 197575 20 August 197576 27 October 197577 11 November 197578

Box 5.2  Fourth liminal moment

The introduction of colour television, following almost a decade of high start-up costs and economic turmoil, would ultimately prove to be regional commercial television’s fourth liminal moment.82 As we will see, demand for colour from advertisers and viewers would transform the financial situation of many stations, which rose to be among Australia’s most profitable companies. AMV.81 But while the introduction of colour was a major impost for television operators, it also facilitated a range of operational improvements at regional stations (Box 5.2).

Station Operations The early 1970s saw a continuation of the downturn which had affected many parts of the country since the late 1960s. It was a period of “stagflation” with high inflation and unemployment and slow economic growth.83 This, coupled with a ban on cigarette and tobacco advertising and the high cost of colour conversion, placed several stations under financial strain. But the introduction of colour would prove to be a boon for Australian television, particularly in regional areas. Australia’s colour uptake, though quite late, would be the highest in the world, with around 30 per cent of homes acquiring a new set by mid-1976.84 In Canberra, colour penetration was as high as 45 per cent.85 As Nick Herd points out, the high rate of penetration was accompanied by a significant increase in hours of television viewing.86 The newly established Stage 6 stations had initially operated for around 35 hours weekly. In comparison, the more established Stage 3 and 4 stations were on air for 56 hours.87 By mid-1976,

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regional stations were operating for an average 63 hours each week, up from 56 in 1971.88 This expansion in transmission hours coincided with a rise in  local advertising support, particularly at smaller Stage 4 and 6 stations.89 In 1975, the ABCB noted that advertising at BTW/GSW took the form of “voice over slides with … ‘shop window’ style presentations, often using the advertiser or his staff”.90 The average 60-second AAA spot rate rose to $143 by mid-1976.91 But stations also faced a loss of revenue from tobacco advertising. In June 1972, the Broadcasting and Television Act was amended to ensure each advertisement was followed by a statement “made simultaneously by image and sound” that “Medical authorities warn that smoking is a health hazard”.92 By mid-1973, the government had decided to implement a complete ban on tobacco advertising, to be phased out over a three-year period.93 Regional stations expressed concern at the change, which would result in a significant loss of revenue. RVN/AMV, for example, estimated it would lose nine per cent of revenue, CBN/CWN 12 per cent.94 In late 1975, RVN’s Bill Marsden advised that revenue from alternate sources, such as government advertising, had fallen far short of expectations.95 The introduction of colour proved popular with regional viewers. Local station audience share in the peak viewing period rose to 59 per cent. This compared favourably to the Sydney stations, where audience share ranged from 12 per cent at ABN (ABC) to 28 per cent at ATN and 30 per cent at both TCN and TEN. In children’s viewing, local share at regional stations had increased to 66 per cent. Competition from the ABC and overlap from metropolitan stations was less of an issue than it had been in previous years, though this remained problematic in a small number of areas. In at least one case, the metropolitan networks were accused of blatantly targeting regional viewers in overlap areas. In 1972, WIN’s station manager, Bill Lean, reportedly took a “poor view” of the 0–10 Network’s decision to erect 24 billboards in the Wollongong suburb of Unanderra to promote Number 96 for TEN, despite the local station’s acquisition of the same sensational series.96 Overlap from adjoining regional stations remained especially problematic in Victoria. Stations sought to counteract these incursions with a range of promotional activities. These included NBN’s (Newcastle, NSW) “teletreasure” competition which rewarded one lucky couple with a Pacific cruise.97 There was also an increase in the number of promotional networks.98 In October 1973, CBN/CWN joined with MTN (Griffith, NSW) to

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establish a common market.99 NEN/ECN considered joining the combine—which would have created the fifth largest commercial television advertising market in Australia—but this did not proceed.100 TNQ/FNQ, MVQ, and RTQ had established Central and North Queensland Television (CNQTV) by mid-1974.101 The Television Centre of Victoria (which BCV had used for standalone ad sales since the mid-1960s) was expanded to include GLV (by then under common ownership) and STV. The latter station, which remained under independent ownership, commenced a program relay from BCV in July 1975, then joined with BCV/GLV for the joint sale of national advertising from 1 January 1976. ATF members also collectively adopted the “Channel 22” brand for promotion to national advertisers. This brand was chosen to signify the 22 commercial television markets available in regional Australia.102 The largest and most enduring promotional network was Great Eastland Television (GET). GET commenced on 1 October 1975 and represented the sixth largest television market behind Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, and Perth.103 GET offered the DDQ/SDQ, NRN/RTN, and NEN/ECN coverage areas as a single market.104 A combined rate card was printed; however, advertisers could still buy airtime from individual stations.105 A centralised booking, traffic, and billing service was established at NEN to co-ordinate operations. Member stations also adopted a common program format.106 The introduction of promotional networks brought the first shift towards generic network identification. GET is the most obvious example. In December 1973, the ABCB found it necessary to contact BCV/GLV regarding its use of the symbol “TCV” (which denoted “Television Centre of Victoria”) for network identification following commencement of the BCV/GLV relay the previous month. It was concerned the symbol was similar to the callsigns allocated to Victorian television stations.107

Personnel Personnel numbers decreased due to reduced labour needs at smaller Stage 6 stations, increased efficiencies, and joint operations. Stations employed an average 35 staff by mid-1976. Actual numbers varied considerably. NBN (Newcastle, NSW), which was similar in scale to a smaller capital city station, employed 126. In contrast, VEW (Kalgoorlie, WA) was staffed by just five people.108 Most staff continued to be employed in program-related roles. On several occasions, the ABCB remarked on the relative merits of female staff in

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a traditionally male-dominated industry. In 1971, the ABCB’s state program officer noted that the entire control room staff on duty at the time of his visit was female. He also remarked that the general manager at WIN “apparently finds female staff very amenable to control room practices”.109 In 1976, the ABCB noted that, “due to the unavailability of male staff”, ITQ employed an “above average” number of female employees and had therefore “developed a unique ‘sound’”. These included a manager, journalist/newsreader, and camera operator.110 Industrial action was rare but in May 1976, seven technical and film handling staff at MVQ went on strike over working conditions. A service of sorts was maintained by the station manager and three other staff members.111 Stations continued to provide a valuable training ground for Australia’s television professionals. Ian Coughlan (Box 5.3) began his broadcasting career at 4CA Cairns before joining FNQ in the early 1970s. He later enjoyed a successful career as a scriptwriter and director on popular Australian series including The Restless Years, The Young Doctors, and Richmond Hill.112 Ron Wilson (Box 5.4) began his television career at NTD (Darwin, NT) in 1973 as a commercial producer, then journalist and newsreader. Wilson was evacuated from Darwin following Cyclone Tracy and has publicly stated that he continues to suffer post-traumatic stress disorder. He later joined RVN (Wagga Wagga, NSW) as an announcer before a successful career in metropolitan television and radio, most notably for 33 years at TEN.113

Box 5.3  Ian Coughlan

• Type: Interview • Interviewed by: Scott Murray and Peter Beilby, 1979 • NFSA reference: 329485

Box 5.4  Ron Wilson

• Type: Oral history interview • Interviewed by: Sandra Odorisio, 2014 • NFSA reference: 1241224

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Susie Elelman, a former Miss New South Wales, joined WIN (Wollongong) in 1974 following a stint in public relations at the Rural Bank. Elelman spent the next 13 years at WIN in a variety of roles before joining the Seven Network, then Good Morning Australia (Ten Network) with Bert Newton. She returned to WIN in the mid-2000s to host Susie, the only national daytime program to be originated by a regional station. In her memoir, Elelman provides a glimpse of “the dark underbelly of celebrity”, including being stalked by a colleague and molested by now disgraced entertainer Rolf Harris, as well as the general challenges faced by women working in the commercial television industry.114 Prue Macsween joined TNQ as hostess in 1974, presenting programs including Eye Spy and Coffee Break. According to MacSween: [I] was asked to submit myself at a hotel in Kings Cross [for my interview] … my mother was quite anxious about the casting couch … so she sat down in the foyer while I went up there.115

Macsween went on to join the Nine Network as a reporter and presenter on No Man’s Land, a current affairs magazine produced for a female audience.116 She later appeared as an often-outspoken contributor on national programs including Beauty and the Beast, Sunrise, and Today Extra.117 Training standards were also improved at some stations. NBN conducted a television production course in its studios in conjunction with the Department of Technical Education. Subjects included engineering, studio camera work, lighting, direction, writing and film production. The lectures were attended by NBN staff and students from throughout the area.118

Technical Operations The first half of the 1970s saw increased use of news and program relays from the metropolitan stations, videotape, and joint and third-party relays between regional stations. Regular metropolitan program relays were now well-established. BCV, for example, relayed more than 13 hours of programs each week. News, current affairs, sport, and special event programs such as the Olympic Games were generally transmitted simultaneously with metropolitan stations. Other programs, such as drama, were taken on relay and recorded for later airplay.119 Irregular relays were taken for

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special events, including the Miss Australia Quest, the Academy Awards, the Logie Awards, and the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race.120 Increases in relay operation were facilitated by improvements in microwave link infrastructure. In October 1975, CBN commissioned its own Sydney-to-Orange microwave link in place of PMG facilities. This comprised a VHF to UHF transposer at Mount Bindo, 110 kms west of Sydney. The transponder had remotely switchable VHF to IF downconverters to select any one of the three Sydney commercial stations. The IF was then converted to UHF Channel 63 at a power of 10 watts and transmitted to Mount Three Brothers, 58 kms west of Mount Bindo. A UHF to UHF transposer converted the signal to UHF Channel 59 which was transmitted as a power of 10 watts to CBN’s transmitter at Mount Canobolas, 50 kms north-west of Mount Three Brothers. The received signal as Mount Canobolas was demodulated by a precision receiver and the resulting vision and sound signal was sent via a 2GHz microwave link to the Orange studio. The station continued to receive certain programs by rail as late as the 1980s.121 By mid-1976, the number of stations taking regular program relays had doubled, to 18. This includes those on relay from other regional stations. There is some evidence of competition between the metropolitan networks to provide news relays to regional stations. From March 1976, BCV/GLV commenced relaying the HSV news following a sharp rise in the cost of GTV’s service. The national bulletin was aired at 6.30pm weekdays and 6.00pm on weekends. The use of “split studio” facilities also enabled this to be preceded by a 10-minute local bulletin for each of BCV and GLV at 6.20pm.122 In late 1975, GMV obtained use of a dedicated bearer link to Melbourne. Previously, the station had to “open” the Seven Network’s Sydney/Melbourne bearer at Seymour then extend the relay over the ABC’s standby link to Shepparton.123 By mid-1976, news relays were in place at 24 stations. This represented a 50 per cent increase in news relays since mid-1971. The number of full or partial relays between regional stations continued to rise. This comprised stations under common ownership as well as third-party arrangements.124 RTN (Lismore, NSW) was placed on relay from NRN (Coffs Harbour, NSW) in August 1971.125 ECN (Taree, NSW)—which had previously been on relay from NRN—commenced a relay from NEN (Tamworth, NSW) in November. MTN (Griffith, NSW) commenced a third-party relay from CBN (Orange, NSW) in October 1973.126 GLV (Traralgon, Vic) was placed on full relay from BCV

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(Bendigo, Vic) later that year. Its Princes Highway studio, from which Don Ewart had first welcomed viewers to regional commercial station almost 12 years earlier, was now superfluous to needs. In November 1974, GLV was relocated to smaller premises in the National Mutual building which contained offices, a sound-proof studio, and an Ampex colour videotape recorder.127 In July 1974, a one-way microwave link was established between TNQ and FNQ. In late 1974, this link was upgraded to enable the transfer of selected program material from Cairns to Townsville. But the high cost of using the facility meant most pre-recorded programs and news footage continued to be conveyed as commercial air freight. In early 1974, STV (Mildura, Vic) chairman Charles Lanyon sought ABCB approval for a partial relay from BCV as a means of lowering the cost of colour conversion.128 In October, the ABCB conducted a public inquiry in Mildura to ascertain local attitudes. It heard the cost of full conversion on a standalone basis could be as high as $450,000. In contrast, the station estimated the cost of joint conversion with BCV would be around $150,000. But local residents were concerned that relay operation would reduce local content, particularly news, which was already regarded as deficient in some respects.129 The relay was approved subject to conditions including the maintenance of program production capabilities at Mildura.130 It commenced in July 1975 via a standby bearer for Telecom and the ABC—in that order—and thus was subject to being withdrawn without warning at any time. This unsatisfactory arrangement was later replaced by a fully protected exclusive bearer.131 BKN (Broken Hill, NSW) commenced a full relay from GTS (Port Pirie, SA) in November 1974. The former was, however, permitted to opt-out for local news, weather, and other content.132 A similar arrangement existed at AMV, which had commenced relaying most of its programs from RVN in October 1972. In this case, RVN took programs on relay from Sydney, while AMV continued to take some programs such as news, sport, and special events from the Melbourne stations.133 This path was operated on a one-way basis only (from Wagga Wagga to Albury) as two-way facilities were too expensive. AMV opt-outs for local programs, commercials, and Melbourne news and sport relays were co-ordinated via a constant telephone link with the Wagga Wagga station.134 Videotape operation was commonplace but remained beyond the resources of many smaller stations. This lack of videotape equipment did, in turn, impact the ability of stations to meet the ABCB’s Australian content requirements. In November 1971, FNQ installed helical-scan

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videotape equipment to replay Australian programs “dubbed” from transverse-­ scan videotapes. A similar arrangement was introduced at MVQ, SES, and BTW/GSW in early 1972.135 In 1975, several stations installed cartridge/cassette video tape recorders using a two-inch quadruplex format for replaying ads and promotional material.136 Electronic newsgathering (ENG) equipment was introduced at DDQ/SDQ, which enabled the station to increase local news coverage, decrease editing times and accommodate late-breaking news to be put to air more quickly.137 Meanwhile, CBN/CWN obtained ABCB approval to use Super 8 film, which was generally used for home movies and therefore not considered to be of broadcast quality, in an upcoming series of Ask the Leyland Brothers.138 The station also gained permission for its stringers to use Super 8 film to shoot news footage on a six-month trial.139 Unattended operation was now in use at around 12 transmission sites. DDQ—which had previously been operated on a semi-attended basis from the nearby ABC transmitter building—had been fully converted. FNQ adopted this mode following the establishment of permanent transmission facilities on Mount Bellenden Ker.140 The number of translator stations, too, continued to increase. In 1973, AMV’s Bright translator was the first to use a thermo-electric generator (by which gas energy was converted to electrical energy) to charge its batteries. Reliability features included an automatic flame re-ignition system and eight hours of reserve battery power to cover gas supply failure.141 By mid-1976, there were 55 regional commercial television translator stations in operation.142 The increasing number of—and competition for—translator stations raised unique issues in ascertaining “community of interest”. This matter was brought to a head in 1973, when Minister McClelland directed the ABCB to inquire into applications from BCV (Bendigo, Vic), GMV (Shepparton, Vic), MTN (Griffith, NSW), and RVN/AMV (Wagga Wagga/Albury, NSW) for commercial television translator licences for Deniliquin and Jerilderie in southern New South Wales. In most cases, applicants advised the Board their applications were contingent on being granted licences for both areas. The Board concluded, after considering the economic possibilities, that licences for both stations should be granted to one applicant. After a public inquiry, which revealed divided community preferences, the Board determined the primary community of interest laid to the south rather than the east. In December 1973, it recommended that both licences be granted to GML (GMV).143

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Meanwhile, in June 1969, the Broadcasting and Television Act was amended to permit the establishment of television repeater stations.144 These were low-powered installations operated by the ABC and private enterprise (mostly mining companies) in areas of very low population. In May 1970, the PMG granted eight such licences for areas in Western Australia, Queensland, and the Northern Territory. The first six stations commenced later that year. Programs were provided on magnetic tape by the ABC from Townsville for WEQR, Adelaide for GEMR, and Perth for CKWR, HDWR, HTWR, and NEWR. The recordings were air freighted to the mining centres then televised a week or two after original transmission. Service was initially provided six days a week and averaged 26 hours weekly. Programs were generally transmitted between 4.30pm and 6pm, and 7.30pm and 11pm. Family and children’s programs were televised in the late afternoon and were followed by a transmission break until the commencement of evening programs. The cost of establishing a repeater station was around $50,000 with annual operating costs of $20,000. Ten repeater stations were in operation by mid-1976.145 The government had also received considerable representations regarding the establishment of cable-based pay (or subscription) television systems in response to overseas developments.146 The first service, Phonevision, had commenced testing in Chicago in the 1950s and was operational in the late 1960s.147 In January 1974, Douglas McClelland and Minister for Urban and Regional Development, Tom Uren, announced they were considering the Canberra suburb of Tuggeranong (ACT), Albury/Wodonga (NSW), and Monarto (SA) as possible sites for a pilot cable television service.148 In August, a joint ABCB/PMG’s Department report on cable television was submitted to McClelland and PMG Reg Bishop.149 By mid-1976, a joint ABCB/Telecom working party had been convened to undertake further investigations.150 In the meantime, surprising developments in this area were occurring in regional Australia. During John Elliott’s hostile takeover of Henry Jones (IXL), executives had been surprised to discover the company’s majority shareholding in Murrumbidgee Television Ltd  (MTL) , which operated Griffith-based television station MTN and radio station 2RG. In the wake of the takeover, MTL’s managing director, Ray Gamble, convinced executives that the future of the industry was in pay television. Gamble subsequently travelled to the United States to study developments. In 1975, he persuaded Elliott to invest in two American regional cable operators. (In 2010, Gamble advised that one of these cable television stations was in Omaha, Nebraska.)151

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In 1976, in an Australian television first, WBL changed the callsign for its Wide Bay station from WBQ to SEQ. The change was made to reflect the station’s expanded coverage area beyond Wide Bay and the Burnett to other parts of south-eastern Queensland.152

Financial Performance The early 1970s initially saw a continuation of the depressed trading conditions which had characterised the latter part of the 1960s. But the general improvement in advertiser and viewer support following the introduction of colour in 1975 soon strengthened the financial position of most stations. In just five years, average income had increased to $1.5 million.153 CBL (CBN/CWN), for example, recorded a 48 per cent increase in operating revenue in 1976.154 By the following year, CBL was Australia’s most profitable television station and fourth most profitable company. Four other regional television companies—CTL (CTC), NBL (NBN), TQL (TNQ/FNQ), and TWL (WIN)—were in the top 25 most profitable Australian companies.155 Expenditure, too, more than doubled over the same period. Licence fees rose, to more than $20,000. Nevertheless, the average efficiency ratio improved to 80 per cent.156 Station profit increased to $377,000 while the average net profit ratio rose to 21 per cent.157 The average return on investment for shareholders was around 29 per cent.158 This far exceeded the bank interest of around five per cent.159 Overall, financial performance, particularly at the larger Stage 3 operations, compared favourably with selected metropolitan stations, where the profit ratios were: TCN Sydney (25 per cent); ATV Melbourne, SAS Adelaide (16 per cent); TVQ Brisbane (15 per cent); and STW Perth (10 per cent). Nevertheless, it is important to realise there was much disparity between the financial position of most Stage 3 and some larger Stage 4 stations, and some smaller Stage 4 and Stage 6 operations. NBN, for example, had an income of just under $6 million. In contrast, BKN generated just under $200,000. Similarly, NBN was able to declare an exceptional $1.8 million profit in 1976, while NTD incurred a $41,000 loss. Profitability continued to be enhanced through diversification. In 1974, ENT (TNT) established a company in Adelaide to manufacture and market water filtration systems under licence from Universal Water Systems, Chicago.160 In October 1975, it acquired a drive-in liquor

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market.161 WIN produced national commercials and made its studios available to external production companies.162 NBL established Newcastle Video Productions.163 Cross-investment in other media companies was increasingly common.164 MTL (MVQ) was the equal largest shareholder in RTL (RTQ).165 ABS held a major interest in GMV with minor stakes in six other stations. GML (GMV) held a notable interest in TVW Perth.166 Others, such as SWL (BTW/GSW), acquired radio stations.167 DTL (DDQ/SDQ), along with 4GR, originated and co-sponsored Toowoomba’s first Farmfest agricultural field day in 1976.168 Some stations experienced major disruptions to operations from natural disasters. In December 1971, Cyclone Althea practically destroyed TNQ’s Mount Stuart studio and offices. Most equipment was relocated to radio station 4AY and service resumed on 30 December.169 TNQ received many offers of help from other television stations. BCV’s chief engineer provided much assistance. AWA provided temporary studio-to-transmitter link facilities. TNQ returned to its Mount Stuart studio in mid-1972 but firm plans were made to permanently relocate to Townsville and land in Albany Road Currajong was purchased for this purpose. The company eventually established a combined radio and television centre in the majestic Queen’s Hotel, on the Townsville waterfront, in 1977. In February 1972, the WBQ studios were extensively damaged by Cyclone Daisy.170 NTD was, perhaps, the unluckiest of all. In October, an irate viewer caused around $20,000 in damage to control room equipment with a hammer. The man was reportedly angered by the station’s decision to televise the American movie Bamboo Prison. He is alleged to have said “The devil is in this station and I have got to get it out”.171 This was followed by the death of the station’s general manager in March 1973. Then, in December 1974, NTD’s studio and transmitter were destroyed by Cyclone Tracy. The station, which had been on air for just three years, ceased transmission for 10 months. A limited service resumed on 27 October 1975.172 Regional stations continued to assist community groups with appeals, publicity, and announcements.173 BTV management estimated approximately $75,000 in station time was donated to major appeals including Red Cross and Freedom from Hunger in 1975. The station also relayed the annual HSV Children’s Hospital and GTV Yooralla telethons and presented free weekly announcements for numerous charities.174 Smaller stations such as BKN provided limited announcements for charitable appeals and publicity for community groups including the YMCA, the YWCA,

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and Apex Club.175 GMV provided airtime to St Brendan’s Shepparton girls’ choir for the production of “Christmas is a Time”. The resultant two-to-three-minute segments were used as “filler” material between programs.176 In March 1972, NBN staged its first telethon, which raised almost $140,000 for a new holiday and training centre for the Newcastle and District Crippled Children’s Association.177 In August 1973, CBN/CWN staged a 10-hour telethon to raise funds for sheltered workshops across the viewing area. Special guests included cast members from Number 96. Phones were manned by local nurses with more than $50,000 raised.178 In 1974, BTW’s first 24-hour Telehelp appeal raised $93,000 for local charities. Telehelp raised around $1.4 million for charity in its eight-year history.179 Stations also participated in Nine Network-News Limited’s Darwin Appeal telethon, with BTV alone reporting donations of $50,000.180

Programs The ABCB was, it seems, permanently concerned at the general lack of diversity in quality Australian programs. The popularity of dramas such as Number 96 and police procedurals such as Homicide, Division 4, and Matlock Police had apparently resulted in a reluctance by some stations to produce or purchase other program types for prime-time presentation.181 By mid-1976, total programs were mostly drama (55 per cent) and light entertainment (17 per cent); however, increases had occurred in news, current affairs, family, and education programs.182 The ABCB made numerous changes to its program standards, Australian content, and children’s program requirements in an attempt to increase both quality and diversity. It added a 45 per cent Australian content requirement between 6.00pm and 10.00pm from September 1971, and also updated the method of calculating the percentage of Australian programs.183 In 1972, the Board expressed dismay at the inability of six recently established regional stations to meet its Australian content requirements,184 and the failure of 10 stations to provide four hours of school-age children’s program each month.185 From August 1973, stations were required to meet a points-based target for Australian content based on weekly hours of transmission between 6.00am and midnight. Significantly, from June 1974, regional stations would no longer receive full points for programs obtained from other sources.186 The Board’s school-aged children’s program requirement was

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increased to six hours per four-week period the following month, then 10 hours from February 1976.187 That year, the Board raised requirements for first-release Australian drama, variety spectaculars, and one-shot drama. The practice of applying different point scales to smaller capital and regional stations was discontinued and the points values for some regional station productions was increased. These amendments were intended to increase the production of high-quality material (particularly drama, variety, and children’s programs) at the Sydney and Melbourne stations, while encouraging smaller stations to provide programs of special interest to local viewers.188 FACTS objected in general to quotas in television, which it described as “paternalism at its worst”.189 Perversely, the ABCB’s content quotas—which sought to preference quality over quantity—actually reduced the proportion of Australian content on regional television. As Madeleine Hastie argues, government regulation had proven to be ineffective in stimulating Australian production.190 By mid-1976, imported content had increased to 60 per cent of total programs (Fig.  5.1). This included The Brady Bunch, Gilligan’s Island, and The Mary Tyler Moore Show. There was also a noticeable increase in British programs such as And Mother Makes Three, And Mother Makes Five, and Father Dear Father. Most stations obtained imported programs through ATF which was, at this time, operating from Marrickville in Sydney.191 It is worth noting that around 82 per cent of total content

Fig. 5.1  Regional commercial television, program sources, 1976. Copyright Michael Thurlow

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televised by regional stations comprised “first release” programs, compared to 61 per cent in metropolitan areas. In other words, the regionals televised fewer repeat series than the capital city stations. This was due to the relative strength of their buying power through ATF as well as their ability to cherry-pick programs from all three Australian networks.192 Australian content from metropolitan stations accounted for around 27 per cent of total programs.193 These included A Current Affair, The Curiosity Show, and Here’s Humphrey (Nine); This Week Has Seven Days and Sound Unlimited (Seven); and Young Talent Time (0/10). The spectacular success of the adult drama Number 96 (Box 5.5) and, to a lesser extent, The Box (Box 5.6) transformed the fortunes of the 0/10 Network through increased market share, and changed the dynamics of competition between the networks.194 The former proved especially controversial for its portrayal of various themes not previously addressed on Australian television, including racism, drug use, adultery, rape, and homosexuality. On one occasion, the Board directed producers to delete the phrase “she’s as frigid as a polar bear’s arse” prior to distribution to regional stations.195 Although Number 96 was popular with audiences, in 1972 CTC general manager George Barlin apparently described the program as “garbage” which was definitely “out”. But it seems commercial considerations won the day as, within a year, CTC was screening Number 96 three nights a week.196 Also in 1973, fans reportedly crowded country train platforms in the middle of the night to greet cast members travelling to Melbourne for the TV Week Logie Awards.197 The Box, too, was subject to controversy. John Allott recalls the first screening at AMV (Albury, NSW): I was told by an irate male that he was going to blow the … place up if we went ahead and screened that filthy show … The next day … about an hour before The Box was due to start, a couple of local police officers arrived and were admitted to the control room, where they sat for the next couple of hours, obviously enjoying the sight of Cheryl Rixon in the shower … The studios weren’t blown up either.198

Box 5.5  Number 96

• Type: Audio-visual recording • Produced by: Cash-Harmon Television, 1972–1977 • NFSA reference: 138179

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Box 5.6  The Box

• Type: Audio-visual recording • Produced by: Crawford Productions, 1973–1975 • NFSA reference: 138047 Brian Shoesmith and Leigh Edmonds note the development of such programs in the early 1970s ended the disjunction that had existed between television and youth culture.199 In this context, it is worth noting that the spectacular success of Number 96 and, to a lesser extent, The Box, transformed the fortunes of ATV and TEN and changed the dynamics of competition between the networks. The apparent failure of the third metropolitan network to this point had prompted Douglas McClelland to consider rescinding the third licence in each capital city and establishing a national authority modelled on Britain’s Independent Broadcasting Authority to run commercial television.200 However, the new-found profitability of the third Sydney and Melbourne stations caused this idea to be abandoned in April 1973.201 Regional stations produced around eight per cent of total programs in their own studios. The localism marker indicates a 27 per cent decrease in local program production from 1971 (see Chap. 1, Fig. 1.1). The overall decrease in Australian content was arguably due in part to a reliance on international sources for program stocks immediately following the introduction of colour in early 1975. A small, but increasing, proportion of material (five per cent) came from independent producers as well as other regional stations. Country Affair was a current affairs magazine produced specifically for regional stations by Mike Willesee’s Trans Media Productions. The program was presented by Alan Wilkie and aired on several ATF member stations for 12 weeks in 1975.202 Ask the Leyland Brothers (ATLB) (Box 5.7) was a documentary series produced and presented by brothers Mike and Mal Leyland. The series was inspired by You Asked for It, an American series produced in the 1950s, in which viewers wrote with requests to see people perform various feats and talents. In ATLB, viewers could literally “ask the Leylands” their questions concerning “history, people, places, anything really, as long as the answer is interesting”.203 The Leylands, along with their wives Pat and Laraine, would then travel anywhere in Australia or

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Box 5.7  Ask the Leyland Brothers

• Type: Audio-visual recording • Produced by: Leyland Brothers Films, 1976–1980 • NFSA reference: 591658 New Zealand to find the answer. In this respect, ATLB has been described as a cross between “instructional television” and “an on-demand travel guide or a precursor to … Tripadvisor”.204 Uniquely, the series was shot entirely on 8mm film, which was processed at CBN’s Orange studios.205 There was also some interchange of programs between the regionals. Looking In (NBN), a 30-minute children’s program, was televised by BKN and DDQ/SDQ.206 TNT produced a five-minute, 13-episode series featuring the Tasmanian Puppet Theatre, which was sold to ATF members.207 Up, Up and Away (DDQ), a variety special produced for the launch of colour transmission, was sold to several interstate stations.208 GTS/BKN supplied selected programs on tape to repeater stations operated by mining companies in remote areas.209 Regional stations, through Australian Television Facilities P/L, were increasingly sponsoring the production of pilots or series for regional, national, or international distribution.210 This undoubtedly came in response to claims by Douglas McClelland that regional stations’ contributions to Australian programs was frequently minimal and out of proportion with the profitability of the sector.211 Several productions were made in conjunction with South Pacific Films.212 Human Target, a 75-minute television movie starring Jack Thompson, was reportedly the first Australian drama to be produced in colour.213 The storyline featured a special agent investigating the international opium trade. Interiors were filmed at WIN in early 1973 with on-location shots in Sydney and Bangkok. The program was televised by the Nine Network on 9 April 1976.214 Travlin’ Out West (Box 5.8) was a country and western music series hosted by up-and-coming country singer John Williamson and produced at NBN by Reg Grundy Productions. The first series comprised 26 one-hour episodes. Music from the program was produced and distributed by Festival Records.215

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Box 5.8  Travlin’ Out West

• Type: Sound recording • Published by: Festival Records P/L, 1974 • NFSA reference: 300887

Box 5.9  Silent Number

• Type: Audio-visual recording • Produced by: South Pacific Films, 1974 • NFSA reference: 309314 Perhaps the most notable—and controversial—ATF series was Silent Number (Box 5.9) a police medical drama starring Grigor Taylor.216 The 90-minute series pilot, filmed at WIN in late 1973, was picked up by the Nine Network.217 The first 26-episode season was co-produced at WIN. A second 13-episode season was produced at WIN and NBN.218 The program was criticised by members of the public for its gratuitous violence and undesirable themes, including drug use and abortion.219 The ABCB decreed that all episodes must be submitted to it for assessment prior to screening.220 The Board subsequently informed stations that episodes were not to be televised before 8.30pm. ATF’s chairman, Alan Ridley, as both the head of the production company responsible and general manager of CBN/CWN, objected to the short notice of change given by the Board to regional stations.221 In mid-1976, WIN indicated it was unlikely to participate in the production of future drama series as the $900 per night cost of accommodating visiting cast and crew was prohibitive.222 Breaches of program standards remained relatively minor and infrequent. On 20 May 1975, a WIN tape operator accidentally televised a film trailer for the “AO” feature film, The Killing of Sister George, in “G” time.223 Viewer complaints were generally related to the perceived quality of programs. In May 1973, a resident of Rockley, near Orange—who described herself as living “quite alone, existing on a widows’ pension, in a country village, without public transport, twenty-three miles from the nearest city with its one ‘Drive-in’”—complained to the Minister of the Media, Douglas McClelland, that her local station, CBN, was serving up

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“an indigestible diet of cheap half-hour comedies, films made before 1945, tenth rate hour long repeat shows about 10 years old, a surfeit of Hector Crawford sausages and ‘[Number] 96’ (but, of course!)”.224 There was also some concern at the level of over-commercialisation at some stations. In 1975, the ABCB investigated RVN and TNT for such practices; however, these were found to have been of an isolated nature. It is worth noting that the Minister considered, but did not proceed with, suspending the TVQ Brisbane licence for breaches of the advertising time standards.225

Production Local programs accounted for around eight per cent of total content or 4.5 hours each week.182 News programs comprised around 37 per cent of local production. The ABCB noted that stations held “a special place in country communities” and pointed to the provision of local news as indicative of the willingness of stations to cater for the special needs and interests of local viewers despite the high costs involved.226 Newsreaders included Murray Finlay and Ray Dinneen (NBN) and Maree Kidd (MVQ). BTW/GSW provided a 15-minute composite news bulletin at 6.15pm weeknights, with a 10-minute service at 6.20pm on weekends. The service, emphasising local events, was described by the ABCB as “adequate rather than ambitious”. A five-minute summary was provided on all nights preceding shutdown. An additional two minutes was allotted to weather information after each main news service.227 CBN had previously experimented with staggered scheduling of bulletins between 8.00pm and 8.30pm; however, this proved to be unpopular with viewers. By mid-1976, the station presented a 10-minute bulletin at 8.30pm weeknights. It employed two journalists, two cine-cameramen, and independent stringers, and also processed its own 8mm and 16mm colour film. In addition, the five-minute Focus, presented at 7.30pm on Sundays, provided an in-­ depth view of major news and events. The station did not possess OB facilities.228 NBN became the first regional station, in 1972, to introduce a one-­ hour locally produced news bulletin comprised of local, national, and international news items.229 In contrast, FNQ had been without a news service since May 1969.230 A 15-minute bulletin was introduced in July 1974 following installation of a microwave link from TNQ. (Significantly, this was a one-way link from Townsville to Cairns. FNQ news staff would

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record stories prior to 11am. This footage was then flown to Townsville as commercial air freight for inclusion in the evening bulletin.) NRN, too, was without a regular news service between June 1970 and August 1971 due to the unavailability of link facilities.231 Sport programs (17 per cent) included Grandstand (CTC), a five-hour, Saturday afternoon presentation of local and national (and later international) sport events which premiered in April 1976. Its coverage ranged across motor racing, gymnastics, golf, soccer, basketball, surfing, boxing, athletics, Rugby League, Rugby Union, and VFL.232 BCV produced Football Forum, a five-minute, Friday night discussion of football results in season, as well as Telepool Competition, a 30-minute, 16-episode coverage of regional snooker. The station also presented a monthly, five-minute Sports Star segment which culminated in a live, 30-minute Sports Star of the Year award. GLV hosted a similar award in partnership with 3TR Sale and Gippsland area newspapers.233 Family programs (17 per cent) were primarily aimed at women. These included Woman’s World (SES), which succeeded Wednesday Woman. Marg Watkins (Box 5.10) presented this program for 16 years before handing the reins to Carolyn Gazzard in 1987, then Pam MacIntosh.234 Woman’s World remained on air until the 1990s, making it the longest-­ running daytime program to be produced at SES (and one of the longest on regional commercial television). GTS produced a program of the same name using split studio facilities in Port Pirie (with Leonie Edwards as presenter) and Whyalla (with Sue Gravett).235 An Afternoon Affair with Errol (DDQ/SDQ) , directed mainly at women, was telecast at 2.15pm on weekdays. The interview-­ style half-hour program was hosted by Errol Morrison, a local hairstylist and radio presenter.236 Current affairs programs, including political matter, comprised around 10 per cent. MVQ produced several formats which were typical of the genre. Point of View was a 10-minute segment in which the mayor and

Box 5.10  Woman’s World, Marg Watkins

• Type: Photograph • Produced by: SES South East SA (Mount Gambier, SA), 1971 • NFSA reference: 813649

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state member reported on matters of local relevance, while Canberra Report was a 10-minute fortnightly program which featured the local federal member.237 Children’s programs (10 per cent) were subject to the ABCB’s quota requirements, which mandated that programs shown at certain times of the day must be suitable for unsupervised viewing by youngsters. Furthermore, the ABCB’s children’s program advisory committee formulated guidelines to assist stations with meeting the qualitative aspects of the Board’s points-based quota system introduced in 1973. Local productions approved as “quota” material included Looking On (NBN), Triad (STV), and BTV Juniors.238 NBN continued to produce a local version of Romper Room.239 Just-4-Fun was a 30-minute live program produced at GTS and  hosted by Colin Pearce and various educational experts. It was also provided on tape to mining company repeater stations in remote areas.240 In contrast, Birthday Book (BKN) was a fiveminute segment televised at 5.25pm Monday to Friday. In addition to birthday calls announced by an on-camera staff member, various segments of interests to young viewers including hobbies, drawing, and modelling were also presented.241 Local children’s presenters included Rhonda Short (DDQ/SDQ), Colin Pearce (GTS), and Jan Cork (WBQ). Children’s characters remained integral to engaging with younger audiences. These included Buttons the Cat, a large ginger feline (NBN),242 Carnaby the Bear (BTW),243 and Ebenezer G. Dragon (DDQ), a gold-coated, purple-spotted, red-haired, smoke-blowing hand puppet operated by Peter Khoury.244 Big Bloo Roo (CTC) appeared in The Big Bloo Roo Show, which premiered on 2 February 1976 and was hosted by CTC general manager’s daughter, Karen Barlin (Box 5.11).245 Religious programs (seven per cent) consisted mostly of a locally produced epilogue supplemented by a weekly 30- or 60-minute program on tape from Australia or overseas.246 BTV was typical, providing around 90

Box 5.11  Big Bloo Roo

• Type: Audio-visual recording • Produced by: CTC Canberra (ACT), c.1976 • NFSA reference: 138531

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minutes of religious material each week including Epilogue and programs on film including The Wotsaname Show, Storytime, and the Catholic Radio and Television feature Insight. Sunday Magazine was also taken on relay from HSV.  In addition, the station scheduled numerous 60-second Christian Television Association spot announcements. Special programs were presented at Christmas and Easter. It Is Written, BTV’s only sponsored religious program, was presented weekly. In September 1975, the station produced a 90-minute feature, Enthronement of a Bishop, which covered the inauguration of Anglican Bishop John Hazlewood at Ballarat’s Cathedral of Christ the King.247 Light entertainment programs accounted for around two per cent of local production. Quiz programs included Make The Grade (DDQ) hosted by Errol Morrison, and BHP High School Quiz (WIN). Here Tonight (NBN), later In Newcastle Tonight, a Friday night variety program hosted by Nev Roberts. Star Quest (GMV), a weekly, 30-minute talent quest, offered $1000 in prizes. Six Tonight (BTV), hosted by local theatre identity Fred Fargher, ran from May 1972 until November 1981 (Box 5.12).248 Ballarat’s proximity to Melbourne meant the program could attract Australian and international stars, including Jack Klugman, Eartha Kitt, Shirley Bassey, Neil Sedaka, Sophia Loren, and John Farnham in addition to local artists. Guests were reportedly chauffeured by limousine to Ballarat then treated to dinner at a local restaurant as an inducement to participate. BTV general manager, John Stapp, later remarked that Six Tonight had “existed on criticism” for its entire run.249 Nevertheless, Six Tonight (later Thursday Night Live) remained on air until the mid-1980s. Fargher credits the longevity of Six Tonight to the vision and “guts” of station executives John Stapp and Gary Rice.250 Box 5.12  Six Tonight, Fred Fargher

• Type: Audio-visual recording • Produced by: BTV Ballarat (Vic), 1980 • NFSA reference: 574763 In Launceston, The Saturday Show (TNT) operated on a shoestring budget. Host Graeme Goodings recalls the challenges of working with animals on live television:

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I think the weekly budget for the show was $300, so sets were far from lavish, and guests were expected to perform for cab fare… Running low on ideas someone suggested a frog race in the studio. We expected maybe five or six, 10 at most. When more than 200 people turned up with frogs, toads, newts the alarms bells went off. There was a winner, but that meant there were many, many, many, losers, and most of the owners seemed less than keen to take them home. Some took delight throwing their frogs against the studio wall, others did worse. The more humane just walked off and left the station crawling with frogs of all shapes and sizes. For weeks after frogs kept turning up in all sorts of strange places, not surprisingly the toilets were popular. After the RSPCA inquiry into claims of animal cruelty we agreed never to involve animals in our broadcasts again of course other than the trotters.251

Information programs (less than one per cent) were frequently focused on rural affairs. Points West (CBN) was a rural interest series hosted by Stan Murray and co-produced with the NSW Department of Agriculture and Orange Agricultural College. Farm Topics (MTN) was a five-minute weekly rural information program co-produced with the Department of Agriculture and CSIRO. In addition, MTN provided weekly reports on local stock sales and Sydney fruit and vegetable market prices. Information on humidity and “Black Spot” fungal disease was included in local weather reports as a vital service to primary producers.252 Perhaps the most ambitious production in this category was CountrySide (NEN), a 30-minute rural affairs magazine produced and presented by agricultural journalist Ted Hebblewhite which premiered in July 1973. The format included developments in animal science, weather reports, pastoral conditions, rural news, and market reports. It was described by an ABCB inspector as a major undertaking for the station with production costs of around $3600 per episode. CountrySide was being televised by 16 regional stations in mid-1974. Production costs were shared between NEN/ECN, CBN/CWN, and DDQ/SDQ.253 Education programs represented less than one per cent of local output; however, there were several notable examples of this genre. Effective Communication (RVN/AMV) was a 30-minute lecture series produced in conjunction with the Riverina College of Advanced Education which aired for 14 weeks from March 1973.254 It was designed to assist enrolled students who were unable to attend on-campus lectures and was reportedly the first of its kind in Australia.255 In 1974, CBN/CWN co-produced It’s Your Business, a series designed for small businessmen, with the Mitchell

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College of Advanced Education in Bathurst.256 Lumiere (NEN) was a particularly innovative program produced in conjunction with the New South Wales Department of Education. It comprised two or three short films by local school children interspersed with studio discussion of their content and technical production.257 Other educational programs included Activeight (WBQ) and Tech on TV (VEW) produced by the Western Australia Department of Education to supplement its correspondence courses in drawing and geography.258 Stations devoted few resources to producing arts programs (less than per cent). Notable efforts included a children’s movie, Three Good Witches and the Bad, Bad Prince (DDQ), which was co-produced with Toowoomba North State School’s drama club as part of the centenary of public education celebrations in 1975.259 In the same year, NBN helped to stage The World of Jesus Christ Superstar, a 90-minute special starring Jon English and Trevor White, at the Newcastle Civic Theatre.260 Outside broadcasts were more widespread. WIN conducted its first colour OB in July 1975, when the Catholic Bishop of Wollongong, William Murray, was ordained at Francis Xavier Cathedral.261 In March 1976, BCV staged a five-hour coverage of the Bendigo 2000 athletics meeting using OB facilities provided by Melbourne stations.262 The first community access programs were also produced during this period. In 1975, WIN provided the Wollongong section of International Women’s Year with production facilities for Women in ‘75.263 NBN co-­ produced a documentary series, West of Coal Island, with the University of Newcastle. Episodes included “Why Worry about the Birds?” and “Journey Around the Heart”, which examined the history of local architecture.264 Station facilities were also increasingly used by external production companies under commercial arrangement. Tonight Italian Style was a 60-minute variety program “with a distinct Italian flavour” hosted by John Mahon and Anne Luciano. It was produced by Panorama Productions at WIN on colour videotape for the 0/10 Network.265 The program was later known as Variety Italian Style.266 In mid-1976, the ABCB reported that WIN was operating at “full production capacity” producing about ten-and-a-half hours weekly of local programs, commercials, and material for outside bodies.267 A notable offering was You Say the Word (Fig.  5.2), which aimed to teach migrants how to speak English.268 The weekly program was first televised on 11 September 1971 and was produced at WIN by Migrant Education Television and the Department of Immigration. Instructional

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Fig. 5.2  You Say the Word, c.1975. Image courtesy of National Archives of Australia. NAA: A6135; K16/7/75/92

segments involved presenters addressing viewers as they would a live audience, then inviting them to “say the word”, hence the program’s title. Dramatised sequences demonstrated the use of English-language skills in a range of everyday situations. Later storylines were set in a toy factory staffed by migrants. You Say the Word, described by the ABCB as “an enterprising and most commendable effort”,269 remained in production until November 1978, with 179 hours produced (Box 5.13).270 Regional stations continued to be recognised for their efforts in program production. In 1975, the Television Society of Australia awarded WIN a Golden Penguin for its production of The Executives (Box 5.14) a 60-minute special featuring the eponymous Australian singing group alongside Jon English and Barbara Rogers. This program enjoyed a wide sale to other regional stations as well as Rediffusion Television of Hong Kong and was one of the first regionally produced programs to be sold internationally.271 The station was also highly commended for its production of a medical film, The Lazy Pancreas, for Sydney’s Royal North Shore Hospital.272 In 1976, Logie Award organisers introduced a new category for Most Outstanding Contribution by a Regional Station.273 The inaugural Logie

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Box 5.13  You Say the Word

• Type: Audio-visual recording • Produced by: Migrant Education Television, c.1975 • NFSA reference: 138149

Box 5.14  The Executives

• Type: Audio-visual recording • Produced by: WIN Illawarra (Wollongong, NSW), c.1975 • NFSA reference: 1153773 in this category was awarded to NBN for its production of The World of Jesus Christ Superstar.274

Ownership and Control The depressed economic situation coupled with the high cost of colour conversion resulted in further takeovers of stations in marginal areas.275 By the late 1960s, AMV was one of several stations experiencing financial difficulties. In 1969, management considered (but did not proceed with) plans to take programs on relay from RVN.276 By 1971, AML and RVL directors had entered into merger talks. AMV was also approached by BCV and GMV with offers when its merger plans became known to the industry.277 The ABCB also noted transactions involving shareholders of both stations with close links to the Fairfax Group. These mostly comprised entities associated with the Rupert Henderson family.278 In August 1971, the PMG approved the acquisition of all shares in AML by RVL. As a result, the latter company’s name was changed to Riverina and North East Victoria TV Limited to reflect its expanded sphere of operations.279 In August 1972, the AMV licence was transferred from AML to RVL.280 AMV was placed on significant relay from RVN on 24 October 1972.281 Meanwhile, TNL (NEN) entered into discussions with ECL (ECN) receivers regarding a possible merger. ECN, while still under independent ownership, was placed on full relay from NEN in November 1971. In

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December, the companies established NEN-ECN P/L, in which TNL held an 85 per cent stake and ECL the balance. The latter company was, by this time, controlled by flamboyant Sydney businessman Eric Dare.282 The NEN and ECN licences were transferred to this company in June 1972.283 TNL later acquired the remaining shares in the joint venture from ECL.284 Both the NEN and ECN licences were transferred to TNL in April 1975.285 BTL (BKN) also experienced financial difficulties. In early 1973, the company entered into merger negotiations SGL (GTS), as Jim Sturrock family interests were major shareholders in both stations. SGL subsequently gained an 85 per cent stake in BTL.286 These transactions increased the number of stations under joint ownership to 18 by mid-1976, which represented a 50 per cent increase in dual station operation in just five years. In August 1974, the Minister approved the transfer of the BCV and GLV licences from BCL and VBL, respectively, to their parent company, Victorian Broadcasting Network Ltd.287 The transfers were made to facilitate a company restructure and to wind up the subsidiary companies. The ultimate controller of the licences remained unchanged. Australia’s 33 regional commercial television licences were, by mid-1976, held by 24 ownership groups.288 These were mostly controlled by radio and newspaper interests as well as non-media (e.g. industrial) and private investment interests.289 This included the acquisition of a majority shareholding in MTL by Henry Jones (IXL), as well as private investments controlled by the Sturrock, Joel, Henderson, Scott, and Lilburn families. TTL (TVT) held minor interests in at least six regional stations.290 The resultant contraction in the number of ownership groups reduced the independence quotient to 72 per cent. This represented a 17 per cent decrease in five years (see Chap. 1, Fig. 1.2).

Conclusion The development of regional commercial television in the early 1970s was notable for the sector’s contrasting financial position. It began with Stage 6 of the government’s television development program which extended services to some of the remotest parts of Australia. In all cases, it was necessary to establish stations on a more modest scale than in previous stages. But a continuation of the economic downturn, coupled with the tobacco

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advertising ban and colour conversion costs placed many stations under financial pressure. These conditions, in the early part of the period, brought further mergers and relays with associated declines in  localism and independence (See Chap. 1, Fig. 1.3) . In contrast, the introduction of colour television in 1975 proved to be the sector’s fourth liminal moment. The demand for colour from advertisers and viewers transformed the financial situation of many stations which rose to be among Australia’s most profitable companies. As we will see in Chap. 6, this major change in fortunes would lead to a period of relative stability for regional commercial television in the second half of the 1970s.

Notes 1. Australian Broadcasting Control Board, Annual Report, 1976, p. 113. 2. NAA/ACT: A5842, 18: ABCB, Television, Sixth Stage, September 1966. 3. NAA/ACT: A452, NT1965/152: Barden, 30/12/1964. 4. Western Herald (Bourke), 18/11/1966, p. 8. (Reprinted from Mingay’s Electrical Weekly, 28/10/1966.) 5. ABCB, 1970b, p. 2. 6. ABCB, 1969, pp. 15–16. ABCB, 1975a, p. 90. 7. CAG, 21/8/1969, p. 4911. 8. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-1.5. 9. ABCB, 1970b, pp. 3–4. 10. ABCB, 1970b, p. 5. 11. Peter Lilburn, letter to Michael Thurlow, 1/10/2009. 12. North West Star (Mount Isa), 2/5/2013, p. 7. 13. ABCB, 1970b, pp. 22–23. 14. NAA/ACT: A5869, 515: CD No. 697, 29/9/1970. 15. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-1.3; 6.1. 16. Kalgoorlie Miner, 18/6/1971, p. 6. 17. NAA/NSW: B2305, TP/2/21 PART 1: Benson, 11/11/1971. 18. NAA/NSW: B2305, TP/2/21 PART 1: ABCB, 19/11/1971; 26/11/1971. 19. Herd 2012, pp. 121–134. 20. CT, 15/6/73, p. 2. 21. Armstrong 2014, pp. 41–42. 22. CAG, 26/2/1974, p. 7. 23. ABCB, 1975b, pp. 2–12; ABCB, 1975c, pp. 2–11. 24. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-1.3. 25. ABCB, 1975d; ABT, 1979, p. 53; ABT, 1980a, p. 52. 26. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-1.8.

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27. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-1.7. 28. ABCB, 1969, p. 112. The commercial television service commenced on 21 January 1977. 29. ABCB, 1972, p. 118. 30. ABCB 1970, p. 115. 31. ABCB, 1976, pp. 44–45. 32. David Bednall, email to Michael Thurlow, 17/6/2021; ABT, 1978, pp. 5–6. 33. NAA/Vic: B2305, TP/2/3/Part 3: Austin Snare, memorandum, 3/4/1969. 34. Kirkpatrick 2014, pp. 217–218; CT, 15/6/1972, p. 2. 35. SSCESA 1973, p. 13. 36. CT, 14/2/73, p. 3. 37. CT, 14/2/73, p. 3; 16/2/73, p. 8. 38. CT, 8/3/74, p. 8. 39. CT, 28/4/76, p. 3. 40. Australian, 1/9/73; Inglis 2006, p. 347; Herd 2012, pp. 130–131. 41. Senate, Hansard, 30/5/1973, p. 2041. 42. CT, 15/6/1973, p. 2; Inglis 2006, p. 347. 43. ABCB, 1972, p. 19. 44. ABCB, 1973, pp. 19–26. 45. SSCESA, 1972, pp. 13–14. 46. SSCESA, 1973, p. 2. 47. SSCESA, 1975, pp. 6–10. 48. ABCB, 1973, p. 19. 49. Commonwealth 1961. 50. ABCB, 1974a, p. 19–25. 51. ABCB, 1974a, pp. 115–116, 247; ABCB, 1975a, p. 18. 52. ABCB, 1976, pp. 19–20. 53. Rennie 2014, pp. 112–114. 54. Forde and Meadows 2014, pp. 110–113. 55. ABCB, 1973, pp. 32–33. 56. CT, 19/3/1975, p. 15. 57. ABCB, 1976, pp. 38. 58. Rennie 2014, pp. 112–114. 59. McClelland, quoted in CT, 13/2/1974, p. 19. 60. ABCB, 1972. p. 33; NAA/ACT: A5908, 528: CD No. 740, 15/2/1972. 61. B&T, 17/3/1977, p. 44. 62. CT, 25/5/1973, p. 3; CTL, 1972. 63. B&T, 4/7/1974, p. 11. 64. ABCB, 1974a, p. 54. 65. ABCB, 1975a, pp. 238–241.

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66. ABCB, 1974a, p. 112. 67. CTL, 1974, p. 2. 68. NAA/Vic: B2305, TL/1/12 PART 2: ABCB, CTC LRR, 1975; CTL, 1975, p. 2; RCA 1975, pp. 43–49. 69. ABCB, 1974a, p. 54. 70. CT, 30/12/1974, p. 10; AWW, 15/1/1975, p. 2. 71. ABS, 1975, p. 3. 72. ABCB, 1976, p. 40. 73. SWL, 1975. 74. NAA/Vic: B2305, TL/1/12 PART 2: ABCB, ITQ LRR, 1976. 75. NAA/Vic: B2305, TL/1/19 PART 2: ABCB, STV LRR, 1976. STV made occasional colour transmissions between 1 March and commencement of the full-colour BCV relay on 12/7/1975. 76. SWL, 1975. 77. NAA/Vic: B2305, TL/1/15 PART 2: ABCB, NTD LRR, 1976. 78. NAA/Vic: B2305, TL/1/19 PART 2: ABCB, BKN LRR, 1976. 79. NAA/Vic: MP1897/1, CBN/19 PART 1: Wellington Times, August 1975; CBL, 1975, p. 3. 80. ABS, 1975, p. 3. 81. NAA/Vic: B2152, RVN/4 PART 2: ABCB, RVN LRR, 1975. 82. ABCB, 1976, pp. 112–113. 83. PRS, 1994, p. 11. 84. ABCB, 1976, p. 40. 85. CTL, 1976, p. 3. 86. Herd 2012, pp. 216–217. 87. ABCB, 1975a, p. 130. 88. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-2.1. 89. NAA/Vic: B2152, RVN/4 PART 2: ABCB, RVN LRR, 1974. 90. NAA/NSW: B2152, BTW/4 PART 2: ABCB, BTW/GSW LRR, 1975. 91. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-2.2. 92. Broadcasting and Television, No. 49 of 1972. The changes came into effect from 1/1/1973. 93. ABCB, 1974a, pp. 46–47. 94. NAA/Vic: B2152, RVN/4 PART 2: ABCB, RVN LRR, 1974; CBL, 1973. 95. NAA/Vic: B2152, RVN/4 PART 2: ABCB, RVN LRR, 1975. 96. NAA/Vic: B2152, WIN/4 PART 2: ABCB, WIN LRR, 1972. 97. NBL, 1972. 98. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-2.15. 99. MTL, 1973. 100. NAA/Vic: MP1839/2, NEN/4 PT 2: ABCB, NEN LRR, 1973. 101. NAA/Vic: MP1897/1, RTQ/4 PART 1: ABCB, RTQ LRR, 1974.

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102. NAA/Vic: B2305, TL/1/19 PART 2: MTN LRR, 1976. 103. NRL, 1975, p. 4. 104. NAA/Vic: B2305, TL/1/15 PART 2: ABCB, NEN LRR, 1976. 105. ABT, DDQ LRR No. 54/80 R R(T), 1980. 106. NAA/Vic: B2305, TL/1/15 PART 2: ABCB, NEN LRR, 1976. GET remained in operation until 30/6/1986. 107. NAA/NSW: B2152, BCV/4 PART 2: ABCB, BCV LRR, 1974. 108. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-2.5. 109. NAA/Vic: B2152, WIN/4 PART 2: ABCB, WIN LRR, 1971. 110. NAA/Vic: B2305, TL/1/12 PART 2: ABCB, ITQ LRR, 1976. 111. NAA/Vic: B2152, MVQ/4 PART 2: ABCB, MVQ LRR, 1976. This strike ran 14-26/5/1976. 112. https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0183325/, accessed 18/7/2019. 113. NFSA: 1241224. 114. Susie Elelman, interview with Michael Thurlow, 6/3/2019; Elelman 2018. 115. NAA/Vic: MP1897/1, TNQ/19: TV Week, Pop show for TNQ7? TVW, 26/10/1974; Prue Macsween, conversation with Michael Thurlow, 3/4/2019. 116. AWW, 20/3/1974, p. 21. 117. https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-­and-­radio/seven-­puts-­ prue-­macsween-­on-­ice-­but-­she-­rises-­like-­a-­pheonix-­at-­nine-­20180504-­ p4zdck.html, accessed 18/7/2019. 118. NBL, 1971. 119. NAA/Vic: B2305, TL/1/15 PART 2: ABCB, NEN LRR, 1976. 120. NAA/Vic: B2152, CBN/4 PART 2: ABCB, CBN LRR, 1976; B2305, TL/1/12 PART 2: ABCB, CTC LRR, 1976. 121. See CBL, 1976, p. 3; CBL, 1978b. 122. NAA/NSW: B2152, BCV/4 PART 2: ABCB, BCV LRR, 1976. 123. NAA/Vic: B2305, TL/1/11 PART 3: ABCB, GMV LRR, 1976. 124. ABCB, 1972; ESM/Appendices/Appendix-6.2. 125. NAA/Vic: B2152, RTN/4 PART 2: ABCB, RTN LRR, 1972. 126. NAA/Vic: B2305, TL/1/19 PART 2: ABCB, MTN LRR, 1976. 127. NAA/Vic: MP1839/2, GLV/4, PT 2: ABCB, GLV LRR, 1976. 128. NAA/NSW: B2305, TP/3/9 PART 1: Lanyon, 8/2/1974. 129. ABCB, 1974c. 130. NAA/NSW: B2305, TP/3/9 PART 1: Connolly, 18/12/1974. 131. NAA/Vic: B2305, TL/1/19 PART 2: ABCB, STV LRR, 1976. 132. ABT, GTS/BKN LRR, No. 444/86 and 445/86, December 1986. 133. B&T, 9/11/1972, p. 42. 134. NAA/Vic: B2152, AMV/4 PART 2: ABCB, AMV LRR, 1976. 135. ABCB, 1972, pp. 96–97.

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136. ABCB, 1975a, p. 97. 137. NAA/Vic: MP1897/1, DDQ/19: B&T, 3/6/1976. 138. CBN provided production and film processing facilities for LBDF. 139. NAA/Vic: MP1897/1, CBN/19 PART 1: ABCB, Cowan, 19/1/1976. 140. ABCB, 1973, p. 101. 141. ABCB, 1973, p. 93. 142. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-6.3. 143. ABCB, 1974b. The Minister for the Media approved this recommendation in April 1974. 144. Broadcasting and Television (No. 2). No. 31 of 1969. 145. ABCB, 1971, pp.  18, 90–91, 94; ABCB, 1974a, p.  101; ABCB, 1975a, p. 86. 146. ABCB, 1973, p. 45. 147. Bellamy 1985. 148. CT, 11/1/1974, p. 3. 149. ABCB/APO, 1974. 150. ABCB, 1976, p. 39. 151. Westfield 2000, pp. 22–23; Ray Gamble, interview with Michael Thurlow, 16/11/2010. 152. WBL, 1975; 1976. 153. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-2.4. 154. CBL, 1976, p. 3. 155. AFR, 30/5/1978, p. 30. 156. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-2.5. 157. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-2.6; 2.7. 158. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-2.8. 159. https://www.rba.gov.au/statistics/historical-­data.html, accessed 29/11/ 2018. 160. NTL, 1975. 161. NTL, 1976. 162. TWL, 1974. 163. NTL, 1976. 164. ABCB, 1976, pp. 165–172. 165. NAA/Vic: B2305, TL/1/13 PART 3: ABCB, RTQ LRR, 1976. 166. ABCB, 1976, pp. 171, 179. 167. SWL, 1978. SWL acquired 6CZ and 6CI in 1975, with 6NA joining the network in 1976. 168. DTL, 1976. 169. NAA/Vic: B2152, TNQ/24 PART 1: Wiltshire, 24/1/1972. 170. Matthews 1995, p. 622. 171. NT News (Darwin), 13/10/1972, p. 1. 172. NAA/NSW: B2152, NTD/4 PART 1: ABCB, NTD LRR, 1976.

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173. ABCB, 1973, p. 73. 174. NAA/Vic: B2152, BTV/4 PART 2: ABCB, BTV LRR, 1976. 175. NAA/Vic: B2305, TL/1/19 PART 2: ABCB, BKN LRR, 1976. 176. NAA/Vic: B2305, TL/1/11 PART 3: ABCB, GMV LRR, 1976. 177. NBL, 1972, p. 5. 178. NFSA: 441923. 179. SWL, 1974; GWN7, GWN Celebrating 40 Years, unpublished document, GWN7 archive. 180. BTL, 1975 p. 10. 181. ABCB, 1972, pp. 91–92; Herd 2012, pp. 248–265. 182. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-3.1. 183. ABCB, 1972, p. 94; Herd 2012, pp. 134–137. 184. These comprised BKN, MVQ, GTS, SES and BTW/GSW. 185. These comprised BKN, MVQ.  GTS, SES, BTW/GSW, STV, DDQ/ SDQ and WBQ. 186. ABCB, 1975a, pp. 105–114, 183–195. 187. ABCB, 1976, pp. 115–121. 188. ABCB, 1976, pp. 113–115. 189. CT, 31/1/1976, p. 3; 29/10/1976, p. 15. 190. Hastie 2014, p. 69. 191. NAA/NSW: B2305, TP/2/64 PART 1: ATF, news release, (n.d., c. 1975). 192. CT, 16/12/1975, p. 3. 193. ABCB, 1976 p. 221. 194. Herd 2012, pp. 121–122; 130–131. 195. NAA/NSW: C546, NV/5/12 PART 1: McNamara, 30/10/1972. 196. NAA/Vic: MP1839/2, CTC/4 PT 2: ABCB, CTC LRR, 1972; ABCB, CTC LRR, 1973. 197. Sale 2013, pp. 6–7; Vered 2014, p. 248. 198. John Allott, email to Michael Thurlow, 6/1/2010. 199. Shoesmith and Edmonds 2003, p. 235. 200. CT, 14/2/1973, p. 3; Australian, 1/1/1973, p. 15. 201. B&T, 19/4/1973, p. 1. 202. NAA/Vic: B2305, TL/1/11 PART 3: ABCB, GMV LRR, 1976; Age (Melbourne), 27/2/1975, p. 2. 203. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXcFDdBxXFs, retrieved 1/12/ 2018. 204. Healy and Huber 2010, pp. 389–398. 205. NFSA: 593126. 206. NAA/Vic: B2305, TL/1/19 PART 2: ABCB, BKN LRR, 1976. 207. NAA/Vic: MP1897/1, TNT/4 PART 2: ABCB, TNT LRR, 1976.

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208. NAA/NSW: B2152, DDQ/4 PART 3: ABCB, DDQ LRR, 1976; B&T, 6/3/1975, p. 24. 209. NAA/Vic: B2305, TL/1/21 PART 1: ABCB, GTS LRR, 1976. 210. NAA/Vic: B2305, TL/1/12 PART 2: ABCB, CTC LRR, 1975. 211. McClelland, cited in CT, 30/8/1973, p. 7. 212. AWW, 24/4/1974, p. 15. 213. IM (Wollongong), 14/4/1973. 214. AWW, 14/4/1976, p. 21. 215. NFSA: 300887. 216. NFSA: 429105. 217. Express (Wollongong), 5/12/1973, p. 3. 218. http://www.classicaustraliantv.com/SilentNumber.htm, accessed 2/12/ 2018. 219. NAA/NSW: B2305/3, TP/2/64 PT 1: ABCB, Silent Number, 1974–1975. 220. DT (Sydney), 10/5/1974, p. 36. 221. NAA/NSW: B2305, TP/2/64 PART 1: Ridley, facsimile, 8/5/1974. 222. NAA/Vic: B2305, TL/1/12 PART 2: ABCB, WIN LRR, 1976. 223. NAA/Vic: B2305, TL/1/12 PART 2: ABCB, WIN LRR, 1976. 224. NAA/Vic: B2152, CBN/20 PART 2: Alexander, 23/5/1973. 225. ABCB, 1975, pp. 71–74, 80, 124. 226. ABCB, 1973, pp. 117–118. 227. NAA/NSW: B2152, BTW/4 PART 2: ABCB, BTW/GSW LRR, 1976. 228. NAA/Vic: B2152, CBN/4 PART 2: ABCB, CBN LRR, 1976. 229. Herald (Newcastle), 3/3/2012, p. 24. 230. NAA/Vic: MP1839/2, FNQ/4 PT 1: ABCB, FNQ LRR, 1971; ABCB, 1972, p. 101. 231. NAA/Vic: B2152, NRN/4 PART 1: ABCB, NRN LRR, 1972. 232. CT, 29/3/1976, p. 15. 233. NAA/NSW: B2152, BCV/4 PART 2: ABCB, BCV LRR, 1976. 234. Border Watch (Mount Gambier), supplement, 25/3/1996, p. 7. 235. NAA/Vic: B2152, GTS/4 PART 1: ABCB, GTS LR 1974. 236. B&T, 14/6/1975. 237. NAA/Vic: B2152, MVQ/4 PART 2: ABCB, MVQ LRR, 1976. 238. ABCB, 1975a, pp. 118–120. 239. NAA/Vic: ABCB, NBN LRR, 1976. 240. NAA/Vic: B2305, TL/1/19 PART 2: ABCB, GTS LRR, 1976. 241. NAA/Vic: B2305, TL/1/19 PART 2: ABCB, BKN LRR, 1976. 242. NAA/Vic: B2305, TL/1/13 PART 3: NBN LRR, 1976. 243. NAA/Vic: B2152, BTW/11 PART 1: ABCB, Report on New TV Program, June 1972. 244. TVW, 2/8/1975. Ebenezer G. Dragon was operated by Peter Koury.

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245. CT, 2/2/1976, p. 14. 246. NAA/Vic: B2305, TL/1/19 PART 2: ABCB, MTN LRR, 1976. 247. NAA/Vic: B2152, BTV/4 PART 2: ABCB, BTV LR 1976. 248. Roy Taylor, personal papers (Ballarat). 249. McColl-Jones 1999, p. 30. 250. NFSA: 1074925. 251. https://goodinnings.wordpress.com/2010/06/25/frogs-­invade-­tv-­ station/, accessed 19/8/2021. 252. NAA/Vic: B2305, TL/1/19 PART 2: ABCB, MTN LRR, 1976. 253. Bananacoast Opinion (Coffs Harbour), 26/2/1974, p.  5; Ted Hebblewhite, email to Michael Thurlow, 11/9/2009. NAA/Vic: MP1839/2, NEN/4 PT 2: ABCB, NEN LRR, 1973, NAA/NSW: B2152, BCV/4 PART 2: ABCB, BCV LRR, 1975; NDL (Tamworth), 17/7/1973, p. 8. 254. ABCB, 1973, p. 31. 255. Ly 2009; ABCB, 1973, p. 31. 256. ABCB, 1974a, p. 32. 257. NAA/Vic: B2305, TL/1/15 PART 2: ABCB, NEN LRR, 1976. 258. ABCB, 1973, p. 31. 259. NAA/Vic: B2305, TL/1/12 PART 2: ABCB, DDQ/SDQ LRR, 1976. 260. NBL, 1976. 261. TWL, 1975. 262. NAA/NSW: B2152, BCV/4 PART 2: ABCB, BCV LRR, 1976. 263. TWL, 1975. 264. NBL, 1976, p. 5. 265. NAA/Vic: B2152, WIN/4 PART 2: ABCB, WIN LRR, 1975. 266. AWW, 4/8/1982, p. 20. 267. NAA/Vic: B2305, TL/1/12 PART 2: ABCB, WIN LRR, 1976. 268. Harvey and Darian-Smith 2021, pp. 118–130. 269. NAA/Vic: B2152, WIN/11 PART 1: Williams, 13/1/1972. 270. AWW, 21/5/1975, p. 10. 271. TWL, 1976. 272. IM (Wollongong), 2/12/1975. 273. Vered 2014, p. 248. 274. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-3.3. 275. ABCB, 1972, p. 84. 276. NAA/Vic: B2152, AMV/4 PART 2: ABCB, AMV Albury, 4/3/1969. 277. NAA/Vic: MP1897/1, AMV/24: ABCB, RVN/AMV, 28/5/1973. 278. NAA/Vic: B2152, AMV/4 PART 2: ABCB, AMV LRR, 1971. 279. NAA/Vic: B2152, AMV/4 PART 2: ABCB, AMV LRR, 1972. 280. NAA/NSW: C4693, 96/201: ABCB, Transfer of Licence, 3/11/1972. 281. B&T, 9/11/1972, p. 42.

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282. ABCB, 1972, p. 70. This arrangement was approved by PMG Hulme on 20/3/1972. 283. NAA/NSW: C4693, 96/190: ABCB, Transfer of Licence, 25/6/1972. 284. NAA/Vic: B2152, ECN/4 PART 2: ABCB, ECN LRR, 1973. 285. NAA/NSW: C4531, LIC-ECN: ABCB, Transfer of Licence, 2/5/1975; ABT, NEN/ECN LRR 592/87 R(T), August 1987. 286. NAA/NSW: B2305, TO/1/63 PART 1: ABCB, BKN/GTS, 22/5/1973; SGL, 1973. 287. NAA/NSW: B2152, BCV/5 PART 1: ABCB, Transfer of Licences, 4/11/1974; ABCB, 1975a, p.  81. The transfer was approved on 6/8/1974. 288. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-4.3. 289. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-5.3. 290. ABCB, 1976, pp. 165–172, 187.

Bibliography Armstrong, Mark. ‘Australian Broadcasting Control Board’, in Bridget Griffen-­ Foley (ed.) A Companion to the Australian Media (North Melbourne: Australian Scholarly Publishing, 2014), pp. 41-42. Australian Broadcasting Control Board (ABCB). Report and Recommendations to the Postmaster-General on Applications for Commercial Television Stations in the Mt. Isa Area, the Darwin Area and the Kalgoorlie Area (Canberra: AGPS, 1970). Bellamy, Robert. ‘Zenith’s Phonevision: A Historical Case Study of the First Pay Television System’, PhD thesis, University of Iowa, 1985. Commonwealth. Report of the Radio Frequency Allocation Review Committee (Canberra: AGPS, 1961). Elelman, Susie. 15 Minutes of Fame: The Dark Underbelly of Celebrity (London, Sydney, Auckland: New Holland, 2018) Forde, Susan and Michael Meadows. ‘Community Radio’, in Bridget Griffen-­ Foley (ed.), A Companion to the Australian Media (North Melbourne: Australian Scholarly Publishing, 2014), pp. 110-113. Harvey, Kyle and Kate Darian-Smith. ‘Translating Australia: Language, Migrant Television and Education’, in Susannah Radstone and Rita Wilson (eds.), Translating Words: Migration, Memory and Culture (Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge, 2021), pp. 118-130. Hastie, Madeleine. ‘Free to Air: A History of Sydney’s Commercial Television Programming, 1956-2012’, PhD thesis, Macquarie University, 2014. Healy, Chris and Alison Huber. ‘Ask the Leyland Brothers: Instructional TV, Travel and Popular Memory’, Continuum, Vol. 24, No. 3, 2010, pp. 389-398. Herd, Nick. Networking: Commercial Television in Australia (Sydney: Currency House, 2012).

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Inglis, Ken. This is the ABC: The Australian Broadcasting Commission, 1932-1983 (Melbourne: Black Inc, 2006). Kirkpatrick, Rod. ‘Department of the Media’, in Bridget Griffen-Foley (ed.), A Companion to the Australian Media (North Melbourne: Australian Scholarly Publishing, 2014), pp. 137-138. Ly, Maikha. RVN2 – The Riverina’s Own Television Service (Wagga Wagga NSW: CSU Regional Archives, 2009). Matthews, Tony. River of Dreams: A History of Maryborough and District, Vol. 2 (Maryborough, QLD: Maryborough City Council, 1995). McColl-Jones, Mike. And Now Here’s… (Fyshwick, ACT: Aerospace Publications, 1999). RCA, ‘CTC-7 Canberra’, RCA Broadcast News, Vol. 156, 1975, pp. 43-49. Rennie, Ellie. ‘Community Television’, in Bridget Griffen-Foley (ed.), A Companion to the Australian Media (North Melbourne: Australian Scholarly Publishing, 2014), pp. 112-114. Sale, David. Number 96, Mavis Bramston and Me (Fremantle, WA: Vivid Publishing, 2013) Shoesmith, Brian and Edmonds, Leigh. ‘Making Culture Out of the Air’, in Geoffrey Bolton, Richard Rossiter and Jan Ryan (eds.), Farewell Cinderella: Creating Arts and Identity in Western Australia (Crawley, WA: UWA Press, 2003), pp. 203-240. Senate Standing Committee on Education, Science, and the Arts (SSCESA). Second Progress Report (Canberra: AGPS, 1973). Vered, Karen. ‘Logie Awards’, in Bridget Griffen-Foley (ed.), A Companion to the Australian Media (North Melbourne: Australian Scholarly Publishing, 2014), p. 248. Westfield, Mark. The Gatekeepers: The Global Media Battle to Control Australia’s Pay TV (Annandale, NSW: Pluto, 2000).

PART III

Maturation (1976–1986)

CHAPTER 6

Prosperity and Promise

The profits of these companies have skyrocketed over the past few years, and the growth shows no sign of slowing.1 —Beth Quinlivan, AFR journalist, 1982

The mid-1970s began with the most far-reaching transformation of broadcasting since the establishment of the Australian Broadcasting Control Board (ABCB) in the late 1940s. In March 1976, the fledgling Fraser government announced a closed inquiry into the structure of Australia’s broadcasting system, to be headed by the Secretary of the Postal and Telecommunications Department (PTD), Frank Green.2 It was directed to inquire into the machinery “for the control, planning and licensing, regulation, funding and administration of the system”. The inquiry’s recommendations resulted in many changes that critics argued were “accomplished with excessive and unexplained haste”.3 The first major change involved the abolition of the ABCB, whose licencing, inquiry, and program functions were transferred to the Australian Broadcasting Tribunal (ABT) in January 1977.4 The Broadcasting and Television Act was further amended in November 1978 to enable licence applications and renewals to be lodged with the Tribunal, thereby bestowing it with powers which had previously resided with the PMG.5 The appointment of Bruce Gyngell as the ABT’s first chairman proved to be particularly controversial. Gyngell had welcomed Australian viewers © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022 M. Thurlow, A History of Regional Commercial Television in Australia, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-10944-7_6

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to television in 1956 and had long been regarded as a loyal lieutenant of both Frank and Kerry Packer. Tharunka, the UNSW student union newspaper, reported that Gyngell was recommended for the position by Country Party leader, Ian Sinclair, at the suggestion of the Party’s public relations consultant, Harry M. Miller.6 In March 1977, several organisations, including the Australian Council of Trade Unions, called for Gyngell to step down because of possible bias resulting from his previous association with commercial broadcasters. In response, Gyngell claimed his attitudes to certain aspects of broadcasting (most notably those regarding self-regulation) “were not identical” to those held just months earlier.7 Such unpredictability is perhaps unsurprising, given Gyngell’s later self-­ description as “a chameleon deep down, or superficially perhaps not even deep down”. As recently as January 1977, Gyngell had been quoted as saying “I happen to be totally dedicated to the system of free enterprise … I’m a great believer in self-regulation … I don’t believe in a local content quota or points systems or anything like that”.8 The ABT was asked, as its first task, to inquire into the extent to which broadcasters might self-regulate standards for advertising, Australian content and the production of programs for children and family audiences.9 After a hectic series of public hearings, the Tribunal echoed the Green Inquiry’s report by proposing greater public accountability in return for less stringent supervision of programs. This, it suggested, could be achieved through compliance with FACTS (i.e. industry) codes of practice as well as a “promise of performance” made at the time of licence renewal.10 This call for public accountability was adopted by the government, which accepted all the ABT’s recommendations.11 Public hearings were positioned as the primary mechanism for ensuring public accountability; however, these proved to be no less controversial than the chairman’s appointment.12 At the first major hearing in Adelaide in 1978, critics accused Gyngell of hostility towards witnesses from community groups and a preference for commercial over public interests. The latter complaint mostly stemmed from efforts by the industry (supported by Gyngell) for some information to be provided on a private and confidential basis.13 The first Sydney hearings in 1979 were similarly turbulent. The ABT received many submissions from various individuals and community groups who claimed to have an interest in proceedings. The Tribunal subsequently ruled that many did not. This culminated in the removal by police of three persons associated with these community interest groups from the TCN inquiry. ABT board member Janet Strickland is

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reported to have described this turn of events as “a travesty of justice”. By the time hearings moved to Melbourne, most people were hesitant to take part.14 Gyngell’s conduct at the early hearings—which critics claimed showed him “to be lacking in [the] decorum” expected of people appointed to public office—was not the only source of embarrassment for the government. It was reported that Gyngell continued to drive a Jaguar car provided by Kerry Packer for two weeks following his ABT appointment. Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser was said to be furious at Gyngell’s appearance in a series of advertisements for American Express. Gyngell’s expense claim for alcoholic beverages served at a dinner party attended by Minister Tony Staley in his home was investigated by the Auditor-General. Staley reportedly advised Gyngell that he did not believe the expenses should be borne by the government. Gyngell later agreed to assume personal responsibility for costs of entertaining at his home.15 In 1980, he left the Tribunal to join the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS), which had been recently established to provide radio and television programs in languages other than English.16 It would be left to incoming chairman David Jones, a prominent media lawyer, to navigate the legal and bureaucratic obstacles ahead.17 Australians’ television experience continued to be largely dictated by geography.18 This was especially the case in regional areas where audiences generally had access to only one commercial station and the ABC.  In September 1978, the ABT conducted a study of radio and television audience attitudes at Ayr, south of Townsville.19 This location appears to have been chosen on the basis that it—as with most rural areas—had access to a more limited range of broadcasting services. Furthermore, the area was home to a substantial migrant population which provided an opportunity to explore the subject of “ethnic” radio and television.20 The survey found that local stations were generally thought to offer a good service; however, there was growing demand for additional choice and diversity in programs, especially for ethnic audiences. This finding is perhaps unsurprising given the number of residents of Italian descent living in the Ayr region.21 Jones’ appointment to the ABT came at a time of significant technological and social change.22 The former included the introduction of home video cassette recorders (VCRs) as well as the first steps towards satellite and subscription television. Such developments were often framed by the government as a means of providing viewers with more choice. The introduction of VCRs to Australia in 1980 represented the first major threat to

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the regional commercial television business model.23 Consumers had a somewhat confusing choice of three competing systems: Philips VCR, Sony Betamax/Sanyo Betacord, and JVC’s Video Home System (VHS).24 Nevertheless, the uptake of VCRs was rapid, with equipment sales doubling in the first 12 months. Unsurprisingly, Kerry Packer’s ACP sought to benefit from the new technology by establishing Star Video to distribute home video cassettes through newsagents.25 The ABCB had, by the mid-1970s, noted that technical developments in direct satellite broadcasting had reached a stage where world governments were required to prepare for their introduction.26 The tensions which surrounded early discussions of satellite television echoed, in many respects, those which had preceded the introduction of wireless telegraphy in the 1900s, radio broadcasting in the 1920s, then terrestrial television systems in the 1950s. A major issue (both in Australia and overseas) was who would have ownership, control, and programming responsibility for such a system.27 Packer was one of the most energetic advocates for satellite-based television delivery systems. In mid-1977, he commissioned a study which was undoubtedly designed to influence early-stage government policy and planning in this area. Packer’s aim was to distribute four channels to 90 communities throughout Australia at a cost of around $121 million. In many respects, his satellite proposal echoed that put forward in the 1950s by his father, Sir Frank Packer, to network terrestrial television services for the whole of Australia from Sydney and Melbourne. His proposal concluded with a grandiose call to action ostensibly in the national interest: (It) is the generally accepted view that all Australians are entitled to equality of such services as radio and television broadcasting, telephony, education and medical care, whether they live in the cities, the country or the outback … The resources and leadership of Television Corporation Ltd are available to the nation to make possible the outstanding achievement of satellite technology available to every citizen.28

A National Communications Satellite System Task Force (NCSSTF) was established to inquire into all aspects. It received more than 150 submissions from a range of interested parties including government departments, broadcasting and media organisations, trade unions, academics, equipment suppliers, and community and cultural groups. Intriguingly, these interests were similar to those which had appeared before the Royal

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Commission on Television in 1953. Broadcasters held widely opposing attitudes. BCV managing director Frank McManus, representing Independent Australian Television Stations (IATS), advised the task force that members were in favour of point-to-point distribution of programs via satellite but were opposed to the concept of a direct broadcasting satellite (DBS) service as proposed by Packer.29 VBN managing director, Nigel Dick, who knew the Packer family well, warned the scheme would be a “death knell” for regional television since it would provide a vehicle for encroachment by the metropolitan networks.30 Packer attempted to gain regional support for his national satellite scheme at a public debate in Orange, NSW.31 In doing so, he tapped into public anxieties regarding “remoteness” (which, as discussed earlier, have long pervaded the Australian psyche) by reportedly telling those gathered that the town could burn down on a Saturday afternoon and no one outside it would know.32 The NCSSTF ultimately recommended that arrangements for an Australian national communications satellite system should commence as early as practicable.33 A NCSS working group (NCSSWG) was established to consider the task force’s recommendations together with community submissions.34 In October 1979, Cabinet decided to establish a Satellite Project Office in the PTD to undertake detailed planning in consultation with private industry representatives.35 Tenders to build and operate the system were called the following year, with the service to commence in 1985 (Box 6.1).36 Meanwhile, businessman John Elliott—who, as discussed in Chap. 5, had been encouraged by MTN’s Ray Gamble to invest in American pay television companies—lobbied the government to legalise cable television. Unsurprisingly, the commercial television networks sought to maintain

Box 6.1  Fifth Liminal Moment

The Fraser government’s decision to introduce a national communications satellite was ultimately regional commercial television’s fifth liminal moment. This decision, coupled with strong financial returns and pending structural change made the regionals an ideal target for investors, including WIN’s Bruce Gordon and CTC’s Kerry Stokes, who hoped to exercise political influence in the years ahead.

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the status quo. In July 1980, the Minister for Post and Telecommunications, Tony Staley, directed the ABT to investigate possible means of introducing cable broadcasting and related services.37 (Cable television was defined by the government as entertainment and information services delivered to a large number of homes using coaxial or fibre optic cable. Subscription television was defined as a form of radiated television which required a decoder to view it, and which offered programming not usually available from conventional stations.) The Tribunal received 172 submissions from a broad cross section of the community. This included radio, television, and press interests; equipment manufacturers; film and television producers and distributors; religious and sporting bodies; industry associations; trade unions; public interest groups; community standards organisations; government departments; and private individuals. Nineteen submissions were received from organisations associated with cable television in North America, England, and Japan. The inquiry was later described by the ABT as “the most complex and wide-ranging that it had undertaken”.38 Yet another means of increasing viewer choice was through the provision of supplementary licences. Such a scheme would, in essence, enable incumbent operators to provide additional channels or program streams. In August 1980, Staley proposed this concept as a method of extending commercial FM radio services to some areas that might also be applied to commercial television in the future. Staley believed the establishment of additional services outside metropolitan areas (whether by satellite or supplementary licences) could increase networking, but that localism should be preserved and encouraged with minimum requirements for locally originated content.39 In September, Cabinet authorised the Minister to introduce legislation to enable the granting of supplementary licences.40 But in mid-1981, Staley’s successor, Ian Sinclair (from the National Party), announced the government would not proceed with the scheme. This decision reportedly followed representations from regional licensees that supplementary licences would need to incorporate a subscription television component to be financially viable.41 Furthermore, the regionals were concerned the scheme would render them more dependent on the metropolitan networks for the supply of additional programs.42 Amid these political arguments, the ABT surveyed Bendigo residents to determine audience demand for additional regional television services. Bendigo was selected for the study because it had its own local commercial television station as well as the ABC, and Melbourne stations could not be received without expensive additional antennae. The city was also within

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easy reach of the Tribunal’s Melbourne-based Research Branch. Three scenarios were proposed for comment. The extended cable television service was described as offering 18 additional channels including the three Melbourne commercial stations; an “ethnic” channel; and specialist education, sport, and religious channels. It would be delivered to homes by a “telephone type wire”. This was the preferred option, with 75 per cent of respondents in favour or strongly in favour. The limited cable television service was described as a relay of the Melbourne commercial stations only (70 per cent in favour). Many respondents believed such a service should be provided on the same basis as for metropolitan viewers (i.e., free of charge). The subscription television service, favoured by 64 per cent) was described as offering an additional channel to subscribers who paid to have a decoder or meter attached to their television. This service would provide recent movies free of advertising. Cost was, however, identified as a major consideration for many people. The study also revealed that BCV’s local news service was “liked” by 70 per cent of respondents. This arguably demonstrated the importance of localism, particularly in news and current affairs.43

Station Operations There are varying opinions on whether the introduction of colour was a boon for Australian television. Nick Herd rightly points out that television increased its share of advertising revenue after 1975.44 This view is shared by others, including Bill Bonney, Helen Wilson, and Keith Windschuttle.45 But former television executive Nigel Dick believes the rise in television’s share of advertising revenue pre-dates colour. It is, however, generally agreed that regional stations benefitted more than their metropolitan counterparts, which bore the highest proportion of the increased capital and operating costs associated with colour production.46 The demand for colour television from both viewers and advertisers increased the average weekly hours of operation to 79 by mid-1981.47 WIN was one of the first regional stations to introduce 24-hour broadcasting. On 15 August 1980, the station commenced overnight transmission on Friday nights in a service aimed at shift workers. The shift was hosted by Susie Elelman and comprised movies, series, and news and current affairs segments interspersed with local interviews.48 This rise in operating hours was accompanied by an increase in demand for advertising.49 By mid-1981, around 35 per cent of advertising was placed by local clients,

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with the balance from national accounts. Nearly all advertising took the form of spot announcements.50 Sponsored programs were rare at this time; however, one example was Suzanne Shoe News (TNQ/FNQ), an 11-minute shopping guide presented as a lead-in to the evening news on Saturdays.51 This increase in demand helped to offset the complete ban on tobacco advertising which came into effect on 1 September 1976.52 Most advertising continued to be concentrated in the evening peak. By mid-1981, the average rate for a 60-second spot in this timeslot had nearly doubled, to $274.53 The attractiveness of regional markets to national advertisers continued to be enhanced through promotional networks. Principal among these was GET, which had operated since 1975. TNT combined with TVT to form an “all Tasmania” market.54 RTQ and SEQ established Central and South Eastern Queensland Television (CSEQTV) in March 1979.55 From 1 July 1980, BTV and GMV, now under common ownership, joined with SES to form Southern Associated Television.56 Meanwhile, ATF members continued to collectively market themselves as “Channel 22” , thereby enabling advertisers to purchase spots across combined markets covering 34 per cent of the Australian population in a single buy.57 In early 1980, ATF was renamed Regional Television Australia P/L (RTA) to better reflect its membership.58 From the late 1970s, updated branding was introduced to make stations more attractive to both advertisers and viewers. Most had, until this time, generally utilised their callsigns, channel numbers, or both for on-air identification and promotional purposes. In many cases, revised branding incorporated details of a station’s geographical location or its membership of a promotional network. CBN/CWN and relay partner MTN were collectively known as Television 6-8-9. TNQ/FNQ were identified on air as “NQTV”. BTW/GSW had, by mid-1979, adopted Golden West Network for identification and marketing. The company claimed to have the largest coverage area of any commercial station in the world.59 Local station share in peak viewing rose steadily to 63 per cent by mid-1981. This was even higher in the afternoon children’s viewing period, at 69 per cent, reflecting the popularity of some locally produced programs in this category. 60 These audience figures compared favourably with the metropolitan commercial stations.61 In Adelaide, for example, the average share in peak viewing was around 29 per cent of the available audience. Nevertheless, audience data was still unavailable for some regional areas. In 1981, the George Patterson agency pointed out that advertisers

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were still reliant on estimates to assess the potential of seven smaller markets, namely GTS/BKN, SES, RTS, BTW/GSW, VEW, GTW, and NTD, where audience measurement surveys had yet to be conducted. It appears these solus markets were considered too small and remote to justify the cost of conducting audience measurement surveys.62 Stations continued to attract and retain viewers with an increasingly varied assortment of promotions and competitions offering a larger and more expensive array of prizes. In 1976, GMV’s “Numbers Games” offered a P&O cruise valued at $1,500.63 The station’s “Shining Super Six” competition attracted more than 130,000 entries and gave away over $10,000 worth of prizes in 1978.64 One viewer recollects that, in 1980, GMV conducted a promotion in which viewers were required to count cars (in the style of the “Space Invaders” video game) which were superimposed onto the screen during certain programs.65 In 1980, GMV conducted its “Coca Cola Bumper Boating Competition” in which viewers were invited to obtain a bumper sticker from local service stations or drive-­ ins. Drivers spotted displaying a bumper sticker would have their licence plate number read out on air, and would be entered into a draw to win either a 12-foot boat with outboard motor and trailer or $250 in groceries from Fairleys SSW Supermarket.66 WIN’s annual Suntastic promotion involved outside broadcasts (OBs) from across the south coast of New South Wales and culminated in the crowning of Miss Suntastic.67 Promotional activities were an important way for stations and local sponsors to engage with their communities.

Personnel The expansion of station operations in this period was accompanied by a rise in personnel numbers to an average of 59. The largest increases were in program and technical roles.68 In 1977, WIN introduced a staff training program with tuition provided by the Australian Film and Television School.69 Jill Ray, who joined DDQ in 1976 as a children’s presenter, was among those to begin their television careers in this period: I heard through [a] school friend that DDQ … was looking for a children’s TV presenter. I loved being involved with drama, music, etc. at school so I thought I’d try for the job. I started hosting the afternoon children’s show … It was a time … when you had to be a jack of all trades … I loved every minute and I’m extremely grateful.70

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Ray later achieved national prominence as co-host of Wombat (Seven Network). David Fordham began his career as a television sports presenter at NBN in 1977. Fordham later worked for the Seven and Ten networks in Sydney and Brisbane.71 Glenn Ridge joined BCV in 1979 as a contributor and later host for Breezin, a Friday night music program. Ridge worked at BTV in the 1980s where he presented Off The Record, Six’s Super Saturday Show, and Kid’s Only. The latter program received a Logie Award in 1987. He later achieved national prominence after succeeding Tony Barber as the host of Sale of the Century in 1991.72 Stations continued to be active in community service. In 1977, BTV provided more than $376,000  in airtime to charitable and community groups including the Ewing House School for Deaf Children, the Salvation Army, Legacy, Lifeline, Freedom from Hunger, Australian Catholic Relief, the Red Cross, and Western Victoria Bushfires Appeals.73 In December, the station’s telethon raised over $100,000 for the Ballarat Pennyweight Park Spastic Centre Hostel.74 In 1980, several New South Wales commercial television stations co-ordinated a telethon to raise funds for the Royal Alexandra Hospital for Children. CBN/CWN received donations of more than $120,000 which was the highest percentage per capita in the state.75 NEN/ECN’s Telethon ’81 raised more than $450,000 for local handicapped and crippled children’s agencies. A further $658,000 in free airtime was provided to other causes.76

Technical Operations Stations continued to benefit from technical improvements. By the late 1970s, most stations were replacing their original two-inch videotape technology with more lightweight and versatile one-inch equipment.77 Relays from metropolitan stations were now commonplace. Most stations took around three-and-a-half hours of national and international news each week. A further seven-and-a-half hours of current affairs, sport, and light entertainment programs was also taken. In contrast, regional stations produced, on average, around five hours of programs in their own studios each week. Relays between regional operators continued to provide numerous benefits to smaller, marginal stations. In a letter to the ABT in 1979, MTN managing director Ray Gamble described the agreement between his station and CBN—which had been in place since 1973—as “an outstanding success”. The benefits derived by MTN from the relay included

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a greater selection of programs, direct news relays from Sydney, extended weekly hours, preservation of staff numbers and an expansion of local facilities and programs. It is worth noting that, from 1 July 1976, MTN paid CBN six per cent of gross revenues for the feed.78 In 1980, SES commenced an agreement with BTV for the joint selling of advertising and the relay of programs.79 The number of relays between regional stations had increased slightly, to 12, by mid-1981.80 The first Teletext services were also introduced.81 These enabled the transmission and reception of text-based news and information such as weather, sport, and horse racing results using a television set and decoder. The system, developed by the BBC and IBA, was operated in Australia by the Seven Network.82 In 1977, the PTD granted approval for Seven and regional stations including NBN, BCV, GLV, and TNT to conduct experimental Teletext transmissions.83 Teletext was reported to be fully operational at stations including NBN in 1980.84 The expansion in television operations necessitated major upgrades at several stations. In 1978, TNQ, which had actively sought to relocate from Mount Stuart after being devastated by Cyclone Althea, commenced operation from the majestic Queen’s Hotel on Townsville’s The Strand.85 This new radio and television centre was officially opened by Minister Staley on 23 May (Box 6.2). Later that year, GLV opened new studios at Traralgon. This facility replaced much smaller premises which had been occupied since GLV vacated its original Princes Highway studio in 1974.86 This enabled the station to resume producing a limited number of local programs. The number of translator stations continued to increase at a rapid pace. One notable instance involved the provision of television services to six small and remote communities in the Eastern Wheatbelt of Western Australia: York, Meckering, Tammin, Baandee, Merredin, and Southern Cross. The ABT’s decision to grant these licences to MWL (VEW) was

Box 6.2  North Queensland Television and Radio Centre opening

• Type: Program material • Produced by: TNQ Townsville (Qld), 1978 • NFSA reference: 409182

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part of a greater plan to ensure the financial viability of the Kalgoorlie station.87 In October 1976, the Tribunal approved, in principle, a scheme whereby MWL would establish a remote off-air studio at Sawyer’s Valley, 35 kilometres east of Perth, for the reception of programs from the metropolitan stations. These would then be relayed via Telecom facilities and MWL-owned UHF links to Kalgoorlie. The system would provide an expanded service to existing viewers as well as an additional 20,000 people via translator stations in areas not already served.88 The first translator, for Merredin, commenced in 1980. Another instance involved unorthodox plans to establish two competing commercial translator stations to serve Murrurundi, a rural town in the upper Hunter region of New South Wales. The area had, for some time, experienced a poor television service (from NEN Tamworth) due to low signal strength and ghosting caused by the local topography. Applications to operate a translator were subsequently received from TNL (NEN) and NBL (NBN Newcastle). In a major departure from previous patterns of establishment, the ABT determined that regional areas should, where possible, be provided with more than one commercial service. Surprisingly, both NBL and TNL agreed with the Tribunal’s finding. The ABT recommended that an initial licence be granted to NBL, with applications for a second station to be called at a later date.89 NBN’s Murrurundi translator commenced operation on 16 July 1979; however, licences for the second translator (which would have most likely been provided by TNL) were, strangely, never called. Nevertheless, these circumstances point to growing demand for a greater choice of programs. By mid-1981, there were 91 regional commercial television translator stations in operation.90 Meanwhile, in the mid-1970s, the then Minister for Post and Telecommunications, Eric Robinson, had received representations from several mining companies which operated repeater stations seeking permission to broadcast commercial programs in place of those from the ABC. The situation was particularly relevant in parts of Western Australia where the public broadcaster had (or would soon) become available from national translator stations. Repeater station licensees would, as a result, be prevented from obtaining or renewing licences under existing legislation, which had been framed to protect commercial television services from competition. The Act was subsequently amended, in November 1977, to permit the operation of commercial repeater stations in situations where satisfactory reception of programs from a commercial

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television or translator station was not possible.91 In May 1981, nine of the privately owned non-commercial repeater stations began broadcasting as the commercial Mining Television Network. The network covered around 25,000 people in remote parts of Western Australia, the Northern Territory, and Christmas Island. Programs were aimed at shift workers and were broadcast between midday and 12.30am.61 The government also took steps to ensure more efficient future use of VHF channels. In 1980, GLV’s frequency was shifted from “Channel 10” to “Channel 8”. This permitted ATV Melbourne to move from “Channel 0” to “Channel 10”. The changes enabled GLV to adopt the same channel number as sister station BCV, and ATV to align with other Network Ten stations. Both stations began transmitting on their new frequencies on 20 January.92 “Channel 0” was then allocated to the multi-cultural SBS, which commenced television operations in Sydney and Melbourne on United Nations Day, 24 October. Uniquely, SBS also broadcast on UHF “Channel 28”.93

Financial Performance The profitability of stations had improved significantly by the late 1970s. By 1981, the profit margin for regional stations was around 26 per cent, compared to 17 per cent for metropolitan stations.94 Regional Queensland stations were especially profitable, with SEQ achieving a net profit ratio of 47 per cent. Later that year, TQL (TNQ/FNQ) reported a half-yearly profit increase of 77 per cent.95 Profitability was further enhanced through diversification. SWL (BTW/ GSW) established its Telepro commercial production unit to serve clients in Perth and south-west Western Australia.96 NTL, which was the ultimate controller of the TNT (Launceston, Tas) licence, was (under the chairmanship of Edmund Rouse) already one of the most diverse operators, with interests in television, radio, and newspapers as well as printing, water treatment, drive-in liquor markets, property development, picture theatres, and a travel service. In 1979, the company formed a joint venture with Federal Pacific Hotels to build a hotel and casino complex on the outskirts of Launceston. In 1980, the company further diversified into leisure and tourist-related activities with the acquisition of the Innkeepers chain of hotels and motels across Tasmania. NTL also held 13 per cent of TVT Hobart.97 By 1980, NBL (NBN) held diverse interests in a number of businesses, including NBN Productions (formerly Newcastle Video

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Productions), Color Tran Laboratories and Jayes Travel Service.98 In late 1981, TQL (TNQ Townsville, Qld) applied for a casino licence for Townsville, but was unsuccessful.99 Several licensee companies acquired interests in other regional stations. TNL held minor interests in MIL (ITQ) and MKL (MVQ), and VBN in STL (STV).100 In 1980, STL (SES), through its Murray River Telecasters P/L subsidiary, acquired a 33 per cent share in RTL (RTS).101 It is worth noting that some regional licensees held interests in metropolitan stations. In 1979, NBL (NBN) became the first regional operator to acquire full control of a metropolitan station with its purchase of Southern Television Corporation Ltd, operator of NWS Adelaide.102 The Adelaide station was well regarded for its children’s programs and produced both Here’s Humphrey and the Curiosity Show for national broadcast. In addition, ABS (GMV/BTV) and NTL (TNT) held non-controlling interests in TVT. ABS (through its GML subsidiary) also held a minor interest in TVW and subsidiary SAS.103 Perhaps one of the more unusual investments was that by DTL (DDQ/ SDQ) in Future Flipper, a 30-minute animated children’s program featuring the eponymous dolphin 100 years into the future. The series was produced in partnership with Animation Filmmakers Corporation of Los Angeles for sale to the global television market. DTL financed production of a pilot episode, which was reportedly well received by potential sponsors.104 In 1981, DTL was joined by CBL (CBN/CWN) and NRL (NRN/ RTN) to finance the 26-episode series.105 But rising production costs and funding issues put the project behind schedule and the venture was eventually written off.106

Programs The late 1970s saw a gradual increase in children’s programs on Australian television. This was mostly due to the introduction of a new “C” classification which mandated stations to televise three (later five) hours of programs specially designed for 6–13-year-olds each week.107 The period also saw an overall increase in sport and children’s programs, with a decrease in drama, family and educational programs.108 The first Australian and international blockbuster miniseries also appeared around this time.109 The proportion of imported programs on regional television had again decreased, to around 50 per cent, by the early 1980s (Fig.  6.1).110 Imported series included B.J. and the Bear, CHiPs, Battlestar Galactica,

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Fig. 6.1  Regional commercial television, program sources, 1981. Copyright Michael Thurlow

Dallas, and Eight is Enough. American miniseries included Arthur Haley’s Roots and The Money Changers.111 Australian programs acquired from the metropolitan networks accounted for around 38 per cent of total programs.112 Nine Network programs included the daytime variety The Mike Walsh Show, wartime drama The Sullivans, and current affairs magazine 60 Minutes, which was being televised by 19 regional stations by mid-1980.113 Other Australian programs included Willesee at Seven, Shirl’s Neighbourhood, and This Is Your Life (Seven), and The Restless Years, Prisoner, Young Talent Time, and an Australian version of the BBC comedy series Are You Being Served? which featured actor John Inman with a local cast (ATV) (Box 6.3).114 Australian miniseries Against The Wind and The Last Outlaw—which picked up on historical subjects which had previously been the province of Australian cinema—coincided with a trend towards embracing rather than dismissing the country’s convict heritage.115 The late 1970s was notable

Box 6.3  Are You Being Served? (Australian Version)

• Type: Audio-visual recording • Produced by: ATV Melbourne (Vic), 1980 • NFSA reference: 481584

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for an increase in live sport relays. This was due to both the arrival of colour, as well as the increasing corporatisation of sport. Nine’s Kerry Packer, in particular, was quick to recognise the marketability of sport. He was undoubtedly the driving force behind the launch of World Series Cricket in 1977.116 Regional stations produced around 6.5 per cent of total programs in their own studios. The localism marker indicates a 20 per cent decrease in local program production from 1976 (see Chap. 1, Fig. 1.1). The overall decrease in Australian content was arguably due in part to a reliance on international sources for program stocks immediately following the introduction of colour in early 1975. The proportion of content from independent producers (including ATF/RTA) had increased slightly, to around 5.5 per cent. National Roving Eye, which had first been produced by ATF member stations in the late 1960s, continued to be produced on an occasional basis.117 In 1978, National Roving Eye content was repackaged as Our Australia, a 10-­episode series introduced by Ashley Malone and edited at SES (Box 6.4).118 ATF/RTA took an active role in commissioning or co-financing series in conjunction with independent production companies. National Star Quest (Box 6.5) was a regional talent quest from Reg Grundy Productions.119 The first series, premiering on 14 December 1978, comprised 13 one-hour episodes and was produced at WIN. It featured five acts from 25 regional stations competing for prizes including a Pacific cruise, a trip to the United States, and $1,000 spending money.120

Box 6.4  Our Australia

• Type: Audio-visual recording • Produced by: Australian Television Facilities P/L, 1978 • NFSA reference: 138371

Box 6.5  National Star Quest

• Type: Audio-visual recording • Produced by: Reg Grundy Productions, 1978 • NFSA reference: 138550

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Box 6.6  A Sunburnt Country

• Type: Audio-visual recording • Produced by: Film Australia, 1979 • NFSA reference: 138351

Box 6.7  The Fabulous Century

• Type: Audio-visual recording • Produced by: Peter Luck Productions/Hanna Barbera, 1979 • NFSA reference: 35830 Other ATF-commissioned series included A Sunburnt Country, an anthology of unusual and entertaining aspects of Australian life produced by Film Australia and hosted by actor Kate Fitzpatrick (Box 6.6).121 This Fabulous Century, produced by Peter Luck and Hanna-Barbera, documented Australian life since Federation using archival footage from Cinesound, Movietone, and the National Film and Sound Archive (Box 6.7). The program received a TV Week Logie Award for Best Documentary Series in 1980.122 By mid-1979, ATF stations had established Independent Television News Australia (ITNA) , a small but efficient Canberra-based news service wholly maintained by regional stations.123 The ITNA bureau was located at Parliament House and utilised the facilities of CTC (Canberra, ACT).124 The service provided member stations with packaged news stories featuring interviews with politicians, officials, and other experts on regional and rural issues that might not otherwise be covered by the metropolitan stations.125 The ITNA news service was renamed Regional Television News Australia (RTNA) following ATF’s name change to RTA. Around this time, RTA stations joined with TVT, STW, TVW, SAS, and NWS to form the Independent Television Production Group (ITPG). ITPG aimed to produce Australian programs for regional stations where the cost was too great to bear on their own.126 ITPG-produced series included Kid’s Country (a 30-minute children’s program), Tell Me More (a 30-minute religious children’s program), The Men From Snowy River (a

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Box 6.8  Young Ramsay

• Type: Audio-visual recording • Produced by: Crawford Productions, 1977 • NFSA reference: 138166 one-hour documentary about wild horse mustering in the Jindabyne area),127 Gulpilil—The Real Australian (a one-hour documentary featuring the well-known Aboriginal actor David Gulpilil), Australian Oddities, and children’s drama program The Coast Kid.128 Young Ramsay (Box 6.8), a 30-minute children’s drama produced by Crawfords Australia, featured John Hargreaves as Peter Ramsay, a Sydney-based veterinary surgeon who relocates to the fictional town of Jindarra.129 The series comprised two seasons of 13 episodes and was shown nationally on the Seven Network as well as regional stations. Stations often maintained a policy of purchasing and telecasting other regionally produced programs. Nick Erby’s Country Close-up (CTC), for example, was carried by NEN/ECN.130 RTQ televised a number of specials and documentaries, including Chain Gang (NBN), Julie and Anthony (CTC), Normie Rowe and Christmas (SEQ), Australasian Country Music Awards (NEN), Soviet Islam Crisis (CTC), After the Bomb (BTW), Goin’ Down The Road (CBN), Streets For The People (TNT), Rural Seminar (CBN), and Killers of Twofold Bay (WIN).131 The regionals also contributed—either directly or through ATF/ RTA—towards the cost of major Australian productions. This was usually done in cases where stations thought a series would be popular with viewers. In 1977, for example, CBL (CBN/CWN) invested $28,000 in The Irishman, a feature-length film produced for international release by the Australian Film Commission and others.132 The station also subsidised the cost of producing popular Australian drama series including The Sullivans, produced by Crawfords, and The Restless Years (Box 6.9) from Reg Grundy.133 This ultimately increased program acquisition costs; however, stations were not required to pay rights to the networks for series which they co-funded. Such involvement was also a way of demonstrating an active commitment to supporting Australian production to the ABT at licence renewal.134

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Box 6.9  The Restless Years

• Type: Audio-visual recording • Produced by: Grundy Organisation, 1977–81 • NFSA reference: 138182

Box 6.10  Blankety Blanks, Hosted by Graham Kennedy

• Type: Audio-visual recording • Produced by: Reg Grundy Productions, 1977–78 • NFSA reference: 138152 Program complaints mostly concerned nudity, sex, violence, and bad language.135 In their study of broadcasting complainants, Kate Aisbett, Kathryn Paterson, and Milica Loncar found that complainants’ attitudes to such matters were reflective of just 12 per cent of the general population. Furthermore, they determined that the average complainant was likely to be an older, educated female with children, whose religious beliefs were generally stronger than those held by the broader community.136 This variation in attitudes is illustrated by responses to the comedy panel show, Blankety Blanks (Box 6.10), hosted by Graham Kennedy and televised by stations including CBN/CWN. One viewer, from Parkes (NSW), described the program as “a filthily suggestive show totally unfit for either young or old”. In contrast, a Neilrex (NSW) resident complained when it was removed from the station’s schedule.137 Advertising breaches tended to be of a similarly minor nature. FNQ, for example, admitted to a scheduling error where an advertisement for sanitary napkins was inadvertently televised during the 6pm news service on 25 May 1980.138

Production If the 1960s had represented the halcyon years of local production, then the first half of the 1970s had arguably been a “low point”. Journalist Peter Andren recounted his impressions of CBN on arriving in Orange in 1977:

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I found a moribund station existing on cheap videotape-program relays from the city stations … regional stations had become lazy and were content for the most part to on-sell the product of the major networks. Kerry Packer was circling these stations like a bronze whaler.139

Andren’s observation was undoubtedly reflective of the Orange station around 1977. It was—at least superficially—seemingly representative of the state of local production in a more general sense across the whole sector in the late 1970s; after all, locally produced content, as a proportion of total programs, remained fairly static at around six per cent by mid-1981 (see Chap. 1, Fig. 1.1).140 However, if we look more closely at the data, we can see that the amount of time devoted to local programs had actually increased for the first time in 15 years, from four-and-a-half hours in 1976 to five hours over the same period.141 Local production efforts were predominantly focused on a main evening news bulletin, as well as short, weekly news magazine programs (49 per cent). Local news arrangements varied greatly between stations. As late as 1979, NTD (Darwin, NT) had yet to restore a news service following the station’s destruction by Cyclone Tracy in 1974. The NTD licence was renewed in 1980 on the understanding that a regular news service would be instituted as soon as was practicable.142 Most stations provided a 5–20-minute local bulletin each weeknight. NBN was the only regional station to produce a 60-minute bulletin, comprising local, national, and international news, from its own studios each weeknight. By the late 1970s, the station had invested in a Bell Jetranger helicopter to assist with news-gathering and direct broadcasting.143 Regional newsreaders included Rob Pearson (AMV), Roger Dunn (CBN/CWN), Geoff Vallance (GMV), Ray Dinneen (NBN), and David Evans (NEN/ECN). News bulletins were supplemented by a range of news magazine programs. These included This Week on Film (SEQ), Focus (CBN), Newscast (AMV), Your Man in Canberra (BCV/GLV), Seven Days (RTQ), Focus on Whyalla (GTS), and Sunday Report (TNQ/FNQ). In February 1981, STV launched Sunraysia at Six, a 30-minute, local affairs program each weeknight. This comprised local news and sport segments as well as topics of community interest including “This Week in Parliament”, “On the Land”, “Tourism”, and “Municipal Rounds” as well as interviews with local community figures.144 The news genre increasingly included documentaries which provided long-form coverage of local interest topics. Goin’ Down The Road (CBN),

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a 30-minute special, looked at a day in the life of rodeo cowboy Ron Rayner.75 Footsteps of a Legend (GMV) retraced the activities of bushranger Ned Kelly in the Goulburn Valley area.145 Both programs received a TV Week Logie Award for Most Outstanding Contribution by a Regional Station, in 1979 and 1981, respectively.146 A particularly contentious issue was the inadequacy of news provided by SEQ as perceived by viewers and successive regulators. On 9 June 1973, the station had replaced its 10-minute local weeknight news service with a simultaneous relay of the QTQ national news. Its Sunday news magazine, This Week On Film, was reduced to around five minutes. The station essentially told the ABCB that it could afford to provide either a local or national news service, but not both. The cost of obtaining the Brisbane news service from QTQ was $56 a week, with an additional $340 a week in PMG link charges.147 In 1980, the Wide Bay sub-branch of the Australian Journalists’ Association (AJA) opposed the renewal of SEQ’s licence because it was still not providing a local news service. The station argued it provided some magazine-style programs; however, the AJA claimed these consisted mostly of advertising and promotional content that was packaged by non-journalists. The ABT found that while the provision of local news was an important consideration, such decisions should result from the “informed and responsible judgement” of the licensee rather than the imposition of an additional licence condition as suggested by the AJA.148 Sport programs (14 per cent) were popular with viewers (especially men) and were relatively low-cost to produce. These mostly comprised panel discussions and results as well as OB coverage of local sporting fixtures. Grandstand (CTC) was a Saturday afternoon roundup of local sport hosted by Barry Looms and later Peter Cummiskey. The program featured coverage and discussion of the VFL Match of the Day which was taken on relay from the Seven Network.149 There was an increasing tendency towards providing live coverage of local sporting fixtures. This is unsurprising given television’s enduring strengths of “liveness” or immediacy. As Nick Herd points out, “event” television such as sport could be promoted as “rising above the normal television fare and remarked upon as significant moments in people’s lives”.150 In 1978, CBN/CWN covered the Rugby Union International between Wales and New South Wales Country in Cobar. Local Rugby League grand finals were also televised. One of the first, in 1979, was between Bathurst and Cowra. The station-­ sponsored 6-8-9 snooker tournament was also televised that year. Tennis

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coverage included the Total New South Wales Hardcourt Championships and the MidState Television/United Permanent Building Society tournament. Live coverage was given to many other sports including cricket, lawn bowls, basketball, hockey and horse racing.75 SEQ 8-Ball (SEQ) provided annual coverage of the pool competition in the Wide Bay area.151 The introduction of the “C” classification brought an increase in locally produced children’s programs (nine per cent). Efforts by regional stations to produce their own quota material included Stopwatch (WIN), Makin’ Trax (BTV), What’s Doing (GMV), What’s Happening (CTC), The Younger Set (RVN/AMV), Quiz Quest (TNT), 4-2-5 (MVQ), and Teleclub (SEQ), hosted by Melissa Davis and Wes Crook.152 What’s Doing (GMV) was a weekly children’s interest program hosted by Jennifer Ewart. The format contained a young people’s news service, interviews, documentaries, and performances. It featured visits to local industries such as newspapers, radio stations, and pottery works. Demonstrations and activities to entertain children during holiday periods were also provided.153 Just-4-Fun (GTS) was a daily children’s program comprised of live hosted segments interspersed with recorded cartoons. Hosted by Colin Pearce and Anne Storer, it featured ventriloquist puppets Alexander, Jelly Been, Captain True-Blood-Has Been, and Mr Sad. It was produced from February 1976 to January 1978 and was occasionally recorded in front of a live studio audience.154 The program was also sold to closed television networks operating in remote mining communities in Western Australia. Nevertheless, production was not without its mishaps, as Colin Pearce recalls: I had to ad lib a guided tour of the studio as [the unattended camera] panned its way around the set and up to the ceiling before crashing on the floor. [On another occasion], I let [an expensive] rare bird out of its cage by accident and it flew high in the lighting grid and didn’t come down for days.155

NBN’s The Breakfast Club, hosted by Art “Poppa” Ryan, was one of the first weekday morning children’s breakfast programs to be produced by a regional commercial television station. It was stripped five days a week, Monday to Friday, from 7am to 9am. The Breakfast Club format consisted mostly of cartoons as well as a live guest each day. Guests were chosen on the basis of their association with activities or events of interest to younger viewers, such as photography, sport, exercise, nature, and animals.156

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Children’s characters were a menagerie of real and imagined animals: Big Bloo Roo (CTC), as the name suggests, a large, blue marsupial; Rupert Rabbit (TNT); and Dexter the Puppet (GMV). Uncle Ebenezer (DDQ), operated by Errol Morrison, was introduced in place of Ebenezer G.  Dragon following the departure of puppet operator Peter Khoury. Doopa Dog first appeared as a station mascot at GTW (Geraldton, WA) in the late 1970s. (There is a degree of mystery surrounding Doopa’s pedigree. He first appeared at GTW, which opened in 1977, in the late 1970s; however, the State Library of Western Australia holds two photographs which purport to show Doopa in Perth in 1972. His whereabouts in the intervening years is unknown.)157 In Newcastle, Humphrey B. Bear was made available for local functions such as shopping centre appearances for NBN following that station’s acquisition of NWS (Adelaide, SA) in 1979. Humphrey was not used on air as a mascot for NBN nor did he appear in locally produced programs. His minders on these occasions were NBN staff but not usually “on air talent”.158 Family programs (eight per cent) included discussion, cooking, and “lifestyle” activities. Women’s magazine programs included Woman’s World (SES), hosted by Marg Watkins; Women’s World (RTQ), presented by Wendy Mulry; and Country Girl (BTW). Cooking with Di Coffey (CBN) was a series of 10-minute episodes produced at the Orange studios. Fun Cooking with Bob Fenn (CBN) was hosted by the eponymous Sunbeam chef and sponsored by Retravision. Fenn had around 30 years’ experience in conducting cooking demonstrations worldwide. Seventy episodes of the popular program were produced between 1978 and 1981.75 The series was accompanied by Bob’s Fenn-Tastic Recipe Book.159 Similarly, the 1978 Great Eastland Television Cook Book resulted from a competition conducted by GET stations encouraging viewers to provide recipes which reflected some aspect of their area. Submissions included Pheasant New England, Goondiwindi Hotpot, and Tweed Valley Meat Balls.160 The cookbook was an early example of merchandising by regional stations. As Francis Bonner tells us, such mementos can function not just as triggers of past viewing, but also as “technologies of attachment” which frame an individual’s larger relationship with television. 161 Other family-oriented programs included I’ve Got Gardenitis (BTV), a weekly horticultural program hosted by Mount Macedon nurseryman Laurie Ryan which commenced in late 1976 (Box 6.11).162 Topics included how to care for indoor plants and vegetable pots for flat dwellers as well as information on the latest gardening products. Viewers were also

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Box 6.11  I’ve Got Gardenitis, Hosted by Laurie Ryan

• Type: Audio-visual recording • Produced by: BTV Ballarat (Vic), 1976 • NFSA reference: 578270 encouraged to write into the station with their gardening problems in an example of audience interaction and user-generated content.163 I’ve Got Gardenitis was televised by several regional and metropolitan stations including BCV, GMV, HSV, and TEN.164 Information programs (eight per cent) gave coverage to community and rural affairs. The former included Billboard (AMV) and Community News and Views (MVQ), while the latter included Rural Roundup (CBN), This Week in Agriculture (BCV/GLV), Regional Reports (GMV), and 11/8 Market Report (NRN/RTN). One of the more notable programs in this genre was Around the Schools (CBN), a weekly children’s session produced in conjunction with the New South Wales Department of Education Western Region. In its first five years, the program featured highlights of activities involving tens of thousands of students in hundreds of schools across the viewing area.165 CES Job Shop (TNQ/FNQ) was produced in conjunction with the Commonwealth Employment Service. Light entertainment (four per cent) mostly consisted of music, talent, and variety programs. The long-running variety program Six Tonight (BTV) had, by 1981, been in production for 10 years.166 Other offerings in this sub-genre included Variety Roundabout (NEN). Star Quest (GMV) was produced at the Shepparton station for three years from the mid-­1970s for a local audience.167 In 1980, Victorian regional stations combined to produce Star Quest, featuring talent from across the state.168 Similar programs included New Faces (SEQ), a weekly talent quest hosted by Ray Marsh.169 Breezin’ (BCV) was a weekly, 60-minute music video program hosted by John Hurst and later Glenn Ridge, aired at 10.00pm on Fridays.170 Other video clip programs included Trax (RTQ), Video Rock (RVN/AMV), and Right On (NBN). Country music was especially popular. Country By Request (GMV) was a weekly, 30-minute country music program hosted by Tony Kenison which featured local and national artists on video and in-studio.171 The program was later renamed Sounds Like

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Country. Quiz programs included Charity Challenge (SEQ), which offered a $10,000 grand prize in support of local community groups. It was hosted by Charles Limpus and later John Craig-Gardiner and Jim Sweeney.172 Current affairs and political matter accounted for around four per cent of local production. Newsweek (TNQ/FNQ) premiered in late 1978. The weekly program was initially compiled by Mike D’Arcy in Townsville and Graham Lever in Cairns under the direction of news director Rick Anderton. It was later expanded to include live interviews and debates. Newsweek remained in production until the late 1980s and was arguably the longest running locally produced current affairs programs in regional commercial television. During its time on air, the program received at least 16 Thorn EMI Awards For TV News. Newsweek journalists included Sally Begbie and Chris Hill.173 Network (BTW), which commenced in 1981, was a monthly current affairs magazine anchored by Bill Gill (Box 6.12). Network was not without controversy: its coverage of violence in Collie reportedly “brought a reaction almost as violent as the segment’s subject”.174 Meet Your Member (CBN/CWN) gave airtime to local politicians to present matters of relevance to constituents. This was replaced during election campaigns by The Candidates, which gave political representatives free airtime to discuss their policies.75 Hybrid formats included In Wollongong Tonight (WIN), which was a mix of current affairs and light entertainment. It was hosted by Malcolm T. Elliott as a last-minute replacement for newsreader Eric Walters who was apparently uncomfortable with the proposed format.175 This program was replaced in May 1981 by Tonight (WIN), hosted by John Tingle at 9.30pm on Mondays. It offered a platform for discussing a range of social and political issues of local interest. Entertainment was provided by guest artists including Marcia Hines, Allison Durban and Delilah.176 Box 6.12  Network

• Type: Audio-visual recording • Produced by: BTW Bunbury (WA), 1981 • NFSA reference: 530016

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Box 6.13  Sounds of Sunday

• Type: Audio-visual recording • Produced by: BTV Ballarat, (Vic) 1984 • NFSA reference: 327115 Religious programs (four per cent) continued to mostly comprise a locally produced epilogue or meditation supplemented by programs on videotape. A notable exception to this approach was Sounds of Sunday (BTV), a 30-minute, semi-religious Sunday afternoon light entertainment program hosted by Craig Campbell, which premiered on 9 May 1976 (Box 6.13).177 The format included psalms, hymns, and other musical items performed by choirs, small groups, and soloists, as well as messages from the Anglican Bishop of Ballarat, John Hazlewood. Recorded segments by recognised Australian artists including Kamahl and Barry Crocker were also featured.178 Sounds of Sunday was televised by several other regional stations including BCV, GMV, NBN, NEN, and RTQ.179 The program generated two LP records which featured the Sounds of Sunday Massed Choir conducted by W.H. Keith Young. Regional broadcasters still considered their prime purpose was to entertain, then inform, and, lastly, to educate.180 The latter genre accounted for less than one per cent of production output. Nevertheless, some stations made notable efforts to provide television of an educational nature. Changing Education—Why Bother? (CTC), which aimed to highlight innovation in education, was produced in conjunction with the Canberra College of Advanced Education and hosted by Seven National News correspondent Laurie Wilson. The first program featured the use of computers by handicapped children at Woden Special School to master basic skills, including handwriting. Viewers were asked to respond to issues raised as the basis for follow-up programs.181 You, Me and Education (BTV) was a series of 26 half-hour programs produced in conjunction with the Victorian Department of Education. The program was also screened by GTV and all Victorian regional commercial television stations.182 Meeting in the Middle (CTC) was an innovative weekly program in which local teenagers would interview a well-known personality (Box 6.14). Guests included British poet Pam Ayres and actor Gus Mercurio.183 The format was conceived by Desmond Bishop from Canberra’s Children’s Television Workshop.184

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Box 6.14  Meeting in the Middle

• Type: Audio-visual recording • Produced by: CTC Canberra (ACT), 1979 • NFSA reference: 1474994

Box 6.15  The Owl and The Pussycat

• Type: Photograph • Produced by: RTN Richmond-Tweed, 1976 • NFSA reference: 1599773 Beating Around the Bush (NBN) aimed to both entertain and educate children. It was presented by NBN floor manager, Ian “Beat” Hill, who “wanted to bring something to people in towns and cities which shows them how to blend with the bush”. The program also reportedly developed a following among adult viewers. It received a Logie Award for most outstanding contribution by a regional television station in 1980.185 Few stations gave airtime to locally produced arts programs (less than per cent). The Owl and The Pussycat (RTN), was an 80-minute prime-time Christmas special produced in 1976 with the Northern Rivers Collage of Advanced Education (CAE). The program was produced in the company’s Lismore studio (which had previously been leased to the CAE and on location at a cost of $5,552. NRL underwrote the program as an experiment to assess the potential for future co-productions with the college (Box 6.15).186 Regional stations were never large producers of community access programs given their relatively limited resources. An isolated example, as self-­ identified by the station, was Panel Probe (GTS), a 30-minute segment televised at 3.30pm Wednesdays and repeated at 10.30pm Mondays. This panel—which comprised a doctor, a pastor, and a housewife—would discuss subjects of community and topical interest.187 Outside broadcasts were increasingly common. CBN/CWN televised a variety concert, CBN Night of Stars, for the opening of the Orange Civic Centre in 1976. The event was hosted by entertainer Jimmy Hannan and

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Box 6.16  Carnival of Flowers Queen Crowning Ceremony

• Type: Audio-visual recording • Produced by: DDQ Darling Downs, 1980 • NFSA reference: 1493349 featured performances by artists including Lorrae Desmond and the Roland Gregory Orpheus Male Voice Choir. The concert was underwritten by CBL as a gesture to the local community.75 In 1979, BTV televised events including football, horse racing, and the South Street centenary. The station’s OB van was also used to record segments for I’ve Got Gardenitis, Sounds of Sunday, Six Tonight, and You, Me and Education.188 DDQ provided coverage of Toowoomba’s Carnival of Flowers (Box 6.16). Regional studios had, since the early 1970s, provided third-party production companies with access to their facilities on a commercial basis. BTV and GMV produced commercials on behalf of metropolitan advertisers.189 Greek Affair was produced by Harry Michaels at NBN. It was televised in Australia by the 0-10 Network and in overseas markets including Cyprus.190 In 1978, Antony Luciano’s Panorama Productions switched production of Variety Italian Style from WIN to NBN to reduce costs.191 Nevertheless, WIN remained highly active in this area. Its facilities were used for programs including National Star Quest and King’s Kitchen. The latter program, hosted by flamboyant television chef Bernard King and produced by King Quinn Productions, shifted production from TEN to WIN in 1979.192 This entailed shooting 10 episodes over three days each fortnight, generating 1200 half-hour episodes by 1982. Commercial production was undertaken for national advertisers including Woolworths and Big W. The station also provided facilities to Festival and Go Records for music video production, and sub-titling services for SBS.193 CBN provided facilities to Mike and Mal Leyland for The Leyland Brothers Great Outdoors.75 BTV entertained (but did not proceed with) plans to produce a drama series in its studio. In the mid-1970s, script writer Monte Miller (who worked on series, including Homicide, Division 4, and Bluey) and Roger Neave devised The Battlers. Miller believed there was merit in producing the series, to be set in a small regional manufacturing business, at a regional

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station. BTV’s John Stapp was reportedly receptive but mindful of the strain on resources. A script for the first episode, titled “The Principle of the Thing”, was written with the Ballarat station in mind. A maximum of three sets could be accommodated in the studio, with additional scenes taped in corridors and the reception area. Exterior scenes would be taped using an OB van. In any case, the project was shelved after discussions with both the Film and Television Board and the ABC over funding stalled.194 Nevertheless, the idea points to an obviously limited but untapped production capability at BTV and other larger regional stations. Regional production efforts continued to be recognised by the broader television industry. In 1978, the documentary Killers of Twofold Bay (WIN) received a Penguin Award for Regional Station Program Production.195 TV Week Logie Awards were won by CBN, GMV, NBN, and WIN.196 In 1981, NEN cameraman Leo Gillespie and journalist Ros Taylor received Thorn EMI Awards For TV News.197

Ownership and Control The Fraser Coalition government’s decision to introduce a domestic satellite made ownership of the Sydney and Melbourne stations critical for those who wanted to dominate commercial television.198 But these were tightly held. This made the highly profitable regional television industry an attractive target for entrepreneurial investors who hoped to benefit from pending structural changes. In 1977, Hector Crawford and businessman Christopher Skase joined the board of Victorian Broadcasting Network Ltd (BCV Bendigo/GLV Traralgon, Vic). Crawford was the chairman of Crawford Productions, which had produced several of Australia’s most popular television series including The Sullivans, Homicide, and Matlock Police.199 A seat on the VBN board was Skase’s first foray into television. He would later gain control of Universal Telecasters Ltd (TVQ) as well as SEQ and MVQ before acquiring the national Seven Network.200 Also in 1977, ABS—which ultimately controlled the GMV (Shepparton, Vic) licence—sought ABT approval to takeover BTL (BTV Ballarat, Vic).201 The transaction, if approved, would consolidate control of two commercial television and three commercial radio stations under a single entity. In August, the ABT conducted one of its first regional public inquiries at Ballarat.202 In the course of its investigation, the Tribunal noted the diminution of influence in BTV by the Ballarat Courier (and its 3BA subsidiary) which had been a significant shareholder in the station since its

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establishment. But ABS chairman, Sid Kemp, assured the inquiry that the autonomy of both BTV and GMV would be maintained. Furthermore, GMV general manager, Peter Twomey, explained that, for technical reasons, the establishment of regular relays between the stations was neither economic nor desirable. Twomey also stated that both stations—which currently promoted themselves on a joint basis to national advertisers as the “Big 6’s” as they both operated on Channel 6—could further consolidate and rationalise their sales and promotional efforts. The ABT approved the takeover and BTL was delisted from the ASX on 12 October 1977.203 Eric Dare, a flamboyant Sydney theatre producer who had previously been associated with ECN, sought to acquire a controlling interest in DTL (DDQ/SDQ).204 Dare had acquired a minor interest in DTL but in early 1979 sought approval to acquire almost 155,000 shares including a large portion of those held by the Albert family. The ABT approved the transaction in March, thus taking his shareholding to around 23 per cent.205 Later that year, the Tribunal approved the transfer of all his shares to a private company, Dare and Co. P/L (formerly East Coast Television Ltd), which had held the ECN licence prior to that station’s failure and subsequent transfer to an 85:15 joint venture with TNL (NEN). Dare was also appointed to the DTL board.206 By 1981, he had increased his shareholding to around 32 per cent. The Toowoomba Chamber of Commerce expressed concern that control by distant, rather than local, interests might eventually relegate the station to relay status and deprive viewers of local advertising, sport, and other programs.207 Perhaps the most significant transaction in this period was the acquisition of WIN from Rupert Murdoch by Oberon Broadcasters P/L (OBL). OBL was held by Bruce Gordon, whose first taste of showbusiness was as a teenage magician performing in clubs, theatres, and army barracks.208 He later worked for Lucille Ball’s Desilu Productions before joining Paramount Pictures Television International Sales.209 More recently, Gordon is reported to have played a major role in the downfall of disgraced former Italian prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi.210 Prophetically, Murdoch had written to Gordon in 1958, saying “As you know only too well, there is a great future in television and I am sure we will do well”.211 In 1979, Gordon acquired all shares held in TWL by Murdoch’s Media Securities through Oberon Broadcasters P/L (OBL). Gordon and his wife Patricia were, at the time of making application for ABT approval, the majority shareholders, and sole directors of OBL. In July 1979, the ownership and control of OBB formerly exercised by Bruce and Patricia

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Gordon was transferred to a trustee company, Hoverton P/L, under an irrevocable discretionary trust. On the same day, Gordon entered into a three-year service agreement with OBL as a consultant and technical advisor. It is also worth noting that, prior to 24 May 1977, OBL was Bruce Gordon P/L.212 The Wollongong station sale reduced the number of commercial television licences held by News Ltd from the maximum of two to one, thereby facilitating its acquisition of a 48 per cent shareholding in United Telecasters Sydney Ltd (TEN).213 In the course of its inquiries, the ABT sought to clarify the ownership and control arrangements for OBL. The matter was further complicated by a need to examine the residential status of Gordon and his wife Patricia. Gordon had been born in Sydney but had been a long-term resident of New York. ABT chairman Bruce Gyngell indicated he would not participate in the inquiry or decision-making because of a personal association with Gordon. The Tribunal approved the transaction after finding Gordon was no longer in a position to control or manage OBL. It also concluded that Gordon’s association with WIN through his service agreement with OBL “could indeed have beneficial results for the Wollongong television audience”, given his experience in program acquisition and distribution. The acquisition of WIN by OBL is significant as it laid the foundations for the emergence of the WIN Television network in the 1990s. In December 1979, NSL sought ABT approval for a merger with NRL (NRN/RTN).214 A public inquiry was held at Lismore on 9 April 1980. A representative of Action on Media Ownership (one of several community groups to emerge in the 1970s in response to growing media concentration) objected to the merger on various grounds, namely the dangers of monopolistic control, the possibility of political bias, and reductions in employment opportunities, public accessibility and local representation.215 In response, NSL claimed it had been in a position to control the NRN and RTN licences since 1971. The transaction was approved after the Tribunal was “unable to conclude that the merger would be contrary to the interests of … residents”.216 NRL was delisted from the ASX on 4 June 1980 and thereafter operated as a subsidiary of NSL.217 Around this time, the beginnings of another television empire were taking shape in Western Australia. By the late 1970s, Kerry Stokes218 and American businessman Jack Bendat had (through transactions involving numerous entities) acquired prescribed interests in SWL (BTW/GSW).219 According to Andrew Rule, the SWL investment resulted from a suggestion made by Bruce Gordon, to which Stokes reportedly replied, “Why

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the fuck would I buy a TV station in Bunbury?”220 In early 1980, following his acquisition of CTL (CTC), Stokes transferred various holdings to entities associated with Bendat, thereby increasing the latter’s interest in the stations to around 36 per cent.221 In September, Bendat-related companies sought to further increase their holdings to a combined interest of 60 per cent. At the same time, former SWL directors continued to question the business association between Stokes and Bendat, who held interests in metropolitan shopping centres and shared an office in Perth.222 At a subsequent public hearing, both denied under oath that there was any agreement, understanding, or arrangement in relation to Stokes retaining an interest in the shareholdings. But former directors argued that vesting control of the licences in one family was not in the public interest. In this context, it is worth noting the ABT’s response that it was aware of numerous other regional situations where a group or family controlled a licensee company “has not been regarded as unhealthy or contrary to the public interest”. These included NEN/ECN (Higginbotham family), NBN (Wansey, Lamb, and Stevenson families), RVN/AMV (Henderson family), STV (Lanyon family), ITQ (Joel family), SES (Scott family), GTS/BKN (Sturrock family) and VEW (Lilburn family). The Tribunal subsequently found the SWL (BTW/GSW) matters to be “in accord with the public interest” and approved the transactions.223 SWL was renamed Golden West Network Ltd in August 1981.224 The SWL transactions were, as mentioned, prompted by Stokes’ acquisition of Fairfax newspaper group interests in CTL (CTC). In early 1980, he personally acquired just over 1.2 million shares in the station. This included the acquisition of more than 950,000 shares from Surita P/L, a shelf company established by John Fairfax Ltd to dispose of its interest in the Canberra station. This transaction was undoubtedly motivated by speculation about supplementary television licences for Canberra.225 Meanwhile, on 26 March, TWL (WIN) announced its intention to make an offer for all shares not already held in CTL. This was withdrawn once it was known that Stokes had acquired more than 50 per cent of shares.226 In June, Stokes’ holdings were transferred to K.M.  Stokes Investments P/L.227 The ABT approved the transactions in September and the takeover was completed the following month.228 CTL was renamed Australian Capital Television P/L (ACL) in July 1981.229 In mid-1979, John Elliott’s Henry Jones (IXL) Ltd (HJL) acquired the 40 per cent of MTL (MTN) which it did not already own.230 The transaction was approved by the ABT, and MTL was delisted from the Australian

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Stock Exchange in September.231 A series of restructures ensued, resulting in the MTN licence being transferred from MTL to HJL, while the station was operated by a subsidiary, Broadcast Operations Ltd (BOL) . Although there were precedents for third-party radio station operation, this had not occurred in commercial television until the MTN episode.232 A notable (but ultimately unsuccessful) transaction in this period involved an attempt by Bisley Investment Corporation P/L (a company associated with Sydney stockbroker Rene Rivkin) to acquire a prescribed interest in CBL (CBN/CWN). In late 1980, Bisley had acquired more than 20 per cent of CBL; however, a subsequent ABT decision refused approval of holdings in excess of 15 per cent. This decision was made on the grounds of “public interest”, with concerns that Bisley—a “non-local” company—would be in a position to exert “undue influence” over the stations. (Significantly, the ABT chairman, David Jones, dissented in this regard.) For his part, Rivkin did not regard the holding as a controlling interest. Furthermore, he alluded to the changes ahead: It is clear … that great technological changes will occur within television over the next decade. Bisley considers that these changes will force television operators to find the wherewithal to fund very high levels of investment. In this respect, Bisley can be of great assistance …233

Rivkin pointed to expertise in “the placement of surplus funds in highly liquid and safe investments” which “yield attractive returns”, as well as finance and leasing which could offer the stations “particularly felicitous ways” for future expansion.234 Bisley fought, but lost, an appeal in the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT). The decision was regarded as a “benchmark”, with implications for curtailing future commercial manoeuvrings and horse-trading in broadcasting and television licences.235 It is worth noting that Alan Bond, too, made an indirect foray into regional commercial television around this time. In mid-1981, the Bond Group acquired a prescribed interest in NTD (Darwin, NT) and VEW (Kalgoorlie, WA) after purchasing a 20 per cent holding in the Swan Brewing Company.236 Bond would later achieve notoriety for his acquisition—and then sale—of Kerry Packer’s Nine Network. By mid-1981, Australia’s 35 regional commercial television licences were held by 25 ownership groups.237 The acquisition of BTV by ABS had increased the number of stations under joint operation slightly, to 20. Private and family investment companies now comprised the largest single

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block of shareholders, with majority interests in 17 licences. Five stations were wholly owned subsidiaries of other regional television companies.238 Significantly, metropolitan newspaper and radio interests were no longer the majority shareholder in any regional commercial television stations.239 The net result of these changes was a slight decrease in the independence quotient, to 71 per cent (see Chap 1, Fig. 1.2).240 By the early 1980s, there was growing concern from experts regarding the stranglehold of major newspaper proprietors on Sydney and Melbourne commercial television. The Herald and Weekly Times/Fairfax (ATN/ HSV), Consolidated Press (TCN/GTV), and News Ltd (ATV/TEN) were, through existing network arrangements, able to determine most of the programming on commercial stations in the smaller capital cities.241 In this context, it is worth considering the future implications of News Ltd’s manoeuvrings in metropolitan commercial television. Rupert Murdoch’s purchase of TEN Sydney was soon followed by a takeover of ATV Melbourne. The ABT, under Bruce Gyngell, found the transaction should be rejected on public interest grounds even though there was no breach of the Act.242 Murdoch appealed to the AAT, where Mr Justice Morling reversed the ABT’s decision. Morling found that networking, in general, was not against the public interest. Furthermore, he stated that while many of the benefits of networking were attainable without common ownership, the former is generally more efficient and less problematic with the latter.243 Significantly, the government—which had previously signalled that networking was an area in which it saw little need for regulation—reduced the ABT’s powers by removing the requirement to seek prior approval for share transactions.244

Conclusion The late 1970s brought a range of governmental, technological, and social initiatives which sought to increase viewer choice. These included home VCRs, multicultural broadcasting, and the first consideration of satellite and pay television. These developments coincided with a continuation of the high profitability which had flowed from the introduction of colour. But the sector’s fifth liminal moment was the Fraser government’s 1979 decision to introduce a domestic communications satellite. The combination of strong financial returns and pending structural change made the regionals an ideal target for investors such as WIN’s Bruce Gordon and CTC’s Kerry Stokes who hoped to exercise political influence in the years ahead.245 The

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localism-independence index suggests the relative prosperity of the sector coupled with optimism for the future helped to slow declines in both localism and independence (See Chap. 1, Fig. 1.3). As we will see in Chap. 7, these developments laid the foundation for what could be regarded as the second “golden age” of regional commercial television in the early 1980s.

Notes 1. AFR, 9/3/1982, p. 50. 2. Armstrong (1982, p. 318), Herd (2012, pp. 138–142). 3. Edgar (1981, p. 5). 4. No. 187 of 1976; ABT (1977, p. 1), Armstrong (1982, p. 319; 2014a, pp. 46–47). 5. ABT (1979b, p.  1). The Act came into effect on 6/12/1978. The amendment also allowed the ABT discretion in accepting applications which may not have been received by the due date. 6. Tharunka, 21/3/1977, p. 3. 7. CT, 23/3/1977, p. 7; Bulletin, 8/1/1977, pp. 17–18. 8. Edgar (1981, p. 10). 9. Herd (2012, pp. 142–147). 10. Edgar (1981, p. 63), argues the first licence renewal hearings revealed the “promise of performance” had no legal weight. 11. Commonwealth (1977). 12. Haskell (1980), Herd (2012, pp. 147–150). 13. Edgar (1981, pp. 10–78). 14. Armstrong (1982, p. 45). 15. Edgar (1981, p. 83); CT, 19/4/1979, p. 3. 16. Ang et al. (2008), Lloyd James and Griffen-Foley (2014, pp. 433–435). 17. Armstrong (2014b, pp. 46–47). 18. Hay (2001, pp. 206–207). 19. ABT (1979b, pp. 71, 216–217). 20. The word “ethnic” (within inverted commas) appears in the original document. 21. ABT (1980b). 22. Armstrong (1982, p. 46), Herd (2012, pp. 220–221). 23. Nugent (2014). 24. CT, 23/6/1980, p. 11. 25. George Patterson (1981, p. 7); CT, 18/1/1982, p. 8. 26. ABCB (1976, p. 22), Bell (2014c, pp. 419–421). 27. B&T, 9/3/1978, p. 15. 28. Bond (1977). 29. IATS (1978). The IATS appears to have been an informal alliance for the purpose of making a joint submission to the NCSSTF. It comprised all

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regional commercial television stations except ITQ, GTW, NTD, and VEW, as well as STW Perth. 30. B&T, 7/12/1978, p. 34. 31. CT, 2/5/1979, p. 12. 32. Andren (2003, p. 84). 33. NCSSTF (1978). 34. NCSSWG (1979). 35. NAA/ACT: A12909, 3522: CD No. 10030, 8 October 1979. 36. NAA/ACT: A12909, 4158: CD No. 12791, 16/11/1980. 37. PTD (1980, p. 26). 38. ABT (1981a, p. 39). 39. NAA/ACT: A12909, 4302: Staley, 19/8/1980. 40. NAA/ACT: A12909, 4348: CD No. 12786, 16/9/1980. 41. CT, 4/6/1981, p. 1. 42. Bonney and Wilson (1983, p. 88). 43. ABT (1981b). 44. Herd (2012, pp. 217–218). 45. Bonney and Wilson (1983, p. 85), Windschuttle (1988, p. 57). 46. Dick (2015, pp. 170–190), Herd (2012, pp. 166–169). 47. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-2.1. 48. TWL (1980); Susie Elelman, interview with Michael Thurlow, 6/3/2019. 49. Herd (2012, p. 169). 50. Herd (2012, pp. 222–227). 51. ABT, No. 46–47/80 R (RT), 1980. 52. ABCB (1976, pp. 1–2). 53. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-2.2. 54. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-2.15. 55. WBL (1980). 56. ABT, No. 67/81 R(RT), March–April 1981, p. 91. 57. RTA, The Untouched Millions. 58. ASIC, “Regional Television Australia P/L” company extract, 23/7/2017. ATF was renamed RTA from 18/2/1980. 59. Barker and Laurie (1992, p. 339). 60. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-2.4; Herd (2012, pp. 227–232). 61. George Patterson (1981, p. 7). 62. ABT, No. 308/84 R(T), June 1985. 63. ABS (1976, p. 5). 64. ABS (1978). 65. https://www.facebook.com/lostsheppar ton/photos/a.50582 4302827877/705782329498739/?type=3&theater, accessed 28/2/2019. 66. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvnpHc_nRf0#, accessed 1/3/2019. 67. TWL (1978); Susie Elelman, interview with Michael Thurlow, 6/3/2019.

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68. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-2.5. 69. TWL (1977). 70. Jill Ray-Black, email to Michael Thurlow, 3/4/2019. 71. Australian, 27/12/2011, p. 26. 72. Glenn Ridge, interview with Michael Thurlow, 22/1/2019. 73. BTL (1977, p. 11). 74. ABS (1978). 75. NFSA: 441923. 76. TNL (1981). 77. ABS (1981). 78. NAA/NSW: B2152, MTN/5 PART 1: Gamble, 10/8/1979. 79. ABS (1980, p. 1). 80. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-6.2. 81. ABT (1977, pp. 171–172). 82. https://www.cnet.com/news/rip-­austext-­will-­you-­shed-­a-­tear/, accessed 24/10/2019. 83. NAA/NSW: B2305, TT/9/1 PART 2: ABT, Teletext (various), 1978–1985. 84. NBL (1980), Herd (2012, pp. 221–222). 85. https://apps.des.qld.gov.au/heritage-­r egister/detail/?id=600936, accessed 3/3/2018. 86. B&T, 7/12/1978, p. 8. 87. MWL’s Herb Lilburn had, in August 1976, written to advise the ABT that trading losses were such that the future operation of VEW was at risk. 88. ABT (1978). 89. NAA/NSW: C546, 3/77: ABT, No. 3/77 T(T), 1977. 90. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-6.3. 91. Broadcasting and Television Amendment Act 1977. 92. CT, 9/2/1979, p. 6; 7/1/1980, p. 3. 93. Lloyd James and Griffen-Foley (2014, pp. 413–415). 94. Herd (2012, p. 168). In 1980/81, for example, STW had a net profit ratio of 15 per cent, with 16 per cent at TVW; NAA/NSW: B2305, TL/5/19 PART 1: ABT, TVW/STW LRRs, 1981. 95. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-2.13. 96. SWL (1978). 97. NTL (1978, 1979, 1980). 98. NBL (1980). 99. TNL (1982). 100. ABT (1981a, pp. 136–143). 101. STL (1980, p. 4). 102. ABT, No. 34/79 O(T), 1979. NBN’s acquisition of NWS was affected through its Newcastle Video Productions P/L subsidiary.

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103. ABT (1981a, pp. 136–143). 104. DTL (1980). 105. DTL (1981, p. 11). 106. DTL (1984). 107. ABT (1979, p. 64; 1981a, p. 72). Stations were required to televise these between 4pm and 5pm on weekdays. The ABT also required stations to provide 30 minutes of kindergarten programs on each weekday. 108. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-3.1. 109. Herd (2012, pp. 211–265). 110. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-3.1. 111. CBL (1978). 112. ABT (1981a, p. 177). 113. ABT (1980a, pp. 70–71). 114. NFSA: 7769. 115. Nicholas (1988), Jacka and Johnson (1998, p.  215), Herd (2012, pp. 253–256). 116. Herd (2012, pp. 233–243). 117. NFSA: 47886. 118. NFSA: 48145. 119. NFSA: 54195. 120. CT, 22//3/1979, p. 15. 121. CT, 18/1/1980, p. 16; NFSA: 47992. 122. NFSA: 35830. 123. CTL (1979, p. 4). 124. ABT, No. 61/80 R(T), November–December 1980, p. 26; David Astley, email to Michael Thurlow, 28/2/2019. 125. CT, 21/12/1985, p. 3. 126. ABT, No. 54/80 R(RT), August 1980. 127. CT, 16/5/1981, p. 2. The documentary title is not to be confused with similarly named The Man from Snowy River poem by Banjo Paterson or the 1982 movie of the same name. 128. ABT, No. 61/80 R(T), November–December 1980, pp. 25–26. 129. NFSA: 37407. 130. ABT, No. 73/81 R(RT), April–May 1981, p. 109. 131. ABT, No. 55/80 R(RT), August–September 1980. 132. CTL (1977). 133. CBL (1978); NFSA: 138182. 134. David Astley, email to Michael Thurlow, 4/3/2019. 135. ABT (1982a). 136. Aisbett et al. (1992, p. 7). 137. NAA/Vic: B2152, CBN/20 PART 1: ABT, CBN/CWN Complaints (various).

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138. ABT, FNQ LRR, 1980. 139. Andren (2003, p. 83). 140. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-3.1. 141. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-3.1. 142. ABT (1979, p. 70; 1980a, p. 70). 143. NBL (1979). NBN was at this time the only regional commercial television station to produce a 60-minute bulletin from its own studios. 144. STL (1981). 145. ABS (1981, p. 3). 146. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-3.3. 147. NAA/Vic: MP1839/2, SEQ/4 PT 1: ABCB, WBQ LRR, 1974. 148. ABT, No. 55/80 R(RT), August–September 1980. See also Matthews (1995, p. 623). 149. Peter Cummiskey, email to Michael Thurlow, 7/3/2019. 150. Herd (2012, p. 212). 151. WBL (1980); Wes Crook, email to Michael Thurlow, 19/3/2019. 152. ABT (1980a, pp. 211–218; 1981a, pp. 224–225). 153. ABS (1977). 154. Colin Pearce, email to Michael Thurlow, 9/8/2019. The program was also recorded in Broken Hill on one occasion. 155. Pearce, email to Michael Thurlow. 156. Jan Welshman, email to Michael Thurlow, 24/8/2021. 157. State Library of WA, Doopa Dog, 347880PD and 359581PD, 1972. 158. Jan Welshman, email to Michael Thurlow, 10/11/2019. 159. Fenn (1978). 160. Barnier (1978). 161. Bonner (2012, pp. 173–191). 162. NFSA: 578270. 163. NAA/Vic: MP1897/1, BTV/19: Weekly Times, 8/9/1976, p. 35. 164. ABS (1978). 165. NFSA: 441923. The program was one of a small number of locally produced children’s programs to be granted a “C” classification in 1980. 166. ABS (1981, p. 3). See, for example, NFSA 574763. 167. ABS (1978, p. 3). 168. ABS (1980, p. 1). 169. WBL (1981, p. 5); Wes Crook, email to Michael Thurlow, 13/3/2019. 170. Glenn Ridge, interview with Michael Thurlow, 22/1/2019. 171. ABS (1980). 172. Wes Crook, email to Michael Thurlow, 13/3/2019. 173. Townsville Bulletin, 3/4/1984, p. 17; 13/12/1988, p. 16. 174. Media & Marketing, 5/10/1981, p. 18. 175. Susie Elelman, interview with Michael Thurlow, 6/3/2019.

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176. TWL (1981). 177. BTL (1976, p. 12). 178. NAA/Vic: B2152, BTV/4 PART 2: ABCB, BTV LRR, 1976. 179. ABS (1978). 180. TQL (1977). 181. NAA/Vic: MP1897/1, CTC/19: Lindsay Connors, Reading, Writing and Lizards, Morning Herald (Newcastle), 21/9/1977. 182. ABS (1978). 183. CT, 17/8/1979, p. 24. 184. CT, 17/6/1979, p. 13. 185. Herald (Newcastle), 22/3/1980. 186. NRL (1977). 187. NAA/Vic: B2305, TL/1/21 PART 1: ABT, GTS LRR, 1977. 188. ABS (1979). 189. ABS (1978). 190. NBL (1978). 191. Antony Luciano, email to Michael Thurlow, 29/12/2018. Panorama continued to use NBN facilities until 1986. 192. Clifford-Smith (2014, p. 113). 193. TWL (1980, 1982). 194. Miller (1977, p. 73). 195. TWL (1978). 196. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-3.3. 197. TNL (1981). 198. Herd (2012, pp. 151–154). 199. https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/crawford-­hector-­william-­14950 200. Haigh (2014, pp. 427–428). 201. NAA/NSW: B2305, TO/1/69 PART 1: ABCB, ABS/BTV Takeover File (various). ABS had been a founding sponsor of BTL (BTV) and retained a small shareholding in the company. Three of ABS’ ten directors also held seats on the BTL board. BTL directors wrote to shareholders recommending they accept the ABS offer on 10/6/1977. 202. ABT, No. 2/77 O(T), 5/9/1977. It is worth noting the participation of the Justice in Broadcasting Group (Victoria) in these proceedings. Its involvement was not to support or propose the transaction, but rather to comment on the larger issue of the public interest which was receiving greater attention. The group maintained it could not be known whether the public interest would be served by the proposed transaction since the machinery to ensure adequate public involvement in the enquiry had not yet been established. 203. http://www.delisted.com.au/company/ballarat-­and-­western-­victoria-­ television-­limited, accessed 17/12/2018.

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204. https://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/organisation/4132, accessed 3/1/2019. 205. ABT (1979b). 206. NAA/NSW: B2152, DDQ/4 PART 2: ABT, DDQ/SDQ LRR, 1979. 207. NAA/NSW: B2152, DDQ/4 PART 4: Chronicle (Toowoomba), 14/1/1981, p. 5. The transactions were approved by the ABT despite the Chamber’s concerns. 208. AFR, 2/2/2015, p. 37. 209. Turnbull and Hanson (2014, p. 194), Serafini (1997, p. 1a). 210. AFR, 7/3/2015, p. 9. 211. Murdoch, quoted in Age (Melbourne), 23/11/1998, p. 1. 212. ABT, No. 28/70 O(T), 1979. 213. News Ltd also controlled the NWS Adelaide licence. Herd (2012, pp. 154–160). 214. NSL published numerous northern New South Wales and Gold Coast newspapers and was the principal shareholder in NRL. It also held prescribed interests in radio stations 2LM, 2MV, and 4GG. 215. NS (Lismore), 10/4/1980. 216. ABT, No. 42/80 O(T), 1980. 217. http://www.delisted.com.au/company/northern-­r ivers-­t elevision-­ limited, accessed 17/12/2018. 218. Simons (2014, p. 190). 219. ABCB (1974a, p.  170); NAA/NSW: B2152, BTW/5 PART 3: ABT, BTW/GSW, 20/10/1980. SWL also controlled radio stations 6TZ, 6CI and 6NA. 220. Rule (2014, pp. 205–207). 221. NAA/NSW: B2152, BTW/5 PART 3: Bendat, 23/4/1980. This transaction was approved by the ABT on 24/6/1980. 222. NAA/NSW: B2152, BTW/5 PART 3: AFR, 23/10/1980. 223. NAA/NSW: C546/27, 59/80: ABT, BTW/GSW, October 1980– March 1981. 224. https://www.delisted.com.au/company/south-­w estern-­t elecasters-­ limited, accessed 17/12/2018. 225. NAA/NSW: B2305, TO/1/77 PART 1: Herald (Newcastle), 4/2/1980. 226. TWL and its associated company, OBL, retained a smaller shareholding in the Canberra station. 227. Rule (2014, pp. 236–241). 228. ABT, No. 52/80 O(T), 1980; http://www.delisted.com.au/company/ canberra-­television-­limited, accessed 17/12/2018. 229. ASIC, “Australian Capital Television P/L,” ACN 008 404 706, Current and Historical Company Extract, 23/11/2012. 230. Henry Jones (IXL) Limited had (through predecessor companies) held around 35 per cent of MTL since the early 1970s.

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231. http://www.delisted.com.au/company/murrumbidgee-­t elevision-­ limited, accessed 17/12/2018. 232. NAA/NSW: B2152, MTN/5 PART 1: ABT, Murrumbidgee Television, 11/9/1979. 233. NAA/NSW: B2152, CBN/5 PART 1: Allen, Allen and Hemsley Solicitors, Statement of Rene Rivkin (n.d.). 234. ABT, No. 56/80 O(RT), 1980. 235. NAA/NSW: B2152, CBN/5 PART 2: AFR, 19/9/1981. 236. CT, 9/9/1981, p. 30. 237. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-4.4. 238. ABT (1981a, pp. 136–143). 239. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-5.4. 240. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-4.4. 241. James-Bailey (1981, pp. 53–63). 242. Herd (2012, pp. 157–160). 243. Administrative Appeals Tribunal, AATA 172, 1981. 244. Herd (2012, pp. 160–162); CT, 4/6/1981, p. 1. 245. Bonney and Wilson (1983, pp. 84–87).

Bibliography Australian Broadcasting Tribunal (ABT). Inquiry into a Proposed Shareholding Transaction DDQ/Eric Dare (Syd ney: ABT, 1979b). Australian Broadcasting Tribunal (ABT). Television, Radio and the Public. A Rural Perspective (Sydney: ABT, 1980b). Australian Broadcasting Tribunal (ABT). New TV Services: What People Say (Melbourne: ABT, 1981b). Australian Broadcasting Tribunal (ABT). Television and The Public: National Television Standards Survey (Syd ney: ABT, 1982a). Aisbett, Kate, Kathryn Paterson and Milica Loncar. Who Complains? (North Sydney: ABT, 1992) Andren, Peter. The Andren Report: An Independent Way in Australian Politics (Melbourne: Scribe, 2003). Ang, Ien, Gay Hawkins and Lamia Dabboussy. The SBS Story: The Challenge of Cultural Diversity (Sydney: UNSW Press, 2008). Armstrong, Mark. Broadcasting Law and Policy in Australia (Sydney: Butterworths, 1982). Armstrong, Mark. ‘Australian Broadcasting Control Board’, in Bridget Griffen-­ Foley (ed.) A Companion to the Australian Media (North Melbourne: Australian Scholarly Publishing, 2014a), pp. 41-42.

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Armstrong, Mark. ‘Australian Broadcasting Tribunal’, in Bridget Griffen-Foley (ed.), A Companion to the Australian Media, (North Melbourne: Australian Scholarly Publishing, 2014b), pp. 46-47. Australian Broadcasting Tribunal (ABT). Annual Report (Sydney: ABT, 1977, 1979, 1980a, 1981a, 1983a, 1984a, 1985a, 1987). Barker, Anthony and Maxine Laurie. Excellent Connections: A History of Bunbury, Western Australia, 1836-1990 (Bunbury, WA: City of Bunbury, 1992). Barnier, Cheryl (ed). Great Eastland Television Cook Book (Dee Why West: Paul Hamlyn, 1978). Bond, Donald. The Opportunity for Television Program Distribution in Australia Using Earth Satellites (Willoughby, NSW: TCL, 1977). Bonner, Francis. ‘My Favourite Things: Spin-off Products and Television Memories’ in Kate Darian-Smith and Sue Turnbull (eds.) Remembering Television (Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars, 2012), pp. 173-191. Bonney, Bill and Wilson, Helen. Australia’s Commercial Media (South Melbourne: Macmillan, 1983). Clifford-Smith, Stephanie. A Marvellous Party: The Life of Bernard King (Milson’s Point, NSW: Random House, 2004), p. 113. Commonwealth. Self-Regulation for Broadcasters? A Report on the Public Inquiry into the Concept of Self-Regulation for Australian Broadcasters (Canberra: AGPS, 1977). Country Television Services Ltd (CBL). Submission to the Commonwealth Government Task Force National Communications Satellite System (Orange: CBL, 1978). Dick, Nigel. ‘Media Mavericks: The History of Free-To-Air Television’, PhD thesis, University of Melbourne, 2015. Edgar, Patricia. Television Licence Hearings Go Public: A Case Study (Sydney: ABT, 1981). Fenn, Bob. Bob’s Fenn-Tastic Recipe Book (Bathurst, NSW: Western Printers, c. 1978). George Patterson P/L. Status of the Media (Sydney: George Patterson, 1981). Haigh, Gideon. ‘Skase, Christopher Charles’, in Bridget Griffen-Foley (ed.), A Companion to the Australian Media (North Melbourne: Australian Scholarly Publishing, 2014), pp. 427-428. Haskell, Deborah. ‘The struggle for accountability in Australian broadcasting, 1979’, International Communication Gazette, Vol. 26, No. 22, 1980, pp. 65-87. Hay, James. ‘Locating the Televisual’, in Television and New Media, Vol. 2, No. 205, 2001, pp. 206-207. Herd, Nick. Networking: Commercial Television in Australia (Sydney: Currency House, 2012).

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Independent Australian Television Stations (IATS). Satellite Task Force: Independent Television Stations Submissions (Bendigo, Vic: IATS, 1978). Jacka, Liz, and Lesley Johnson. ‘Australia,” in Anthony Smith (ed.), Television: An International History (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998), pp. 208-222. James-Bailey, Julie. “Media Ownership – Is Concentration Inevitable?” Broadcasting in Australia: Today’s Issues and the Future, edited by Brendan O’Dwyer (Canberra: ANU Centre For Continuing Education, 1981), pp. 53–63. Lloyd James, Andy and Bridget Griffen-Foley. ‘Special Broadcasting Service’, in Bridget Griffen-Foley (ed.), A Companion to the Australian Media (North Melbourne: Australian Scholarly Publishing, 2014), pp. 433-435. Matthews, Tony. River of Dreams: A History of Maryborough and District, Vol. 2 (Maryborough, QLD: Maryborough City Council, 1995). Miller, Monte. ‘The Evolvement of a television Series Drama’, Cinema Papers, No. 83, July 1977, p. 73. National Communications Satellite System Task Force (NCSSTF). Report of the Task Force on a National Communications Satellite System (Canberra: AGPS, 1978). National Communications Satellite System Working Group (NCSSWG). Report (Canberra: AGPS, 1979). Nicholas, Stephen. Convict Workers: Reinterpreting Australia’s Past (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1988). Nugent, Michael. ‘Video Cassette Revolution: The VCR in Australia’, MRes thesis, Macquarie University, 2014. Postal and Telecommunications Department (PTD), Annual Report (Canberra: AGPS: 1980). Rule, Andrew. Kerry Stokes (Sydney: Harper Collins, 2014). Serafini, Dom. ‘Bruce Gordon: When TV Dreams Come True’, Video Age International, Vol. 7, No. 8, 1997, p. 1A. Simons, Margaret. ‘Stokes, Kerry Matthew’, in Bridget Griffen-Foley (ed.), A Companion to the Australian Media (North Melbourne: Australian Scholarly Publishing, 2014), p. 440. Telecasters North Queensland Ltd (TQL). Annual Report (Townsville, Qld: TQL, 1977, 1984, 1987, 1989, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997). Turnbull, Sue and Stephanie Hanson. ‘Gordon, Bruce’, in Bridget Griffen-Foley (ed.), A Companion to the Australian Media (North Melbourne: Australian Scholarly Publishing, 2014), p. 194. Windschuttle, Keith. The Media, third edition (Ringwood, Vic: Penguin, 1988).

CHAPTER 7

Security and Status

Let’s face it. Regional [television] was a licence to print money. Stations paid very little for their programs because they were the sole buyers. It was a glorious situation.1 —John D’Arcy, ENT Ltd chairman, 1993

The early to mid-1980s saw the first real steps towards increasing the number of television services in regional areas. Jock Given colourfully attributes changes in this period to the intersection of four dominant forces, namely “bucks, blokes, bureaucrats and the bird”.2 The first of these tensions surfaced in October 1981 when the Fraser Coalition government’s Minister for Communications, Ian Sinclair, directed the ABT to inquire whether applications should be invited for one or more translator stations to retransmit the metropolitan commercial stations to the township of Foster, 100 miles south-east of Melbourne. This move was prompted, in part, by the 1980 frequency changes for GLV and ATV, which had resulted in poorer television reception for Foster residents. But the situation was complicated; while Foster was within the GLV service area, residents had for many years been accustomed to receiving the Melbourne stations through the installation of expensive antennas and other equipment.3

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022 M. Thurlow, A History of Regional Commercial Television in Australia, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-10944-7_7

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This inquiry was notable for addressing the longstanding concept of localism in Australian broadcasting. Significantly, it defined “local” television service as having four aspects: locally produced programs (i.e. those produced in the local station’s own studios); locally originated programs (i.e. those acquired from elsewhere in Australia but selected by the station for local transmission); local ownership and control; and local advertising. The ABT concluded that translator stations should be used to improve or expand the signal of a television station within its existing area rather than extending it into an adjoining region.4 The inquiry thus reaffirmed that since Foster was situated within the GLV service area, any call for applications for translator stations associated with the Melbourne stations would be in breach of the Broadcasting and Television Act. Sinclair’s successor as Minister for Communications, Neil Brown, described the report as a landmark in Australian broadcasting history which would be recognised as a major contribution to the development and clarification of policy issues pertaining to broadcasting planning.5 As we have already seen, VCRs and cable and subscription television had the potential to provide, at a cost, alternatives to existing “free” services while eliminating time-based and geographical boundaries imposed by terrestrial services. In early 1982, the ABT conducted a survey to understand community attitudes towards existing services and emerging technologies. While not pertaining specifically to regional areas, the findings are useful for their general insights. Significantly, 56 per cent of respondents stated the main reason for purchasing a VCR was to record then replay programs later. This practice—now known as “time shifting”—enabled audiences to unshackle themselves from traditional broadcast schedules and represented the first move towards on-demand viewing. There was also a high level of interest in cable television, with 61 per cent of respondents stating they would connect such a service within 12 months of it becoming available, subject to cost.6 There is some evidence to suggest the take-up of VCRs was even more rapid in regional Australia than in metropolitan areas. In early 1982, Packer’s Star Video reported that the boom in home video products was being fuelled by demand from rural communities.7 This theory is supported by Bruce Priddis, a former home entertainment retailer in central western New South Wales, who believes this was likely due to residents having fewer entertainment options. In 1981, Priddis expanded his Selekta Sound hi fi business in Dubbo to include VCRs. A video rental library was established six months later. By 1983, Priddis was “barely able to keep up

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with demand” and soon opened additional outlets in Gilgandra, Wellington, Orange, and Blayney.8 In 1985, the Canberra Times reported Australians were the highest per capita users of VCRs in the world, with more than 40 per cent of homes owning a machine.9 This was perhaps due, in part, to the ability of VCRs to more readily meet certain categories of consumer needs than broadcast television, particularly in regional areas which still received just one commercial television station and the ABC.10 Meanwhile, in 1981, the government began its long-awaited inquiry into cable (CTV) and radiated subscription television (RSTV).11 It was accompanied by several unsolicited requests to establish associated services. These included one from Television Australia Satellite Systems P/L (TASS), which proposed to beam up to six hours of programming each day via INTELSAT to a small network of community stations in towns, including Hughenden, Cloncurry, and Julia Creek (Qld). Users would pay a subscription of $4 to $8 per week to access the service.12 In August 1982, the inquiry recommended both RSTV and CTV be introduced as soon as practicable, with the former to commence at least two years prior to the latter. Significantly, it found this should occur in a manner which was both compatible with and preserved the viability of other sectors within the Australian broadcasting system, thereby entrenching the position of incumbent operators. The inquiry also determined that Telecom Australia (later Telstra) should not be given the exclusive right to own CTV reticulation systems.13 But Minister Brown failed to deliver the legislation required to make CTV and RSTV a reality. This decision was undoubtedly influenced by existing commercial interests, whom the government did not want to put offside in the lead-up to the 1983 election. Proponents such as John Elliott, whose investment in the Griffith station had seen him take an interest in cable and subscription television in the early 1970s, were thwarted in their efforts to initiate services. The election of the Hawke Labor government in 1983 caused the issue to stall once again and prompted Elliott to sell his media interests. In 1986, the government agreed to a four-year moratorium on what it now referred to as pay television.14 It would be another decade before what Mark Westfield calls “the irresistible force of commercial imperative and a government greedy for money” would see the introduction of subscription television services.15 Nevertheless, the regionals knew it was only a matter of time before their long-held monopolies would face competition. They were given their first, albeit minor, taste of this on 14 October 1983 when the Special

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Broadcasting Service commenced transmission in Canberra, followed in November by Cooma and Goulburn. The service was rebranded as “Network 0-28” on the same day. “SBS” was adopted for network identification purposes on 18 February 1985. The service was further extended in June—to Brisbane, Adelaide, Newcastle, Wollongong, and the Gold Coast. SBS ceased broadcasting on VHF “channel 0” on 5 January 1986. The service would be extended to other regional areas in the early 1990s.16 The introduction of SBS to regional areas was significant as it was the first new television service to launch since commercial and ABC stations had commenced in the 1960s. As discussed in Chap. 6, the Fraser Coalition government had decided to introduce but did not proceed with a Supplementary Licence Scheme (SLS) as a means of providing additional services in regional areas.17 But the scheme was commenced on 1 December 1983 under the Hawke Labor administration. By early 1984, all existing regional licensees had expressed interest in applying for supplementary licences.18 The first formal application, for Canberra, was submitted by ACL (CTC) in July. There was some significance in the first manifestation of government policy to extend regional commercial television services occurring in the nation’s capital. In 1979, the then Minister for Posts and Communications, Tony Staley, had remarked that Canberra—as the centre of Australian government—should receive a range of television services on par with those provided in metropolitan areas.19 In its application, ACL stated that successful operation of the scheme was based on the premise that existing CTC infrastructure would provide the essential technical, accounting, administrative, sales, and production services to support both channels. The cost of establishing the service was put at $3 million. But outside interests hoped to challenge the incumbency of existing operators. In Canberra, a submission was received from Regional Television Corporation P/L (RTC) on behalf of Canberra Telecasters P/L. RTC was a facilities company in which nearly all the shares were held by Herb Lilburn’s Group Television Services.20 It proposed to establish an independent station which would compete with CTC.  Furthermore, RTC planned to build an Australia-wide radio and television network.21 There was also notable competition in regional Queensland where Greater Northern Television Ltd (Cairns), Central Pacific Television Ltd (Rockhampton), and Sugar Coast Television Ltd (Bundaberg) had formed a loose association.22 But the SLS was mired in delays and inaction as the

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government sought ways to placate powerful media mates (in particular Kerry Packer) whose satellite television scheme had been thwarted. While plans were being made to introduce additional regional services, Perth was still the only major capital city to have two rather than three commercial stations. In May 1984, the ABT called applications for a third channel.23 The subsequent inquiry into the most valuable television licence to be offered for 20 years resulted in an unprecedented 117 hearing days. The Tribunal ultimately granted the licence to West Coast Telecasters Ltd (WCL), a company that was initially backed by Kerry Stokes (CTC) and Jack Bendat (BTW/GSW)24 but was sold to Frank Lowy’s Northern Star Holdings before going to air. The service commenced operation on 20 May 1988 under the callsign NEW as a Network Ten affiliate. Meanwhile, pockets of remote Australia remained without television. The Remote Area Television Scheme (RATS) was introduced in the early 1980s to distribute ABC programs to terrestrial translators in around 80 communities using INTELSAT.25 In August 1983, the recently installed Hawke government’s Minister for Communications, Michael Duffy, announced the Remote or Underserved Communities Scheme (RUCS) to provide new or improved ABC radio and television signals in selected areas.26 The Self-help Television Reception Scheme (STRS) enabled communities in remote areas or pockets of poor reception to install translator stations using a simplified planning and licencing process.27 Nevertheless, remote Australia remained underserved. Alice Springs, for example, would not receive a commercial service until Imparja Television commenced in 1988. It is perhaps therefore unsurprising that Australia’s first community television stations emerged as “pirate” operations in the remote central Australian towns of Ernabella and Yuendemu in 1983.28 Community television licences for less remote areas of regional Australia would be granted in the early 1990s. Repeater stations, as we have already seen, represented an early attempt to extend television to remote areas but were never intended to operate as a commercial service. But in 1981, permission was granted to Mining Television Network (MTK), which operated four translator stations in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, to carry advertising, provided any monies received did not exceed to cost of operating and maintaining the stations (i.e. on a non-profit basis). By 1982, GWN (BTW/GSW) had acquired a majority interest in MTK, since repeater stations were not subject to the same ownership and control provisions as commercial stations. In 1983, MTK sought to transfer the licences of the four stations it

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managed from the mining companies to itself.29 The ensuing inquiry revealed that MTK hoped to expand the network beyond mining camps to include the coastal towns of north-west Western Australia, suggesting the basis for GWN’s interest in MTK. A second company, Calpurnicus P/L, also expressed an interest in establishing a commercial television network to serve the Pilbara and Kimberley regions.30 The transfer request was rejected by the ABT on numerous grounds including the “unhealthy” interest held by GWN and the “inherently unstable” ownership and structure of MTK.31 In any case, GWN would soon turn its attentions to obtaining a satellite television licence, which would render the mining television stations obsolete. Amid these changes, the difficult subject of commercial viability in regional television was again examined. As early as 1980, Kerry Stokes had approached both the Minister for Communications and Secretary for the Department of Posts and Telecommunications to vary the GSW (Albany, WA) licence from that of a television station to a translator. In October 1982, GWN (which was by then controlled by the Bendat family) lodged a submission with Minister Brown regarding the same matter. These requests were made on the basis that GSW had operated as a relay of BTW (Bunbury, WA) since inception, so a separate licence and associated annual fee was not warranted. Furthermore, the company maintained GSW had, if considered on a standalone basis, always operated at a loss. The downgrading of GSW to a translator station would also enable the company to acquire an additional commercial television licence in Western Australia or elsewhere. In November 1983, GWN advised the ABT that it did not intend to renew the GSW licence. This threat to abandon the licence appears to have been made in an attempt to force the ABT’s hand. But in January 1984, on learning of GWN’s plans, GTL (GTW) expressed an interest in acquiring the Albany licence. A third company, Trans-West, also expressed an interest in obtaining the licence should it become available. This latter company was a wholly owned subsidiary of Herb Lilburn’s Group Television Services which had, until recently, been the major shareholder in the Kalgoorlie station. Later that month, Minister Duffy advised GWN that, after considering ownership and commercial and technical arrangements, he would not accede to downgrading GSW. Furthermore, he directed the ABT to inquire into the commercial viability of the Albany station. Duffy also advised that, should the Tribunal recommended downgrading the service, applications for a translator licence would be invited from all interested parties with no guarantee that GWN would retain

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ownership. Similarly, if the Tribunal considered a station was commercially viable, and GWN relinquished the licence, then applications would also be called. GWN subsequently retained the GSW licence, undoubtedly due to the surprising interest shown in it by other parties.32 The issue of localism was again raised in late 1983 when Duffy asked the Department of Communications to examine the form and extent to which it should be maintained in the development of Australia’s broadcasting system.33 The inquiry was led by Jim Oswin, the former ATN Sydney executive and the first permanent head of the Department of the Media established by the Whitlam government in 1972.34 Oswin’s report is significant for, amongst other things, its detailed account of localism in government policy between the 1920s and 1980s. Nick Herd rightly notes that “one of the ironies of television history” was that Oswin (who, at the dawn of regional television, had argued as head of ATN that regional stations should be placed on relay from the metropolitan stations) was now championing the concept of localism.35 The review ultimately found that localism did not prohibit the provision of additional services and should be encouraged in the context of new developments. Stations should remain completely in control of programs, whether presented live or by recording, or received by terrestrial link or satellite. Local shareholdings should be encouraged but should not prevent financial involvement or ownership from outside interests. Supplementary licences were deemed “a practical approach” to providing additional services in regional areas. The report also noted the potential for “local” (i.e. independent, non-network) commercial stations in metropolitan areas.36 As we have seen, the early 1980s had given rise to several initiatives which were intended to increase the diversity of commercial television services. It also seemed that localism had again become the raison d’etre of broadcasting policy.37 Nevertheless, Cameron Hazlehurst argues that, notwithstanding initiatives such as “ethnic” or “multi-cultural” television, along with “experiments with points systems, quotas, and qualified self-­ regulation … noise and froth over media ownership … and sundry other evils”, the nature and structure of commercial television had remained largely unchanged since the 1950s.38 But that was soon to change. In November 1983, Duffy directed the ABT to inquire into the regulatory issues associated with satellite broadcasting.39 This Satellite Program Services (SPS) inquiry considered two options for delivering satellite-­ based television services to remote areas. The first was a network-based model which would use the national beam to distribute programs

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provided by the three metropolitan networks. The second was a regional model which would establish a licenced service for each of the four zones reached by the spot beams. The metropolitan networks were vehemently opposed to the latter on the basis that licensees might also become program suppliers to regional stations. They maintained such an arrangement would effectively establish a fourth network, which would constitute a “fulcrum of change” for the Australian commercial television industry.40 In assessing both options, the inquiry determined the regional model would be less expensive for households as the zonal beams would permit the use of smaller antennas. Furthermore, the zone-based model would, in theory, enable the provision of an “adequate and comprehensive” service which catered to the needs of remote communities. The ABT determined the network option would, in contrast, extend the structural imbalance of the existing system, in which the Sydney and Melbourne stations held a dominant role as the primary program producers. It also questioned the relevance of metropolitan programming to remote audiences.41 These findings were consistent with those of Oswin’s localism report, which had indicated that satellite broadcasting in the form proposed by the regionals was expected to “have little or no effect on localism”. In contrast, Oswin had found that direct satellite broadcasting, particularly a “super” station blanketing much or all of the country as proposed by Kerry Packer, could have “a marked and deleterious effect” on both localism and the supplementary licence scheme. During the satellite inquiry, remote Indigenous communities, particularly in the Northern Territory, had raised concerns about the impact of metropolitan-based commercial television and advertising on their language and culture.42 In early 1984, the federal Ministers for Aboriginal Affairs and Communications convened a task force to report on Aboriginal broadcasting.43 Its report acknowledged (for the first time) the right of Aboriginal people to be catered for in broadcasting.44 A key outcome would be the establishment, in 1987, of the Broadcasting for Remote Aboriginal Communities Scheme (BRACS). BRACS provided around 80 Indigenous settlements with retransmission facilities fed by the HACBSS and RCTS. Programs judged as culturally harmful, or offensive, could be replaced with videotaped programs from central production companies or locally produced material of educational or cultural interest.45 The SPS inquiry also articulated the potential amalgamation of regional commercial television markets as a means for introducing competition.46

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This process, later known as aggregation, would ultimately bring the most significant structural changes since licences were first granted.47 In October 1984, Cabinet accepted the ABT’s recommendation to establish a zone-based Remote Commercial Television Service (RCTS). This would supplement the Homestead and Community Broadcasting Satellite Service (HABCSS), to be operated by the ABC.48 The dual system, which had provided the basis for Australia’s radio then terrestrial television services, was thus transferred to satellite broadcasting. Under the scheme, licensees would provide satellite-based commercial television services to remote areas with provisions for programs to meet the needs of remote and Indigenous communities. The government envisaged the RCTS might also play a role in distributing an additional program stream to existing regional stations under the SLS (Box 7.1).49 Duffy then directed the ABT to inquire and make recommendations for granting RCTS licences for the North Eastern (Queensland), South Eastern (New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania), Central (South Australia and the Northern Territory), and Western (Western Australia) zones.50 The key considerations were the extent to which applicants could ensure a financially viable service, as well as their ability to provide programs which met the specific needs of remote—particularly Indigenous—audiences. The Western zone licence was subsequently granted to a subsidiary of GWN (BTW/GSW). This recommendation was made on the basis that RWL was more able to meet the diverse needs of the RTCS audience. Business records indicate RWL was a business name registered by GWN or related entities. The Western RCTS licence was subsequently operated by Golden West Satellite Communications P/L.51

Box 7.1  Sixth liminal moment

The government’s decision to introduce a zonal RCTS operated by the regionals, rather than a national beam controlled by the metropolitan networks, was the sixth liminal moment in regional commercial television. In many respects, it gave the regionals a sense of confidence for the future, as many believed the RCTS could provide the means by which to increase viewer choice while maintaining the status quo and keeping the predatory networking designs of the metropolitan stations at bay.

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Queensland Satellite Television (QSL), which comprised most Queensland metropolitan and regional stations, was granted the North Eastern zone licence. The Tribunal noted that, although a licence grant to QSL would further concentrate media at both national and regional levels, such considerations were secondary to ensuring a viable service.52 Similarly, the South East zone licence was awarded to a consortium of regional commercial stations in New South Wales, Victoria, and Tasmania. This consortium comprised the licensees for BCV/GLV, BTV/GMV, CTC, CBN/CWN, MTN, NBN, NEN/ECN, NRN/RTN, RVN/AMV, STV, TNT/TVT, and WIN.  The Sydney and Melbourne metropolitan stations had been approached but declined to join SSE. The group proposed to construct an RCTS studio facility adjacent to but separate from those of CTC.  This would be linked to the AUSSAT earth station at Canberra. But the ABT was concerned at the lack of program information including the provision of special interest material for Aboriginal and other groups. While acknowledging the importance of local production, the Tribunal also recognised such practicalities were tempered by the economics of RTCS operation.53 The Central zone licence was, according to Wendy Bell, granted to Imparja Television after a “legendary battle”. Imparja is significant as it was the first Aboriginal-controlled commercial television station in the world, with a transmission footprint larger than western Europe (Table 7.1).54 In the context of these changes, it is worth noting the shift in purpose and function of Australian Television Facilities from a program acquirer, producer, and distributor to that of a lobby group which actively represented the interests of regional commercial television stations. In February 1980, the combine was renamed Regional Television Australia P/L (RTA) to better reflect this new focus. According to former RTA chairman (and Table 7.1  RCTS licences

a

Licence (by callsign and locality)

Licensee (abbreviation used hereafter)

WAW Western Zone QQQ North Eastern Zone IMP Central Zone N/A South Eastern Zone

Golden West Satellite Communications P/L (GWL) Queensland Satellite Television (QSL) Imparja Television (IML) Satellite South East (SSE)a

SSE handed back the Eastern Zone RCTS licence prior to commencement

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FACTS deputy chairman) David Astley, this was due in part to the latter organisation being dominated by the metropolitan networks.55 But the zonal RCTS was a major defeat for the networks, especially Kerry Packer, who had hoped to use the satellite to realise the ambitions of his father, Sir Frank Packer, to beam Nine’s signal to the entire country. As we will see in Chap. 8, this determination would ultimately result in the most significant structural changes in Australian—and particularly regional—television since it was introduced in the 1950s.

Station Operations The introduction of colour, as we have seen, proved to be the most significant technological development to shape the industry since the inception of television itself. This was especially so for regional stations, where the return on revenue was, according to Nick Herd, “extraordinary”.56 By most measures, regional stations enjoyed high levels of productivity and profitability in comparison to their metropolitan counterparts. By the mid-1980s, most stations routinely commenced service from around 7.00am.57 Hours had substantially increased, to an average of 116 each week, by mid-1986.58 Many stations undertook 24-hour broadcasts for the first time. BTV/GMV, for example, provided continuous coverage of the Los Angeles Olympics in mid-1984, in conjunction with Network Ten.59 National advertising rose to 72 per cent, with the balance from direct station sales mostly to local advertisers. The average 60-second spot rate in peak viewing had increased to around $358. Paid “shopping guide” segments were common. CBN/CWN produced That’s Entertainment, an occasional, up to twice daily, five-minute promotion of local pubs, clubs, and restaurants, and Real Estate Action, a similar facility for local property agents.60 Local audience share in peak viewing increased slightly, to 67 per cent. In comparison, the major Sydney commercial stations each held around 30 per cent local share in peak viewing in their respective markets. The ABC’s average regional audience share in peak viewing was just 18 per cent. Overlap from other commercial stations averaged 15 per cent.61 These results arguably demonstrate the importance of localism, particularly in relation to programming, to regional audiences at that time. Stations had, to this time, used either their callsign, channel number, or a combination of both when promoting themselves to advertisers and on air. By the early 1980s, promotional networks had largely adopted

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consistent branding and identification across member stations.62 TNQ/FNQ was known as “NQTV”. In 1982, CBN/CWN and relay partner MTN were re-identified as “MidState Television”. By 1983, BTV/ GMV were known as the “Six Network” as both stations, which were under common ownership, operated on Channel 6.63 SES, which received programs on relay from BTV, restyled its “Channel 8” logo to match that used by the rest of the network.64 BCV/GLV (Bendigo/Traralgon Vic) and relay partner STV adopted “Southern Cross TV8” branding.65 RVN/AMV, which had been acquired by health care magnate Paul Ramsay, were promoted as “The Prime Network”.66 In early 1986, CBN/CWN joined Prime for marketing purposes but remained under separate ownership.67 The latter also maintained its long-term association with MTN.68 GET, which comprised stations in northern New South Wales and southern Queensland, ceased operation on 30 June 1986. DDQ/SDQ then joined with other stations to establish Queensland Regional Television (QRTV).69 A short-lived combine, NETwork, involving NEN/ECN, NRN/RTN, and NBN, was abandoned in 1987.70 Stand-alone stations also updated their branding. As early as 1979, SEQ had adopted the “Sunshine Television” brand.71 By 1982, MVQ was known as “Tropical Television”.72 CTC rebranded as “Capital 7”. Jingles and slogans were also created for on-air identification and promotional purposes. BTV was “Living Your Kind of Life”.73 By the mid-1980s, NQTV stations TNQ/FNQ were “The Place to Be”. WIN adopted the catchline “Top 40 Television” for promoting general programming.74

Personnel Staff numbers, too, had increased to an average of 66 by the mid-1980s. Most continued to be employed in program-related roles.75 CBN operated a dual-media newsroom, in which journalists would also produce news for the company’s radio station. Similarly, 2GZ announcers would present CBN’s lunchtime MidState Newsbrief updates, the Early Shift Saturday morning children’s program and the That’s Entertainment shopping guide.76 Regional stations continued to nurture up-and-coming talent. Mark Ferguson launched his television career at NEN. He later worked at the Seven, then Nine networks, before returning to Seven in 2014 as weeknight presenter for Seven News Sydney. Kylie Gillies also began her career at the Tamworth station before achieving national prominence as co-host

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of Seven’s The Morning Show, alongside Larry Emdur. Peter Greste commenced his journalism career at GMV in the mid-1980s. He later joined ADS Adelaide before working as a freelance journalist with BBC, CNN, and Al Jazeera. Steven Jacobs and Ashley Paske both started out at WIN, where they appeared on Kid’s News. Jacobs went on to achieve prominence on the Nine’s Network sitcom, All Together Now, and later as a weather presenter on Today. Paske later appeared in the drama series A County Practice (Seven) and soap operas Richmond Hill and Neighbours (Ten). Cameraman Richard Moran began his career at GMV. Moran later worked in the Canberra press gallery for the Nine Network before working as a freelance cameraman in Hong Kong and China. In 2003, he joined the Nine Network’s Los Angeles bureau.77 Stations continued to provide much-needed support to local charities and community groups to an extent which might not otherwise be achievable.78 In 1981, WIN partnered with the Bank of New South Wales (later Westpac) to sponsor an air-sea rescue helicopter in the Illawarra.79 NRN/RTN’s Telethon ‘81 aimed to raise $500,000 for 11 branches of the Sub-Normal Children’s Association in the viewing area.80 In 1984, CBN/CWN provided free airtime worth almost $850,000 across its television and radio stations.81 The following year, TNQ/FNQ televised 6,596 and 6,621 community service announcements respectively, worth $1.54 million.82 NBN’s Telethon ‘83 and Telethon ‘85 collectively raised $4.4 million to equip Newcastle’s Mater Hospital oncology unit. Plans were also made for Telethon ‘87 to support the Hunter Life Drug Education Program.83 NEN/ECN received more than $400,000 in pledges for the Challenge Foundation and Crippled Children’s Society in 1985.84 Station promotions included Wheel of Fortune (SEQ), a weekly wheel competition which gave away prizes including cars.85 Promotional activities also included sponsorship of major community events. In 1982, WIN sponsored Carols by Candlelight and the Festival of Wollongong. The company also initiated “Employ One More”, a job promotion scheme, as well as a series of commercials promoting “Girls in Trades”.86 The following year, NEN/ECN was a major sponsor of the Great Eastland Television Grafton to Inverell Cycle Classic, Manning River Aquatic Festival, Port Macquarie Carnival of the Pines, and Tamworth Dramafest.87 Many stations including CBN/CWN and NRN/RTN operated work experience programs for high school and tertiary students.88 NRN/RTN provided a financial contribution to the AJA’s Pamela Miller Memorial Scholarship. Regional stations, through FACTS, also contributed to

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NIDA scholarships as a means of demonstrating commitment to developing Australian talent.89 NEN conducted tours of its studio and, in 1981, produced a film depicting station operation for distribution to schools and other local groups.90

Technical Operations The impending structural changes of the late 1970s and early 1980s coincided with a range of technical initiatives such as Teletext, stereo and three-dimensional (3-D) television. Teletext, which had been tested by the Seven Network since the 1970s, was gradually introduced on relay to some regional areas. In April 1983, CTC launched Seventext, including more than 300 pages arranged into four “magazines”, comprising news, lifestyle, TAB racing, and community information. Decoders for existing television sets cost around $350.91 In October 1983, CTC became one of the first regional stations to examine the possibilities of 3-D television. It televised The 3-D Television Experience, which featured a Three Stooges short comedy, Pardon My Backfire, and Fort Ti, a Western movie. Special 3-D viewing glasses were available for $1 from retailers in Canberra, Queanbeyan, Yass, Goulburn, and Cooma.92 Such efforts predated a revival in 3-D cinema in the mid-1980s and were undoubtedly intended to appeal to younger audiences. Stereo television, too, was intended to increase the medium’s public appeal.93 In late 1983, Minister Duffy approved the West German Dual Carrier System (DCS) for use in Australian stereo telecasts following laboratory and on-air tests.94 The first regional stereo television transmissions commenced at WIN in 1984.95 From the early 1980s, stations introduced one-inch videotape operation in place of the more cumbersome two-inch quadruplex videotape equipment in use since the 1960s.96 The new format was more lightweight and offered higher quality and less maintenance downtime. The launch of AUSSAT eventually enabled the delivery of some programs by satellite. In 1986, CBN installed a 6.8 metre satellite dish at its studio for this purpose. The company also anticipated using the system for multi-channel reception and the future uplinking of data, voice, and radio circuits.97 News gathering was enhanced through various technical innovations. By the early 1980s, electronic news-gathering (ENG) equipment had become more lightweight and portable, reducing the delay between capturing and broadcasting material.98 By 1982, ENG had largely replaced the use of film at many stations including NEN, which resulted in better

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technical quality and greater speed of stories to air.99 In 1984, RVN/AMV installed Basys Inc’s News Fury system for compiling news copy, on-air scripts, production rundowns, and teleprompter displays. The system was also used to prepare advertising copy.100 ABS (BTV/GMV) became, in 1983, the second regional commercial television station after NBN to acquire a helicopter. The Hughes 500 aircraft was primarily used for newsgathering, community service and television production as well as some promotional activities for radio station 3MP.101 The technical operation of stations was generally satisfactory although there were occasional breaks in transmission. In June 1987, BKN was forced to cease transmission after a breakdown at its parent station, GTS. This situation was compounded by a lack of standby programs which prevented BKN from operating on its own. On 12 October, BKN was again put off air because of a progressive fault in the transmitter. This malfunction later caused a fire in the major power supply module which rendered the station inoperable for three days from 7 November.102 The number of translator stations also rose significantly. In 1983, the ABT granted both commercial and ABC television translator licences to two commercial television licensees for the first time. These were granted to CBL (CBN/CWN) to serve areas of Lithgow,103 and MKL (MVQ) to serve Glendon and the Newlands mine site.104 There were 193 regional commercial translator stations in operation by mid-1988, just prior to aggregation.105 Stations including CBN/CWN would often promote the reach of their translator networks by televising rolling footage of the areas concerned at the start and end of daily transmission.106 In several cases, metropolitan service areas were extended to include communities which might previously have been considered as regional in nature. In 1981, translator licences for Warburton and Marysville, on the outskirts of Melbourne, were granted to ATV, GTV, and HSV. VBN (BCV/GLV) also applied for Warburton since the Upper Yarra Shire was effectively part of the existing GLV service area. VBN later withdrew its application on the basis that “only stations who have been defined to serve an area should be deemed valid and proper applicants for translators in that area”. Interestingly, the three Melbourne stations jointly established Melbourne Translator Facility P/L to manage the translator sites.107 In 1982, BTQ, QTQ, TVQ, and RTN were each granted translator licences for Mount Tambourine, Tugan Hill, and Razorback Mountain to serve the Gold Coast of Queensland and parts of northern NSW.108

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Similarly, translator licences to serve Gosford, Wyrrabalang, and Bouddi were granted to ATN, TCN, TEN (Sydney, NSW), and NBN (Newcastle, NSW) in 1986 after the Gosford-Wyong-Central Coast area was determined to be part of the Sydney television catchment.109 Community groups, too, were granted translator licences. In 1981, the Keiwa Valley Television Reception Committee was awarded commercial and national translator licences to serve Tawonga South and Mountain Creek Valley near Bright. Commercial programs were received from AMV (Albury, NSW).110 In mid-1983, the ITQ Gunpowder (Qld) translator, licenced to Gunpowder Copper, was found to have been stripped of its equipment and abandoned following closure of the mine site. The licence lapsed in July 1984. In January 1985, ITQ was granted a translator licence for Cloncurry. But in April, station management asked the ABT to allow this licence, along with that for the Mary Kathleen mining settlement, to also lapse. This was due to technical difficulties which prevented the signal being rebroadcast from Mary Kathleen to Cloncurry as well as the prohibitively high cost of installing a Telecom bearer.111

Financial Performance The combination of low program acquisition and production costs, coupled with increases in advertising revenue, enabled regional stations to generate a return on investment that, in many cases, far exceeded that of the metropolitan stations. While the average profit margin had, by the mid-1980s, declined slightly to around 25 per cent, the profitability at some stations was more than double this figure.112 Notable results included CTC (41 per cent), TNQ/FNQ (42 per cent), and MVQ (67 per cent). In contrast, the net profit ratio at metropolitan stations was around seven per cent.113 Stations continued to diversify their business interests. Radio remained an attractive and long-term investment for many given the pending structural changes in television. In 1984, TNL (NEN/ECN) acquired 2TM, 2MO, and 2RE and a half-share in 2AD.114 However, other operators disposed of their radio licences to concentrate on emerging developments in television. TQL (TNQ/FNQ), for example, sold radio station 4AY to Macquarie Broadcasting in 1984.115 Still other television stations expanded into non-media businesses. In 1980, 15 regional television companies

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formed Telmak Teleproducts, a direct marketing company which primarily sold budget music CDs and kitchenware.116 Telmak also reportedly differed from its main competitors including K-tel in that it was just as concerned with booking advertising time on regional stations in light periods as it was with product sales.117 But by 1982, the venture had failed and receivers were appointed.118 In 1983, CBL (CBN/CWN) acquired the Mid State Travel agency in Dubbo.119 TNL (NEN/ECN) purchased the Musicland Motel and Cattleman’s Steakhouse at Tamworth in 1985.120 STL (SES) acquired a major shareholding in Fidler and Webb, Mount Gambier’s largest and oldest department store, in 1986.121 TWL (WIN) had also expended into residential and commercial property through its WIN Properties subsidiary.122 Further efforts were made by regional operators to acquire control of metropolitan stations. In late 1981 and early 1982, ENL (TNT Launceston, Tas), through a series of transactions, acquired TTL (TVT Hobart, Tas).123 The acquisition established ENL as the state’s sole commercial television operator. TNT was subsequently known as Tas TV North while TVT became Tas TV South.124 In September 1983, Bruce Gordon’s TWL (WIN), through its Capricornia Television Corporation subsidiary, launched a takeover bid for BTQ Brisbane.125 This resulted in a bidding war with BTQ’s largest shareholder, Fairfax. In late December, TWT withdrew from the acquisition and accepted Fairfax’s offer for its 30 per cent holding.126 DTL (DDQ/SDQ) embarked on what was arguably the most ambitious expansion of this period. In the mid-1980s, the company developed the concept of Teleauctions, for the sale of sheep and cattle, with agricultural company Primac. It planned to conduct 12 sales in the first year, to be relayed to regional stations including Cairns and Griffith. The following year, the company established Video Ten, a Brisbane-based training and corporate video production unit. DTL also acquired almost all shares in Chalford P/L, an investment company which held an almost 60 per cent interest in several British commercial radio stations. By 1988, DTL had also acquired the UK-based Crown Television which was merged with Chalford to form Crown Communications Group PLC.  Locally, Video Ten was rebranded as Crown Studios.127 As we will see, DTL’s overseas expansion plans would, within a couple of years, prove to have been too ambitious and result in the company’s collapse.128

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Programs The first half of the 1980s saw an increase in the proportion of regional airtime devoted to news, current affairs, and light entertainment, with decreases in drama, sport, and children’s programs.129 Imported content fell to around 40 per cent of total programs (Fig. 7.1).132 This included children’s cartoon series The Smurfs, He-Man, and She-Ra: Princess of Power; sitcoms The Cosby Show and Family Ties; drama series Dallas and Dynasty; crime dramas Knight Rider and Murder, She Wrote; sci-fi comedy/ drama Greatest American Hero; and action-adventure series The A-Team. Re-runs of 1960s sitcoms Bewitched, Hogan’s Heroes, I Dream of Jeannie, Get Smart, and Daniel Boone were common. British series such as the soap opera Coronation Street and children’s series Follyfoot were also aired.130 Australian content acquired from the metropolitan networks increased to around 50 per cent of total programs.131 Nine was the largest supplier, followed by Seven and Ten. Programs included The Mike Walsh Show, The Sullivans, Sale of the Century, and Here’s Humphrey (Nine Network); A Country Practice, Sons and Daughters, Kingswood Country, and Wombat (Seven Network); and Simon Townsend’s Wonder World, It’s a Knockout, Henderson Kids, and Perfect Match (Ten Network). Much of this material was taken on relay. CBN/CWN, for example, took more than 53 hours of news and programs via microwave link each week. These included National Nine News, Morning News, Sunday, Business Sunday, 60 Minutes, Wide World of Sport, Here’s Humphrey, and Midday (Nine Network); Sounds (Seven); and Monday Night Football (Ten). Special event relays included

Fig. 7.1  Regional commercial television, program sources, 1986. Copyright Michael Thurlow

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the TV Week Logie Awards and coverage of the Olympic Games.132 Nevertheless, some programs such as imported serials which, unlike news, were not time dependent, continued to be received as road or rail freight.133 Locally produced content accounted for around seven per cent of total programs.130 This represented a minor increase in the proportion of programs produced by regional stations in their own studios between 1981 and 1986 (see Chap. 1, Fig. 1.1). However, the amount of time devoted to locally produced content actually increased by 50 per cent, from around five to seven-and-a-half hours each week, in the same period. As we will shortly see, regional station output in this period was arguably more diverse than at any other time. This increase in locally produced and sometimes innovative program formats coupled with the sector’s continued prosperity arguably marks the early 1980s as the second “golden age” of regional commercial television.134 Content from independent producers and other sources accounted for around three per cent of total programs. RTA continued to commission programs including The Prime Ministers, a four-part documentary which examined how Australia’s leaders, from Sir Edmund Barton to Bob Hawke, had shaped the country’s destiny (Box 7.2).135 Other RTA-contributed series included It’s an Odd Country, which featured a wide range of curiosities from across regional Australia (Box 7.3). Episodes included “Man Eating Quakers”, “Catching Camels”, “Goat Racing”, and “One Hundred and Forty Apple Varieties”.136

Box 7.2  The Prime Ministers

• Type: Audio-visual recording • Produced by: Regional Television Australia P/L, 1983 • NFSA reference: 138289

Box 7.3  It’s an Odd Country

• Type: Audio-visual recording • Produced by: Independent Television Production Group (ITPG), 1981 • NFSA reference: 138350

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RTA member stations also contributed to the production costs of major series, including All The Rivers Run (based on the mini-series of the same name), The Flying Doctors, and The Henderson Kids, as well as the 1985 feature film Fortress.137 Regional Television News Australia (RTNA) continued to package stories for member stations from Canberra. As former RTNA journalist Sharon Carleton (née Sullivan) recalls, “We reckon it was the smallest bureau with the largest reach … For the regionals it was terrific having a minister or the Prime Minister … talking to their people”.138 The early 1980s saw the re-introduction of network breakfast television programs.139 On 2 March 1981, Network Ten commenced production of Good Morning Australia, hosted by Gordon Elliott and Sue Kellaway.140 On 28 June 1982, the Nine Network started producing The National Today Show, hosted by Steve Liebmann (ex-CTC) and Sue Kellaway (who had moved to Nine from Ten).141 This period was also, as noted by Liz Jacka and Lesley Johnson, the “heyday” of Australian-produced mini-series.142 Many, such as A Town Like Alice (1981), All the Rivers Run (1983), and For the Term of His Natural Life (1983) featured the familiar themes of triumph over adversity, particularly the harsh natural environment. Others, such as The Dismissal (1983), Bodyline (1984), and The Cowra Breakout (1984), recounted prominent events in the nation’s history.143 Return to Eden (1983), which sought to emulate the drama of popular American soap operas Dallas and Dynasty, was a notable exception.

Production As mentioned previously, regional stations responded to impending structural changes and inevitable competition with a new-found focus on localism. This mostly consisted of news and current affairs, family, children’s, light entertainment, and sport programs, as well as documentaries.130 Several new formats, including locally produced morning, travel, and lifestyle programs, were also introduced. Most production efforts remained focused on news, including news magazine programs (42 per cent). NBN, the largest regional station, was arguably the most prolific news producer, with a 60-minute evening bulletin Monday to Friday and a 30-minute bulletin at weekends. News

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updates were broadcast at 10.23am, 11.55am, 1.30pm, and 2.30pm on weekdays; 12.58pm on Saturdays; and 12.13pm on Sundays. A five-­ minute update was aired at 8.30pm weeknights. The station also negotiated with the producers of Good Morning Australia (TEN) to replace all five news breaks in that program with NBN inserts. This was preceded by a 10-minute locally produced morning news bulletin. The station employed 16 journalists and spent more than $2.5 million per year on news production by 1986.144 Most stations provided a 20- to 30-minute bulletin each weeknight.145 In 1982, CBN/CWN rebranded its local bulletin as MidState Television News, in line with the introduction of “MidState Television” branding for CBN/CWN and relay partner MTN.146 The pre-recorded bulletin was presented by Roger Dunn and televised at 6.00pm weeknights. The branding was later shortened to MidState News.147 CBN’s newsroom, under the leadership of news editor Peter Andren, provided a training ground for many young journalists who were graduating from Mitchell College of Advanced Education (later Charles Sturt University) in Bathurst. These included Angelos Frangopoulos (Box 7.4), who credits the progressive nature of the newsroom, where journalists were rostered to work four weeks on television and three weeks on radio, as encouraging smarter ways of making television.148 Frangopoulos would later become chief executive for the start-up of both Australian News Channel, operated by Sky News Australia, and GB News.149 In 1985, BTV/GMV rebranded their local Six News service as News Centre Six (Box 7.5).150 This included a new set, graphics, and opener. Bulletins were presented by Craig Campbell and Rob Gaylard in Ballarat with Geoff Vallance and Kerry Bell in Shepparton.151 The latter service included identical twins Rod and Don Kilgour, who presented sport on a rotating basis.152 Intriguingly, News Centre Six was one of the few Australian commercial television stations ever to adopt the American practice of providing full production credits at the end of each bulletin.153

Box 7.4  Angelos Frangopoulos

• Type: Oral history interview • Interviewed by: Malcolm Smith, 2012 • NFSA reference: 1105853

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Box 7.5  News Centre Six

• Type: Audio-visual recording • Produced by: GMV Goulburn Valley (Shepparton, Vic), 1986 • NFSA reference: 49552 Peter Greste recalls GMV being a perfect place to learn the most basics of television journalism: We learned how to make otherwise dull stories interesting for local audiences; we learned how to plan, shoot, write and edit stories with extraordinary efficiency; and above all, I had a chance to experiment with my own on-camera technique and develop a distinctive reporting style. That’s something I could never have done in a bigger and more competitive commercial newsroom.154

As we have already seen, SEQ had attracted much criticism for not providing a local news service. At its 1983 licence renewal, the station maintained there was no demand for such a service. Management dismissed parts of its service areas as “exceptionally parochial in attitude” and remarked that a local news service similar to that provided in other regional areas was “more likely to be a divisive than a uniting factor”. The ABT found there was a strong case for SEQ to provide “some kind” of local service. It gave “serious consideration” to imposing a condition on the SEQ licence which would require the station to provide a local news service of at least 15 minutes duration each day. Although the Tribunal did not proceed with this condition as it was reluctant to intervene directly in program arrangements, this appears to be the first time that thought was given to regulating the provision of regional commercial television news. By November 1984, SEQ was providing a 15-minute daily news service, which was subsequently increased to 20 minutes.155 Two incidents at CBN illustrate the technical and editorial challenges associated with producing news. The first involved inadvertently transmitting an expletive in a pre-recorded weather segment in the nightly news bulletin. At the time of pre-recording this insert on 8 August 1984, the presenter—a station journalist—made an error and reacted by swearing. The videotape was stopped then restarted before recording the weather bulletin. But the tape was mis-cued and the first, incomplete recording containing the expletive was accidentally put to air. The ABT found the

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station had breached section 118 of the Broadcasting and Television Act and would consider this at the next licence renewal hearing. In response, CBN’s general manager, Ian Ridley, cited pressure on the duty director from the late arrival of news items, overlength items, and co-ordination issues as the primary cause. The journalist and duty director were both reprimanded and suspended for four weeks.156 The second incident involved an editorial decision to reveal the HIV/ AIDS status of a local man. In August 1986, MidState News reported that Jim Brunker, editor of the Wellington Voice, a small but controversial local newspaper, had collapsed and died at his home. Journalist Keiran McLeonard disclosed that Brunker had AIDS and had tested positive to syphilis. She also reported that Brunker’s body had been placed in isolation, as “no doctor in Australia will perform an autopsy on an AIDS sufferer” (Box 7.6).157 The Bathurst (NSW) Regional AIDS Committee expressed concern at “unnecessary, irrelevant and potentially alarmist and irresponsible elements” in the report. A complaint was also lodged with the ABT. In response, news editor Peter Andren stated that Brunker had previously “taken a high moral ground” on various issues and had chosen to link AIDS with the Indigenous community. In this context, the station decided that, while “sometimes the truth is distasteful”, it was in the public interest to publicise the circumstances surrounding Brunker’s death as advised by the coroner and police. The ABT subsequently determined that no breach of the Television Program Standards had occurred.158 Family programs (17 per cent) comprised a dizzying array of cooking, magazine, and lifestyle programs directed at women. A major development was the introduction of locally produced morning magazine programs. The Morning Show (BTV/GMV), a daily magazine-style program, was televised at 11.30am on weekdays. The Ballarat edition commenced in 1983 and was hosted by Jenny Tudor.159 A Shepparton edition, which began in 1984, was presented by Jan Deane (Box 7.7), and later Tony Lynas.160

Box 7.6  MidState News

• Type: Audio-visual recording • Produced by: CBN Central Tablelands (Orange, NSW), 1986 • NFSA reference: 49561

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Box 7.7  The Morning Show, Jan Deane

• Type: Audio-visual recording • Produced by: GMV Goulburn Valley (Shepparton, Vic), 1985 • NFSA reference: 63823

Box 7.8  Wednesday Magazine, Denise Drysdale

• Type: Audio-visual recording • Produced by: GLV Latrobe Valley (Traralgon, Vic), 1988 • NFSA reference: 1072436

Box 7.9  Round About, Hazel Phillips

• Type: Audio-visual recording • Produced by: NRN Grafton-Kempsey (Coffs Harbour, NSW), 1984 • NFSA reference: 138251 Wednesday Magazine (GLV), a 30-minute infotainment program hosted by well-known television personality Denise Drysdale, was produced for Southern Cross TV8 from their Traralgon studio for one season in 1988 (Box 7.8).161 Round About (NRN/RTN) was a 30-minute chat show which covered current affairs, cooking, sewing, craft, music, and politics. It included contributions from NRTV’s Coffs Harbour, Gold Coast, and Lismore studios and was hosted by Gloria Vogelsinger, Rhonda Sharratt, and veteran television personality Hazel Phillips (Box 7.9).162 Similar formats, presented as part of the afternoon schedule, included 2.30 Live (TNQ/FNQ), a daily, 30-minute production hosted by newsreader John Hurst, then April Dwyer. It was later renamed North Queensland Today and presented by Barry Coleman at 10.30am weekdays.163 Similar programs included Rendezvous (NEN/ECN), Coffee Break (DDQ) with Rod Warren, and Woman’s World and Feminine Touch, both presented at RTQ by Wendy Mulry. Bird Talk (SEQ) was a weekly, 30-minute Beauty

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and the Beast-style panel discussion hosted by Jim Sweeney.164 Grape Vine (SEQ), a daily, 15-minute chat show, was hosted by Ray Marsh and Jan Daniels.165 A notable number of regional “women’s” programs were presented by men. These arguably sought to emulate formats established by the metropolitan stations with programs such as The Mike Walsh Show (Ten, later Nine) and The Midday Show with Ray Martin (Nine). Cooking programs included Inside Dooley’s Kitchen (SEQ), sponsored by a prominent Noosa seafood restaurant and reportedly intended to raise the station’s profile on parts of the Sunshine Coast.166 Bernard King presented King in the Kitchen, a series of five-minute cooking segments produced at RVN’s Wagga Wagga studio in 1986.166 Personal fitness programs capitalised on the worldwide craze for aerobics which followed the release of Jane Fonda’s Workout video in 1982.167 Jazzercise with Jo Anne (WIN) was a 30-minute exercise program presented by Jo Anne Cracknell with instructors Carol Westwood and Carolyn Keating.168 The first series, of 65 episodes, was produced at the Wollongong studios and aired on WIN and other stations in 1981.169 A further 65 episodes were produced in 1984 in partnership with the Queensland Tourist and Travel Corporation. Segments were shot at locations including Cairns, Townsville, Toowoomba, the Whitsundays, and the Gold Coast. This second series was compered by Cracknell with instructors Sandy Brine, Ros McPherson, and Sharon Wilson.170 The program was televised by stations including WIN, RVN/AMV, CBN/CWN, and CTC.171 Similar programs included Jazzercise (NRN) hosted by Jan Strom (Box 7.10), Shape Up (SEQ),172 and Jazzfitness (NBN).173 Travelcade (TNQ), presented by Rick Anderton and Angela Brown, was arguably Australia’s first weekly travel program. It featured pre-­ packaged and on location segments at various tourist destinations. A sponsored segment, “Getaway”, reportedly inspired the long-running Nine Network program of the same name.174 Similar formats included Trav’l Tips (NRN), which was commissioned by GET member stations in 1986. Box 7.10  Jazzercise, Jan Strom

• Type: Photograph • Produced by: NRN Grafton-Kempsey (Coffs Harbour, NSW), c.1983 • NFSA reference: 529034

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Box 7.11  Trav’l Tips, Paul Sharratt

• Type: Audio-visual recording • Produced by: NRN Grafton-Kempsey (Coffs Harbour, NSW), 1986 • NFSA reference: 49796 This program featured discussions with travel agents and “travelogue” material presented by veteran television producer Paul Sharratt (Box 7.11). NRN provided production staff and facilities, and all Australian location scenes were filmed by its crews. 175 The heavily advertorial Travel Time with Jayes (NBN) continued to be presented on behalf of NBN’s Jayes Travel Service subsidiary by Helga Saxarra.176 Children continued to be a major focus of local program production, mostly due to the ABT’s content requirements (10 per cent).177 Several stations, including NBN and NEN/ECN, established children’s program committees to assist with ascertaining community standards and expectations.178 Such efforts were also likely to have been intended to signal stations’ commitment in this area to the regulator. NBN, in particular, invested considerable resources in local children’s programs. In addition to its weekday morning Breakfast Club and the long-running Romper Room, the station produced Big Dog and Friends, a live Saturday morning program hosted by the eponymous station mascot, who had recently assumed that role from Buttons the Cat. The program included segments on regional events and attractions, educational and craft activities, pet care and animal awareness, and music and entertainment. In quite an innovation, NBN facilitated instant feedback from viewers, with a bank of telephones manned by children invited to the studio. Big Dog—who received several thousand mail items each day—also featured in specially produced Children to Bed announcements scheduled nightly at 7.30pm.179 Kid’s Army (TNQ/FNQ) was initially presented from a large canvas tent complete with camouflage nets. The military theme was unsurprising given the location of a large defence base in the Townsville region.180 Hosts included Gina Pickering, Kerrie Wilson, and Athol Marsh as “Sergeant Major Forthright” with his Chihuahua, “Killer”.181 By the mid-­1980s, production had been centralised in Townsville, where the program adopted an adventure theme and was hosted by Scott Hunt and his

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Box 7.12  Kid’s Army

• Type: Audio-visual recording • Produced by: TNQ Townsville (Qld), 1985 • NFSA reference: 514434 Border-Collie, “Kenny Dog Wonder”. Segments were occasionally shot in Cairns and further afield including New Zealand (Box 7.12).182 The program was later presented by Angela Brown who went on to co-host Totally Wild, a similarly themed program, for Network Ten.183 Ace (WIN), televised at 3.30pm weekdays, included cartoons and coverage of local school and community activities. It was hosted by Meredith Melville-Jones and “Space Ace”, a hand-operated pelican controlled by Bud Stephenson.184 WIN’s Ace Club was one of the last commercial television children’s clubs to operate, with 12,000 members enrolled by mid-1981. The station regularly hosted a panel of 10–15-year-olds at its studio to discuss and examine developments in children’s television.185 WIN also produced the weekly magazine Kid’s News, which was aimed at 6–12-year-olds, hosted by Steve Jacobs with reporters including Ashley Paske. The program travelled to international destinations including Los Angeles and London. In the latter case, cast members visited locations featured in the well-known boardgame, Monopoly.186 KTV, a TNT/TVT co-production, was similar in format to Simon Townsend’s Wonder World and featured segments on indoor and outdoor activities of interest to younger audiences.187 Hosts included Leisl Hillhouse. The program was televised by several regional stations including CTC, CBN/CWN, RVN/AMV, and WIN. Razzamataz, produced at NRN, featured cartoons and other segments hosted live by Rhonda Logan on weekday afternoons.188 Children’s characters remained popular and included Howie the Yowie (TNT), Buttons the Cat, and Big Dog (NBN). Constable Kenny (CTC), a koala hand puppet, was especially busy, providing instruction on important topics such as road safety in Constable Kenny’s Casebook, Junior Police 7, and Constable Kenny on Duty. Light entertainment had increased to around 10 per cent of local production, and consisted of talent, variety, and an increasing number of

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Box 7.13  Six’s Super Saturday Show, Glenn Ridge

• Type: Audio-visual recording • Produced by: BTV Ballarat (Vic), 1985 • NFSA reference: 63896

Box 7.14  Saturday Morning Live

• Type: Audio-visual recording • Produced by: CTC Canberra (ACT), 1986 • NFSA reference: 569814 country music and hosted music video programs. Saturday morning programs aimed predominantly at children but entertaining for the whole family was also commonplace. Chris’s Super Saturday Show (GMV), hosted by Chris Eddy,189 comprised cartoons, competitions, video clips and viewer participation. This was later reorganised as Six’s Super Saturday Show, a three-hour program televised at 7.20am on Saturdays. Solus editions were hosted by Glenn Ridge in Ballarat (Box 7.13), and Lisa Worley and Don Nicholson in Shepparton.190 Early Shift (CBN), a live, two-hour children’s program presented each Saturday from 8.00am, featured cartoons, competitions, and giveaways. Hosts included Janelle Chapman.191 The Early Shift format was later adopted for a 30-minute children’s program televised each weekday morning and repeated, as Afternoon Shift, at 3.30pm.192 Saturday Morning Live (CTC) adopted a similar format and was hosted by 2CC announcers Cameron Humphries and Donna Lynch, with Rowdy Rabbit (Box 7.14).193 BTV continued to live up to its informal title as the home of regional variety programs. National television personality Daryl Somers was engaged to host Showbiz ‘81 and Showbiz ‘82 on behalf of BCV/GLV/ STV, BTV/GMV, and SES.194 The long-running Six Tonight ceased production in November 1981 after 397 episodes. Tonight with Ernie Sigley, hosted by the eponymous entertainer, commenced in June 1982 in conjunction with other regional Victoria commercial stations. Six Showcase, a

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Box 7.15  Thursday Night Live

• Type: Audio-visual recording • Produced by: BTV Ballarat (Vic), 1984 • NFSA reference: 63943 30-minute weekly regional talent quest, was co-produced by BTV/GMV and adopted a similar format to Star Quest, which had previously been produced in Shepparton.195 RVN/AMV engaged entertainer Stuart Wagstaff to host movies on two nights each week.196 Six Tonight, again hosted by Fred Fargher, returned in 1983 before being renamed Thursday Night Live (Box 7.15)197 The latter program was carried by the Six Network (BTV/GMV), Southern Cross TV8 (BCV/GLV/STV), and SES to a potential audience of one million people.198 Music programs featuring current “hit” singles were intended to appeal to younger viewers. Airwaves (TNQ) was presented by Gina Pickering and later 4TO announcer Steve “Pricey” Price.199 The video clips format was later expanded to include studio and location interviews with touring bands. Sponsorship and prizes were provided by a local retailer, Pet Sounds.200 Rock Till Dawn (CTC), a music video show hosted by Ron Cooper, aired on Fridays and Saturdays from 1985.201 This program pre-­ dated the emergence of several well-known late-night network music programs, including Nine’s MTV (used under licence from Viacom), hosted by Richard Wilkins and Joy Smithers, and the ABC’s Rage, both of which commenced in April 1987. Other popular music clip programs included Hit Pick (RTQ) and Music Express (RTS). Country music has long appealed to regional audiences. According to Eric Watson, the genre had its roots in protest songs concerned with escaped convicts turned bushrangers who assumed a hero status among deprived sections of colonial society.202 Several stations sought to capitalise on what Toby Martin calls the “authentic sentimentality” of the genre by producing weekly country music programs.203 Nick Erby’s Country Close-up (CTC) ran to 39 episodes over three seasons between 1980 and 1982. The program comprised recorded performances and interviews with artists produced in the Canberra studio (Box 7.16).204

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Box 7.16  Nick Erby’s Country Close-up

• Type: Audio-visual recording • Produced by: CTC Canberra (ACT), 1981 • NFSA reference: 812999

Box 7.17  Must Be Country

• Type: Sound recording • Produced by: NEN Upper Namo (Tamworth, NSW)i, 1982 • NFSA reference: 613624 Must Be Country (NEN), a 60-minute program presented by Terry Gordon, featured local artists (Box 7.17).205 The emanation of the latter program from Tamworth is unsurprising, given that city’s mantle as the home of Australian country music.206 Sport programs had decreased to nine per cent of local production. Formats consisted mostly of panel discussions and reviews, as well as outside broadcasts.130 Grandstand (TNQ/FNQ), hosted by Mike Morovich and others, included a roundup of weekly sporting results prior to the VFL Match of the Day as well as locally hosted segments from the Townsville studio at quarter-, half-, and full-time.207 Cairns-based segments, hosted by Steve Elcoate and Peter Roggenkamp, were introduced from April 1986.208 Grandstand (SEQ) was a Sunday afternoon round-up of local sporting results.209 VFL Match of the Day (SEQ) with Ken Bennett provided quarter-by-quarter commentary on the weekly VFL match taken on relay from Melbourne.166 Information programs mostly comprised billboard-style announcements (six per cent). Community Corner (GMV) was a five-minute preview which was televised Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.210 CES Job Shop (GMV) was a weekly information program produced in conjunction with the Commonwealth Employment Service.211 Rural information programs included This Week in Agriculture (BTV), Farming Today (BTW), Rural Roundup (CBN), and Stock Report (STV). Police 7 (CTC), produced in conjunction with the Australian Federal Police, was intended to alert the community to police-related matters from changes in traffic

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Box 7.18  Police 7

• Type: Audio-visual recording • Produced by: CTC Canberra (ACT), c.1987 • NFSA reference: 1623140

Box 7.19  Outlook

• Type: Audio-visual recording • Produced by: GMV Goulburn Valley (Shepparton, Vic), 1985 • NFSA reference: 63920 regulations to serious crime and its prevention (Box 7.18). Junior Police 7 (CTC), designed for children aged between 6 and 13, dealt with safety issues in an entertaining way.212 Religious programs accounted for around three per cent of local production, the lowest since services commenced in the 1960s. These mostly consisted of a filmed program and a nightly epilogue or thought of the day. The most notable exception to this approach was Sounds of Sunday, which continued to be produced by BTV. Current affairs programs, including political matter, accounted for around five per cent of local production. These included This Week (SEQ) hosted by Andrew Carroll, Canberra Report (MVQ), and North West Current Affairs (ITQ). Scope (RVN/AMV) commenced in 1982 and was billed as the station’s “own 60 Minutes team”. It comprised producer/ director David Font, researcher Debbie Braines, reporter Sandra Firth, and cameraman Martin Johnson in Wagga Wagga. A second crew was based in Albury. The program covered stories ranging from an outbreak of golden staph at the local hospital to funnel web spiders in the Bago State Forest.213 Dateline Thursday (TNT/TVT) was a co-production between the Launceston and Hobart stations which, as discussed later in this chapter, were now under common ownership. Outlook (GMV) was a 30-­minute weekly magazine hosted by Geoff Vallance (Box 7.19). It commenced in 1980 and covered a wide range of relevant local issues including drug addiction, wild dog attacks on livestock and the introduction of satellite television.214 By 1985, the program had received two Thorn EMI Awards For TV News.215

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Box 7.20  Hellfire Jack: The John Curtin Story

• Type: Audio-visual recording • Produced by: BTV Ballarat (Vic), 1985 • NFSA reference: 6973

Box 7.21  Goodbye Blinky Bill

• Type: Audio-visual recording • Produced by: NEN Upper Namoi (Tamworth, NSW), 1986 • NFSA reference: 49788

Box 7.22  This Dawning Land, Parts 1–3

• Type: Audio-visual recording • Produced by: SEQ Wide Bay (Maryborough, Qld), 1982 • NFSA reference: 1013712 Regional stations also produced an increasing number of documentaries on a range of topics. Hellfire Jack (BTV), a two-hour documentary on former prime minister John Curtin, was narrated by Leo McKern and broadcast by more than 40 Australian television stations (Box 7.20).216 Goodbye Blinky Bill (NEN), a 30-minute documentary narrated by popular singer-songwriter John Williamson, was shown around Australia to raise funds for koala disease research (Box 7.21).217 GMV’s Ships of Gold, which followed the history of gold dredging in North-East Victoria, and Salt and the Earth, which investigated the causes of salinity in the Goulburn Valley, pointed to the importance of environmental issues to regional viewers.218 This Dawning Land (SEQ) looked at the early settlement of Maryborough, Bundaberg, and Gympie (Box 7.22). Education programs (less than one per cent) included Watch This Pace (GMV), a series of 10-minute programs featuring practical demonstrations of adult education courses available at Shepparton College of

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Box 7.23  Australia, Naturally, Bob Hardie

• Type: Audio-visual recording • Produced by: NEN Upper Namoi (Tamworth, NSW), 1984 • NFSA reference: 138353 TAFE.  Approximately 40 episodes were produced between 1979 and 1985.219 From 1980, BTV/GMV produced a series of HSC telecasts in conjunction with the Country Education Project.220 Australia, Naturally (NEN) was a nature series produced and presented by zoologist Bob Hardie (Box 7.23).221 The first season, of six 30-minute episodes, was televised by 33 Australian stations and was reportedly the first regionally produced program to carry national sponsorship. A second season, of six 60-minute episodes, combined content from the first series with new material. This was produced by NEN in conjunction with ITPG. This program received several accolades, most notably two Penguin Awards for the episodes “Reptiles” and “Insects”, as well as NEN’s first Logie Award for Outstanding Contribution by a Regional Station in 1984.222 Outside broadcasts of sport and special events were now commonplace. In April 1983, BTV relayed coverage to other regional and metropolitan stations of a visit to Ballarat by Prince Charles and Princess Diana. The program was also sent to the BBC via OTC. In the same month, the station presented a two-day Australia-wide telecast of the Stawell Gift footrace.223 Later that year, the station presented its longest OB with a six-hour telecast of the Ballarat Cup horse race. This included a special, one-hour edition of The Morning Show live from Dowling Forest.224 Between 1983 and 1985, GMV covered the Goulburn Valley Football League Grand Final, the Shepparton Gold Cup Harness Racing Meeting, the Victorian Country Football League Grand Final, and World Cup Show Jumping. The station also televised (and sponsored) a GMV-6 Cup Harness Race Meeting and an annual lawn bowls tournament.225 The widespread use of sport OBs demonstrates the importance of this coverage to regional audiences. As we will see in later chapters, the almost complete abolition of local sport from regional television schedules following aggregation would be a major source of discontent for many viewers.226

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Several larger stations continued to make their studios and production facilities available to outside entities on a commercial basis. In 1982, WIN contracted with SBS to produce 80 half-hour episodes of A Whole World of Children. A short documentary, Drink … Don’t Drive, was produced for the Australian Medical Association. The Inside Story, dealing with activities in a regional television station, was distributed by the New South Wales Education Department to state schools.227 The regionals also made their studios available to metropolitan networks. The Nine Network produced segments of its Sunday program, hosted by Jim Waley, at CTC to accommodate talent based in the national capital.228 One of the more ambitious projects was Last Chance (WIN), a 90-minute crime thriller shot on location in Wollongong and Toronto, Canada (Box 7.24).229 The telemovie was completed under the banner of WINFOUR Productions and was distributed in Australia, Canada, and the United States.230 Regional stations continued to be recognised for their production efforts. In 1982, CTC journalist Tim Graves received a Thorn EMI Award for his coverage of the return of former Governor-General, Sir John Kerr, to Canberra in 1977. WIN cameraman Graham Dyson was also recognised for film of damage caused to a squash court during a wild wind storm.231 Also in 1982, TNQ news director Rick Anderton, journalist Sally Begbie, and cameraman Alistair MacDonald achieved a first for regional television, with three awards.232 In 1983, NEN received four Thorn EMI awards for excellence in television news, including Best Provincial Journalist for Ted Hebblewhite.233 GMV cameramen Nick Haywood, Gary Goff, and Richard Moran were similarly honoured in 1987.234 Moran recalls his time at the Shepparton station: I went from [technical] school to a trainee position at GMV [in 1983]. I started as a trainee technician but was doing sound on the kid’s show … I was 16 … I did some directing. When I turned 18, 19, I started to help out with the film processing unit … and moved onto camera work … Even though I was 21 … I was lucky enough to be made lead cameraman.78

Box 7.24  Last Chance

• Type: Audio-visual material • Produced by: WIN Illawarra (Wollongong, NSW), 1987 • NFSA reference: 45205

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Box 7.25  Rape of the Big Scrub

• Type: Audio-visual recording • Produced by: NRN Grafton-Kempsey (Coffs Harbour, NSW), 1984 • NFSA reference: 325922

Box 7.26  TV8 Newshour

• Type: Audio-visual recording • Produced by: BCV Bendigo (Vic), 1985 • NFSA reference: 525007 In 1983, BTV received Television Society of Australia Penguin Awards for Six News, Sounds of Sunday, Six Tonight, and 1983 Bushfire Appeal.235 NRN was honoured for its documentary, Rape of the Big Scrub, about the early history of cedar cutters on the North Coast, in 1984 (Box 7.25). Logie awards for Outstanding Contribution by a Regional Station in this period were received by SEQ (“The Hawk”, an episode of This Week, 1981), WIN (Last Chance, 1983), NEN (Australia, Naturally, 1984), GMV (Autumn Faces, 1985), and BCV (in 1986 for TV8 Newshour (Box 7.26).236 NEN/ECN received three citations from the Australian Television Bureau of Advertising in 1986 for commercials produced for Treloar’s Department Store, Clifton Toyota, and Plaza Wine Cellars.237

Ownership and Control Australia was, by the early 1980s, being seduced by the attractions of neo-­ liberalism. Commercial television was an obvious target as it was an established enterprise with handsome cash flows which could be used to finance debt.238 As Tom O’Regan points out, the tightly held ownership of stations in Sydney and Melbourne (and, to a lesser extent, Brisbane and Adelaide) had placed regional operators at the centre of this interest.239 Significant transactions in this period included acquisitions by non-media entities including those associated with Paul Ramsay, Christopher Skase, Kevin Parry, and Simon Townsend.

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It is worth noting the name changes for several licensee companies. South Western Telecasters Ltd (BTW/GSW) became Golden West Network Ltd (GWL) in 1981. In 1982, Examiner-Northern TV Limited (TNT) changed its name to ENT Ltd (ENL) and Victorian Broadcasting Network Ltd (BCV/GLV) was renamed Southern Cross Communications Ltd (SCL).240 Television Wollongong Transmissions Ltd (WIN) became TWT Ltd two years later.241 Dare and Company Ltd (DDQ/SDQ) was renamed Aspermont Ltd in 1985, following Eric Dare’s sale of his substantial shareholding.242 Hadjoin P/L, a private company associated with prominent Perth businessman Kevin Parry, and associated entities acquired a prescribed interest in NBL (NBN) in 1981–1982.243 As a result, Hadjoin also acquired a prescribed interest in Southern Television Corporation  Ltd (NWS Adelaide, SA). The acquisition resulted in much acrimony among NBL board members.244 In mid-1982, Hadjoin reached agreement with Broadcast Investments P/L (a major shareholder in NBL which was controlled by the Lamb family, which had founded NBN) to cancel the interests of that company in the Newcastle station in return for all shares in NWS.245 In early 1983, the MTN licence was transferred from Henry Jones Ltd (HJL) back to its MTL subsidiary.246 In June, Broadcast and Communications Ltd (BCL) and associated companies (all of which were associated with MTL managing director, Ray Gamble) acquired MTL (and the MTN licence) from HJL. BCL was subsequently floated on the Sydney Stock Exchange.247 MTL was renamed Broadcast Operations Ltd (BOL) in February 1984.248 Techcom Australia P/L (TPL) advised the ABT in September 1983 that it intended to acquire all the shares in SCL (BCV/GLV). TPL shareholders included entities associated with businessmen Richard Pratt and Bill Cowan, and the Lanyon family of Mildura.249 Media reports indicated that TPL’s acquisition of a highly profitable regional commercial television business would help it finance other high-tech ventures. The transaction facilitated a convoluted restructure of the group, in which SCL became a wholly owned subsidiary of TPL. The BCV and GLV licences were then transferred from SCL to a new entity, Victorian Broadcasting Network (1983) P/L, which held them in trust for a partnership comprised of TPL and another SCL subsidiary, Tri-City TV P/L.250 One of the more intriguing transactions during this period involved the acquisition of MWL (VEW) by an entity associated with children’s

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presenter Simon Townsend and former Number 96 actor Mike Dorsey, amongst others. In 1984, Datum Nominees P/L initiated a series of transactions to acquire MWL. By May, the company had acquired around 90 per cent of the Kalgoorlie station, with the remaining shares held by the Swan Brewing Company and others, including the local mayor. (The majority of these shares were purchased from Herb Lilburn’s Group Television Services, which had sponsored the original VEW licence application.) The acquisition of VEW by Datum followed an extended period of dissatisfaction amongst local residents with the station’s program and technical performance.251 In mid-1984, Datum was acquired by Fowler Constructions Limited, whose directors included Townsend and Dorsey. Townsend maintained the takeover would result in major programming and technical improvements at the station.252 Another transaction was indicative of the rising interest in (and value of) regional stations. Sam Gazal’s Roslyndale Securities P/L launched a partial takeover bid in mid-1984 to increase its shareholding in CBL (CBN/CWN) from 20 to 47 per cent. Significantly, Gazal’s $8.50 a share offer (which valued the station at $31.5 million and represented a price earnings multiple of 16 times the stations 1983–1984 income) was more than recent takeover prices for stations in Brisbane and Perth. But CBL directors were against the offer on the basis that recent takeovers involved a price earnings multiple up to 27 times income.253 Nevertheless, Gazal secured outright control of the station in late 1984.254 The period is also notable for the entry of healthcare magnate Paul Ramsay to the industry. In 1982, Paul Ramsay Communications P/L (PRL) initially acquired (then later sold) a minor interest in DTL (DDQ/SDQ). Two years later, the company purchased a controlling interest in MKL (MVQ) and continued to hold a prescribed interest in that station until October 1985. In May of that year, PRL obtained a controlling interest in RTL (RVN/AMV). Allan Hoy, who began his television career as the host of a teen variety program at WIN, was appointed CEO.255 The acquisition of RTL by PRL was significant as it laid the foundations of the Prime television network, which would emerge later in that decade. The period also heralded the re-entry of Christopher Skase to regional television. Skase’s Team Securities had previously held a significant interest in VBN (BCV/GLV) but an attempt to acquire a 50 per cent share in 1981 was unsuccessful. Similarly, Skase’s IPH failed to acquire control of TQL (TNQ/FNQ) in 1983.256 In June 1985, five subsidiary companies

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of his Universal Telecasters Ltd (which was the licensee of TVQ) acquired WBL (SEQ) for $35 million.257 Around the same time, Bruce Gordon’s TWL (WIN) and Kevin Parry’s NBL (NBN) increased their holdings in RTL (RTQ).258 Further consolidation was also occurring in Western Australia. In November 1985, 135 Nominees P/L (ONL), a company associated with the Bendat family, acquired nearly all shares in MWL (VEW). Following the acquisition, MWL (as the licensee) delegated management of VEW to ONL which, in turn, delegated the same to GWN.259 VEW commenced a full relay from BTW in December 1985.260 ONL acquired the remaining shares in MWL two months later.261 Significant interest was also shown in smaller markets, including Mildura and Griffith. Sabtel P/L  (SPL), which already held 4,000 shares in SRL (STV), acquired a further 135,000 shares and sought approval to acquire the company in December 1985. SPL was controlled by the Presser family, which had established a successful marketing, telemarketing, mail order, and distribution business. Their decision to acquire SRL was reportedly due to the desire of matriarch Eva Presser to be involved in the television industry (Box 7.27).262 Presser was one of the few women to hold such a position; however, she was described in media reports as a cautious, clever, but reclusive figure.263 In 1989, she purchased STW Perth from Alan Bond’s Bond Media for $95 million, while Bond acquired the Mildura station for $18 million. The STW transaction resulted from a breach of cross-media rules, which prevented ownership of stations reaching more than 75 per cent of the population.264 In 1986, SRL (STV), in conjunction with Sabtel P/L, acquired almost 20 per cent of MKL (MVQ).265 Linter Group (LGL) and associated entities (through a series of transactions) acquired BOL (MTN) in 1985. LGL had grown from a textile manufacturer to incorporate a range of other businesses. Its media interests included ownership of Broadcom Australia, which produced Australian Business Report (for the US-based Financial News Network) and Business Week (for the Ten Network).266 LGL’s acquisition of MTN Box 7.27  Eva Presser

• Type: Oral history interview • Interviewed by: Christine Horgan, 2005 • NFSA reference: 738909

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was motivated by plans to aggregate regional commercial television services. Under initial arrangements, the MTN licence area was to be amalgamated with those of CBN/CWN and NBN. But as we’ll see in Chap. 8, a change in plans would see MTN excluded from aggregation altogether and lead LGL to dispose of the station. The increasing cross-investment between regional stations combined with convoluted ownership structures occasionally resulted in contraventions of the Act. In 1984, for example, the acquisition by ENL (TNT/TVT) of 13.44 per cent of shares in CBL (CBN/CWN) resulted in that company having prescribed interests in four licences. The breach was resolved by the sale of shares to Sam Gazal’s Roslyndale Securities in 1985.267 By mid-1986, there were 35 regional commercial stations controlled by 23 ownership groups.268 This included 20 stations under joint ownership. GWN retained operational control of three stations. While the overall number of ownership groups had not varied markedly since the early 1980s, the composition of them had changed significantly.269 Private and family investment companies continued to comprise the largest single block of shareholders, with majority interests in 19 licences. The net result of these changes was a further decrease in the independence quotient, to 66 per cent (see Chap. 1, Fig. 1.2).269

Conclusion The early 1980s were characterised by developments which appeared to reaffirm the Hawke Labor government’s commitment to localism in broadcasting. In 1983, the government launched its Supplementary Licence Scheme (SLS) which promised to increase the tenure of existing regional operators over their lucrative monopolies. But it was the Hawke Labor government’s decision to establish a zone-based Remote Commercial Television Service (RCTS) operated by the regionals instead of a national beam controlled by the metropolitan networks which proved to be the sector’s sixth liminal moment.270 Many believed the RCTS, coupled with the SLS, could provide the means by which to increase the number of regional services and streamline program distribution while maintaining the status quo. Nevertheless, the period witnessed several notable changes in ownership which reaffirmed both the future prospects of the sector as well as its increasing status as a base from which to exert political influence. This included the entry of health-care magnate Paul Ramsay, whose acquisition of RVN/AMV would lay the foundations for

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the Prime Television network. These conditions brought a 50 per cent increase in the time devoted to local production and a relatively minor decrease in independence (See Chap. 1, Fig. 1.3). The sector’s continued prosperity coupled with the introduction of a wide range of locally produced—and occasionally innovative—program formats arguably marks the early 1980s as the second “golden age” of regional commercial television. But the regionals’ sense of security would be relatively short-lived. As we will see in Chap. 9, the government’s decision to deny the metropolitan networks access to a national satellite beam would ultimately lead to the most significant structural changes in regional commercial television since licences were first granted in the 1960s.

Notes 1. D’Arcy, quoted in Age, 12/4/1993, p. 22. 2. Given (1995). 3. GLV had, from commencement of service in 1961, been subject to severe overlap from the Melbourne stations which had commenced operations five years earlier and attracted a strong, local Gippsland audience. 4. ABT (1983b). 5. ABT (1983a, pp. 9–10). 6. ABT (1984f). 7. CT, 18/1/1982, p. 8. 8. Bruce Priddis, interview with Michael Thurlow, 21/1/2019. 9. CT, 12/9/1985, p. 11. 10. Nugent (2014, p. 40). 11. Westfield (2000). 12. NAA/NSW: B2305, TL/2/1 PART 2: Noble, SMH, 15/6/1982. 13. ABT (1982b, pp. 24–26). 14. NAA/ACT: A14039, 4289: CD No. 8492, 1/9/1986. 15. Westfield (2014, pp. 334–335). 16. Ang et al. (2008, pp. 276–295). 17. NAA/ACT: A12909, 4348: CS No. 4348, 16/9/1980. 18. DOC, Radio, Television Stations show strong interest in extra licence (press release), 8/3/1984. 19. NAA/NSW: B2305, TS/4/2 PART 1: ACL (CTC), Application for a Supplementary Television Licence, 1984. 20. Group Television Services P/L had previously provided a range of facilities to smaller regional commercial stations, including NTD, VEW, ITQ, and RTS.

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21. Australian, 12/3/1985; NAA Sydney: B2305, TS/4/2 PART 1: Group Television Corporation, Submission, c.1985. 22. AFR, 22/8/1984. 23. CAG, 15/5/1984, p. 1785. 24. ABT, No. 310/84 G(T), 1986. PTL merged its application with WCL during the ABT’s hearing. The successful applicant, WCL, was headed by Brian Treasure and funded by Kerry Stokes and Jack Bendat. 25. Brown (1982). 26. Duffy (1983b). 27. Duffy (1983a). 28. Rennie (2014, pp. 112–114). 29. ABT (1985b, pp. 36–38). The four stations were HTWR-7 Tom Price, HTWR-9 Mount Nameless, and HTWR-11 Paraburdoo from Hammersley Iron, and NEWR-9 Newman from Mount Newman Mining. 30. NAA/NSW: B2305/3, TC/6/9 Part 1: ABT, Commercial TV Stations—Pilbara. 31. ABT, No. 207/84 OM(T), 1984. 32. ABT (1984e). 33. ABT (1984a, p. 30). This inquiry ran alongside the ABT’s SPS inquiry, which sought to examine the implications of the government’s satellite policy for regulation of ownership and localism. 34. Kirkpatrick (2014a, pp. 160–161). 35. Herd (2012, pp.  179–180). Herd also notes that, in the early 1960s, Oswin may well have been articulating the position of his boss, Rupert Henderson. The latter subsequently acquired interests in several regional commercial television stations, most notably RVN and AMV. 36. DOC (1984). 37. Andren (2003, p. 84). 38. Hazlehurst (1983, pp. 104–119). 39. ABT (1984a, pp. 29–31). 40. Harrison (1985, pp. 24–28). 41. ABT (1984b, 1984c, 1984d). 42. Bell (2014c, pp. 419–421). 43. ABT (1984a, p. 31). 44. DAA (1984, p. vi). 45. Meadows (2014, pp. 73–74). 46. ABT (1984c, pp. 295–316), McDonnell (2014, pp. 14–15). 47. See discussion of aggregation in Chap. 8. 48. NAA/ACT: A13977, 1028: CD No. 4404, 3/10/1984. See also Michael Duffy, “Ministerial Statement—RCTS,” 10/10/1984. The non-­commercial HABCS was sometimes referred to as “HABCS1” while the commercial RCTS was sometimes referred to as “HABCS2”.

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49. DTC (1990), Bell (2014a, pp. 89–90). 50. ABT (1985a, p. 36). 51. ABT (1985b). 52. ABT (1985c), QSL (1984). 53. ABT (1985d). 54. ABT (1986), Bell (2008; 2014b, p. 416). 55. David Astley, email to Michael Thurlow, 28/2/2019. Astley was the RTA chairman from 1985–1987 and also the deputy chairman of FACTS in 1986–1987. 56. Herd (2012, pp. 168, 215). 57. See, for example, CWD (Orange), 27/6/1983, p. 8 and 25/6/1984, p. 12. 58. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-2.1. 59. ABS (1984, p. 2). 60. Darrin Davies, email to Michael Thurlow, 27/2/2019; CWD (Orange), 1/7/1985, p. 12; ABT, No. 547–548/86 R(T), September 1987. These programs were determined by the ABT to be shopping guides as defined in its interim Television Advertising Conditions. 61. Overlap was especially problematic for DDQ/SDQ and GMV/BTV (33 per cent) and WIN and NBN (35 per cent). These statistics were derived from multiple documents contained in NAA series B2152, B2305, C546, C3868, MP1170, and MP1839. 62. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-2.15. 63. ABS (1983, p. 3). 64. See STL (1982), which includes images of the revised logo on the station building. 65. http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/76956/20100704-­0053/www.milduraindependent.com/news/index21aa.html, accessed 3/3/2019. 66. See discussion of Paul Ramsay’s acquisition of RVN/AMV later in this chapter. 67. ABT, No. 387/85 R(T) & 453/86 O(T), September 1988. 68. CBL (1986). 69. DTL (1986, p. 4). 70. TNL (1987). 71. WBL (1979). 72. MKL (1982). 73. ABS (1983, p. 4). 74. TWL (1983). 75. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-2.5. 76. I recollect these arrangements as a CBN viewer, as well as my participation in work experience placements at the station in 1986 and 1988. 77. Richard Moran, telephone conversation with Michael Thurlow, 14/3/2019.

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78. See Longmore (2015). 79. TWL (1981). 80. AWW, 24/6/1981, p. B. 81. CBL (1984, p. 3). 82. TNL (1985). 83. ABT, No, 531/86 R(T), April 1987, p. 7. 84. TNL1 (985, p. 6). 85. WBL (1983); Wes Crook, email to Michael Thurlow, 13/3/2019. This segment is not to be confused with the popular quiz show of the same name. 86. TWL (1982). 87. TNL (1983). 88. I undertook two high school work experience placements in the CBN newsroom under the tutelage of news editor Peter Andren in July 1986 and January 1988. 89. ABT, No. 603/87, January 1988. 90. TNL (1981). 91. CT, 10/10/1983, p. 23 and 24/4/1983, p. 1. 92. CT, 24/10/1983, p. 27. 93. Bulletin, 1/5/1984, pp. 32–33. 94. Age, 24/12/1983. 95. Buchner (1985, p. 16). 96. ABS (1984, p. 1). 97. CBL (1986). 98. Allan (2006). 99. TNL (1982). 100. Interestingly, the station’s journalists unanimously agreed to use terminals with amber screens as they regarded green and black-and-white terminals as unacceptable. 101. ABS (1984, p.  4). The company was also granted a licence by the Department of Aviation to operate the helicopter for charter flights. 102. ABT, IL 88/20 & IL 88/21, 2/1989, pp. 47–49. 103. ABT, No. 188/83 G(T), 1983. 104. ABT, No. 173/83 G(T), 1983; 1984a, p. 38. 105. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-6.3. 106. See, for example, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fwc5VTS40dc, accessed 26/12/2019. 107. NAA/NSW: B2305, TT/3/140 PART 1: ABT, TV Translators— Warburton and Marysville (various), 1980; ABT, Nos. 53/80 T(T) and 62/80 T(T), 1980, p. 15. 108. ABT, No. 51/80 T(T), 1980; NAA/NSW: B2305, TT/3/122, PART 1: ABT, TV Translator—Gold Coast (various), 1980–1983.

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109. ABT, No. 267/84 G(T), 1984. 110. NAA/NSW: B2305, TT/3/146 PART 1: Jones, 23/12/1981; NAA/ NSW: B2305, TT/3/112, PART 1: DOC, Background Paper … Gosford/ Wyong, 1982. 111. ABT, No. 485/86 R(T), September 1988, pp. 4–5. 112. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-2.7. 113. Herd (2014, pp. 169–170). 114. TNL (1984). 115. TQL (1984, p. 7). 116. DTL (1982, pp. 5, 11, 22). 117. Billboard, 17/10/1981, p. 70. 118. STL (1982). 119. CBL (1983). 120. TNL (1985). 121. STL (1986). 122. TWL (1981). 123. ABT, No. 108/82 OR(RT), February–March 1982. 124. ENL (1987, p. 5). 125. CT, 18/11/1983, p. 16. 126. CT, 23/12/1983, p. 7. See also Fairfax Media Archive: MLMSS 9894/ Boxes 399–400: Takeover offer for BTQ by Capricornia Television and Fairfax Corporation’s counterbid, 1983–1984, SLNSW. 127. DTL (1988). 128. See discussion of DTL’s collapse in Chap. 9. 129. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-3.1. 130. CWD (Orange), various dates, 1981–1986. 131. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-3.1. 132. ABT, No. 547–548/86 R(T), September 1987. 133. I recall collecting taped programs including Days of Our Lives and The Young and The Restless from the Orange railway station while completing work experience at CBN in 1986. 134. See discussion of the “golden age” concept in Chap. 4. 135. See, for example, NFSA: 11498. 136. NFSA: 138350. 137. STL, 1985. 138. Sharon Carleton, telephone conversation with Michael Thurlow, 1/4/2019. 139. See discussion of network breakfast programs in Chap. 4. 140. SMH, 3/5/2014, (Good Weekend) pp.  26–27. Kellaway departed for the Nine Network shortly after the program began and was replaced by Kerri-Anne Wright (later Kennerley).

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141. AWW, 11/8/1982, p.  72. The program’s title was later shortened to Today. 142. Jacka and Johnson (1998, p. 215). 143. Herd (2012, p. 254). 144. ABT, No. 531/86, April 1987. 145. Smaller stations such as BKN (Broken Hill, NSW) provided a modest, five-minute service each weeknight. See, for example, ABT, No. 444/86 & 445/86, December 1986. 146. MTN (Griffith, NSW) opted out of the relay at 6pm to present its own, locally produced news service. 147. NFSA: 49561. 148. NFSA: 1105853. 149. https://www.businessinsider.com/britain-anti-woke-gb-news-ceointerview-angelos-frangopoulos-2021-3?r=US&IR=T, accessed 1/8/2021. 150. The new branding echoed that of News Centre Nine, which was introduced, then abandoned, by Nine Network stations in the 1970s. 151. ABS (1985, p. 9). 152. Geoff Vallance, interview with Michael Thurlow, 5/2/2019. 153. NFSA: 49552. 154. Peter Greste, email to Michael Thurlow, 19/3/2019. 155. ABT, No. 501/86 R(T), September 1988, pp. 4–5. 156. NAA/Vic: B2152, CBN/20 PART 3: Ridley, 10/8/1984. 157. NFSA 49561: Keiran McLeonard, “Editor dies”, in MidState News, TX: 7/8/1986. 158. NAA/Vic: B2152, CBN/20 PART 3: Various correspondence re Brunker news item, 1986. 159. ABS (1983, p. 2). 160. ABS (1985, p. 7); NFSA: 63823. 161. NFSA: 1072436. 162. Rhonda Sharratt, email to Michael Thurlow, 9/4/2019. 163. Barry Coleman, email to Michael Thurlow, 1/4/2019. 164. WBL (1982); Alistair Frew, email to Michael Thurlow, 28/2/2019; Wes Crook, email to Michael Thurlow, 13/3/2019. 165. Wes Crook, email to Michael Thurlow, 19/3/2019. 166. Clifford-Smith (2004, p. 162); CT, 2/6/1986, p. 24. 167. SMH, 5/10/2014, p. 6. 168. Jo Anne Cracknell, email to Michael Thurlow, 1/3/2019. 169. TWL (1981). 170. CT, 29/10/1984, p. 12. The producers also expected to sell the series to a major Australian network as well as to overseas markets. 171. CWD (Orange), 1/7/1985, p. 12. 172. Alistair Frew, email to Michael Thurlow, 28/2/2019.

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173. ABT, No. 448/86 R(T), February 1987. 174. Darren Bolger, cited in David Astley, email to Michael Thurlow, 4/3/2019. 175. Rhonda Sharratt, email to Michael Thurlow, 9/4/2019; http://www. paulsharratt.com/pages/prod.html#Australian, accessed 9/4/2019; TNL, 1986; http://www.paulsharratt.com/pages/home.html, accessed 8/4/2019; ABT, No. 603/87, January 1988. 176. Jan Welshman, email to Michael Thurlow, 11/11/2019. 177. ABT (1986). 178. TNL (1983). 179. ABT, No. 531/86 R(T), April 1987. 180. Segments were initially produced in both Townsville and Cairns on a joint basis. 181. David Astley, email to Michael Thurlow, 4/3/2019. 182. Scott Hunt, interview with Michael Thurlow, 24/1/2019. 183. Age (Melbourne) (This Week), 29/8/1993, pp. 4–5. 184. Susie Elelman, interview with Michael Thurlow, 6/3/2019; https:// www.dailytelegraph.com.au/newslocal/north-­s hore/new-­b radfield-­ senior-­college-­director-­meredith-­melvillejones-­was-­the-­former-­head-­of-­ inflight-­entertainment-­at-­qantas/news-­story/8a04f851c8f31f23ee60c0 aee967bd54, accessed 4/9/2019. 185. TWL (1981). 186. Steven Jacobs, email to Michael Thurlow, 10/4/2019. 187. ABT, No. 352/85 R(T), December 1985, pp. 9–10. 188. Rhonda Bowen (née Logan), email to Michael Thurlow, 9/4/2019. 189. ABS (1984, p. 7). 190. ABS (1985, pp.  5, 7); Glenn Ridge, interview with Michael Thurlow, 23/1/2019; NFSA: 63896. 191. Janelle Chapman, email to Michael Thurlow, 5/11/2019. 192. CWD (Orange), 13/2/1989, p. 12. 193. CT, 30/9/1985, supplement, p. 1; NFSA: 569814. 194. ABS (1981, p. 3; 1982, p. 4). 195. ABT, No. 460/86 R(T), March 1987. 196. ABT, No. 387/85 R(T), September 1988. 197. WIN Television Pty Ltd Reunion 06 History, [n.d.] c.2006. This pamphlet was produced for a BTV staff reunion in 2006. Courtesy Roy Taylor. NFSA: 63943.Thursday Night Live was televised on the Six Network as well as Southern Cross TV8 stations. 198. ABS (1984, p. 4). 199. Steve “Pricey” Price is not to be confused with the well-known Sydney and Melbourne broadcaster Steve Price. 200. Antony Roth, cited in David Astley, email to Michael Thurlow, 4/3/2019.

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201. CT, 15/6/1986, p. 12. 202. Watson (1976, p. 5). 203. Martin (2011, p. i). 204. Nick Erby, email to Michael Thurlow, 3/3/2019. 205. TNL (1982). 206. The local commercial radio station, 2TM, also had a long involvement with playing and promoting country music. Griffen-Foley (2009, pp. 259–260). 207. Antony Roth, email to Michael Thurlow, 13/3/2019. 208. ABT, No. 479–480/86 R(T), October 1987, p. 10; Steve Elcoate, telephone conversation with Michael Thurlow, 18/3/2019. The Cairns segments were pre-recorded then sent to Townsville for transmission. 209. WBL (1982); Wes Crook, email to Michael Thurlow, 13/3/2019. 210. Similar formats included Community Billboard (RTQ), People and Places (MTN) and Photo Fun (GTW). 211. ABT, No. 460/86 R(T), March 1987. This program presented details of employment opportunities in the viewing area as well as details of schemes available to assist employers in job creation. CES Job Shop programs were also televised by stations including NRN/RTN and STV. 212. ACL, Capital 7 (promotional booklet), 1983. 213. News Leader (Wagga Wagga), 11/8/1982, p. 12. 214. NFSA: 130584. 215. ABT, No. 460/86 R(T), March 1987. 216. ABS (1985). 217. TNL (1987). 218. ABS (1983, p. 3; 1984). 219. ABT, No. 460/86, R(T), March 1987. 220. ABS (1981, p. 4). 221. TNL (1980). NFSA: 47998. 222. Bob Hardie, email to Michael Thurlow, 11/3/2019. See also ABT, No. 73/81, April–May 1981; TNL, Annual Report, 1981; 1982; 1984; AWW, 25 March 1981, p. 20. 223. ABS (1983, p. 3). 224. ABS (1984, p. 4). 225. ABT, No. 460/86 R(T), March 1987. 226. See, for example, former CBN sports presenter/journalist, Ross Larsen, cited in Guardian (Mudgee), 14/7/2010. 227. TWL (1982, 1983). 228. Christina Holmdahl (Hunniford), email to Michael Thurlow, 23/4/2019. 229. IM (Wollongong), 21/6/1986; NFSA 45205. 230. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3633554/, accessed 2/3/2019. 231. CT, 14/4/1982, p. 7.

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232. Townsville Daily Bulletin, 11/5/1982. 233. TNL (1983). 234. ABS (1987); Richard Moran, email to Michael Thurlow, 13/3/2019. 235. ABS (1984, p. 2). 236. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-3.2. 237. TNL (1986, p. 6). 238. Herd (2012, pp. 164, 167–168). 239. O’Regan (1988, p. 130). 240. ASIC, Southern Cross Communications Limited, company extract, 23/11/2012. 241. ASIC, TWT Limited, company extract, 29/11/2012. 242. ABT, No. 513/86 R(T), August 1987; http://www.investogain.com. au/company/aspermont-­limited, retrieved 2/3/2019. 243. NAA/NSW: B2152, NBN/4 PART 4: ABT, NBN licencing file (various). These transactions mostly involved the acquisition of shares by Hadjoin from Tanate P/L and Telecommunications Securities P/L, which were long-term shareholders in NBL. 244. NBL (1981, p. 5). 245. ABT (1982c); National Times, 14/3/1986, p.  38. These transactions were approved by the ABT in October 1982. 246. ABT, No. 178/83 OR(RT), November 1983–March 1984, p. 219. The MTN licence had previously been transferred from MTL to HJL. 247. ABT, No. 181/83 O(RT), 1983. The transaction was approved by the ABT on 1 August 1983. 248. ASIC, “Broadcast Operations P/L,” company extract, 25/11/2012. 249. The latter family had a long association with regional media and was involved in establishing STV. See Kirkpatrick, 2014b. 250. ABT, No. 235/84 O(RT), 1984. The ABT approved the transaction in July 1984. 251. ABT, No. 156/83 R(T), 1983. 252. NAA/NSW: B2152, VEW/5 PART 2: B&T, 3/8/1984. 253. CT, 30/8/1984, p. 21. 254. CT, 15/12/1984, p. 23. 255. ABT, No. 387/85 R(T); 453/86 O(T), September 1988. 256. Hoyte (2003, pp. 354–355). 257. ABT, No. 501/86 R(T), September 1988, p. 6. 258. Courier-Mail (Brisbane), 28/6/1985, p. 21. TWL (WIN) held shares in RTL through its wholly owned Capricornia Television Corporation P/L subsidiary. 259. ABT, No. 616/87 (O), 1987. The acquisition by 135 Nominees placed Jack and Paul Bendat in contravention of the Act, as they were deemed (through various associated companies) to be in a position to exercise

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control over three commercial television licences, i.e. BTW/GSW and VEW. Both resigned from the subsidiary companies in January 1986 and assured the ABT that neither would interfere with the operation of the relevant companies. 260. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-6.2. 261. ABT, IO/87/67, September 1987. 262. ABT, No. 476/86 O(T), 1987. The transaction was approved by the ABT on 5/2/1987; NFSA: 738909. 263. Australian, 1/3/2007. 264. AFR, 20/4/1989. 265. SRL (1986, p. 5). 266. ABT, No. 388/85 O(RT), 1987, p. 4. Broadcom also held a 35 per cent interest in Riviera 104, an English-speaking FM radio station broadcasting in the Italian and French Riviera. Australian Business Report was a 10-­minute program produced to promote interest and investment in Australia; CT, 4/2/1985, p. 3 and 27/12/1986, p. 6. 267. ABT, No. 547–548/86 R(T), September 1987, pp. 13–14. 268. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-4.5. 269. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-5.5. 270. Morris (1985, p. 12).

Bibliography Australian Broadcasting Tribunal (ABT). Foster Inquiry (Sydney: ABT, 1983b). Australian Broadcasting Tribunal (ABT). Remote Commercial Television Services, First Report (Canberra: AGPS, 1985b). Australian Broadcasting Tribunal (ABT). Remote Commercial Television Services, Second Report (Canberra: AGPS, 1985c). Australian Broadcasting Tribunal (ABT). Remote Commercial Television Services, Third Report (Canberra: AGPS, 1985d). Allan, Stuart. Online News: Journalism and the Internet (Maidenhead, UK: OUP, 2006). Andren, Peter. The Andren Report: An Independent Way in Australian Politics (Melbourne: Scribe, 2003). Ang, Ien, Gay Hawkins and Lamia Dabboussy. The SBS Story: The Challenge of Cultural Diversity (Sydney: UNSW Press, 2008). Bell, Wendy. A Remote Possibility: The Battle for Imparja Television (Alice Springs, NT: IAD Press, 2008). Bell, Wendy. ‘Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association’, in Bridget Griffen-­ Foley (ed.) A Companion to the Australian Media (North Melbourne: Australian Scholarly Publishing, 2014a), pp. 89-90

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Bell, Wendy. ‘Remote Commercial Television Service’, in Bridget Griffen-Foley (ed.) A Companion to the Australian Media (North Melbourne: Australian Scholarly Publishing, 2014b), p. 416. Bell, Wendy. ‘Satellite Broadcasting’, in Bridget Griffen-Foley (ed.), A Companion to the Australian Media (North Melbourne: Australian Scholarly Publishing, 2014c), pp. 419-421. Brown, Neil. ‘Remote Area Television Scheme To Be Completed This Year’, (press release), 17/8/1982. Buchner, Nick. Stereo Sound for Television (North Ryde, NSW: AFTRS, 1985). Clifford-Smith, Stephanie. A Marvellous Party: The Life of Bernard King (Milson’s Point, NSW: Random House, 2004), p. 113. Department of Aboriginal Affairs (DAA). Out of the Silent Land: Report of the Task Force on Aboriginal and Islander Broadcasting and Communications, 1984, p. vi. Department of Communications (DOC). Localism in Australian Broadcasting: A Review of the Policy (Canberra: AGPS, 1984). Department of Transport and Communications (DTC). Review of Remote Area Television Services (Canberra: AGPS 1990). Duffy, Michael. ‘First Self-Help Television Station Receives Go-Ahead’, (press release), 1/8/1983a Duffy, Michael. ‘Government To Bring ABC Radio/Television To More Areas’, (press release), 23/8/1983b. Given, Jock ‘Commercial TV: Bucks, Blokes, Bureaucrats and the Bird’, in Jennifer Craik, Julie James Bailey and Albert Moran (eds.), Public Voices, Private Interests: Australia’s Media Policy (St Leonards, NSW: Allen and Unwin, 1995), pp. 15-32. Griffen-Foley, Bridget. Changing Stations: The Story of Australian Commercial Radio (Sydney: UNSW Press, 2009). Harrison, Kate. ‘RCTS: A Review of the Policy Process’, MIA, No. 38, November 1985, pp. 24-28. Hazlehurst, Cameron. ‘The Advent of Commercial Television’, Australian Cultural History, No. 2, 1983, pp. 104-119. Herd, Nick. Networking: Commercial Television in Australia (Sydney: Currency House, 2012). Herd, Nick. ‘Commercial Television Networks’, in Bridget Griffen-Foley (ed.), A Companion to the Australian Media (North Melbourne: Australian Scholarly Publishing, 2014), pp. 104-107. Hoyte, Catherine. ‘An Australian Mirage’, PhD thesis, Griffith University, 2003. Jacka, Liz, and Lesley Johnson. ‘Australia,” in Anthony Smith (ed.), Television: An International History (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998), pp. 208-222. Kirkpatrick, Rod. ‘Department of the Media’, in Bridget Griffen-Foley (ed.), A Companion to the Australian Media (North Melbourne: Australian Scholarly Publishing, 2014a), pp. 137-138.

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Kirkpatrick, Rod. ‘Lanyon Family’, in Bridget Griffen-Foley (ed.), A Companion to the Australian Media (North Melbourne: Australian Scholarly Publishing, 2014b), pp. 238-239. Longmore, Paul K. Telethons: Spectacle, Disability and the Business of Charity (New York: Oxford University Press, 2015). Mackay Television Ltd (MKL). Annual Report (Mackay: MKL, 1982). Martin, Toby. ‘Yodelling Boundary Riders: Country Music in Australia, 1936-2010’, PhD thesis, University of Sydney, 2011. McDonnell, Mark. ‘Aggregation’, in Bridget Griffen-Foley (ed.), A Companion to the Australian Media (North Melbourne: Australian Scholarly Publishing, 2014), pp. 14-15. Meadows, Michael. ‘Broadcasting for Remote Aboriginal Communities Scheme’, in Bridget Griffen-Foley (ed.), A Companion to the Australian Media (North Melbourne: Australian Scholarly Publishing, 2014), pp. 73-74. Morris, Peter. ‘What is AUSSAT up to?’ Filmnews, Vol. 15, No. 7, 1 September 1985, p. 12. Nugent, Michael. ‘Video Cassette Revolution: The VCR in Australia’, MRes thesis, Macquarie University, 2014. O’Regan, Tom. ‘The Background to TV Networking’, in Elizabeth More and Glen Lewis (eds.), Australian Communications and Technology Policy: A Reader (Sydney: Kuring-gai CAE, Australian Communication Association and AFTRS, 1988), pp. 126-143. Queensland Satellite Television (QSL). Application for the Grant of a Remote Commercial Television Service Licence to Serve the Remote Areas of Queensland (QSL: Townsville, 1984). Rennie, Ellie. ‘Community Television’, in Bridget Griffen-Foley (ed.), A Companion to the Australian Media (North Melbourne: Australian Scholarly Publishing, 2014), pp. 112-114. Television New England Ltd (TNL). Annual Report (Tamworth: TNL, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1986, 1987, 1988). Watson, Eric. Country Music in Australia (Kensington, NSW: Rodeo Publications, 1976). Westfield, Mark. The Gatekeepers: The Global Media Battle to Control Australia’s Pay TV (Annandale, NSW: Pluto, 2000). Westfield, Mark. ‘Pay Television’, in Bridget Griffen-Foley (ed.), A Companion to the Australian Media (North Melbourne: Australian Scholarly Publishing, 2014), pp. 334-335.

PART IV

Equalisation (1986–2000)

CHAPTER 8

Aggregation and Aggravation

Localism will become a thing of the past … What aggregation boils down to is us providing the hardware for the networks to cover Australia.1 —Graeme Eddy, Southern Cross Television CEO, 1991

The Hawke Labor government’s 1984 decision to introduce a zonal rather than national satellite beam had been a major defeat for the metropolitan networks. Kerry Packer, in particular, was vocal in his criticism of the Labor government’s management of the scheme.2 By early 1985, the networks had persuaded Prime Minister Bob Hawke that a radical restructure of regional commercial television could provide a major boost for the government in a string of marginal seats at the 1988 election.3 The networks may have lost the battle, but it seemed they were determined to win the war. In February 1985, Minister for Communications Michael Duffy announced the main thrust of Labor’s television policy would be to “equalise” regional commercial television services by making available, in the long term, three commercial channels to all communities across Australia. In May, Duffy confirmed that equalisation was the government’s top priority in broadcasting.4 The following month, the DOC’s Forward Development Unit (FDU) provided the government with two approaches to equalisation. The first, which was favoured by the metropolitan networks, involved the aggregation of existing licence areas to create larger, “Approved Markets” in which incumbent operators would compete © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022 M. Thurlow, A History of Regional Commercial Television in Australia, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-10944-7_8

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against each other. The second, which was seen by regional stations as the lesser of two evils, utilised Multi-Channel Services (MCS) and was essentially a reworking of the earlier Supplementary Licence Scheme (SLS).5 A third option, suggested by Queensland Satellite Television, involved the retransmission of RCTS signals into each regional terrestrial television market. This would be supplemented by a second channel containing programs not shown on the RCTS, and a third, special interest channel devoted to live sport, local programs, education, and minority interests.6 Significantly, the FDU’s report also noted the inherent tensions between the government’s highest priority of maximising diversity of choice and its other broadcasting policy objectives of financial viability, Australian production, localism, and diversity of ownership. It conceded that “maximising one objective may mean modifying others”.7 On 5 June, in anticipation of the changes ahead, the Broadcasting and Television Act was amended to regulate a “service-based”, rather than a “technology-based”, licensing system. Under this arrangement, a licence would be granted for the operation of a service which may be provided by multiple transmitters and translator stations. Provision was also made for different (local) programs to be transmitted by different stations under a single service licence, with Tribunal permission. Most of these changes came into force on 1 January 1986.8 Meanwhile, in August 1985, Duffy instigated an examination of television ownership rules, with particular attention to be given to examining the “defects” in the current two-station rule.9 Next month, he announced a 10-year deadline to end existing regional commercial television monopolies. This was accompanied by a stern warning that stations should not underestimate the government’s commitment to competition in broadcasting. Furthermore, Duffy said the government would do nothing to frustrate networking as a means of introducing additional services to regional areas.10 These changes immediately threw the SLS into disarray. In July, the government had stated it was powerless to direct the ABT to halt its Canberra licence hearings because the Tribunal was independent in such matters. But in September, in a major turnaround, Duffy requested the ABT to consider deferring the matter until the government had finalised major planning for the changes ahead.11 The SLS was quietly abandoned in May 1986.12 In December 1985, Duffy proposed replacing the two-station rule, which had been in place since the 1950s, with one under which no entity

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could own stations that reached more than 43 per cent of the population. It was perhaps no coincidence that this figure represented the existing reach of Rupert Murdoch’s News Ltd and Packer’s Consolidated Press.13 But Prime Minister Hawke went even further by insisting the penetration level be set at 43 per cent for Packer and Murdoch and 33 per cent for everyone else. As Nick Herd points out, this constituted a governmental realignment of power in favour of the two largest media interests in the country.14 Hawke’s position stemmed from a belief that certainly Packer, and probably Murdoch, were sympathetic to the ALP: that they were, as Hawke told Cabinet, “the only mates we’ve got in the media”.15 Duffy, aided by Industry Minister John Button, argued the government could not risk losing seats in rural areas by alienating regional media interests. The matter was referred to a sub-committee of Hawke, Duffy, Button, and Treasurer Paul Keating. What followed was a year-long stalemate, with Duffy on the brink of resignation and Hawke immovable in defence of Packer and Murdoch.16 Keating was also sympathetic to the television networking ambitions of Packer in particular. Packer argued the current arrangement meant he earned nothing from the sale of programs to the regions and also eliminated networking opportunities. This struck a chord with Keating, who saw an opportunity to break the National Party’s hold in regional areas. The Treasurer suggested delineating large regions which would embrace at least three existing stations, then forcing each to align themselves with one of the three networks. As Mark Westfield explains, this scheme—while making every station hostage to the networks—could be sold politically to the electorate as bringing metropolitan viewing to regional audiences.17 In December 1985, the government decided to make all UHF television transmitters purchased specifically for aggregation exempt from sales tax. Provision was also made to rebate licence fees between 1986–1987 and 1989–1990 at an estimated cost of $22 million.18 In May 1986, Duffy announced the government’s strategic plan for regional television was to provide three commercial services in most regional areas (equalisation); create larger, more viable “Approved Markets” (aggregation); and prevent the extension of existing regional monopolies (competition). Under the scheme, licensees would be required to choose whether to proceed to equalisation via aggregation or MCS. If, however, any licensee in an Approved Market chose aggregation, then all other licensees in that market would be obliged to follow. If a licensee made

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no choice, that licensee would be deemed to have chosen aggregation. In August, the government released its draft Indicative Plan for equalisation. This identified nine potential Approved Markets of which six—North Queensland (AM1), South Queensland (AM2), North NSW (AM3), Central NSW (AM4), South NSW & ACT (AM5), Victoria (AM6)— would proceed to aggregation under the current program. The remaining three—Tasmania (AM7), South Australia (AM8), and Western Australia (AM9)—were deemed as being either unable to support three services or presented implementation problems such as too many licensees.19 The draft plan aggravated regional broadcasters who argued the proposed markets were financially unviable. Their lobbying of ALP rural backbenchers clearly had some effect as the number of Approved Markets in the current program was reduced from six to four.20 The revised plan also excluded some smaller markets in the eastern states—Mount Isa, Griffith, and Mildura—from the scheme.21 But there was still the deadlock between Hawke and Duffy over the question of ownership to resolve.22 In late 1986, Keating proposed a 100 per cent maximum audience reach in television (i.e. complete deregulation) and that persons could control one newspaper, radio or television station in any one market. This was not only the kind of economic reform the government had been pursuing—deregulation and encouragement of competition—but was also motivated by political debts and payback.23 Keating’s plan ultimately carried the day, albeit with a modified 60 per cent maximum audience reach rule.24 In his memorable words, companies had to choose between being “princes of print, queens of screen or rajahs of radio”.25 The Broadcasting Amendment Bill, which provided for the implementation of equalisation, was introduced to parliament in November 1986. In March 1987, the Senate Select Committee on Television Equalisation (SSETE) found that, although there were risks inherent in the domination of the television broadcasting industry by any business or group, networking was not necessarily undesirable, nor would it necessarily interfere with localism.26 In June, the Liberal Party’s Ian MacPhee declared his outrage at the government’s decision to increase the reach of television companies: “This is a shameful piece of legislation. It really is outrageous. It is a nail in the coffin of the Australian democracy. They have handed over 60 per cent … of the viewing [audience]”.27 Nevertheless, the legislation was passed, and the Broadcasting Amendment Act 1987 took effect from August. Significantly, the Act also

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repealed existing provisions relating to the government’s Supplementary Licence Scheme.28 The most immediate impact of these changes was that regional media companies which operated both a television and radio station needed to dispose of one or the other. In a major reshuffle, CBL disposed of radio station 2NZ Inverell in 1987.29 As we will see later in this chapter, this was followed by the sale of CBN/CWN to Paul Ramsay’s Ramcorp Ltd in early 1988. CBL retained 2GZ Orange and also acquired 4RR (formerly 4AY) Townsville from Macquarie Broadcasting.30 (In 1990, the 2GZ licence was transferred to Aymjit P/L, a wholly owned subsidiary of CBL. 2GZ and 4RR were then sold to Votraint No. 564 P/L, a wholly owned subsidiary of Ray Gamble’s Broadcast Media Management P/L.) TNL also quit the television business in favour of radio.31 Meanwhile, the first RCTS, for the Western zone, commenced in October 1986.32 But establishment of the remaining services proved problematic.33 By the second half of 1987, QSL had determined its yet-to-be-­ launched North-East RCTS to be unviable. It attempted to sell the franchise to ICOM Satellite Services (ISS), a company associated with Kevin Parry’s PCL, which ultimately controlled NBN.34 QSL’s plan to sell the North East RCTS to ISS ultimately did not proceed for reasons that are unclear, despite the Queensland government approving a $2.5 million assistance package to ensure the financial viability of the service. In October, SSE deemed its South-East RCTS to be unfeasible and surrendered the licence without having commenced operation. SSE’s decision to abandon the licence was also related to the decision to equalise regional commercial television services through aggregation rather than a multi-channel service, which would have enabled it to provide an additional program stream to existing stations. Coverage for western New South Wales and Victoria was subsequently provided by extending the North East and Central RTCS service areas to the edge of their satellite footprints.35 IMP Central Australia commenced in January 1988 followed by QQQ North-Eastern Australia in April.36 Significantly, QSL (QQQ) had, following its failure to sell to ISS, become a wholly owned subsidiary of TQL (TNQ/FNQ). Allan Brown, in asking whether AUSSAT was a “golden bird or white elephant”, notes all three RCTS services relied on substantial federal and state government subsidies to remain solvent.37 The decision to aggregate commercial television services was accompanied by plans to clear VHF Band II frequencies for FM radio use.38 In November 1987, the government released its clearance timetable involving

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Box 8.1  Seventh liminal moment

The Hawke government’s decision to equalise regional commercial television markets through a process of aggregation rather than Multi-Channel Services was the sector’s seventh liminal moment. The merging of the most profitable regional commercial television markets in the eastern states finally ended the highly lucrative monopolies which had existed since the early 1960s. This led to significant speculation—and instability—in regional television companies as investors sought to pre-empt moves by existing proprietors. 33 television transmitters and translator stations operating in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria.39 WIN (Wollongong, NSW) was the first major commercial television station to vacate a Band II channel. It commenced simulcasting on UHF channel 59 from its Knights Hill transmitter in May 1988.40 WIN ceased transmission on VHF channel 4 on 31 March 1991.41 Nineteen of the 33 services had been cleared by October 1992.42

Speculation The pending structural changes in commercial television coincided with the deregulation of Australia’s finance sector. This had begun with the raising of interest rate ceilings under the Fraser Coalition government in the 1970s and gained pace under the Labor government in the 1980s.43 The casino-style financial environment of easy credit in the mid-1980s brought a new breed of speculative investor to the table. As Michael Gilding points out, these new entrants were the beneficiaries of a move towards a shareholder-value conception of control which also valorised risky behaviour.44 The business of commercial television was an obvious target because of its established enterprises with handsome cash flows which could be used to finance debt.45 Tom O’Regan notes the tightly held ownership of stations in Sydney and Melbourne (and, to a lesser extent, Brisbane and Adelaide), led to speculation in regional television.46 Such speculation was based on the anticipated expansion plans of regional media entrepreneurs. Analysts predicted “a lot of musical chairs” as Kerry Stokes, Kevin Parry, Christopher Skase, Paul Ramsay, and Bruce Gordon sought to establish regional networks. This interest brought significant gains in regional station share prices between October 1986 and

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January 1987: for example, TQL (TNQ/FNQ) rose 42 per cent to $6.30, NSH (NRN/RTN) gained 40 per cent to reach $3.85, and CBL (CBN/CWN) also lifted by 40 per cent to $3.65.47 The attractiveness of regional commercial television to investors was further exacerbated by the government’s March 1987 announcement regarding planned changes to media reach rules. This prompted a substantial increase in share transactions and licence transfers involving regional commercial television stations.48 The ABT received a record 328 applications in that year alone.49 Northern Star Holdings Ltd (NSH) was, at this time, expanding its interests into metropolitan television. In late 1986, Frank Lowy’s Westfield Corporation Ltd (WCL) acquired a prescribed interest in NSH which ultimately controlled NRL (NRN/RTN). In March 1987, NSH (through its Decani P/L subsidiary) acquired all issued shares in Network Ten Holdings Ltd (NHL) which operated TEN Sydney and ATV Melbourne.50 The period also heralded the Packer family’s re-entry to regional television.51 In the first half of 1987, Carstem P/L acquired all the shares in TTL (NTD Darwin, NT). As these acquisitions were financed by an unsecured loan from Consolidated Press (Finance) Ltd, a subsidiary of Kerry Packer’s CPH, the ABT informed the interested parties in March 1988 that it had formed a preliminary view that CPH held a prescribed interest in NTD by virtue of being in a position to exercise control of the licence. Shortly afterwards, the Tribunal received a new application from Publishing and Broadcasting Ltd (PUB) to acquire Channel 8 Darwin Holdings P/L (formerly Carstem).52 As a result, the ABT found “beyond doubt” that the Darwin station was controlled (through PUB) by CPH.53 Around the same time, Christopher Skase further expanded his regional television interests. On 6 April 1987, his Qintex Group, through its Universal Telecasters Ltd (UTL) subsidiary, launched a takeover bid for MKL (MVQ).54 The offer closed on 14 August with 98 per cent acceptance. The remaining shares were compulsorily acquired, with UTL acquiring full control in December.55 The consolidation of ownership in Western Australia also continued. In March 1987, Jack Bendat’s GWL (BTW/GSW), through its 135 Nominees P/L subsidiary, acquired all prescribed capital in GTL (GTW).56 The transaction was significant as it gave Bendat control of all four regional commercial television licences in Western Australia as well as the Western Zone RCTS (WAW) . In April, BDC Investments P/L (BDC), a company associated with Kerry Stokes and Geoff Cohen, acquired GWL (BTW/GSW/WAW),

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MTL (VEW), and GTL (GTW) from Bendat.57 Frank Lowy’s NSH then acquired a majority interest in BDC for $210 million in October.58 Stokes’ decision to (temporarily) sell his Adelaide, Perth, Canberra, and regional Western Australia television assets reportedly followed an unsuccessful attempt to acquire Seven Network stations in Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane ahead of Skase’s Qintex Group.59 As a result of these transactions, NSH was in breach of ownership rules and was forced to place NRL (NRN/RTN) up for sale.60 But on 11 December, BDC sold all five regional Western Australia licences back to Stokes and Cohen’s ACL, thereby eliminating NSH’s breach.61 Meanwhile, Paul Ramsay’s RML expanded aggressively. In August 1987, Tresjore P/L (TJL), a wholly owned subsidiary of RML, entered into an agreement to acquire TNL’s television interests for around $50  million.62 The NEN and ECN licences were consolidated as NEN New England/Mid North Coast on 1 December.63 This new licence was transferred to TJL in March 1988.64 TJL was renamed as New England Television P/L later that year, then Prime Television (Northern) P/L in 1991.65 In October 1987, Dylbout P/L (DBL), another RML subsidiary, agreed to acquire CBN/CWN from CBL for $55 million. These stations had, for some months, been promoted as part of the Prime Television network while remaining under independent ownership. The CBN/CWN licences were transferred to DBL in September 1988.66 DBL was renamed Prime Television (Southern) P/L on 13 February 1989.67 DTL (DDQ/SDQ) embarked on a similarly ambitious expansion. In September 1987, the company bought TVQ (Brisbane, Qld) for $123 million from Skase’s UTL. This followed his purchase of BTQ (Brisbane, Qld) as part of a three-station, $780 million deal to acquire Fairfax’s Seven Network stations in July.68 In December 1987, DTL acquired NRL (NRN/RTN) from NSL for $75 million.69 In early 1988, DTL announced it would swap the DDQ and TVQ broadcast frequencies. This would enable the latter station to align with Network Ten. The government’s announcement that Griffith would not proceed to aggregation led Linter Group (LGL) to place its media assets up for sale. In late 1987, radio mogul Bill Caralis acquired LGL subsidiary, BOL, which controlled MTN and radio stations 2DU, 2MG, 2PK, and 2RG.70 The transaction was, however, subject to a condition that BOL would cease to be the licensee of MTN.71 In the first of a dizzying array of ownership changes, MTN was transferred to Quoiba P/L (QBL), a new LGL

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subsidiary, in 1988.72 But in January 1990, LGL was placed into receivership.73 In 1991, MTN was transferred to Lochfield Consultants P/L (LCL), a QBL subsidiary.74 LCL was renamed MTN Television P/L (MNL) from 8 November 1993.75 By the mid-1990s, MNL was controlled by Associated Media Investments (ASL), a company with links to founding director Ray Gamble.76 Between March and June 1988, Bruce Gordon’s TWL, through its WIN Properties P/L subsidiary, acquired RTL (RTQ). The purchase was the first of many which would, by the mid-2000s, establish WIN as the largest commercial television network in Australia.77 Gordon also acquired Crawford Productions in 1989.78 In August 1991, TWL was delisted from the Australian Stock Exchange after being converted from a publicly listed to private company.79 The decision followed a fall in TWL’s share price which made it vulnerable to takeover. Meanwhile, Edmund Rouse’s ENT (TNT/TVT) was forced to sell one of its two stations by 1992 as a result of changes to broadcasting legislation.80 In March 1988, Tricom Corporation Ltd (TML) agreed to acquire TNT for $40  million.81 This followed an earlier, unsuccessful attempt by TML to purchase NEN/ECN ahead of Paul Ramsay’s RML.82 TML’s TNT purchase was completed in August 1988 and resulted in it becoming the second-largest regional television network in Australia.83 In February 1988, Paul Ramsay’s RML attempted to purchase SEQ/ MVQ from Christopher Skase’s Qintex Group for $110 million.84 But in late 1989, RML was forced to abandon the deal following the collapse of one of its financiers, DFC New Zealand.85 The ABT stated, at the combined CBN/RVN licence renewal hearing in 1990, that it had “some reservations” as to whether Prime could meet its financial obligations. It found that Prime’s continuance as a viable entity was largely dependent on support from its lead lender, Westpac.86 According to journalist Paul Syvret, RML typified the excesses of corporate Australia’s affair with electronic media in the 1980s. The company had borrowed heavily to acquire television licences that could not support their debt on earnings. The high costs associated with regional aggregation—despite Prime’s dominant market position—then strained the group to breaking point.87 ENT launched a takeover bid for ABS’ (BTV/GMV) Victoria-based radio and television assets in April 1988.88 The Age described ENT’s larger-than-life chairman, Edmond Rouse, as “aggressive and abrasive, fond of crude jokes and vulgar expressions … as subtle as a sledge-­ hammer”.89 The sale was completed for $76 million later that year.90 When

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asked of his plans, ENT’s managing director David McQuestin colourfully replied: “We have no plans for Associated until we go and have a look. First you catch the monkey, and then you decide what to do with it”.91 In November, Rouse alluded to further expansion plans when he told guests at the Shepparton Business Club luncheon: “We are in the money business and if there is a quid in it, we will go after it”.92 By early 1989, Fulcrum Media Ltd (FML) had (through a complex series of transactions) acquired control of NBN from PCL.93 The sale of NBN followed significant losses by PCL in the 1987 stock market crash, which resulted in Kevin Parry losing control of the company in April 1988.94 In October 1989, FML and associated parties entered into an agreement to sell NBN to pharmaceutical retailer, Washington H Soul Pattinson and Company Ltd (WHL), for $36 million.95 The musical chairs which resulted from the government’s changes to ownership rules is perhaps most acutely demonstrated in a series of transactions involving Alan Bond and reclusive regional television proprietor, Eva Presser. Bond Media Ltd (BML), owner of Nine Network stations, found itself in contravention of the new reach rule. In March 1989, Bond entered into an agreement to sell STW Perth to Presser’s SRL (STV) for $95 million.96 The deal was partly funded by SRL’s sale of the Mildura licence to Bond for $18 million.97 The STV licence was transferred from STL to Burnbay Investment P/L, a BML subsidiary, in September 1989.98 The Mildura station was on-sold to ENT (BTV/GMV/TVT) shortly afterwards.99 But ENT’s mainland expansion was overshadowed when, in June 1989, Edmund Rouse was arrested and charged with attempting to offer Tasmania state Labor MP Jim Cox a $110,000 bribe.100 The future of the company was further placed under a cloud when David McQuestin was arrested the following month in relation to the same matter.101 It was alleged the payment was an attempt to prevent the Labor Party from forming an alliance with the Tasmanian Greens in order to secure the return of Robin Gray’s Liberal Party. Soon after being charged, Rouse resigned from ENT. He eventually pleaded guilty and was sentenced to three years’ jail. Rouse’s arrest and conviction caused ENT’s share price to plunge, and the company’s newspaper and radio assets were sold.102 ENT’s television assets in Victoria and Tasmania were sold to WIN in 1994. The late 1980s had seen the largest number of share transactions and changes of ownership involving regional television companies since licences were first granted. In February 1990, TQL (TNQ/QQQ)

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acquired MIL (ITQ).103 In mid-1990, the cash-strapped DTL sold TVQ (Brisbane, Qld), which it had only recently acquired, to NSH. But this acquisition placed the latter in breach of the government’s ownership rules. As a result, NSH was forced to sell at least one of its stations in Canberra, Adelaide, or Perth.104 Then, in September, Frank Lowy’s WCL announced it would sell its interest in NSH. Quaestor P/L, a company associated with Steve Cosser, then acquired a controlling interest in NSH.105 On 27 October, Cosser sold CTC, ADS (Adelaide, SA) and NEW (Perth, WA) to a group of companies associated with businessman Charles Curran.106 Curran’s purchase of the stations from NSH was partly funded by Lowy’s WCL. This series of arrangements in which companies associated with Lowy appeared to have financed deals involving Cosser’s Broadcom and Curran’s Capital undoubtedly raised questions over who might ultimately control the associated commercial television licences.107 The lead-up to aggregation had resulted in much speculation and instability in the sector. In 1985, there had been 35 licences controlled by 23 entities; by late 1988, there were 38 licences with just 17 controllers.108 This represented a 30 per cent decline in the independence quotient in just three years. As we will see, an outline—still hazy in parts—of a new regional television ownership pattern had begun to emerge.109

Aggregation The aggregation of regional commercial television was the most destabilising and destructive development to face the industry since licences had first been granted in the 1960s. The most immediate financial and technical challenges facing stations in the lead-up to aggregation involved the expansion of infrastructure across their soon-to-be expanded markets. TQL (TNQ), for example, incurred considerable capital expenditure in establishing studios, sales offices, transmission systems and production facilities in Mackay, Rockhampton, Bundaberg, and Toowoomba. TQL’s David Astley notes that most incumbent operators expected to remain dominant in their “home” markets by virtue of their existing VHF transmission systems.110 In contrast, incoming operators would employ UHF transmission which, in many cases, required viewers to upgrade their sets. In many cases, television transmission and translator sites were shared with the ABC and other commercial services.111 Several stations invested heavily in studio upgrades. TQL’s new $2.5  million Cairns studio was opened by Queensland Premier Mike

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Ahern in August 1989 (see note 111). The company estimated the total cost of aggregation would be around $25  million.112 In 1989, TQL’s North East RCTS (QQQ) incurred a $1.9 million loss despite receiving a $2.5  million subsidy from the state government.113 Prime spent around $2  million to construct its new television headquarters in the Canberra suburb of Watson. A further $6 million was spent on fitting it out.114 The complex was officially opened by Prime Minister Bob Hawke on 29 March.115 SEQ commenced broadcasting from a new, $1.5 million studio at Maroochydore on 1 October 1990.116 The government’s Indicative Plan also allowed for the consolidation of licences within an approved market. It identified eight pairs of licences which were eligible for consolidation (Table  8.1). In situations where a pair of licences were under separate ownership (e.g. RTQ and DDQ), it was proposed to permit the licensee companies to apply for a consolidated licence as a consortium. Such provisions were arguably as much a potent symbol of the irreversibility of the pending changes as an administrative formality. The number of regional commercial television licences was gradually reduced through consolidations, from 38 to 30, between 1987 and 1992. This mostly occurred as the government had envisaged; however, there were a couple of notable exceptions. The BCV and GLV licences (both owned by SCB) were, for reasons that are unclear, retained as separate instruments.117 Similarly, the AMV licence (which had been earmarked for possible consolidation with RVN) was retained as the basis for Prime’s operations in Victoria.118 In many cases, stations introduced new on-air identities in preparation for aggregation. These included QTV (TNQ), Table 8.1  Licences eligible for consolidationa Licences

Ownership group

TNQ/FNQ DDQ/SDQ NRN/RTN NEN/ECN CBN/CWN RVN/AMV BCV/GLV BTV/GMV

Telecasters North Queensland Ltd (TQL) Darling Downs TV Ltd (DTL) Northern Rivers Television Ltd (NRL) Television New England Ltd (TNL) Country Television Services Ltd (CBL) Riverina and North East Victoria TV Ltd (RVL) Victorian Broadcasting Network (1983) P/L (VBR) Associated Broadcasting Services Ltd (ABS)

DOC, 1986b, pp. 13–14

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Star TV (RTQ), and Vision TV (DDQ). Staff were kept informed of changes through internal newsletters such as QTV’s On The Beam and SCB’s Cross Communication.119 In Victoria, the BTV and GMV licences were consolidated as RTV in 1989; this callsign was changed to VTV on 2 June 1990 to coincide with the stations’ rebranding as Vic TV (VTV). Golden West Network’s BTW and GSW licences, while not subject to aggregation, were consolidated as SSW in April 1990. It is important to note that the government’s Indicative Plan did not mandate affiliation with the metropolitan networks. Such arrangements were, however, inevitable given the need for each station to have an exclusive supply of programs. This invariably meant that, in each Approved Market, one regional operator would be aligned with the top-rating Nine Network, a second with the mid-rating Seven Network, while a third would practically be forced to align with the low-rating Network Ten. Metropolitan networks—which had long held dreams of gaining access to the regions—were salivating at the prospect of receiving up to 40 per cent of gross station revenues for the supply of programs.120 But most regionals feared their stations would become, at best, a “slave” to powerful metropolitan-­based “masters”. Some, particularly those forced into aligning with the lower-rating Network Ten, feared being driven to bankruptcy. There were also concerns at the implications for aggregation should one of the three metropolitan networks completely fail.121 Such anxieties were understandable given the appointment of receivers to the Seven and Ten networks in 1989 and 1990, respectively. Affiliation was determined, to varying degrees, by existing or historical relationships, fate, or luck of the draw. Unsurprisingly, initial planning yielded a patchwork of arrangements, whereby Prime and Sunshine would become the Seven Network affiliates; NBN, WIN, Vic TV, and QTV would align with Nine; and Star, Vision, NRTV, Capital, and Southern Cross would carry Network Ten programs.122 But as we will see, changes in ownership and control and a last-minute upset in Queensland would lead to a markedly different outcome. The most tangible change for viewers was the realignment of regional program schedules with those of the metropolitan networks. This led to a situation where non-affiliate programs were gradually taken off air up to 12 months in advance of aggregation to minimise disruption and build viewer loyalty. In regional Victoria, for example, Southern Cross replaced programs from Seven and Nine with those from Ten. But some viewers reacted angrily to the changes as their established viewing habits were disrupted. In

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Northern New South Wales, fans of the long-running imported soap opera, Days of Our Lives, voiced their anger when Prime (NEN) replaced the serial with Seven’s daytime line-up which comprised The Bert Newton Show followed by serial The Power, The Passion, which both originated from ATN Sydney. This resulted in at least one viewer requesting the ABT to suspend or revoke the station’s licence.123 Capital (CTC), a Ten affiliate, was reportedly “besieged by ‘outbursts’”, forcing the station to reinstate some popular Seven and Nine programs in the months before aggregation.124 In some cases, the storylines of programs being aired on regional stations were often weeks if not months behind those televised in the capital cities. Prime stations had, for many years, aired the popular Australian serial drama A Country Practice; however, episodes were several months behind the Seven Network. Prime (CBN) was able to avoid major continuity issues, as well as a possible viewer backlash, by broadcasting an edited package of major storylines in order to bring local viewers up to date. Meanwhile, in July 1987, Prime ceased producing its dedicated local news bulletin for Albury,125 replacing it with a consolidated RVN/AMV service presented from Wagga Wagga. Albury mayor John Roach lobbied to have the local bulletin reinstated on the grounds that the consolidated service was less relevant for both centres. A dedicated AMV bulletin, presented by Colleen Bray from the Albury studio, was reinstated on 18 January 1988.126 The adequacy of local news and the closure of regional newsrooms would become a major political issue in the years ahead. The aggregation of commercial television markets occurred in four stages (Table 8.2). This was due, in part, to limitations on the availability of suitably qualified labour and the need to import technical equipment. But as we will see shortly, not everything went according to plan. Approved Market C (Southern NSW/ACT) was the first to proceed to aggregation, in two stages. This was despite an ultimately unsuccessful court challenge from Capital (CTC) which sought to delay aggregation until the end of 1989 (see note 114). The Canberra and Wollongong sub-­ markets were aggregated on 31 March. In the former, Capital marked the occasion with a function at the Hyatt Hotel, WIN celebrated with Nine Network personalities at the Lakeside International while Prime hosted guests for a marquee function at its Watson studio (see note 115). The Orange, Dubbo, and Wagga Wagga sub-markets were aggregated on 31 December.127 (The CWN and CBN licences were consolidated in January 1989; the CBN and RVN licences were subsequently  consolidated as CBN Southern NSW/ACT in December 1991.) The WIN Illawarra and CTC Canberra licences were reconfigured as WIN Southern NSW/ACT

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Table 8.2  Aggregation, 1989–91a Approved Market (AM)

Date

AM-C: Southern NSW/ACT  •  Canberra/Wollongong  •  Orange/Dubbo/Wagga Wagga AM-A: Queensland AM-B: Northern NSW AM-D: Victoria

31 March 1989 31 December 1989 31 December 1990 31 December 1991 31 December 1991

DTC, 1989, p. 95; 1991, p. 72

and CTC Southern NSW/ACT respectively.  In most cases, the commencement of aggregation also marked the first 24-hour, seven-days-a-­ week transmissions by regional stations.128 In February 1990, David Haynes’ DTL (DDQ/SDQ) asked the Federal Court to declare the government’s aggregation plans illegal.129 This was abandoned in August after the matter was reportedly “settled” by those involved.130 In December, the government announced a package of special measures to assist regional licensees to meet the costs of aggregation. This package included additional rebates on television licence fees and a waiver of rental fees payable for use of Commonwealth-owned transmission sites.131 Meanwhile, Sunshine (SEQ/MVQ) prepared to become a Seven affiliate. Star TV (RTQ) and Vision TV (DDQ/SDQ) would carry Ten programs, while QTV (TNQ/FNQ) planned to link with Nine. (The TNQ and FNQ licences were consolidated as TNQ Regional Queensland in January 1989.) QTV’s affiliation plans were based on TQL long-standing relationship with the Nine network, which was also its largest shareholder. In return, Nine demanded 25 per cent of TQL’s gross revenues. This would have more than trebled the station’s programming costs and probably sent it broke. QTV refused to sign but anticipated a deal would be done. The station even introduced a new on-air identity that included the Nine “balls” and had started promoting network programs. But a last-minute upset would literally change the station’s fortunes overnight.132 On 24 December 1990, just days before aggregation, Bruce Gordon’s TWL (WIN/RTQ) acquired DTL’s regional Queensland television assets (DDQ/SDQ) for $7.5 million.133 On the same day, Gordon signed a program supply agreement with Nine, which resulted in RTQ and DDQ/SDQ (instead of TNQ) becoming the Nine affiliates for regional Queensland. This threw TQL’s aggregation plans into disarray and created a major engineering headache for the Toowoomba station, whose control facilities had

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recently been integrated with those of DTL’s Coffs Harbour station. TNQ staff were blindsided. David Astley recalls that “[although] some of the engineering staff said they’d heard prior rumours, nobody at TNQ [had taken] much notice of those because we didn’t think that [Kerry] Packer would want to go into the two major regional Qld markets on UHF”.134 Approved Market A (Queensland) was aggregated on 31 December 1990, with Sunshine (SEQ/MVQ)135 as the Seven affiliate. (The SEQ and MVQ licences were consolidated as STQ Regional Queensland in 1992.) WIN (RTQ/DDQ)136 carried programs from Nine. In the latter case, the “Star TV” and “Vision TV” identifications were abandoned in favour of network-wide “WIN Television” branding. (The SDQ and DDQ licences were consolidated in December 1990; the RTQ and DDQ licences were subsequently consolidated as RTQ Regional Queensland in April 1991.) QTV (TNQ) was left with no choice but to affiliate with the third-­ ranked Ten.137 Approved Markets B (Northern NSW) and D (Victoria) were both aggregated on 31 December 1991.138 The former comprised Newcastle, Lismore, Coffs Harbour, Tamworth, and Taree, which were served by Prime (NEN) as the Seven affiliate, NBN TV (NBN) as the Nine affiliate, and NRTV (NRN) carrying Network Ten programs. The latter included Albury, Ballarat, Bendigo, Shepparton, and Traralgon, which were covered by Prime (AMV), Vic TV (VTV) carrying Nine Network programs, and Southern Cross (BCV/GLV) as the Network Ten affiliate.139 Southern Cross marked its expansion into Albury with a pyrotechnics display featuring its logo, which reportedly “attracted substantial press coverage and virtually lit up the sky”.140 Aggregation had left regional stations highly dependent on the metropolitan networks for an exclusive supply of programs. As we will see, this resulted in a significant decrease in localism as stations became slaves to network program schedules.

Localism Regional stations initially chose to concentrate their more limited resources on local news as a major point of difference. As Neryl East points out, local news was “one of the main weapons in the new commercial battleground of aggregation”.141 Nevertheless, local news arrangements across the aggregated markets of eastern Australia might best be described as a patchwork of approaches.

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In Southern New South Wales, Prime (CBN Southern NSW/ACT) embarked on a major expansion by introducing daily 30-minute bulletins for Canberra, presented by former CTC newsreader John Bok (Box 8.2),142 and Wollongong, read by 2BL breakfast announcer Steve Parsons.143 In the latter case, a multi-million-dollar purpose-built studio facility was established at Berkeley. Sandra Sully was recruited from BTQ Brisbane to present Prime’s weekend bulletins. Prime’s Orange/Dubbo and Wagga Wagga bulletins were presented by Peter Andren and Doug Hogan, respectively. WIN (Southern NSW/ACT) established its Canberra newsroom in 1989.144 A daily, 30-minute news bulletin, hosted by Peter Russell, was produced from the company’s Kingston studio (Box 8.3). WIN’s Wollongong bulletin continued to be anchored by Mary Franks and Mike Roach.145 Former WIN journalist Margaret van Heekeren recalls that, in mid-1992, the network introduced a single, composite bulletin of local, national and international news covering the rest of the Southern NSW market. This format was replaced later that year by dedicated, 30-minute local bulletins for each of the Orange/Dubbo and Wagga sub-markets.146 Capital (CTC Southern NSW/ACT) elected to introduce a daily bulletin for Wollongong; however, a news presence was not established in other Southern New South Wales markets. Capital 7 News, which had been rebranded as Eyewitness News in 1988,147 was repackaged as Ten News in line with metropolitan Network Ten stations (Box 8.4). The revamp included construction of a new set at a cost of more than $100,000.148 Ten News was presented by Geoff Hiscock, Christine Kininmonth, Greg

Box 8.2  Prime News Canberra

• Type: Audio-visual recording • Produced by: CBN Southern NSW/ACT, 1990 • NFSA reference: 54967

Box 8.3  WIN News Canberra

• Type: Audio-visual recording • Produced by: WIN Southern NSW/ACT, 1990 • NFSA reference: 55711

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Box 8.4  Ten News Canberra

• Type: Audio-visual recording • Produced by: CTC Southern NSW/ACT, 1989 • NFSA reference: 1559796 Robson (sport), and Mike Larkin (weather) at the time of aggregation in March 1989.149 CTC also hosted a Canberra-based set for Network Ten’s Face to Face current affairs program, hosted by Kerry O’Brien.150 In Queensland, WIN (RTQ Regional Queensland) progressively launched news bulletins for Cairns, Townsville, and the Sunshine Coast in addition to those already produced for Rockhampton and Toowoomba.151 Sunshine, too, expanded its news services to include Cairns and Townsville.152 One of the most significant news investments was at QTV (TNQ Regional Queensland), which established additional news bureaus in Mackay, Rockhampton, Bundaberg, and Toowoomba. Instead of taking the metropolitan news from Network Ten, the company introduced a daily, one-hour composite bulletin of local, national, and international stories presented from Townsville by Bruce Paige. Local news stories were accommodated in a 10-minute window in which switching technology was used to send separate signals to each of the six sub-markets as well as ITQ and QQQ. This was made possible by the installation of a sophisticated $7 million library management system.153 However, a significant fall in revenue at QTV resulted in its Eyewitness News being scaled back to the core markets of Townsville and Cairns in 1992 (Box 8.5).154 In Northern NSW, Prime (NEN Northern NSW) introduced additional bulletins for Newcastle and the Central Coast. NBN’s hour-long composite bulletins were expanded to include news windows for all six sub-markets. Northern Rivers Television (NRN Northern NSW) chose not to expand local news services beyond its traditional markets of Coffs Harbour and Lismore. In Victoria, Vic TV (VTV Regional Victoria) progressively introduced bulletins for Gippsland and Bendigo in addition to existing services for Ballarat and Shepparton. Entertainer Denis Walter was appointed as Vic TV’s principal newsreader from 1 September 1992 (Box 8.6).155 Prime (AMV Regional Victoria) continued to provide a daily, 30-­minute local news service for Albury but chose not to introduce bulletins for other Victorian markets. Southern Cross initially deemed it financially unviable

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Box 8.5  QTV Eyewitness News Townsville

• Type: Audio-visual recording • Produced by: TNQ Regional Queensland, 1992 • NFSA reference: 66485

Box 8.6  Vic TV News, Shepparton

• Type: Audio-visual recording • Produced by: VTV Regional Victoria, 1993 • NFSA reference: 219292 to provide additional local news services.156 Instead, SCB continued to produce Southern Cross Network News bulletins for its “heritage” markets of Bendigo (BCV) and Traralgon (GLV) only, while general programming was aired in Albury, Ballarat, and Shepparton. This was supplemented by a network-wide Southern Cross Eyewitness News bulletin at 6.30pm which comprised national and international news.157 But this service was soon abandoned in favour of a 5pm relay of Ten Eyewitness News from Melbourne.158 Then, in late 1993, this service was replaced with SCN’s own network-wide “national” Eyewitness News bulletin at 6.30pm. The Bendigo and Traralgon local bulletins were rebranded as SCN News at Six; the former edition was also expanded to cover Ballarat and Shepparton. Albury received a delayed telecast of Ten Eyewitness News from Sydney as an alternative to the Melbourne-based services provided by Prime and WIN.159 But many stations had little to celebrate in the period after aggregation. After years of bumper returns, profitability at regional commercial television stations was decimated by the recession of the early 1990s and the high costs associated with aggregation. Just as the metropolitan networks were emerging from the mire of huge debts and heavy losses. Regional operators were, according to David Astley, struggling to adjust to the new, competitive environment: Profitability took a nose dive after aggregation. It had already been substantially affected in the lead-up to aggregation because of the cost of establishing new studio facilities in the rest of regional Queensland.160

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In Southern NSW, a combined $20.3 million profit in 1989 was followed by a $2.4 million loss just 12 months later.161 In Canberra, Prime ceased 24-hour transmission in April 1990. Capital did likewise in July. The move left WIN as the only 24-hour commercial television station in the nation’s federal capital.162 Station costs were, perhaps more than ever, subject to close scrutiny. Staff ultimately bore the brunt of inevitable job cuts, especially at Network Ten affiliates. In September 1990, Vision TV (DDQ) sacked around 19 people as operations were centralised to NRN in Coffs Harbour. In November, Southern Cross axed 19 positions at its BCV headquarters. The network’s chief executive, Graeme Eddy, blamed the cuts on the Federal government which he accused of being “blinkered to the current state of our industry”. However, staff accused the company of not doing enough to contain costs in the lead-up to aggregation, citing its fleet of luxury cars and recently constructed $3 million executive wing as evidence of lavish spending (see note 125). In Townsville, QTV shelved plans to increase its staff from 150 to 165.163 David Astley predicted: “I think we’re going to have a couple of very tough years… It’s most unfortunate that aggregation has come during the worst year, economically, in the past 10”.164 Elsewhere, WIN’s Bruce Gordon remained somewhat more sanguine regarding the likely financial impacts of aggregation. He remarked: “There [are] a hell of a lot of sheep in Wagga. We’ll have to work out how to put earphones on them.”165 The need to align with network schedules, contain costs, and shed staff had inevitably reduced local production. The most significant program cuts were in locally produced family, children’s, light entertainment, and sport programs, including outside broadcasts. By late 1991, QTV (TNQ) had ceased production of programs including Kid’s Army, North Queensland Today, and Newsweek.166 Similarly, Capital (CTC) told the ABA at its licence renewal hearing that year that the station could no longer afford to provide local production beyond its news service and telecasts of special events.167 While it is difficult to ascertain with any certainty the exact proportion of programs that were locally produced, available data suggests that it had fallen to around five per cent by 1992 (see Chap. 1, Fig. 1.1).168 This equated to around 8.5 hours per week on average, assuming stations were on air for 168 hours. Local news bulletins were also axed in some areas. In 1990, Capital (CTC Southern NSW/ACT) announced the closure of its Wollongong newsroom on the basis of poor ratings and annual operating costs of more

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than $1  million. Transmission was reduced by four hours a day.169 The station also reportedly could not afford to televise home matches for the Canberra Raiders as the National Rugby League requested $3000 per game.170 Capital’s Charles Curran declared: [We] have now pared our operating costs to the bone [but] we are concerned that to maintain economic viability further job losses cannot be ruled out … We believe regional television operators cannot be expected to simply absorb the horrendous costs involved and still maintain a full range of regular local programs and services.171

In April 1991, Prime (CBN Southern NSW/ACT) announced plans to discontinue its news bulletin for the national capital and replace it with a series of news updates.172 In most cases, incumbent operators were able to enjoy higher ratings in comparison to their newer competitors. In Canberra, for example, the first ratings survey for 1991 gave Capital a 35 per cent share, with Prime on 24 per cent and WIN at 21 per cent. But when considering ratings across the entire Southern NSW market, the picture was somewhat different, with Prime at 32 per cent, and WIN and Capital each on 27 per cent.173 By early 1992, Capital’s news service was rebranded, yet again, as Capital Eyewitness News.174 Despite the cuts, local production of non-news programs did continue, though on a much-reduced scale. Goodsports (TVT) was a weekly, 30-­minute children’s program produced by ENT (and later WIN) from its Hobart studio from 1990 to 2000. It was broadcast at 7.30am on Saturdays and ran for 10 seasons. Dee Dee and Company (GLV) was a 30-minute infotainment program hosted by Denise Drysdale from Southern Cross’ Traralgon studio for one season, prior to aggregation, in 1990 (Box 8.7).175 Children’s characters and station mascots included Doopa Dog who, as we have discussed, had been waving goodnight to children through GTW since the late 1970s. By the late 1980s, Doopa was appearing alongside Box 8.7  Dee Dee and Company

• Type: Audio-visual recording • Produced by: GLV Latrobe Valley (Traralgon, Vic), 1990 • NFSA reference: 1073038

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Lara Dalton for GTW Geraldton-based segments of GWN’s Saturday Club.176 In 1990, Doopa was relocated to Bunbury where he began hosting a network-wide Goodnight Girls and Boys segment in addition to appearances on GWN Saturday Club (in place of Zac “the puppet in a bucket”) alongside hosts including Noel Brunning, Shauna Willis, and Hovea Grant.177 NBN’s Big Dog first appeared as a sidekick to “Miss Kim” on Romper Room in 1991. He also featured in nightly segments intended to assist parents in getting their children to bed. There were also several notable efforts by regional networks to provide programs which both featured and were of relevance to Aboriginal Australians. GWN’s Milbindi was a magazine-style program featuring reports from indigenous communities across Western Australia (Box 8.8). It was hosted by Wuradjiri woman Gina Williams and comprised 29 episodes produced between 1989 and 1997.178 Nganampa Anwernekenhe aimed to preserve First Nations’ cultures. It was presented in various Indigenous languages and was reportedly the only program of its type in Australia at that time (Box 8.9). The series has generated around 200 episodes.179 Regional stations continued to provide an important training ground for journalists, camera operators, producers, editors, and other crew. Journalist Michael Usher recalls his early career at GWN in the early 1990s, which included a posting to the company’s Kalgoorlie station:

Box 8.8  Milbindi

• Type: Audio-visual recording • Produced by: BTW Bunbury, 1990–91 • NFSA reference: 1036604

Box 8.9  Nganampa Anwernekenhe

• Type: Audio-visual recording • Produced by: CAAMA Productions, 1997 • NFSA reference: 1620246

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It was a very small TV station on the edge of a rail track… [It was] just [me] and a cameraman covering news. Our patch stretched four hours north and south—and as far east as the border… The stories were interesting though. It was a gold boom. Indigenous issues were prominent. There was a very much a wild west attitude about the town and its people.180

Melissa Doyle began her career at WIN before joining Prime in Canberra. She later co-hosted Seven’s Sunrise, alongside David Koch, and the network’s Sunday Night current affairs magazine.181 Sports journalist and presenter Matthew White joined NBN as a weekend sports presenter in 1992.182 He later worked for the Seven and Ten networks. Newsreader Chris Bath launched her television career at Prime (AMV) in 1989.183 Others to enter the industry around this time included Seven News Brisbane presenter Sharyn Ghidella (FNQ/TNQ)184 and Sunrise co-host Natalie Barr (BTW/GSW).185 The 1989 disappearance of Ross Warren, a 24-year-old WIN newsreader and weather presenter, is arguably the most high-profile case of its kind involving an Australian regional commercial television personality. Warren disappeared while on a night out with friends in Sydney. His car keys were located two days later on rocks below Marks Park at Tamarama. Warren’s body was never found. However, police believe he was thrown from the cliffs as the victim of a gay hate crime.186 In March 2005, senior deputy State Coroner Jacqueline Milledge ruled Warren had been murdered. She also described the police investigation of the case as “grossly inadequate and shameful”.187 Warren’s death, which remained unsolved at the time of writing, was among those considered by a 2019 New South Wales Legislative Council Standing Committee on Social Issues (LCSCSI) inquiry into gay and transgender hate crimes between 1970 and 2010,188 and a 2022 Special Commission of Inquiry into LGBTIQ hate crimes.189

Independence The changing fortunes of regional stations can be gauged by comparing the high profits of the early 1980s to the post-aggregation declines in profitability by the early 1990s. According to financial analyst Bob Peters, the average six per cent profit margin achieved by Australia’s regional broadcasters in 1992 was barely a quarter of that achieved in the late 1970s and early 1980s and half that of just two years previously. Although the recession had taken its toll on station revenues as advertisers pared back their budgets, most pointed to aggregation as the key culprit

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behind the declining fortunes. The ABA calculated that regional station expenditure had increased by 16 per cent per annum over the previous five years, compared to 8 per cent compound growth in revenue. Vic TV had spent $16 million installing 70 transmitters and translators needed to cover the state. Prime had expended $45 million in New South Wales and Victoria. These capital equipment expenses, coupled with the cost of station mergers and acquisitions in the lead-up to aggregation, caused total borrowings for the 30 regional stations surveyed to leap from $93 million in 1987–88 to $312  million in 1989–90 before drifting back to $307  million in 1992. Interest expenses soared 78 per cent in the same year. The squeeze on profits was palpable. ABA figures indicated that pre-­tax broadcasting profits had plunged from a peak of $68 million in 1989 to just $23.4 million in 1992. Some analysts predicted that industry profitability would be increasingly polarised between those stations that had good programming supply deals, sound financial structures, and strong management and those that did not. There was even speculation that the number of licences in regional areas might need to be reduced from three to two.190 Many stations had to dramatically restructure their operations and approach to programming in order to survive. Southern Cross, for example, which was affiliated with the low-rating Network Ten, was, according to SCB’s general manager of television operations Tony Forrest, forced to cut operating costs by 30 per cent: “We’re a different station now. This time last year [1992] we had 165 staff; now there’s 111. We used to produce a lot of local programs; now we only run local news in areas where we have key stations. We used to have six people in programming, we now have one”.191 The financial burden of aggregation had been especially acute for DTL (NRN Northern NSW). By mid-1992, parent company Aspermont Ltd (APL) had also incurred significant losses on its European radio operations.192 The situation was exacerbated by DTL’s affiliation with Network Ten, which consistently rated behind rivals Seven and Nine.193 NRN’s operating costs had increased by around 30 per cent while operating profits had fallen substantially since aggregation.194 Receivers were appointed in October 1993 and DTL’s television assets were placed up for sale.195 But despite the gloom, analysts and industry observers predicted that some operators stood poised for a profit revival. They argued that although regional television earnings were unlikely to ever return to the peaks of the mid-1980s, some would enjoy a convincing rebound as advertisers increased spending in line with an economic recovery. The rationale for such optimism was that while regional networks reached 35 per cent of the total population, they attracted just 21 per cent of total national

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advertising expenditure. It was argued that if regional stations could increase their advertising share to reflect their audience reach, the gains would be enormous as the economy recovered (see note 188). A major outcome of aggregation and its immediate aftermath was the emergence of regional “super networks”. This resulted from efforts by some larger players to shore up their future stability by acquiring smaller licensee companies to increase revenue and achieve greater economies of scale. As we have seen, significant transactions included acquisitions by Prime, WIN, and Southern Cross, which entrenched their super-station status in regional television. Meanwhile, Christopher Skase’s television empire, which included stations at Mackay and Maryborough in Queensland, was crumbling. In 1987, Skase’s company, Qintex, had acquired the Seven Network stations ATN Sydney, HSV Melbourne, and BTQ Brisbane from John Fairfax and Sons Ltd. This was followed by SAS Adelaide and TVW Perth from Robert Holmes à Court.196 In 1989, Qintex was placed into receivership following a failed $1.9  billion takeover bid for MGM Studios.197 Skase later declared himself bankrupt and fled to the Spanish island of Majorca. Qintex’s Seven Network stations were purchased by Kerry Stokes in 1991. SEQ and MVQ were acquired by Gosford Communications Ltd (GCL), a company associated with businessmen Sam Gazal and Trevor Kennedy, and producer Reg Grundy, in January 1992.198 GCL was renamed Sunshine Broadcasting Network Ltd (SBL) later that year.199 Mackay Television  Ltd (MKL), by this time a SBL subsidiary, was renamed Sunshine Television Network Ltd (SSL) on 4 September 1992. The previously separate SEQ and MVQ licences were consolidated as STQ Regional Queensland from 14 September 1992. This new licence was held by SSL. It should also be noted that, by early 1992, GTS/BKN had joined with SES/RTS and IMP to establish the Central Television Network (CTN) for the joint sale of advertising. Through this association, advertisers were able to access five separate markets through a single, consolidated marketing campaign.200 It was joined by QQQ (North Eastern Zone RCTS) in early 1996. 201 By mid-1992, there were 30 regional commercial television licences held by 15 ownership groups. The majority of these were held by private and family investment companies associated with Bruce Gordon and Paul Ramsay. A smaller number were controlled by entities associated with Jim Sturrock, Allan Scott, and Ray Gamble, as well as large institutional investors.202 The independence quotient remained unchanged from mid-1989, at 50 per cent (see Chap. 1, Fig. 1.2).203

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Conclusion The aggregation of regional commercial television services between 1986 and 1992 was packaged by the Hawke Labor government as being driven by a desire to provide viewers with a choice of free-to-air channels that was equivalent to that in metropolitan areas. In reality, it stemmed from politically motivated efforts to sooth powerful media mates, most notably Kerry Packer, who had accused the government of bungling the introduction of the domestic satellite. (Packer interests had also re-entered regional television with the acquisition of NTD Darwin.) The government’s abandonment of the SLS, coupled with its announcement that equalisation was its main priority in broadcasting, had left the regionals in no doubt that change was inevitable. Its decision to equalise commercial television markets in regional Queensland, New South Wales, and Victoria through a process of aggregation rather than a reconstituted supplementary licence scheme was the sector’s seventh liminal moment. These major structural changes destabilised the industry and reduced both localism and independence (see Chap. 1, Fig. 1.3). The government equalisation policy had delivered its politically favourable objective of more choice to regional viewers and placate metropolitan media interests. It also not only failed to address, but added to, the structural imbalance identified by the ABT. Furthermore, it had placed many regional operators on the brink of collapse. The destruction of regional monopolies and the establishment of three national networks centred on Sydney and Melbourne at the hands of the Hawke Labor government was surely one of the most blatant instances of the state using its power to favour the commercial interests of one group over another. As we will see in Chap. 9, government patronage and protection would reinforce the tenure of commercial television interests in the 1990s.

Notes 1. Eddy, quoted in Bendigo Advertiser, 30/1/1991, p. 1. 2. Age (Melbourne), 26/1/1983, p. 5. 3. Morris 1985. 4. DOC, 1985b, p. 2. 5. DOC, 1985a, pp. 11–24. 6. AFR, 5/8/1985, p. 3. 7. DOC, 1985a, pp. xxvi–xxvii. 8. Legislation No. 66 of 1985. 9. DOC, 1986c, p. 2.

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10. AFR, 1/10/1985, p. 3. 11. AFR, 2/10/1985, p. 1. 12. CT, 21/3/1986, p. 1. 13. Michael Duffy, cited in Barry 1993, p. 326. 14. Herd 2012, pp. 190–192. 15. AFR, 13/12/1985, p. 1; Chadwick 1989. 16. Barry 1993, p. 323. 17. Westfield 2000, pp. 37–38. 18. Broadcasting Amendment Bill, 86/192; HOR, Hansard, 12/11/1986, p. 2865. 19. DOC, 1986a, pp. 5–6, 8. 20. The two proposed markets in regional Queensland were consolidated into one, while the three proposed markets in New South Wales were reconfigured as two. 21. SSCOTE, 1987, p. 59; DTC, 1988, p. 81. 22. Barry 1993, p. 324. 23. Souter 1991, pp. 175–177. 24. BTCE, 1996b, p. 39. 25. Herd 2012, p. 194. 26. SSCOTE, 1987, pp. 154–155. 27. https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;db= CHAMBER;id=chamber%2Fhansardr%2F1987-­06-­04%2F0006;page= 0;query=This%20is%20a%20shameful%20piece%20of%20legislation. %20It%20really%20is%20outrageous.%20It%20is%20a%20nail%20 in%20the%20cof fin%20of%20the%20Australian%20democracy; rec=0;resCount=Default, accessed 5/11/2019. 28. ABT, 1987, pp. 2–3. See also No. 79 of 1987. 29. CBL, 1987, p. 4. 30. AFR, 19/4/1988, p. 24; ABT, IO/90/31, 28/2/1990. 31. TNL, 1988, p. 7. 32. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-1.10. 33. Brown 1991. 34. Peter McKechnie (Qld Minister for Industry and Technology), Press Statement, 9/11/1987. 35. DTC, 1990b, p. 62. 36. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-1.9. 37. Brown 1991, pp. 248–262. 38. Given 2003, p. 37. 39. DTC 1988, pp. 81–82. 40. DTC, 1989, p. 94. 41. DTC, 1991, pp. 73–74. WIN was to have ceased transmitting on channel 4 from 30/6/1989; however, this was delayed until completion of a new translator station to serve Ulladulla.

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42. DTC, 1993, p. 45. 43. See Drake 1997, pp. 45–68. 44. Gilding 2004, pp. 127–143. 45. Herd 2012, pp. 167–168. 46. O’Regan 1988, pp. 126–143. 47. SMH, 28/1/1987, p. 43. 48. ABT, 1987, pp. 40–41. 49. Tiffen 2007, pp. 12–15. 50. ABT, IO/87/46, February 1989. 51. Frank Packer had held major interests in NBN and WIN in the 1960s. 52. Carstem P/L was renamed Channel 8 Darwin Holdings P/L on 16/6/1987. 53. ABT, IO/87/89, July 1988. 54. Prior to the bid, Qintex had built up a five per cent holding in MKL through its ownership of WBL (SEQ). 55. ABT, IO/87/75, December 1991; https://www.delisted.com.au/company/mackay-­television-­limited, accessed 13/9/2019. 56. ABT, IO/88/55, November 1989. 57. ABT, IL/89/4-6 and IL/89/179, March 1990. BDC also held interests in CTC Canberra, ADS Adelaide, and NEW Perth (which had yet to commence operation); Rule 2014, pp. 265–268. 58. CT, 8/8/1987, p. 1. 59. CT, 8/8/1987, p. 4. 60. As a result of these transactions, NSH had acquired interests in BTW/ GSW, VEW, GTW, WAW, CTC, ADS, NEW, and NRN/RTN. 61. ABT, IO/87/46, February 1989 p.  5. NSH, through BDC, retained ownership of CTC, ADS, and NEW. 62. ABT, IO/88/49, September 1988, p. 29. 63. See discussion of licence consolidation later in this chapter. 64. ABT, IO/87/148, March 1988. 65. ASIC, Prime Television Northern P/L ACN: 003 344 876, Current and Historical Company Extract, 20/11/2014. 66. ABT, IO/88/49, September 1988. 67. ABT, IL/89/34-IL/90/95, September 1991, p. 34. 68. SMH, 17/9/1987, p. 23. 69. CT, 23/12/1987, p.  10; ABT, IO/88/131, July 1991. The ABT approved the transaction on 11/7/1991. This significant delay was mostly due to a notable rise in the number of share transactions requiring examination by the ABT in this period, including several involving Northern Star and related parties. 70. CT, 25/11/1987, p. 34. 71. ABT, IO/88/38, August 1991. 72. ABT, IO/88/97, July 1988.

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73. ABT, IO/90/60, July 1992. 74. Communications Law Centre, Media Ownership Update, February 1983. 75. ASIC, WIN Television Griffith P/L ACN: 050 140 657, Current and Historical Company Extract, 21/3/2019. 76. ASIC, Associated Media Investments P/L ACN: 056 816 730, Current and Historical Company Extract, 24 March 2019. 77. ABT, IO/88/200, October 1990. 78. https://crawfordsdvd.com.au/about-­us, accessed 25/3/2019. 79. CT, 3/5/1991, p. 12; Age (Melbourne), 3/5/1991, p. 17. 80. CT, 30/3/1988, p. 26. 81. This transaction was affected through Tricom Television (Tasmania) P/L, a wholly owned subsidiary of Tricom Corporation Ltd. 82. CT, 3/11/1987, p. 16. 83. ABT, IO/89/123, September 1989; ABT, IO/88/123, April 1990. 84. SMH, 15/2/1989, p. 46; 26/3/1998, p. 33. 85. MIA, “Ramcorp P/L,” No. 55, February 1990, p. 134. 86. ABT, IL/89/34 and IL/90/95, September 1991, pp. 12–23, 36. 87. SMH, 8/12/1990, p. 39. 88. CT, 23/4/1988, p. 27. 89. “SMH (Good Weekend), 4/11/1989, p. 240. 90. ENL, 1988, p. 2. 91. SMH, 14/5/1988, p. 41. 92. Shepparton News, 18/11/1988. 93. The NBN licence was, by this time, operated by NBN Ltd which was a wholly owned subsidiary of NBN Enterprises P/L. 94. ABT, IO/89/1, June 1989; CT, 5/9/1988, p. 4. 95. ABT, IL/89/195 and IL/89/197, June 1991. This purchase price included approximately $17 million in shares and $19 million in subordinated debt; Age, (Melbourne), 1/11/1989, p. 33. 96. AFR, 20/4/1989. 97. ABT, IO/89/111, August 1990. 98. ABT, IO/89/29, February 1989. 99. ABT, IO/90/19, July 1991; ENT, 1989, p. 5. 100. SMH (Good Weekend), 4/11/1989, p. 34 101. Herald (Melbourne), 6/7/1989. The proceedings against McQuestin were later discontinued by the DPP. 102. Tanner 1995, pp. 53–70; Kirkpatrick 2014, pp. 160–161. 103. ABT, IO/90/80, November 1990. 104. SMH, 15/6/1989, p. 33. 105. ABT, IO/91/54, February 1992. NSH retained ownership of TEN, ATV and TVQ.  The group was placed into receivership on 14 September 1990. 106. ABT, IL/90/7, July 1991; ABT, IL/89/189, August 1991. 107. CT, 28/10/1989, p. 1.

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108. DTC 1988. 109. Archer 1988, pp. 26–28. 110. David Astley, email to Michael Thurlow, 28/2/2019. Astley credits this situation as having saved TQL (TNQ) when it ended up with the Network Ten signal as it enabled the station to maintain the largest audience share for some time after aggregation in Townsville and Cairns. 111. TQL, 1987, pp. 3–4. 112. SMH, 22/12/1989, p. 19. 113. TQL, 1989, p. 4. 114. CT, 23/2/1989, p. 5. 115. CT, 30/3/1989, p. 1. 116. Courier-Mail (Brisbane), 28/9/1990, p. 24. 117. This anomaly remained in place at the time of writing and is unique in regional commercial television. The GLV licence is used for transmissions to Traralgon, Albury, and Shepparton while the BCV licence is used for Bendigo, Ballarat, Swan Hill, and Hamilton. 118. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-1.10. The CBN, CWN and RVN licences (all owned by PTL) were subsequently consolidated as a single licence for Southern New South Wales. 119. See, for example, TQL, On The Beam, Vol. 4, February 1990 and SCB, Cross Communication, December 1991. 120. BTCE 1996, pp. 49–50. 121. DTL 1990, p. 4. 122. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-3.3. 123. ABT, IL/89/89, March 1990. 124. Bendigo Advertiser, 22/11/1990. 125. The company retained an Albury newsroom and local crews which were responsible for filing reports for the consolidated bulletin. 126. Border Morning Mail (Albury), 19/1/1988, p. 9. 127. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-3.3. Prime (CBN) was the Seven affiliate, WIN (WIN) the Nine affiliate and Capital (CTC) the Ten affiliate. 128. ABT, IL/90/115, July 1991, p. 19. See WIN as an example. Note some larger stations, such as WIN, had previously transmitted for 24 hours on Fridays and Saturdays. 129. CT, 2/2/1990, p. 13. 130. CT, 8/8/1990, p. 12. 131. ABT, IL/90/7, July 1991, p. 37. 132. ABT, IL/90/102, October 1991, pp. 5–7. 133. CT, 27/12/1990, p. 7. 134. David Astley, email to Michael Thurlow, 28/2/2019. 135. The SEQ and MVQ licences were consolidated as STQ Regional Queensland on 4 September 1992 following the acquisition of the sta-

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tions by Gosford Communications. See discussion of this transaction later in this chapter. 136. The RTQ and DDQ licences were eventually consolidated as RTQ Regional Queensland on 24/4/1991. 137. Westfield 2000, p. 39. 138. East 1998; It was originally planned that Approved Market D: Victoria, would be aggregated in 1992; however, this was brought forward. 139. See ESM/Appendices/Appendix-3.3. 140. SCB, Cross Communication (company newsletter), April 1992, p. 2. 141. See East 1998, pp. 75–109 for a detailed account of local news arrangements in Approved Markets A, B, C, and D at the time of aggregation. 142. CT, 4/5/1991, p. 3. 143. IM (Wollongong), 23/3/1989, p.  3. The Canberra and Wollongong bulletins were in addition to Prime’s existing bulletins for Orange/ Dubbo and Wagga Wagga. 144. See East 1998, pp. 187–243 for a detailed case study of WIN’s local news arrangements in Central Western New South Wales. 145. CT, 31/3/1989, p. 15. 146. Margaret van Heekeren, email to Michael Thurlow, 29/3/2019; Mumbrella, 19/6/2019, https://mumbrella.com.au/a-tribute-to-wins-orange-andwagga-newsrooms-from-the-journo-who-set-them-up-585207, accessed 3/10/2019. 147. CT, 4/4/1988, p. 19. 148. CT, 19/9/1988, p. 31. 149. Greg Robson, email to Michael Thurlow, 28/3/2019. 150. CT, 31/10/1988, p. 29. 151. Alistair Frew, email to Michael Thurlow, 2/4/2019. WIN did not, however, introduce local news bulletins for Mackay and Wide Bay at that time. 152. Sunshine did not, however, introduce local news bulletins for Rockhampton and Toowoomba at that time. 153. ABT, IL/90/102, October 1991, pp. 16–17. 154. Bruce Paige, email to Michael Thurlow, 1/4/2019. 155. WIN Television, BTV Reunion, 2006, miscellaneous papers, Roy Taylor papers. 156. East 1998, pp. 106–108. 157. Bendigo Advertiser, 3/1/1992, p. 4. 158. Bendigo Advertiser, 1/1/1993, p. 4. 159. Bendigo Advertiser, 1/11/1993, p.8. 160. David Astley, email to Michael Thurlow, 28/2/2019. 161. SMH, 30/10/1990, p. 25. 162. CT, 9/3/1993, p. 2. 163. ABT, IL/90/102, October 1991, pp. 13–14.

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164. David Astley, quoted in Courier-Mail (Brisbane), 28/12/1990, p. 9. 165. Bruce Gordon, quoted in CT (Magazine), 2/4/1989, p. 19. 166. ABT, IL/90/102, October 1991, p. 16. Production of the long-running Radiant Living was temporarily rested, then revived briefly following aggregation. 167. ABT, IL/90/07, July 1991, p. 16. 168. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-3.1. 169. ABT, IL/90/7, July 1991, pp. 20–21. 170. CT, 31/3/1991, p. 28. 171. Charles Curran, quoted in ABT, IL/90/7, July 1991, pp. 35–36. 172. ABT, IL/89/34 and IL/90/95, September 1991, p. 30. 173. ABT, IL/90/7, July 1991, p. 14. 174. CT, 12/1/1992, p. 20. 175. Drysdale had previously hosted Wednesday Magazine for GLV. 176. Lara Dalton, telephone conversation with Michael Thurlow, 18/10/2019. 177. GWL (SSW), “GWN Celebrating 40 Years of Television in Regional WA,” [n.d.]. 178. NFSA: 1036604. Milbindi program catalogues are also held by the State Library of Western Australia. 179. https://aso.gov.au/titles/series/nganampa-­anwernekenhe/, accessed 13/8/2021. 180. Michael Usher, email to Michael Thurlow, 9/4/1989. 181. Melissa Doyle, email to Michael Thurlow, 2/4/2019. 182. https://www.saxton.com.au/speakers/matthew-­white, accessed 24/11/ 2019. 183. https://chrisbath.com.au/, accessed 24/11/2019. 184. Courier-Mail (Brisbane), 16/11/2006, p. 3. 185. Natalie Barr, interview with Michael Thurlow, 13/3/2019. 186. A. Tullis, ‘‘Violence towards gay men accepted’: inquiry reveals details of Ross Warren’s suspected murder’, 26 February 2019 on Illawarra Mercury website: https://www.illawarramercury.com.au/story/5925449/inquiryheard-details-of-tv-presenters-gay-hate-murder/, accessed: 24 March 2019. 187. L. Lamont, ‘Detective exposes apathy in gay murder cases’, in SMH 10 March 2005, p. 3. 188. LCSCSI 2019, Gay and Transgender hate crimes between 1970 and 2010 Final Report (Report 58). 189. https://www.specialcommission.nsw.gov.au/; SMH Gay hate crimes: Brother of John Russell, who was killed in suspected gay hate crime, pleads for information (smh.com.au) 190. Age (Melbourne), 12/4/1993, p. 22. 191. Tony Forrest, cited in Age (Melbourne), 12/4/1993, p. 22. 192. SMH, 14/5/1992, p. 23.

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193. SMH, 16/5/1992. 194. SMH, 2/10/1992. 195. DTC, 1994, p. 32; SMH, 5/1/1994, p. 21. 196. Haigh 2014, pp. 427–428. 197. CT, 9/12/1989, p. 15. 198. ABT, IO/91/88, January 1992; SMH, 16/1/1992, p. 27. 199. ASIC, Sunshine Broadcasting Network Ltd ACN: 003 230 608, Current and Historical Company Extract, 23/11/2012. Gosford Communications Ltd was renamed Sunshine Broadcasting Network Ltd on 16/4/1992. 200. SGL, 1992, p. 3. 201. SCB, 1997, p. 7. 202. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-5.6. 203. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-4.6.

Bibliography Archer, Ken. ‘Media Makes Headlines: How 1987 Changed An Industry’, JASSA, No. 1, March 1988, pp. 26-28. Barry, Paul. The Rise and Rise of Kerry Packer (Sydney, Bantam, 1993). Brown, Allan. ‘Golden Bird or White Elephant? Australia’s AUSSAT Satellite System’, Telecommunications Policy, Vol. 15, No. 3, 1991, pp. 248-262. Bureau of Transport and Communication Economics (BTCE). Australian Commercial Television 1986-1995: Structure and Performance (Canberra: AGPS, 1996). Chadwick, Paul. Media Mates: Carving Up Australia’s Media (South Melbourne: Macmillan, 1989). Department of Transport and Communications (DTC). Annual Report (Canberra: AGPS, 1988, 1989, 1990a, 1991, 1993, 1994). Department of Transport and Communications (DTC). Review of Remote Area Television Services (Canberra: AGPS 1990). Drake, Peter. ‘Financial Deregulation in Australia. A Success Story?’ in Kanhaya Gupta (ed.), Experiences with Financial Liberalization (Boston, MA: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1997), pp. 45-68. East, Neryl. ‘Aggregation and Regional Television’, PhD thesis, University of Wollongong, 1998. Gilding, Michael. ‘Entrepreneurs, Elites and the Ruling Class: The Changing Structure of Power and Wealth in Australian Society’, Australian Journal of Political Science, Vol. 39, No. 1, 2004, pp. 127-143. Given, Jock. Turning Off The Television: Broadcasting’s Uncertain Future (Sydney: UNSW Press, 2003). Haigh, Gideon. ‘Skase, Christopher Charles’, in Bridget Griffen-Foley (ed.), A Companion to the Australian Media (North Melbourne: Australian Scholarly Publishing, 2014), pp. 427-428.

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Herd, Nick. Networking: Commercial Television in Australia (Sydney: Currency House, 2012). Kirkpatrick, Rod. ‘Examiner (Launceston)’, in Bridget Griffen-Foley (ed.), A Companion to the Australian Media (North Melbourne: Australian Scholarly Publishing, 2014), pp. 160-161. Morris, Peter. ‘What is AUSSAT up to?’ Filmnews, Vol. 15, No. 7, 1 September 1985, p. 12. O’Regan, Tom. ‘The Background to TV Networking’, in Elizabeth More and Glen Lewis (eds.), Australian Communications and Technology Policy: A Reader (Sydney: Kuring-gai CAE, Australian Communication Association and AFTRS, 1988), pp. 126-143. Rule, Andrew. Kerry Stokes (Sydney: Harper Collins, 2014). Souter, Gavin. Heralds and Angels: The House of Fairfax 1841-1990 (Carlton, Vic: Melbourne University Press, 1991). Tanner, Stephen. ‘The Rise and Fall of Edmund Rouse’, Australian Studies in Journalism, Issue 4, 1995, pp. 53-70. Tiffen, Rodney. ‘Media Ownership Changes 1987 and 2006: From Alan Bond to CVC’, MIA, No. 122, February 2007, p. 12-15. Westfield, Mark. The Gatekeepers: The Global Media Battle to Control Australia’s Pay TV (Annandale, NSW: Pluto, 2000).

CHAPTER 9

Patronage and Protection

I can’t see that it’s very sensible to encourage new players to the game at present … I just want to give the industry a little bit of time to recover before it takes on new players.1 —Senator Graham Richardson, Minister for Transport and Communications, 1992

The aggregation of commercial television services in Australia’s most populous regional areas had brought the most significant structural changes since licences had first been issued in the 1960s. But there was growing impetus for further broadcasting reform which derived from the recognition of regulatory failure and the need to deal with technological change. The metropolitan networks had, until this time, been extraordinarily effective in delaying the introduction of subscription television.2 Their determination to block or delay it for as long as possible was, in part, based on developments in the United States, where cable television had cut deeply into the free-to-air networks’ revenues.3 But by 1990, all three Australian networks were preoccupied with other matters: Seven was in receivership after the failure of Christopher Skase’s Qintex Group, Nine was in the midst of another ownership change, and Ten was on the brink of collapse. These distractions caused the networks to lose touch with developments in Canberra, which ultimately produced policies for the introduction of pay television.4 © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022 M. Thurlow, A History of Regional Commercial Television in Australia, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-10944-7_9

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In late 1991, the Minister for Transport and Communications, Kim Beazley, presented his Broadcasting Services Bill to Cabinet for review. The bill was positioned as simplifying the existing Broadcasting Act, to which more than 20 substantial amendments had been made since 1942.5 The principal changes included replacing the Australian Broadcasting Tribunal (ABT) with the Australian Broadcasting Authority (ABA), lifting the four-year moratorium on subscription television from late 1992, introducing a form of self-regulation in program matters, and extending licence periods from three years to five with an automatic presumption of renewal.6 One crucial, and controversial, aspect was the proposed insertion of a sunset clause on the existing three-licence-per-market. This would enable the introduction of additional free-to-air commercial television services from 1997. Some of the changes proposed in the bill were welcomed by industry but the prospect of competition was not. The metropolitan stations, in particular, argued that the introduction of additional services while they were still recovering from recent events would destabilise the entire system. But a series of changes then occurred which proved to be fortuitous for incumbent operators. In December 1991, Paul Keating succeeded Bob Hawke as Prime Minister. Keating replaced Beazley as Minister for Transport and Communications with John Kerin. But Kerin held the portfolio for just 18 days, which suggests he may not have been in favour of at least some of Keating’s plans for television. He was replaced later that month by Graham Richardson, who was close to Kerry Packer and very responsive to the arguments put forward by the masters of commercial television.7 On reading Beazley’s bill, Richardson described the term “maximum use” of the spectrum—which referred to increased competition—as “bloody awful”8. Despite being dubbed the “Minister for Channel Nine,” (as well as the “Senator for Kneecaps”),9 “Richo” countered criticism that he was acting at the behest of his media mates by declaring he was “not owned by any part” of the industry. His tenure was also short—just under five months— but it was enough to get the job done; Richardson cauterised plans to increase open competition from 1997 on the basis that the industry was still recovering from events of the late 1980s. The revised Broadcasting Services Bill was introduced to parliament in 1992. It was positioned as an instrument for enhancing the diversity of broadcasting services through reducing regulatory barriers, encouraging new services, and enhancing new entrants to harness the potential of new

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technologies. These arrangements were, supposedly, intended to facilitate the development of a television system that was both competitive and responsive to consumer choice.10 The Broadcasting Services Act 1992 was passed later that year and took effect from October 1993. It legislated for the introduction of pay and community television, significant deregulation of program standards, clarification of ownership and control provisions, and the establishment of the ABA.11 But it also increased the audience reach rule from 60 to 75 per cent of the population. This provision was undoubtedly intended to placate existing free-to-air television interests who, on examining developments in the United States, Canada, and Europe, were concerned that consumers would “vote with their wallets” and bypass their services in favour of more specialised and niche offerings from new pay TV entrants (see note 9). These changes, coupled with Richardson’s removal of the sunset clause for introducing competition from 1997, entrenched the incumbency of existing operators by postponing the threat of new entrants. Nick Herd believes that a sympathetic minister had enabled commercial television interests to simultaneously retain a degree of self-regulation, stave off competition, and further entrench their dominant position.12 As Jock Given points out: The language of “public interest” was largely evacuated from Australian broadcasting policy in 1992 with the passage of the Broadcasting Services Act … [it] marked a decisive shift towards the language and practice of broadcasting-as-business.13

The ABA, which commenced operation on 5 October 1992, provided for far less public participation in the regulatory process than its predecessor, the ABT.  It was responsible for planning, licencing, and regulating broadcasting services and standards. The authority was, from 1999, also responsible for regulating internet content.14 The ABA sought to adopt a “light touch” to regulation by encouraging self-regulation. Licence renewals were now automatic, except in cases where the ABA had concerns regarding the suitability of a licensee.15 Significantly, these new procedures abolished public licence application and renewal hearings, thereby eliminating a major mechanism for ensuring public accountability. As Stuart Cunningham notes, the authority was a product of the economic rationalist world view which permeated the 1980s and 1990s.16

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Box 9.1  Eighth liminal moment

The Keating Labor government’s decision to increase the existing media reach rule from 60 to 75 per cent was arguably regional commercial television’s eighth liminal moment. This, coupled with the removal of the earlier provision for increasing competition from 1997, was effectively a state-sanctioned provision for networking, which further enabled the long-held national expansion plans of powerful, Sydney- and Melbourne-based media interests. As we will see later in this chapter, the decision also facilitated a further consolidation in regional commercial television ownership, and the emergence of the Prime, WIN, and Southern Cross television networks as the dominant operators. In many respects, the Keating, then Howard, governments’ promises to exploit the potential of emerging technologies such as pay television for the benefit of all—but particularly for those regional areas which still had the choice of just one commercial television station and the ABC—would arguably not be borne out. The introduction of pay television has been routinely criticised for its failure to support increased competition in the sector; much has been made of the efforts of Telstra and News Corporation to use their “muscle and money to climb over the top of their rivals to emerge [as] the monopoly providers”.17 In many respects, such issues echoed those which had accompanied the introduction of wireless technology, radio broadcasting, and free-to-air television in the first half of the twentieth century, as well as digital television in the years ahead.

Pay Television The first tentative steps towards pay television in Australia were, as discussed in Chap. 5, taken by John Elliott after his acquisition of Murrumbidgee Television Ltd (MTN) in the early 1970s. One of the earliest subscription-based services to be established was Newsvision, by Broadcom’s Steve Cosser. This was a narrowcast news service delivered by microwave link to hotels and corporate clients. The no-frills multi-point distribution system (MDS) service commenced in March 1992 with content supplied by Seven, NBC, CNN, BBC, ITN, and others. This early win enabled Cosser to start planning a six-channel service which included movies and sport.18 Plans for subscription television gained momentum

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following Optus’ acquisition of AUSSAT in late 1991.19 Unsurprisingly, the metropolitan networks and FACTS continued to lobby the government to delay its introduction. Bruce Gyngell, who was now a Nine board member, argued: The introduction of pay TV, far from improving existing channels and choice, will undermine and erode the achievements of the past and weaken the production base. It will stifle Australian production through lack of money … It will be the start of a decline in standards.20

Unsurprisingly, regional television operators were among those who sought to obtain a licence. Paul Ramsay’s Prime Television proposed to offer 45 channels Australia-wide.21 (Prime also sought the ABT’s opinion on providing a separate interactive music video service to subscribers of Telecom’s Visionstream cable broadcasting system. This service would comprise a high proportion of rap and hip-hop music which viewers could request by calling a 0055 number.)22 Bruce Gordon’s Oberon Broadcasters planned to offer a 10-channel service to parts of the NSW Central and South Coasts and Canberra.23 Other applicants included Premier Cable Network, a company associated with former BTV executive Gary Rice,24 and Central Coast Cablevision, which proposed to serve the Central Coast region of New South Wales.25 Pay television services commenced in metropolitan areas in the mid-­1990s using several different delivery systems. Galaxy, a joint venture between Australia Media and Century Communications, commenced a multi-channel multi-point distribution system (MMDS) microwave service in January 1995.26 Significantly, Galaxy was granted exclusive licences to broadcast by satellite until 1997. The platform was initially launched with the Premier Sports Network.27 Showtime and Encore were added in March 1997, followed by TV1, Arena, Max, Red, and Quest in April.28 A satellite service commenced later that year. Optus Vision commenced its cable service in September 1995.29 The service was opened by Gyngell, who had been the first person to appear on Australian television in 1956.30 Foxtel, a joint venture between Telstra and Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation, was established in 1994. It was intended to help Telstra defend its position as Australia’s dominant fixed-line telecommunications carrier amid increased competition from Optus, which had promised to provide a pay television service on the same cable as its phone service. News Corporation, which owned the 20th Century Fox film studio, would provide

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Foxtel’s programming.31 The service commenced its 20-channel offering using Telstra’s hybrid fibre-coaxial network a few weeks after Optus.32 Pay television was first extended to regional areas in March 1995, when Galaxy became available in Canberra.33 That year, United International Holdings’ Austar (which had been established as Community Entertainment Television in 1994) commenced a dedicated service to other regional areas. Its platform carried programs from Australis and XYZ Networks, the major supplier to Foxtel.34 Other regional operators included Century Communications’ East Coast Pay Television.35 Northgate Communications offered a pay TV and telephone service in Ballarat.36 This company was later acquired by Neighbourhood Cable, which provided similar services in Mildura, Bendigo, Shepparton, Geelong, and Albury-Wodonga.37 As with the introduction of the VCR, uptake of pay television was particularly high in regional areas where viewer choice was most limited. According to Austar’s managing director, John Porter: “We do well in markets where there are less than three commercial TV channels … We’re competing against free-to-air, against videos” (see note 33). Austar’s overall penetration rate of 15 per cent by 1995 placed it on par with Sydney and Melbourne. The company reported a 36 per cent penetration in Mildura. This uptake was even higher in mining towns with high disposable incomes. In Mount Isa, around 45 per cent of homes had subscribed to the service (see note 33). The first steps towards consolidation in the pay television industry began in the first year of operation. In October 1995, a proposed merger between Galaxy and Foxtel was rejected by the ACCC on the basis it would stifle competition.38 Similar proposals in August 1996 and July 1997 were also unsuccessful. In May 1998, Australis Media was declared insolvent and ceased operation.39 The following month, Foxtel commenced supplying programs to Galaxy subscribers on an interim basis.40 In October, Kerry Packer’s PUB acquired half of News Corporation’s shares.41 Foxtel’s satellite service commenced in February 1999.42 As Jock Given points out, the late introduction of pay television—which had been successfully delayed by various interests since at least the early 1980s—posed little immediate threat to incumbent free-to-air broadcasters. This was mostly due to anti-siphoning legislation, introduced by the government at the behest of the commercial television networks, which prevented pay television from gaining access to an expansive list of major sporting events which had driven the uptake of subscription services in other parts of the world.43 These included the Olympic Games and

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Melbourne Cup horse race as well as major rugby league, rugby union, Australian Football League, soccer, tennis, and motor racing fixtures.44

Community Television The first community television licences were granted to groups in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, and Lismore on a trial basis in 1993.45 Two additional licences were awarded for Hobart and Bendigo but failed to commence operation. As Ellie Rennie points out, a trial of community television (which would last for a decade) commenced without government funding for infrastructure or programs. Stations were funded by the sale of airtime as well as investment from university partners. The initiative was plagued by unresolved enquiries and reviews. The ABA’s Sixth Channel Report, which supported community television, was not tabled in parliament. The delay in establishing permanent community television services was largely due to spectrum planning issues associated with digital television. Consideration was given to datacasting as a means of providing community television services; however, this was thwarted by a lack of commercial interest and a change of government.46 Nevertheless, there were several notable attempts to establish community television in regional areas. The Lismore station, LINC TV, was operated by Local Informative Network Community Television Inc.47 Commencing operation in September 1993 on UHF Channel 68, the service was operated by volunteers in conjunction with the Lismore campus of the University of New England, later Southern Cross University. News, gardening, and home improvement programs were augmented by veterinary segments, music videos, and nature documentaries. The station worked in partnership with the local community radio station, 2NCR, in what the ABT reportedly cited as an ideal model for similar operations across Australia.48 LINC TV was off air for various periods due to financial, technical, and operational issues, and it finally ceased operation in 2012. Bendigo Community Television Inc. (BCTV) was granted a trial licence in 1996.49 BCTV, which operated on UHF Channel 41, reportedly broadcast a test pattern and a three-hour music and information program on loop in June 1999 but failed to commence regular transmission. The station’s licence was cancelled later that month.50 A licence was also issued to Hobart Access Community Television Inc. (HACT) to operate on UHF Channel 37 (see note 48).

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BushVision received a trial licence for Mount Gambier in 2005.51 This service operated on UHF Channel 37. However, the group’s plans to broadcast nationally throughout regional Australia were rejected by the ABA.52 BushVision’s Mount Gambier trial concluded in 2007.53 That same year, Newcastle-based Novacast was informed that spectrum was not available for that area.54

Web TV Web TV, also known as webcasting or netcasting, was another technology cited as having the potential to increase competition and viewer choice, particularly in regional areas where there remained a limited number of services. It involves the distribution of audio-visual content over the internet for viewing on a networked personal computer. While the capacity to combine text, sound, pictures, and moving images in common digital formats for transmission in this manner had existed for some time, any efforts to exploit this were initially hampered by a lack of high-bandwidth cable networks and computer hardware. Nevertheless, a limited number of webcasting services had developed by the late 1990s. These carried broad-­ appeal content such as the AFL Grand Final, as well as niche interests such as the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras and adult entertainment. This suggests that Web TV is likely to remain confined to meeting the needs of specific communities not met by free-to-air and pay television services rather than as a direct competitor to them. The introduction of the National Broadband Network (NBN) in the 2010s arguably had the potential to overcome some of the technical barriers which had plagued early attempts to develop Web TV. But, as we will see in Chap. 11, the Turnbull government’s much-criticised decision to provide fibre to the node (FTTN) rather than fibre to the premises (FTTP)—which effectively placed a speed bump on the information super highway—rendered as impotent any possibility for web-based television services on a meaningful scale.

Supplementary Licences While the government and others talked of pay and community television—and additional commercial services in areas already served by three channels—there remained some regional communities with just one commercial station and the ABC.  These included Griffith and Broken Hill

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(NSW), Mildura (Vic), Mount Isa (Qld), which had been excluded from aggregation in those states, as well as Tasmania, regional South Australia, Western Australia, and the Northern Territory. The equalisation of larger regional commercial television markets in Queensland, New South Wales, and Victoria was, as we will recall, achieved through aggregating existing licence areas into much larger Approved Markets. Equalisation of Australia’s remaining regional commercial television markets was achieved through a combination of aggregation and supplementary licences. In Tasmania, the government announced plans to aggregate the state’s two commercial television markets. Under the scheme, ENT’s TVT (Hobart) became the Nine Network affiliate while SCB’s TNT (Launceston) carried mostly Seven Network programs. But the process was not without its challenges. In Launceston, program director Gill Collins received a death threat and numerous abusive phone calls when TNT removed several popular Nine Network programs including The Midday Show with Ray Martin, Days of Our Lives, and Sale of the Century from its schedule in late 1993. The TVT and TNT licence areas were aggregated on 30 April 1994.55 In late 1998, the ABA aggregated the Remote Central (IMP) and North Eastern (QQQ) RCTS service areas. The combined coverage area was further extended to include remote parts of Victoria and Tasmania which had not previously received an adequate terrestrial television signal.56 As a result, QQQ became a Seven Network affiliate and was identified on air as Seven Central. The service was co-ordinated from Townsville and was practically identical to the recently established TND Darwin service.57 Imparja operated as the Nine Network affiliate for the consolidated Central and North East RCTS service area. Equalisation of remaining markets was achieved through granting supplementary licences to interested parties. In mid-1995, the ABA announced it would allocate a second supplementary licence in each of Mildura, Griffith, Darwin, and remote regional Western Australia (Table 9.1).58 In doing so, the Authority was quick to stress that the development of new services in marginal areas was dependent on the market, and that it was up to operators to “make a go of it”.59 The granting of these licences was subject to section 72 of the Broadcasting Services Act 1992, under which an existing operator would only be permitted to operate a second service if no other person was interested or in a position to do so. If interest was received from another party, then licences would be subject to the ABA’s

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Table 9.1  Supplementary licences (s72), 1995–98a Licence (by callsign and locality)

Licensee

AMN Griffith (NSW) PTV Mildura (Vic) TND Darwin (NT) WOW Regional Western Australia (WA)

MTN Television P/L Prime Television (Victoria) P/L Regional Television P/L WIN Television WA P/L

ESM/Appendices/Appendix-1.11

a

price-based system and placed for auction. Bidders were required to pay a $10,000 application fee.60 The first of these, for Mildura, was announced in July 1995.61 The ABA received three expressions of interest, from incumbent operators WIN, Prime, and Imparja. As a result, the licences were placed for auction.62 The Tribunal’s decision brought a bitter (but unsuccessful) legal battle as incumbent operator, WIN (STV), lodged an appeal with the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT).63 The licence was subsequently auctioned in October 1996, when Prime successfully bid $3.2  million.64 The service commenced in July 1997 under the call sign PTV, operating on UHF Channel 32 and carrying Prime/Seven programming (Table 9.1). The second licence, for Griffith, was announced in August 1995.65 Three expressions of interest, from Meridian Communications, A J Fulton Enterprises P/L, and a third party (in-confidence) were received. A fourth interest from incumbent operator MTN Television P/L (MTN) was refused by the ABT on the grounds it believed at least one of the other interested parties was capable of operating a viable service. As a result, the licence was to be put up for auction; however, this was abandoned after MTN sought a review of the ABT’s decision. The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) found in favour of MTN Television P/L, which was granted the licence in July 1996.66 The service commenced in October 1997 under the call sign AMN, operating on UHF Channel 31 and carrying the Prime Television signal. The third licence, for Darwin, was called in October 1995.67 Expressions of interest were received from several parties, including incumbent operator Territory Television P/L (NTD). The licence was placed for auction, where Telecasters Australia Ltd (TAL) (TNQ/ITQ/QQQ/NRN) successfully bid $2.1 million.68 This service commenced on 27 March 1998 under the call sign TND. It operated on UHF Channel 34 as a Seven

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Network affiliate and was identified on air as Seven Darwin. Transmission was co-ordinated from TAL’s Townsville studio. In April 1998, WIN secured a second licence for regional Western Australia for $36 million, following a tense bidding process with the Seven Network.69 The new service commenced broadcasting on 26 March 1999 under the call sign WOW. It delivered both Nine and Ten programs by satellite to all parts of the state, including Albany, Bunbury, Geraldton, and Kalgoorlie, which had previously been solely served by GWN.  But the launch of WIN in Western Australia was less than straightforward. Bruce Gordon’s approach to STW’s Eva Presser to broadcast Nine News from Perth was reportedly met with an emphatic “no”. Similarly, WIN’s hopes of renting facilities at the STW studio from Presser’s STL were dashed when it was quoted rates that were three times those in Perth’s CBD. WIN subsequently rented space from Network Ten and relayed its Perth news service.70 In all cases, licences were granted to existing regional operators. In Griffith, the licence had been awarded to the incumbent operator after a successful appeal to the AAT. While the outcome resulted in extra services for viewers, it also further entrenched the dominant position of those already in the industry. This suggests that diversity of viewing choices was a higher policy priority than diversity of ownership. Given the marginal nature of the markets involved, it is difficult to endorse an alternative approach.

Localism The aggregation of regional commercial television markets had seen appreciable declines in local program production, as most stations focused their resources on providing a news service. In Canberra, this brought what one magazine labelled as that city’s “TV Wars” (Fig.  9.1).71 In November 1992, Capital’s director of news, Ken Begg, resigned after reportedly being offended by a report from a team of American consultants who had been hired to recommend changes to Capital’s Eyewitness News.72 The following month, it was announced he had joined rival Prime Television to re-establish its local news service, which had been axed in 1990.73 This led to a mass defection of staff from Capital including high-­ profile newsreader Geoff Hiscock. Prime 6 O’Clock News, presented by Hiscock and Melissa Doyle, was launched on 1 March 1993. Later that month, Prime ramped up its offering by resuming 24-hour transmission in Canberra.74 Competing news services were hosted by Peter Leonard (WIN),75 and Christine Kininmonth and

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Fig. 9.1  “TV Wars,” Canberra Weekly, 1993. Copyright Canberra Weekly

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Greg Robson (Capital). Kininmonth was replaced by Virginia Nicholls later that year. The relaunch of Prime’s service arguably established Canberra as the most competitive regional commercial news market at that time. In September, SCB (BCV/GLV) abbreviated its on-air identity from Southern Cross Network to SCN. But this change was short-lived: in May 1994, the network was rebranded as Ten Victoria. QTV (TNQ) became Ten Queensland, NRTV (NRN) became Ten Northern New South Wales, and Capital (CTC) became Ten Capital around the same time.76 Local production continued to bear the brunt of cost cuts. Affiliation agreements were revenue-based so it was in the regionals’ financial best interest to use network programs as much as possible.77 These cuts would inevitably extend to local news. In May 1994, Southern Cross ceased production of SCN News at Six for Bendigo and Gippsland.78 (SCB, unlike other regional operators, had not introduced local news services for other Victorian markets when aggregation commenced in 1992.) According to SCB managing director Tony Bell: “If it were not for this policy [aggregation], we would not only still be running our news service, but we would be sailing along in terms of profits”.79 SCB also reduced its television operations staff by a third.80 Ten Northern NSW (NRN) followed suit, axing the local news bulletins from its Coffs Harbour studio in early 1995.81 This was followed in March by the closure of Sunshine Television (SEQ) news bureaus in Cairns and Townsville.82 Meanwhile, in Canberra, Prime (CBN)  halved the length of its one-hour news bulletin and retrenched Geoff Hiscock.83 In early 1995, Southern Cross cut around 30 jobs and ceased production of Capital’s weekend news bulletin for Canberra.84 Nevertheless, some local program production did survive. Today Extra (NBN) was televised three times a week as part of the station’s daytime line-up. It commenced in 1989 and was hosted by Nat Jeffrey until ceasing production in 2006.85 WIN Today (VTV), a similar format, was hosted by veteran television presenter Ernie Sigley alongside Angela Peters from the Ballarat studios in 1996.86 In that same year, Radiant Living (TNQ)— which had been temporarily rested around the time of aggregation but later restored—achieved 30 years on air. Its format had also been adapted to include on location filming at venues including the Marina Mirage in Port Douglas.87 The final episode, presented by Shirley Cahill, was recorded at Myer Cairns Central in November 1999.88 Radiant Living is believed to be the longest-running non-news program and regional commercial television. Romper Room (NBN) continued to delight

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kindergarten-­age children with songs, games, and positive life messages until the station’s licencing agreement with Claster Television expired at the end of 1996. Its fourth and final host, “Miss Kim” Hornby, was reportedly the longest-serving Romper Room host in the world at that time.89 The program was replaced by Big Dog and Friends, which adopted a similar format, between 1997 and 1999. Prime Possum first appeared in 1993 on The Prime Possum Show, a 30-minute, network-wide weekday afternoon series which featured imported cartoons and episodes of the Power Rangers live-action series hosted by Remi Broadway, and later Melanie Brown and Sara Groen.90 By early 1999, Possum had been given his own “good night” segments. However, the notion that possums are nocturnal was, according to one viewer, apparently lost on the network: “Has anyone else realised Prime Possum, who apparently goes to sleep when boys and girls do every night at 7.30pm is nocturnal? … Don’t get me started on Humphrey B. Bear working during winter!”91 There were also several notable efforts by regional networks to provide programs which both featured and were of relevance to Aboriginal Australians. Yamba’s Playtime (IMP), a 30-minute children’s pre-school program, commenced production in 1995. The series, featuring Yamba the Yerrampe (or honey ant), also aired nationally on the Nine Network from 2010, and NITV from 2013. Corroboree Rock (IMP) was a community access music program produced by Indigenous communities and broadcast on Imparja Television (Box 9.3). Box 9.2  Yamba’s Playtime

• Type: Audio-visual recording • Produced by: Imparja Television • NFSA reference: 508013

Box 9.3  Corroboree Rock

• Type: Audio-visual recording • Produced by: Imparja Television, 1996 • NFSA reference: 1483928

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Locally produced documentaries included Sandakan: The Untold Story (NBN), which looked at the imprisonment of allied soldiers in Borneo during the Second World War,92 and No Fixed Address (WIN), which examined youth homelessness in the Illawarra.93 Both received Logie Awards for Most Outstanding Contribution by a Regional Television Station.94 Significantly, this award category was discontinued after 1996, reflecting the major reduction in  local program production at regional stations. The abolition of licence renewals by the ABA in 1992 means there is no reliable and consistent record of local program production after that time. Nevertheless, it is possible to roughly estimate the proportion of locally produced content by licence. A general review of television guides from across regional Australia suggests that most stations confined program production to local news, although Prime, WIN, NBN, TNT, and Imparja did produce a small number of family and children’s programs for network-­ wide transmission. We also know that production at Ten-affiliated stations and those in solus markets was practically non-existent. It is important to note that those stations which did produce news, most notably Prime and WIN, did so for most of the sub-markets in which they operated.95 It can be estimated that average local production was around 12  hours per licence each week for 10 licences, three hours per week for a further 10 licences, and no production for the remaining 13 licences.96 On that basis, regional stations produced, on average, around three per cent of total programs in their own studios (see Chap. 1, Fig. 1.1).97 This equated to roughly four-and-a-half hours each week given that most stations were operating for 168 hours every seven days. The decrease in locally produced programs in this period linked into broader concerns surrounding the consolidation of media “voices” in regional areas. In 1999, Prime began providing more  than 70 separate radio news bulletins each week to Austereo stations in Newcastle (KOFM, NXFM) and Canberra (Mix 106.3 and 104.7 FM).98 This arrangement was arguably one of the first times a regional television station had contracted to provide news content to radio stations under separate ownership. (The operation of bi-media newsrooms under common ownership, such as that which had existed at CBN/2GZ until the late 1980s, had been more typical.) The ABA launched an investigation following concerns that Prime was able to exercise full editorial control over the content and style of the entire radio news services. The agreements were

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subsequently amended to ensure compliance with the Broadcasting Services Act 1992.99 But regional commercial television newsrooms continued to act as a valuable training ground despite changes to local news arrangements. Karl Stefanovic (Today), Leila McKinnon (A Current Affair), and Lisa Millar (ABC Breakfast) began their television careers at WIN in regional Queensland (RTQ) under the tutelage of news director Alistair Frew.100 Sunrise co-host Samantha Armytage got her first break as a journalist for WIN in Canberra.101 Gold Logie recipient Grant Denyer (Sunrise, Family Feud) joined Prime as a journalist in its Wagga Wagga newsroom.102 CNN international correspondent, Anna Coren, launched her career at Prime Orange (CBN) before joining NBN.103

Independence The first half of the 1990s brought further consolidation in the aftermath of aggregation due to a need to reduce costs. But there was also an element of the regionals being pushed into rationalisation by their relationships with the networks.104 Primary among these were transactions involving Prime, WIN, and Southern Cross, which sought to establish themselves as the dominant, if not sole, east coast affiliates for Seven, Nine, and Ten, respectively. In late 1992, following the retirement of long-term chairman Jack Gleeson, TQL (TNQ Regional Queensland) acquired a major interest in Ten Group Ltd (TGL).105 TGL operated Network Ten stations in Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane and supplied programs to affiliates across Australia. In late 1993, TGL acquired the half share held by Frank Lowy’s Westfield Group in Capital Television (CTC, ADS, and NEW).106 This followed an ABT determination that Westfield’s interest in the stations, which it had held since 1991, had placed it in a position to control the licences.107 The acquisition placed in TQL, one of TGL’s largest shareholders, in breach of the government’s 75 per cent reach rule. In response, TQL asked the ABA for a six-month grace period in which to rectify the situation.108 Media reports suggested TQL was likely to undergo a major restructuring to hive off its regional television business into a separate entity.109 The matter was ultimately resolved when TQL formed KCTV P/L in conjunction with Kerry Stokes and “Hungry Jack’s” Jack Cowin. Stokes and Cowin each held 42.5 per cent of the consortium, with the remaining 15 per cent held by Telecasters North Queensland Ltd.

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In January 1994, KCTV announced it had acquired NRL (NRN Northern NSW) from DTL receivers for $18.5 million, ahead of Charles Curran’s Capital Television Group (CGL).110 KCTV’s acquisition of NRL led Curran to launch legal action against Ten, major shareholder CanWest, Stokes, and Cowin. It sought to determine whether CanWest was in a position to control Ten and the extent to which Ten was able to control its regional affiliates. The action was expected to be the first test of recent changes to ownership and control provisions under the Broadcasting Services Act 1992.111 Meanwhile, Bruce Gordon’s WIN Television continued to expand. In the second half of 1994, the company acquired VTV (Regional Victoria), STV (Mildura, Vic), and TVT (Hobart, Tas) from ENT Ltd for $98 million.112 The purchase was the largest ever undertaken by WIN and represented a major extension of the network into southern states. In late 1994, Charles Curran’s CHL sold the Canberra station to SCB for $40 million. Curran had decided to sell after efforts to acquire NRL (NRN), the Network Ten affiliate for Northern New South Wales, had been thwarted. In finalising the deal, Southern Cross stated it intended to combine Capital (CTC) and Ten Victoria (BCV/GLV) to form a “superstation”. As SCB managing director Tony Bell remarked, the rationalisation of Ten affiliates was inevitable.113 KCTV was renamed Telecasters Australia Ltd (TAL) on 16 February 1995.114 Next month, TQL transferred its regional television assets (TNQ Regional Queensland/ITQ Mount Isa/QQQ North East RCTS) to a new company, Regional Television P/L (RGL), which in turn was acquired by TAL.115 The restructure left TQL to focus on its TEN Group share-­ holding.116 On 13 November 1996, TQL sold its stake in TAL to TEN Group for $19.5 million.117 The mid-1990s heralded the Seven Network’s entry into regional television and further expansion by Prime Television. In 1995, the Seven Network Limited (SNL) acquired Sunshine Television Network Ltd (SSL) and the STQ Regional Queensland licence from SBL.118 A rival bid, from Paul Ramsay’s PTL (which had attempted to purchase the stations in the late 1980s), was unsuccessful.119 SSL was renamed Channel Seven Queensland P/L on 10 March 2000.120 In 1995, the ABA permitted Imparja (IMP) to re-transmit its signal into Mount Isa and Longreach, thus providing both towns with a second commercial service. Regional Television P/L (QQQ) was similarly authorised to extend its signal into Alice Springs and Nhulunbuy.121

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If the late 1980s had been a time of chaos, then the late 1990s was one of relative stability as station profits began to rise.122 In 1995–96 the share price of Southern Cross Broadcasting—which had experienced a considerable decline in profitability after aggregation—doubled on the back of stronger earnings following its acquisition of Charles Curran’s Capital Television.123 In many respects, the changing fortunes of Prime Television in this period also represent those of the broader regional commercial television sector.124 In the late 1980s, Prime had expanded rapidly with the acquisition of CTL (CBN/CWN) and TNL (NEN/ECN). In February 1988, the company attempted to extend its reach into Queensland with the purchase of SEQ/MVQ from Christopher Skase. When this deal fell through, Prime came perilously close to collapse. The network returned to profitability around 1992 with a significant rise in its share price on the back of stronger earnings. Prime then expanded into Western Australia with the acquisition of Kerry Stokes’ Golden West Network (SSW/VEW/ GTW/WAW) in 1996. (GWN commenced as a Seven Network affiliate in 1999.)125 The company also purchased television stations in New Zealand and Argentina. In March 1998, Prime’s half-year profit increased by 31 per cent, to $10.5 million. WIN, too, continued to expand through acquiring some of the last remaining minor television companies. In May 1998, the company acquired Griffith-based MNL (MTN/AMN) from Ray Gamble’s ASL.126 MNL was renamed WIN Television Griffith P/L on 6 August.127 This was followed in July 1999 by the acquisition of SES (Mount Gambier, SA) and its RTS (Loxton, SA) subsidiary from SEL for $26 million. Both licences were transferred to a new subsidiary, WIN Television SA P/L.128 WIN now had a presence in every part of Australia except northern New South Wales and the Northern Territory.129 But in November 1998, just prior to the WIN takeover, RTS’ sole studio (including three new cameras) was destroyed by fire. While the transmitter continued to function, program transmission could not resume until equipment tests were completed. Damage was estimated at up to $1 million.130 Within days, the station had recommenced operations using a temporary news studio and was airing programs relayed from SES. The years between 1986 and 1996 had seen the most significant contraction in the number of ownership groups since regional licences had first been granted in the 1960s. At the same time, the granting of

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supplementary licences in some single-operator markets had increased the number of services to 33. By the second half of the 1990s, consolidation in ownership had slowed as the industry stabilised and returned to profitability.131 Nevertheless, most licences were now held by just four groups: Prime, WIN, Telecasters Australia, and Southern Cross.132 By late 1999, the independence quotient had fallen to 27 per cent (see Chap. 1, Fig. 1.2).133 This represented a 54 per cent decrease in just 10 years. Most licences continued to be held by entities controlled by family or private investment interests. Two licences were now directly controlled by the Seven and Nine networks.134

Conclusion The stabilisation of regional commercial television through the 1990s resulted from a series of developments which mostly protected operators from additional competition. This began with a gradual return to profitability by regional stations after the chaos of aggregation. The introduction of pay television in 1995 was relatively benign; however, uptake was more rapid in areas which still had just one regional commercial service. The concerns of some incumbent operators in those parts were placated by the granting of supplementary licences. Furthermore, the threat of additional free-to-air competition from 1997 had been neutralised by the Keating Labor government’s Minister for Transport and Communications, Senator Graham Richardson. But it was the government’s 1992 decision to increase the audience reach rule to 75 per cent, which became the sector’s eighth liminal moment. The LocalismIndependence Index recorded declines in both measures during this period (see Chap. 1,  Fig. 1.3). The Seven Network joined the Nine Network in directly owning a regional commercial television licence. WIN increased its reach beyond southern New South Wales heartland and Queensland offshoot to include Victoria, Tasmania, and South Australia. Prime, too, had expanded with its acquisition of Golden West Network. Localism declined as operators, particularly those affiliated with Network Ten, ceased local program production including some news services. The government’s efforts in assisting the industry to recover had strengthened the tenure of some operators. As we will see in Chap. 10, their incumbency would be further entrenched with the introduction of digital television in the 2000s.

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Notes 1. Richardson, quoted in Age, 25/2/1992, p. 5. 2. Westfield 2014, pp. 334–335. 3. Westfield 2000. 4. Westfield 2000, p. 52. 5. Broadcasting Services Bill 1992. 6. Herd 2012, pp. 276–279. 7. SMH, 28/12/1991, p. 5. 8. Age (Melbourne), 25/2/1992, p. 5. 9. https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-­f ixer-­i n-­a -­f ix-­2 0031213-­ gdhzni.html; SMH, 13/12/2003, p. 22. 10. Flew and Spurgeon 2000, p. 69. 11. Cunningham 1997, pp. 104–105; ABA 1993. 12. Herd 2012, p. 277. 13. Given 1998 14. Flew 2014, pp. 48–49. 15. ABA 1993, p. 8. 16. Cunningham 1997, p. 105. 17. Cunningham 2000, 2014. 18. Westfield 2000, pp. 75, 96. 19. CT, 4/12/1991, p. 23. 20. Australian, 9/10/1992, p. 5. Gyngell was appointed as Nine’s Executive Chairman in 1993. 21. NAA/NSW: C5087, 94/0411: PTL, Subscription Television Broadcasting Licences (Non-Satellite), 1994. 22. NAA/NSW: C5087, 94/1014: PTL, Application for Opinion on Category of Broadcasting Service, 1994. 23. NAA/NSW: C5087, 94/0440: OBL, Application for allocation of non-­ satellite subscription television broadcasting licences, 1994. 24. NAA/NSW: C5087, 94/0091-02: Premier Cable Network, Application for the allocation of a non-satellite subscription TV broadcasting licence, 1994. 25. NAA/NSW: C5087, 94/0568: Central Coast Cablevision, Application for allocation of non-satellite subscription television broadcasting licences, 1994. 26. CT, 26/1/1995, p. 4. 27. SMH, 6/3/1997, p. 8. 28. Age (Melbourne), 15/4/1997, p.  5; Sun-Herald (Sydney), 22/4/1995, p. 23. 29. Age (Melbourne), 19/9/1995, p. 6. 30. Age (Melbourne), 24/10/1995, p. 6.

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31. Minehan 2014, pp. 182–183. 32. Age (Melbourne) 24/10/1995, p. 6; BTCE 1996, p. 5. 33. CT (The Guide), 20/3/1995, p. 1. 34. Australian, 3/11/1997, p. 40. 35. SMH, 10/8/1996, p. 78. 36. Age (Melbourne), 14/3/1997, p. 3. 37. Australian, 14/12/1999, p. 32. 38. Age (Melbourne), 19/10/1995, p. 25. 39. Age (Melbourne), 21/5/1998, p. 1. 40. SMH, 3/6/1998, p. 31. 41. SMH, 30/10/1998, p. 1. 42. SMH, 28/2/1999, p. 33. 43. Given 1998, p. 44. 44. Hughes 2014, pp. 435–437. 45. DTC, 1993, p. 48. 46. Rennie 2014, pp. 112–114; ABA 1997, p. xi. 47. http://www.linctv.org.au/about.php, accessed 23/3/2019; Hayes 2004, pp. 113–118. 48. http://mediadrive.net.au/2014/08/20/once-­w as-­t v-­s tation-­s cus-­ community-­television-­history, accessed 23/3/2019. 49. ABA, ABA Update, July 1996, p. 11. 50. http://ctv41bendigo.tripod.com/about.html, accessed 23/3/2019. 51. ABA, ABA Update, Issue 143, 2005, p. 24. 52. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2006-­0 9-­0 4/bushvisions-­n ational-­ plans-­rejected/1255062, accessed 23/3/2019. 53. ACMA, ACMAsphere, Issue 18, April 2007, p. 12. 54. Rennie 2014, pp. 112–114. 55. DCA, 1994, p. 17. 56. ABA, NR 126/1998, 23/12/1998. 57. TAL, 1999, p. 9. 58. ABA, NR 49/1995, 14/7/1995; ABT, NR 58/1995, 16/8/1995. 59. ABA, NR 58/1995, 16/8/1995. 60. ABA, NR 81/1995, 5/12/1995. 61. ABA, NR 49/1995, 14/7/1995. 62. ABT, NR 76/1995, 3/11/1995. 63. SMH, 29/12/1995, p. 19. 64. ABA, NR 1/1997, 8/1/1997. 65. ABA, NR 58/1995, 16/8/1995. 66. ABA, NR 79/1995, 13/11/1995; NR 66/1996, 18/7/1996. 67. ABA, NR 73/1995, 23/10/1995. 68. ABA, NR 104/1996, 29/10/1996. 69. IM (Wollongong), 2/4/1998, p. 16.

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70. SMH, 21/4/2007, p. 35. 71. CT, 27/11/1992, p. 1; Canberra Weekly, 10/11/1993, p. 1. 72. CT, 7/12/1992, p. 32. Capital’s service had been rebranded as Eyewitness News in 1991. 73. CT, 6/12/1992, p.  1. Prime had previously ceased production of its Canberra news bulletin in April 1991. 74. CT, 9/3/1993, p. 2. 75. CT, 24/9/2008, p. 1. 76. TQL, 1994. 77. ABT, IL/90/115, July 1991, p. 13. 78. Age (Melbourne), 21/5/1994, p. 10. 79. Tony Bell, quoted in Herald-Sun, 21/5/1994, p. 25. 80. Herald-Sun, 21/5/1994, p. 25. 81. East 1998, p. 99. 82. Flynn 2008, p. 82. 83. CT, 3/10/1994, p. 12. 84. CT, 7/2/1995, p. 1. 85. Herald (Newcastle), 3/3/2012, Supplement, p. A22. 86. WIN Television Pty Ltd Reunion 06 History, [n.d.] c.2006. This pamphlet was produced for a BTV staff reunion in 2006. Courtesy Roy Taylor. 87. Cairns Post, 6/71995, p. 39. 88. David Astley, email to Michael Thurlow, 7/3/2019. 89. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4c97akloVV8, accessed 28/3/2019. Romper Room was hosted by “Miss Anne”, “Miss Lyn”, “Miss Louise” and “Miss Kim”. 90. Gold Coast Bulletin, 2/11/2004, p. 15; Remi Broadway, email to Michael Thurlow, 17/9/2019. Host links were filmed on location on the Gold Coast with 550 episodes produced by the time of Broadway’s departure in 1996. 91. Sunday Mail (Adelaide), 13/7/2003, p. 4. 92. h t t p s : / / w w w. s c r e e n a u s t r a l i a . g o v. a u / t h e -­s c r e e n -­g u i d e / t / sandakan%2D%2D-­the-­untold-­story-­1994/10231/, accessed 26/3/2019. 93. TVW, 23/3/1991. 94. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-3.3. 95. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-3.4. 96. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-3.9. 97. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-3.1. 98. D&B, 2000. 99. ABA, 1999, pp. 4–13. 100. Alistair Frew, email to Michael Thurlow, 3/8/2010.

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101. http://au.news.yahoo.com/nsw/presenters/a/-­/article/4193590/ samantha-­armytage/, accessed 28/3/2019. 102. https://www.grantdenyer.com.au/, accessed 28/3/2019. 103. http://edition.cnn.com/CNN/anchors_reporters/coren.anna.html, accessed 16/9/2019. 104. Age (Melbourne), 9/12/1994, p. 30. 105. TQL, 1993, p. 1. 106. CT, 18/11/1993, p. 21. This 50 per cent interest had previously been held by Frank Lowy’s Westfield Group. 107. CAG, 10/11/1993, p. 3234. 108. SMH, 15/1/1994. 109. SMH, 6/1/1994. 110. SMH, 5/1/1994, p. 21. 111. SMH, 20/5/1994, p. 23. 112. CT, 9/9/1994, p. 15. 113. CT, 7/12/1994, p. 1; Age (Melbourne), 7/12/1994, p. 31. 114. ASIC, “Telecasters Australia Ltd ACN: 062 751 366,” Current and Historical Company Extract, 21/3/2019. 115. TAL, 1995, p.  3, 44. TAL was then listed on the Australian Stock Exchange on 3/4/1995. 116. TQL, 1996, p. 2. 117. TQL, 1997, p. 2. 118. CT, 21/10/1995, p. 50. 119. Age (Melbourne), 20/10/1995, p. 31. 120. ASIC, Channel Seven Queensland P/L ACN: 009 707 313, Current and Historical Company Extract, 23/11/2012. 121. ABA 1995, p. 25. 122. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-2.14. 123. SMH, 27/2/1996, p. 29. 124. SMH, 26/3/1998, p. 35. 125. https://www.mandurahmail.com.au/story/4514388/gwn-­o wner-­ warns-­was-­regional-­tv-­news-­at-­risk/, accessed 1/12/2019. 126. IM (Wollongong), 6/5/1998, p. 37. 127. ASIC, WIN Television Griffith P/L ACN: 050 140 657, Current and Historical Company Extract, 21/3/2019. 128. ASIC, WIN Television SA P/L ACN: 086 429 594, Company Summary, 24/3/2019. 129. IM (Wollongong), 2/7/1999, p. 5. 130. Murray Pioneer (Loxton), 10/11/1998, p. 1; 17/11/1998, p. 4. 131. ABA, 2001a. 132. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-4.7. 133. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-4.7. 134. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-5.7.

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Bibliography Australian Broadcasting Authority (ABA), Annual Report (Sydney: ABA, 1993). Australian Broadcasting Authority (ABA). Digital Terrestrial Television Broadcasting in Australia: First Report on the Work of the Australian Broadcasting Authority Specialist Group on Digital Terrestrial Broadcasting (Sydney: ABA, 1995). Australian Broadcasting Authority (ABA). Inquiry into the Future Use of the Sixth Television Channel: Report to the Minister for Communications and The Arts (Sydney: ABA, 1997). Bureau of Transport and Communication Economics (BTCE). Annual Report (Canberra: AGPS, 1996). Cunningham, Stuart. ‘Television’, in Stuart Cunningham and Graeme Turner (eds.), The Media in Australia. Industries, Texts, Audiences (Sydney: Allen and Unwin, 1997), pp. 104-105. Cunningham, Stuart. ‘History, contexts, politics, policy’, in Graeme Turner and Stuart Cunningham (eds.), The Australian TV Book (Sydney: Allen and Unwin, 2000), pp. 13-32. Cunningham, Stuart. ‘Convergence’, in Bridget Griffen-Foley (ed.), A Companion to the Australian Media (North Melbourne: Australian Scholarly Publishing, 2014), pp. 116-117. East, Neryl. ‘Aggregation and Regional Television’, PhD thesis, University of Wollongong, 1998. Flew, Terry. ‘Australian Communications and Media Authority’, in Bridget Griffen-Foley (ed.), A Companion to the Australian Media (North Melbourne: Australian Scholarly Publishing, 2014), pp. 48-49. Flew, Terry and Christina Spurgeon. ‘Television after broadcasting’, in Graeme Turner and Stuart Cunningham (eds.), The Australian TV Book (Sydney: Allen and Unwin, 2000) pp. 69-85. Flynn, John. ‘Locally Significant Content on Regional Television: A Case Study of North Queensland Commercial Television Before and After Aggregation’, MA thesis, Queensland University of Technology, 2008. Given, Jock. The Death of Broadcasting? Media’s Digital Future (Sydney: UNSW Press, 1998). Hayes, Mark. ‘On The Creation and Development of Rural Community Television News… and Institutional Impediments to Innovation’, Australian Studies in Journalism, No. 13, 2004, pp. 113-118. Herd, Nick. Networking: Commercial Television in Australia (Sydney: Currency House, 2012). Hughes, Anthony. ‘Sports Broadcasting Rights’, in Bridget Griffen-Foley (ed.), A Companion to the Australian Media (North Melbourne: Australian Scholarly Publishing, 2014), pp. 435-437.

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Minehan, Mike. ‘Foxtel’, in Bridget Griffen-Foley (ed.), A Companion to the Australian Media (North Melbourne: Australian Scholarly Publishing, 2014), pp. 182-183. Rennie, Ellie. ‘Community Television’, in Bridget Griffen-Foley (ed.), A Companion to the Australian Media (North Melbourne: Australian Scholarly Publishing, 2014), pp. 112-114. Westfield, Mark. The Gatekeepers: The Global Media Battle to Control Australia’s Pay TV (Annandale, NSW: Pluto, 2000). Westfield, Mark. ‘Pay Television’, in Bridget Griffen-Foley (ed.), A Companion to the Australian Media (North Melbourne: Australian Scholarly Publishing, 2014), pp. 334-335.

PART V

Disruption (2000–2022)

CHAPTER 10

Incumbency and Influence

Digital television in Australia is a fiasco … Decisions to mandate high definition, restrict multi-channelling … [and] ban new players have ensured that digital television is just pretty pictures for those who can afford them.1 —John Schwartz, Swinburne University of Technology, 2002

The 2000s would see the introduction of digital terrestrial television (DTT) across regional Australia in a number of phases.2 DTT can, through the use of compression technology, transmit discrete bits of information, thus enabling multiple programs to be conveyed at the same time.3 In contrast, analogue channels transmit one continuous stream of program with some limited data or text (such as Teletext) embedded in the main carrier signal. The introduction of DTT in regional Australia was undertaken in several stages. In the first phase, licensees would commence a standard-definition simulcast of their primary channels alongside existing analogue services. In the second, licensees would commence a high-­ definition simulcast of their existing analogue services. The third would see the introduction of new digital multi-channel services alongside existing, primary channels. This would then be followed by a region-by-region switch-off of existing analogue services. The period would also see further ownership changes and the granting of a third commercial television licence in the last remaining two-operator markets of regional Australia. Planning for DTT in Australia can be traced back to 1993, when a group of specialists was drawn from the ABA and the Department of Transport © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022 M. Thurlow, A History of Regional Commercial Television in Australia, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-10944-7_10

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and Communications, in addition to broadcasters and manufacturers, to investigate potential options and policies relating to digital television. The group’s 1995 report, Digital Terrestrial Broadcasting in Australia, found that premature regulation of the new platform could stifle the marketdriven development of the service. The final report, in 1997, recommended that Australia adopt a single system following detailed trials of potential systems. Furthermore, the system should be implemented with high-definition capabilities from the outset. The eventual termination of analogue PAL services, it said, should be driven by market factors and subject to regular review. A target date of 2000 was suggested for the commencement of permanent DTT.4 The ABA’s response, titled Digital Terrestrial Television Broadcasting, recommended the Australian Government support the early introduction of digital broadcasting as a free-to-air service with the loan of a 7 MHz channel for each broadcaster, in order to enable highdefinition television from the outset.5 In March 1998, the Minister for Communications, the Information Economy and the Arts, Senator Richard Alston, announced that DTT would commence in metropolitan areas on 1 January 2001. Services would be extended to regional areas by 2004. The government would grant commercial and public broadcasters 7  MHz of spectrum free of charge for eight years to simulcast services in both digital and analogue, after which it was to be returned to the Commonwealth. Following this, commercial broadcasters would be required to provide minimum levels of high-definition content and to pay fees if they chose to provide datacasting services and would be prohibited from using their spectrum for multi-­ channelling of subscription services. In addition, the prohibition on new free-to-air broadcasters would be extended until December 2008.6 Legislation enabling digital television was passed in 1998.7 Unsurprisingly, “new” media groups including pay television companies and internet service providers accused the Howard Coalition government of giving “old” media “the mother of all handouts” on the eve of an election campaign.8 FACTS was supportive of the government’s approach but was worried the ban on multi-channelling was too long. In contrast, the Australian Subscription Television and Radio Association (ASTRA) was opposed to multi-channelling and argued for a competitive system that would allow the entry of new players.9 According to Foxtel CEO Tom Mockridge: “We continue to be concerned at the proposal to allow the commercial networks to use their free gift of spectrum to expand into what the government has described as enhanced programming”.10

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The Australian Consumers’ Association declared the government’s decision to give television operators a head start had “shut the door” on the full potential of DTT.11 The Broadcasting Services Act 1992—which set out ownership and programming conditions for broadcasting licenses— and the Radiocommunications Act 1992—which regulated the usage of spectrum—were amended in mid-1998 to reflect these changes. These amendments were contained in the Television Broadcasting Services (Digital Conversion) Act 1998, which directed the ABA to plan for conversion of commercial and national television broadcasting services to digital mode.12 On 18 June 1998, the Digital Terrestrial Television Broadcasting Selection Panel announced the choice of the European DVB-T system for digital terrestrial television.13 Dolby Digital was named as the preferred audio format for multi-channel surround sound later that year.14 In March 1999 the ABA announced its Commercial Television Conversion Scheme, which outlined the policy objectives to be achieved during the transition from analogue to digital transmissions. In April, the Authority released its Draft Metropolitan Digital Channel Plans.15 These detailed the conversion plans and frequency allocations for Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, and Perth, as well as Hobart, Newcastle, Canberra, Wollongong, Toowoomba, and Batchelor (NT). In July 1999, the ABA released its General Approach to Digital Terrestrial Television Broadcasting Planning and Digital Terrestrial Television Broadcasting Planning Handbook which outlined the technical and general assumptions used in allocating digital channels to broadcasters.16 Preliminary Digital Channel Plans (DCPs) were released for Toowoomba, Darwin, Newcastle, Wollongong, Canberra, and Hobart. These set out the channels that were expected to be used by broadcasters for digital transmission as well as other purposes such as datacasting. The Authority’s Commercial Television Conversion and National Television Conversion schemes—detailing arrangements for converting both commercial and ABC television services from analogue to digital—were announced in March and December 1999.17 The regionals had, for some time, been concerned at the cost of introducing digital television. Unlike the metropolitan stations, which generally needed to duplicate just one analogue transmitter, regional broadcasters faced installing new equipment at hundreds of sites.18 According to SCB’s Tony Bell: “If the Government wants the regional markets to receive the same services as the metropolitan markets, then they can’t expect companies to install this equipment at their cost”.19

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In late 1999, six major regional broadcasters—Prime, WIN, Southern Cross, Telecasters Australia, Seven Queensland, and NBN—stepped up pressure on the government to provide subsidies to help cover the $500 million cost of converting their networks to digital. They sought assistance totalling $312 million over nine years, which represented about 65 per cent of their costs. Furthermore, the regionals argued they could not commit to the capital expenditure required to roll out digital infrastructure unless the subsidies were approved.20 While the government was yet to agree on an amount, the broadcasters received bipartisan support from all sides of parliament due to fears that a substandard regional service might cause a backlash at the ballot box.21 In May 2000, Alston announced that $260 million would be provided over 13 years to help cover the cost of digital conversion in regional areas. The assistance would be available as a licence fee rebate (and as a grant in some areas); however, the amount of assistance would vary between regional television markets. Broadcasters in the aggregated markets of regional Queensland, Northern New South Wales, Southern New South Wales, and Victoria would be eligible for assistance of up to $13.6 million each over eight years. Broadcasters in the two-operator markets would be eligible for differential amounts based on areas served: Griffith (up to $600,000), Mildura ($800,000), Darwin ($3.3 million), Tasmania ($6.6 million), and regional Western Australia ($14.7 million). Broadcasters in the solus markets of Broken Hill and regional South Australia would be eligible for combined assistance of $8.8 million over seven to nine years by licence fee rebates and grants in some areas. Broadcasters in remote areas would be eligible to receive total assistance in excess of $30 million.22 Meanwhile, in March 1999, Treasurer Peter Costello had directed the Productivity Commission—the government’s principal advisory board for macroeconomic, environmental, and social issues—to identify actions to “improve competition, efficiency and the interests of consumers in broadcasting services”.23 Among the submissions put forward was a proposal by Rupert Murdoch’s News Ltd to establish a fourth commercial television network. But FACTS argued in favour of the existing three-network regime as this would protect network revenue and local program production.24 The Commission’s report, released in early 2000, found that without substantial changes, the digital conversion plan was at “serious risk of failure”. It recommended various reforms to “deal with global competitive forces”, including the removal of anti-siphoning, cross-media, and foreign ownership rules.25 But commentators such as the Age’s

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Kenneth Davidson branded the recommendations as “flim flam … a fig leaf designed to allow Murdoch, Packer and possibly Fairfax to divide the Australian media market among them”.26 Datacasting, too, offered the potential for a more interactive and personalised viewing experience. But regulatory restrictions imposed by the Howard government meant it could never be more than a text-based service with occasional video segments.27 Bizarrely, the act which enabled datacasting defined it in terms of content rather than the method of dissemination. As communications consultant Paul Budde points out, incumbent broadcasters were determined to deny access to print media and telecommunications companies.28 The Canberra Times’ Crispin Hull branded the datacasting legislation as “a blatant piece of anti-competitive protection for the existing networks … and against the public interest”.29 In early 2001, Alston announced the government would auction 16 licences in eight regions, including Wollongong. Applications were received from seven parties. These included Barwix P/L, a company backed by former Prime Television director Graham Rich. If successful, Rich planned to offer Prime 15 per cent of the company, which hoped to provide services in often-neglected regional markets. Other applicants included John Fairfax and Sons, publisher of the Sydney Morning Herald and Age newspapers, and a company controlled by former Seven Network executive Graham McVean.30 Each was required to pay a $10,000 application fee and $10 million deposit plus provide a $10 million bank guarantee just to continue the application process.31 But the high entry cost and onerous licence restrictions caused most applicants to withdraw by April. The auction, scheduled for 21 May, was cancelled.32 Courier-Mail journalist Christine Jackman described the auction of datacasting spectrum as akin to “auctioning off prime CBD real estate but prohibiting the successful bidder from building anything but a hot dog stand on the new site”.33 The early 2000s saw the rapid uptake by consumers of other digital technologies including DVD players (74 per cent), internet access (67 per cent), and subscription television (24 per cent).34 One notable attempt to capitalise on this changing behaviour was WIN’s trial of interactive television in Orange in late 2000. The scheme, conducted with Ice Interactive, enabled viewers with specialised equipment to instantly request information or place orders for products from a range of advertisers including Pizza Hut, the Hong Kong Tourist Bureau, Ansett Airlines, and a local car dealership.35 (The platform, unsurprisingly, also provided WIN and its advertisers with detailed information on user habits.) The $5 million trial

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involved 400 residents from 150 households. Austar became Australia’s first digital interactive television broadcaster with the launch of its television-­based email service, T-Mail, in late 2001.36 Regional broadcasters also sought to capitalise on the growing demand for telecommunications infrastructure. In March 1999, SP Telecommunications Ltd, a company closely associated with NBL (NBN), received a carrier licence under the Telecommunications Act and commenced construction of its broadband network. The Sydney to Newcastle section commenced customer service in February 2000. Kooee Communications P/L launched in October as a retail telecommunications provider.37 In 2000, SCB and WIN joined with infrastructure company NTL Australia to establish NTL Communications. The company provided digital television distribution systems to the major networks and on-sell spare capacity to mobile telephony and internet access companies. Both WIN and SCB sought to expand their businesses into the wider telecommunications market as well as providing an economical basis for distributing digital television programs to their transmission sites across Australia.38 The regionals also embarked on a series of major upgrades for DTT. In May 2001, Prime opened its $2.5 million national broadcast centre at its Canberra studio. Established to co-ordinate digital playout to all the company’s markets, the facility created around 70 jobs for technical staff.39 Similarly, WIN embarked on a multi-million-dollar upgrade of its Wollongong station to enable greater centralisation of television operations from around the country.40 By 2003, SCB had centralised broadcast operations for most of its markets to the CTC studios in Canberra.41 Tasmania operations were transferred there in 2005.42 On 28 August 2000, Southern Cross Ten commenced the first digital television service in regional Australia with a standard definition (SD) digital simulcast of its primary channel to eastern Victoria through GLV which, we shall recall, had been the first regional commercial television station to commence analogue transmissions almost 40 years earlier. This was followed by BCV on 17 November 2000. In July 2001, the ABA determined 31 March 2003 as the simulcast start date for regional Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, and Darwin. The start date for Mildura/Sunraysia, Broken Hill, Griffith/ MIA, Mount Gambier, Spencer Gulf, and Riverland was set for 31 December 2003.43 All services were required to be operational by 1 January 2004.44 The ABA’s digital channel plans (DCPs) for major regional centres were announced between late 2001 and mid-2002.45 DCPs for regional and remote Western Australia were released in 2003.46

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WIN was the first regional broadcaster to commence regular SD digital transmissions, in the Stanwell Park area north of Wollongong, on 30 June 2001.47 Standard definition digital simulcasts were commissioned in other regional areas over the next 10 years. In most cases, television companies prioritised initiating SD services in the larger population centres then gradually extended to outlying areas. In the Canberra region, for example, Prime commissioned its Black Mountain transmitter for digital service in December 2001. This was followed by Tuggeranong in 2003, Monaro and Cooma in 2006, Goulburn and Braidwood in 2008, Jindabyne in 2009, and Bombala and Thredbo in 2010.48 WIN commenced part-time HD simulcast of its primary channel in 2003. A loop of places in regional Australia was shown when HD content was not available. This simulcast operated until 2008. But the digital “revolution” which had begun with such promise was declared by some commentators to be “slow off the mark” at best, and “dead in the water” at worst. By 2005, just 15 per cent of households with free-to-air (FTA) television had acquired a set-top box.49 Broadcasters and experts were critical of the government’s handling of DTT. Many called for extra competition, additional channels, and fresh ideas. Queensland University of Technology’s Terry Flew cited the “highly restrictive and proscriptive regime that sets barriers to new players and protects existing broadcasters” as the key challenge. Swinburne University’s John Schwartz agreed, describing DTT “doomed before it started”; Griffith University’s David Cox dismissed DTT as a boutique market for the wealthy and an unwise use of precious bandwidth.50 WIN’s Bruce Gordon declared: They [government] have no idea, they are like bankers, they have no idea how to run a business … They get an idea and then it’s the industry which has to make it work whether it’s a good thing or not. If we tell them to get stuffed, we lose our licence.51

Box 10.1  Ninth liminal moment

The Howard Coalition government’s botched approach to DTT as an evolution of television rather than an opportunity for innovation was arguably regional commercial television’s ninth liminal moment. While digital television had failed to deliver the array of features promised years earlier, its introduction also served to further entrench the incumbency of existing operators and protect them from increased competition.

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Meanwhile, the peak industry body, FACTS, was renamed Commercial Television Australia (CTVA) in 2002  in a bid to reflect “the dynamic nature of the commercial television industry”.52 CTVA was in turn rebranded, as Free TV Australia, in 2004.53 Nevertheless, it seemed the regionals had lost their only dedicated voice following the demise of Regional Television Australia soon after aggregation in the early 1990s given the likely tensions within an organisation which was dominated by metropolitan television interests. In 2004, the Howard government proposed to merge the ABA and ACA to form a regulatory super agency.54 The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), which emerged in mid-2005, has been described by Terry Flew as a convergent media regulator responsible for broadcasting, radiocommunications, and telecommunications administration. The ACMA’s approach has involved working with industry to self-­ regulate while ensuring compliance with various codes, standards, and licence conditions.55

Localism The introduction of digital television was accompanied by further declines in localism. In December 2000, Prime shut its Gold Coast news service with the loss of 20 jobs.56 The decision was particularly devastating for those employees who had joined Prime from Seven, which had closed its Gold Coast news bulletin just over 12 months previously.57 (Seven re-­ launched a dedicated Gold Coast news bulletin, presented from its Surfers Paradise studio, in mid-2016.)58 In February 2001, Prime cancelled its locally produced composite weekend news bulletin for all Northern New South Wales markets. (The bulletin had previously been established in opposition to NBN’s news service, which was produced seven days a week from the Newcastle studio.) Prime defended its decision by saying the weekend service was “just a re-packaging” of Seven News content, presented by a Prime newsreader, with a “couple of local stories added”.59 Then, on 8 June, the network announced it would immediately cease production of local bulletins for Canberra, Newcastle, and Wollongong.60 The latest closures resulted in 32 job losses including 11 in Canberra.61 Prime expected to save more than $1 million annually in each market.39 The company’s CEO Brent Harman blamed the decision to axe services in all three markets on poor ratings, as well as aggregation a decade earlier:

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In each market we launched a long time after the incumbent broadcaster … The audience results are … simply a product of not being in those markets first, rather than a reflection of the service we have produced.62

In September 2001, Southern Cross cemented its position as the third major regional commercial television network with a $260 million takeover of TAL (TNQ/ITQ/QQQ). The purchase gave Southern Cross a presence in all major eastern markets as well as remote Central Australia.63 But the following month, the network announced the immediate closure of newsrooms in Canberra, Cairns, Townsville, Darwin, and Alice Springs. The final Ten Local News bulletin was presented from the Townsville studio by Joanne Desmond, who recalls: [The closure] was very unexpected. Everyone felt blindsided and so were upset, disappointed, angry … from memory [staff] were asked to continue until the end of the week but decided to finish up with one last bulletin that night.64

The final closer infamously showed a Ten News logo being flushed down the toilet (Box 10.2). SCB management were reportedly infuriated by the gesture, describing it as “unprofessional” and “inappropriate”. The national closures resulted in the loss of 69 staff including 42 in Queensland.65 The decisions by Prime and Southern Cross to axe local news services were met with shock and anger. In some areas, including Canberra, Cairns, and Townsville, viewers who had previously been served by two or three competing commercial television news services were left with one. Townsville Mayor Tony Mooney condemned the cuts: We need a variety of news outlets to get different and local perspectives … We shouldn’t allow the heart to be cut out of regional services and the council will be making a strong submission to the Australian Broadcasting Authority …66

Box 10.2  Ten Local News

• Type: Audio-visual material • Produced by: TNQ Regional Queensland, 2001 • NFSA reference: 501948

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In Townsville, hundreds of people turned out in protest. The Federal Member for Herbert (and former TNQ staff member), Peter Lindsay, said he would seek to freeze $13.6 million in subsidies for SCB until the service was re-instated. Lindsay, along with the Member for Leichhardt, Warren Entsch, vowed to legislate for the mandatory provision of local news services.67 One of the most vocal critics of the closures was Independent MP for Calare, and former CBN (Orange, NSW) television news editor, Peter Andren, who emphasised the importance of local news and information in overcoming the isolating effect of globalisation and associated forces: This isolation is exaggerated in a rural setting, where face-to-face interaction has been further reduced by reduction in services such as banking. The loss of localism both in local services and media coverage of events underlines that isolation and contributes significantly to the decline in the social health of that community.68

But Southern Cross Broadcasting’s Tony Bell maintained the loss of services was the inevitable outcome of low ratings and high digital conversion costs: “It is just incorrect for the Government to say it is funding [through subsidies] the introduction of digital television in regional markets, it is [actually] contributing to the cost.”69 This was in addition to local news production costs, which was typically around $1 million per market.70 Prime’s general manager of corporate affairs, Shirley Brown, argued the closures were in response to changing viewer habits and therefore outside their control: Our closure of newsrooms … was not a kneejerk reaction. To tell you the truth we should have done it six years ago … there is cultural and technological change where on-line services and other new technology are growing sources of news and information for people.71

In response to the closures, the ABA in November 2001 announced an investigation into the adequacy of local news and information programs in regional areas.72 It called for submissions from the public and interested parties, held public meetings, and conducted station visits in affected areas. Much of the feedback focused on the impact of newsroom closures on localism. The inquiry found that local news and information was highly valued by communities, as evidenced by this submission from a Townsville resident:

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Regional news is vital to the local community … We live in a cyclone belt so the local weather has a very important part to play in our every day [sic] lives. We do not need to know what is happening in Brisbane apart from a passing interest—an impending storm in Brisbane will not tear the roof off our house in Townsville.73

Others echoed feelings of isolation and neglect that have long pervaded regional communities: “We would like to think we [regional Australia] are offering the cities a service: wool, meat, grain, fruit, vegetables, etc. We would like to receive a service: decent television and communications.74 A former Prime News journalist, who had lost their job following the closure of the Newcastle newsroom, feared the impact of the closures on regional identities: I believe it is difficult for people in major cities to grasp the concept of what local news means. They are so often the seats of power and therefore, “the” news is usually “their” news … there is an ever decreasing number of mirrors being held up for regional communities.75

The ABA noted a decline in local information since aggregation and a reduction in competing news services from the mid-1990s. There were legitimate community concerns at a lack of diversity and competition. The Authority also found some broadcasters were “not sufficiently responsive” to audience needs for programs about matters of local significance.76 Peter Andren submitted that only regulation could save localism in regional television: They don’t all have to do a half-hour news. There’s plenty of room for a decent interview and current affairs program in most markets, as well as comprehensive sports or rural coverage. Surely that’s not too much to ask. After all, a broadcast licence should be a privilege, not a right.77

But FACTS argued that the quality and professionalism of regional news services had significantly improved since aggregation and that market forces, not regulation, were the most effective guarantor of service.78 As a result of its inquiries, the ABA proposed, for the first time, to impose additional licence conditions to ensure the provision of local news and information. Under the changes, broadcasters in Approved Markets A, B, C, and D were required to broadcast matters of local significance in each sub-market, meeting a minimum of 90 points per week and 960 points

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every eight weeks. These would be accrued on the basis of two points per minute of local news and one point per minute for local current affairs or information.79 These new requirements did not apply to broadcasters in Tasmania and the non-aggregated markets of Griffith, Broken Hill, Mildura, South Australia, Western Australia, Northern Territory, and Mount Isa. The ABA’s licence condition came into effect on 1 February 2004. Under the new arrangements, regional Queensland broadcasters were required to serve five of the seven local area markets (LAMs) while those in Northern New South Wales needed to deliver in four out of five. In Southern New South Wales/ACT and Victoria, the networks were compelled to meet minimum requirements in all LAMs.80 But the regionals’ interpretations of the rules varied greatly between markets. In regional Queensland, Seven (STQ) launched half-hour news bulletins for Cairns and Townsville alongside existing services for Mackay, Wide Bay, and the Sunshine Coast.81 In contrast, Ten Queensland (TNQ) provided news headlines compiled by a local journalist in each market which were read to camera (without vision) from SCB’s Canberra studio.82 These were supplemented by State Focus, a weekly, 30-minute current affairs magazine (Box 10.3). SCB’s minimalistic news arrangements were certainly efficient; with just two newsreaders and one producer, the Canberra broadcast centre generated more than 160 newsbreaks each weekday.83 In his examination of regional television news in north Queensland, John Flynn cites the SCB response as an example of how the government’s regulatory reforms failed to remedy the issues it sought to address.84 Nevertheless, in late 2004, the ABA found all regional licensees in the affected markets had met or exceeded local content quotas in the first six months of operation.85 The ABA followed up its 2002 inquiry with an examination of news services in solus and two-operator markets. It found that at least one commercial television broadcasting service was providing local news and

Box 10.3  State Focus, Victoria edition

• Type: Audio-visual material • Produced by: CTC Southern NSW, 2009 • NFSA reference: 795493

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information programs in each area. Furthermore, it determined that population size and density, revenue, profitability, and costs associated with broadcasting local content was such that it was not appropriate to require licensees in those markets to provide additional material of local significance. However, the ABA encouraged Prime, WIN, and Southern Cross to consider the needs of viewers in the Darwin, Remote Central and Eastern Australia, Regional and Remote Western Australia, and Mildura markets and to develop additional news or information programs of local significance to viewers in those areas.86 The cessation of local news production had resulted in an excess of floorspace at some stations. Tellingly, Southern Cross relocated its operations from the majestic Queen’s Hotel to an industrial estate in the Townsville suburb of Garbutt in 2004.87 The company’s Mulgrave Road studio in Cairns was vacated around the same time and later converted to a car showroom.88 It is worth noting that the news production process at WIN, where I worked in the mid-2000s, was still a highly manual one, using mostly analogue technology and multiple personnel. Journalists and camera operators would conduct interviews and record footage before returning to the studio. Scripts would be prepared and edited, and voiceovers would be recorded (Fig. 10.1). Camera operators then assembled individual news items, which were recorded onto Beta video cassette tapes (Fig.  10.2). Pre-recorded, 30-­ minute bulletins were produced end-to-end, including commercial breaks (Fig. 10.3). News exchange personnel would cue and play out individual news items in real time, in what could only be described as frantic conditions (Fig. 10.4). Despite the changing fortunes of regional news, stations continued to provide a valuable training ground for television professionals. Alex Cullen began his television news career at Prime in Wagga Wagga before joining Golden West Network in 2004. He later achieved prominence with Seven News Sydney and Sunday Night (Seven) before joining Today (Nine) in late 2019. Cullen recalls his time in Western Australia: [The] scope of stories and the people out there are just incredible … The cameraman and I had to cover more than 772,000 square kilometres which often meant a lot of driving.89

Fig. 10.1  Recording a voiceover, 2007. Copyright Michael Thurlow

Fig. 10.2  Compiling news reports, 2007. Copyright Michael Thurlow

Fig. 10.3  Producing a WIN News bulletin, 2007. Copyright Michael Thurlow

Fig. 10.4  Cueing and playing out news reports, 2007. Copyright Michael Thurlow

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Amber Austin-Wright was typical of a growing number of journalists who began their careers in regional television before gaining national, then international, experience. Austin-Wright joined WIN’s Rockhampton newsroom in 2006. She later worked for NBN Northern NSW before joining the Seven and Ten networks. Her international experience included placements with ITN, CBS, and Reuters as a journalist and producer. She later re-joined Network Ten in Brisbane as a reporter and presenter for 10 News First. Austin-Wright believes her regional television experience gave her the skills and confidence to work in metropolitan and international news markets: I strongly believe regional newsrooms are so important in developing professionals in the industry. You are really thrown in the deep end, but you waste no time in developing essential skills that can take you far. I think regional TV makes you well rounded and you can appreciate all the effort that goes into making television magic every day.90

Journalist Hugh Whitfeld also advanced from regional, to metropolitan and international news roles. Whitfeld joined Prime (CBN) at Orange in 2007 while studying at Charles Sturt University in Bathurst. He was subsequently appointed as news editor and presenter for Prime Central West. In 2010, Whitfeld relocated to Prime’s headquarters when news presentation was centralised to Canberra. He later joined the Seven Network, where he was appointed to the role of Europe bureau chief. Whitfeld recalls the demands of working in a regional newsroom: It was always all hands on deck … I filmed the odd story myself. Had a go at linear cutting. Did sound in the control room. Fed the cat. Helped “Prime Possum” (wore the suit at a staff family Christmas party). Plus the usual three packages a day, and covering my patch which was Lithgow, Oberon, Bathurst and Blayney every day.91

While the regional networks mostly focused their production resources on local news,92 there were also localised efforts in children’s, variety, and lifestyle programs. In 2001, production of the daily Prime Possum Show was relocated from the Gold Coast to Canberra where it was hosted by Elissa Michel. Prime Saturday Club was a two-hour Saturday morning program aimed at 5–12-year-olds with science, sport, health, and arts segments. It was produced at Prime’s Canberra studio and on location and hosted by Nick Adams and Melanie Ross alongside Prime Possum. One

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hundred episodes had been recorded by mid-2006.93 GWN Saturday Club adopted a similar format and, from 2001, was hosted by Justin Thomson alongside Doopa Dog from the company’s Bunbury studio (Image 9.1); production was relocated to Prime’s Canberra studio in 2008.94 Prime Saturday Club was later recast as Possum’s Club and GWN Saturday Club became Doopa’s Club, both hosted by Madelaine Collignon.95 WIN produced several lifestyle programs for network-wide distribution. Fishing Australia, hosted by Rob Paxevanos, premiered in 2001 and remains on air.96 Alive and Cooking premiered in 2008. The weekly, 30-minute cooking series hosted by chef James Reeson was produced from the Wollongong studios and on location around Australia. Postcards Australia was a holiday and travel series which utilised content from Postcards South Australia and Postcards Western Australia as well as additional material shot by a WIN production team. 97 It is also worth noting The Saddle Club, a live-action children’s adventure series produced by the WIN-owned Crawford Productions, which generated 78 episodes over three series and was broadcast in Australia and international markets between 2001 and 2009.98 Susie was arguably the most ambitious production to come out of the Wollongong studio during this period (Box 10.4). It was also the first and only regionally produced national daytime program in Australian television history. Susie adopted a 60-minute variety format which featured news, sport, entertainment, lifestyle, health, beauty, and fashion segments. It was hosted and executive-produced by WIN veteran Susie Elelman, who had begun her television career at the station in 1974. She recalls: We had a live performance of some sort [on just about every episode]. We had overseas stars such as Susie Quatro, Toni Childs, Gerry Marsden from Gerry and the Pacemakers … but the majority of the performers were Australians, including the delightful Rhonda Burchmore and Leo Sayer, who performed on our 200th show in front of a live studio audience (Fig. 10.5).99

Box 10.4  Susie, hosted by Susie Elelman

• Type: Audio-visual recording • Produced by: WIN Southern NSW/ACT, 2007 • NFSA reference: 803204

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Fig. 10.5  Susie host Susie Elelman with guests Leo Sayer and Rhonda Birchmore, episode 200, 2007. Copyright Susie Elelman

Susie was carried nationally on the WIN network, and WIN-owned Nine stations in Adelaide and Perth. But as we will shortly see, one of the most significant programs to be produced by regional television would eventually be caught up in a much larger game of brinkmanship between WIN and Nine. Southern Cross also produced a range of programs from its Launceston studio, some of which are still on air. Hook, Line and Sinker, a 30-minute fishing program hosted by Andrew Hart and Nick Duigan, premiered in 2001.100 Going Bush, a 30-minute industry-funded program, focused on the forestry and timber industry.101 Other productions have included Homes of Tasmania, which featured finalists in the Housing Industry of Tasmania Awards between 2007 and 2009, Targa Torque, Renovation Relief, Holiday at Home, Discover Tasmania, and Burnie Ten—Ten Week Challenge.

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In March 2009, Southern Cross trialled Pricey for Breakfast, an innovative and relatively low-cost television format produced in Townsville in conjunction with the company’s 4TO radio station. The program was hosted by well-known North Queensland media personality (and former TNQ broadcaster) Steve Price between 7.00am and 8.30am weekdays. “Pricey” was shown in front of his microphone and operating his radio mixing desk. Live shots were interspersed with video clips of the songs being played and slides of local images. A green chroma-key background enabled temperatures to be displayed on-screen as the local weather report was being read. The pilot was completed in May 2009 but did not proceed to production.102 The following month, the company shifted presentation of Southern Cross News for Spencer Gulf and Broken Hill from Port Pirie to Canberra. The final locally presented bulletin was aired from the Wandearah Road studio on 28 June.103 Imparja (IMP) continued to produce its popular Yamba’s Playtime pre-­ school program from its Alice Springs studio.104 In late 2007, the station replaced its nightly, 30-minute Imparja National News bulletin with local news updates. A weekly, 30-minute current affairs magazine, Footprints, presented by Catherine Liddle, aired in 2008–09 (Box 10.5).105 The introduction of digital television further diluted the extent of localism in regional commercial television. I estimate that, by 2009, local production averaged around 12 hours per licence each week for 10 licences, three hours per week for 10 licences, and no production for 24 licences.106 On that basis, regional stations produced, on average, around two per cent of total programs in their own studios (see Chap. 1, Fig. 1.1).107 This equated to around three-and-a-half hours each week, given that stations were operating for 168 hours every seven days. Box 10.5  Footprints

• Type: Audio-visual recording • Produced by: Imparja Television, 2008 • NFSA reference: 773649

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Independence The period was notable for the emergence of Southern Cross as the third major regional commercial television network. In mid-2001, SCB, through its Southern Cross Communications subsidiary, announced a $217 million takeover bid for TAL.108 In April 2002, SCB acquired Spencer Gulf Telecasters and Broken Hill Television. SCB’s television operations were, in turn, acquired by Macquarie Bank in 2007. The fanfare which accompanied the introduction of digital television arguably hid the fact that several parts of regional Australia still received just one commercial television service. On 23 April 2002, the ABA allocated a second supplementary licence to incumbent operators in Broken Hill (NSW), Spencer Gulf (Port Pirie, SA), South East (Mount Gambier, SA) and Riverland (Loxton/Renmark, SA). These were granted under section 38A of the Broadcasting Services Act 1992, which permitted an additional licence to be granted to an incumbent broadcaster in cases where no other expressions of interest were received.109 The new services commenced between late 2003 and early 2004 (Table 10.1).110 Australia’s first digital-only licence was granted in mid-2002 to provide a third commercial television service for Tasmania.111 This licence was granted to TasTV P/L, a joint venture between Southern Cross (TNT) and WIN (TVT).112 The service commenced operation on 1 January 2004 under the call sign TDT and carried Ten Network programming.113 Southern Cross managed playout from its Canberra broadcast facility while WIN was responsible for administration and advertising sales. The government also made changes to existing foreign and cross-media ownership rules. The Broadcasting Services Amendment (Media Ownership) Bill, which included provisions for foreign investors to buy local media companies, was passed in October 2006. Local operators could own two of the three main media platforms—newspapers, radio, and television—in the same market. These changes were, however, subject Table 10.1  Supplementary licences (s38A), 2002–04 Licence (by callsign and locality)

Licensee

SCN Broken Hill (NSW) SGS Spencer Gulf (SA) LRS Loxton/Renmark (SA) MRS Mount Gambier (SA)

Broken Hill Television P/L (SCB) Spencer Gulf Telecasters P/L (SCB) WIN Television SA P/L (WIN) WIN Television SA P/L (WIN)

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to a condition that there were at least five separate “voices” in mainland capitals and four in rural centres.114 The amendment also made the minimum content requirements for local news and information, introduced for Approved Markets A, B, C, and D in 2004, a statutory condition rather than at the discretion of the ACMA. These requirements came into effect in 2008, when they were also extended to Tasmania.115 Amid these changes, parts of Australia continued to receive just two commercial television services. This was rectified when a third licence for a further 13 areas was granted between 2005 and 2011 (Table  10.2). WIN was awarded licences for Griffith (MDN), Mount Gambier (SDS), and Loxton/Renmark (RDS). Southern Cross received additional services for Broken Hill (BDN) and Spencer Gulf (GDS). Mildura Digital Television P/L, a joint venture between Prime and WIN, was issued a third licence for Mildura (DTD). West Digital Television, also owned by Prime and WIN, provided a third service for South West and Great Southern (SDW), Geraldton (GDW), Kalgoorlie (VDW), and the Western RCTS (WDW). Darwin Digital Television (DTD) was a joint venture between Nine and Southern Cross. Central Digital Television, a tie-up between Imparja and Southern Cross, received licences for Mount Isa (IDQ) and Central and Eastern RCTS (CDT).116 Table 10.2  Supplementary licences (s38B), 2004–11 Licence (by callsign and locality)

Licensee

TDT Tasmania (Tas) MDV Mildura (Vic) DTD Darwin (NT) GDW Geraldton (WA) SDW South West (WA) VDW Kalgoorlie (WA) WDW Western Australia BDN Broken Hill (NSW) GDS Spencer Gulf (SA) RDS Loxton/Renmark (SA) SDS Mount Gambier (SA) CDT Remote Central and Eastern Australia IDQ Mount Isa (Qld) MDN Griffith (NSW)

TasTV P/L (SCB/WIN) Mildura Digital Television P/L (Prime/WIN) Darwin Digital Television P/L (SCB/Nine) West Digital Television No. 2 P/L (Prime/WIN) West Digital Television P/L (Prime/WIN) West Digital Television No. 3 P/L (Prime/WIN) West Digital Television No. 4 P/L (Prime/WIN) Broken Hill Television P/L (SCB) Spencer Gulf Telecasters P/L (SCB) WIN Television SA P/L (WIN) WIN Television SA P/L (WIN) Central Digital Television P/L (SCB/IMP) Central Digital Television P/L (SCB/IMP) WIN Television Griffith P/L (WIN)

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Meanwhile, in 2006, WIN’s Bruce Gordon acquired control of SelecTV, a digital subscription television business with around 2,000 subscribers.117 He expanded its offering to include a range of foreign-language channels for the Greek, Spanish, Italian, German, and Vietnamese communities, as well as special interest content for gay and lesbian viewers.118 By mid-2010, the business claimed to have 45,000 subscribers. But within months, SelecTV announced it would cease English language broadcasts and sell its Italian and Spanish subscriber bases. The company entered voluntary administration in early 2011.119 Its director, Andrew Gordon (son of Bruce Gordon), told administrators the company had been unable to attract a “critical mass” of subscribers to be profitable.120 On 18 August 2006, WIN ceased production of its local news bulletin for the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area. The last bulletin was presented from the Griffith studio by Jacalyn Cremasco. This was replaced with WIN’s Wagga Wagga bulletin which incorporated reports from a local news crew.121 Griffith mayor Dino Zappacosta lamented the loss of the city’s only local television news service: A local news bulletin has been an integral part of Griffith television for more than 40 years … It provided cohesiveness in the community, which engaged all residents including minority and disadvantaged groups.122

WIN did not initially provide local news for its recently established regional Western Australia (WOW) service. Instead, the company relayed the Network Ten news service from NEW Perth. But on 13 November 2006, WIN launched WIN News Western Australia, presented by Kerryn Johnston from the company’s Wollongong studios.123 Presentation was transferred to STW Perth following WIN’s acquisition of that station in 2007. Just a few months later, WIN and Nine became locked in a battle which would ultimately establish it as Australia’s largest commercial television operator. In February 2007, PUB announced a $136 million bid for STW Perth from Eva Presser’s STL. This was countered by an offer from WIN (which held 45 per cent of STL) for $163 million which (after much wrangling) was accepted by shareholders. In May, WIN acquired NWS from Southern Cross for $105 million.124 These acquisitions were a major thorn in the side of Nine, which was the only major network not to directly control stations in all five state capital cities. PUB responded by acquiring NBN from SPT for $250 million. The purchase gave the company its

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second regional licence (after Darwin) and thwarted Bruce Gordon’s long-standing efforts to gain a foothold in Northern New South Wales.125 Meanwhile, in December 2006, Seven Network Ltd (SNL) shareholders agreed to separate the company’s traditional media assets (including STQ Regional Queensland) into a joint venture with Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) to create Seven Media Group Ltd (SMG).126 Elsewhere, Prime sought to expand its business with the acquisition of Becker Entertainment in mid-2007.127 The wrangling over STW Perth came at the same time as WIN’s affiliation agreement with Nine was due to expire. In August 2007, Nine demanded WIN pay 50 (later 40) per cent of its revenue for the supply of programs. This represented a major increase from the 32 per cent it had been paying, and a significant premium compared to competitors Prime and SCA, which paid 29 per cent of revenue to Seven and Ten, respectively.128 Gordon declared: We’re [WIN] out of contract and they keep threatening to turn us off. We said, ‘go ahead, take your programming off’, and we think it would be a lot of fun if they did. We can program this network.129

Gordon sought an agreement which lowered the rate to meet that paid by his competitors. He cited “ridiculous” programming decisions by Nine, including the dumping of popular American soap opera The Young and The Restless, as the basis for paying less, rather than more, for network programs. He responded by dropping Mornings with Kerri-Anne, National Nine Morning News and Fresh from WIN’s daytime schedule. These were replaced by the in-house Susie, the American Ellen DeGeneres Show, and The Music Shop, a 1990s preschool program produced by ADS Adelaide. Gordon had also previously substituted the BBC’s Antiques Roadshow, which was the lead-in to the nightly news, with re-runs of the American sitcom The Brady Bunch. These program changes were clearly an attempt by Gordon to demonstrate his ability to deliver on a previous threat to program WIN independently of Nine. While working for WIN at the peak of the dispute, I recall a directive to not provide news content to the Nine Network for several days. The already tense relationship with Nine was further strained when WIN switched the primary affiliation for SES and RTS from Nine to the Seven Network.130 The impasse over affiliation fees was resolved in early September, when both parties came to an arrangement under which WIN would pay 35 per

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cent of revenue to Nine for program supply.131 But the episode had delivered a fatal blow to daytime variety program Susie which, having made its debut on WIN amid much fanfare several months earlier, was relegated from midday to 9.30am in place of Mornings with Kerri-Anne (TCN). Susie endured further timeslot changes when Mornings with Kerri-Anne was reinstated. Despite producers’ best efforts, Susie suffered a ratings slump and was axed in mid-2008 by WIN CEO David Butorac. But the axing also reportedly had unforeseen consequences for Butorac, who was sacked just three days later.132 According to host Susie Elelman: “I’ve since learnt from Bruce Gordon that he was furious Susie had been axed. He had other plans for my show, earmarking it to be played on one of the new [secondary] … channels”.133 Elelman later co-hosted and co-produced Daily with Susie and Bianca, a 30-minute news and lifestyle program, with Bianca Dye. Meanwhile, the sale of NWS Adelaide to WIN raised questions over SCB’s future in the Australian media. These were answered in November 2007, when Macquarie Regional Radioworks P/L (MRR) acquired SCB’s regional television and radio assets.134 MRR, a Macquarie Bank subsidiary, had established itself as a major force in regional radio following its acquisition of Reg Grundy’s RG Capital radio, then DMG Radio Australia’s regional assets, in 2004.135 Its latest television acquisitions cemented MRR as one of the three largest regional broadcast media companies, alongside Prime and WIN. MRR underwent several name changes before Southern Cross Media Australia P/L (SCM) was adopted in January 2010.136 SCM was further expanded with the acquisition of the Austereo Group in mid-2011. The merged entity was renamed Southern Cross Austereo P/L (SCA) in February 2012.137 MRR’s acquisition of radio stations in 2004 required it to divest overlapping assets in some markets. In late 2005, Prime Television announced its expansion into regional Queensland radio with the acquisition of stations in Cairns, Townsville, Mackay, Rockhampton, and Gladstone. Prime CEO Paul Ramsay described the purchase as “a very good fit” which positioned its existing media for “future growth opportunities”.138 Prime Television Ltd was renamed Prime Media Group Ltd from 5 December 2007 in recognition of the company’s expanded interests.139 But Prime’s expansion into radio would ultimately be deemed a failure. In 2013, Prime Radio stations sold to Grant Broadcasters for $50 million less than the original acquisition price.140

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The late 2000s also saw the exit of the Packer family from Australian television. In 2007, James Packer’s Publishing and Broadcasting Ltd (PUB) announced it would split into two separate companies. Consolidated Media Holdings (CMH) held the company’s media interests including PBL Media Ltd (PBL), which housed the Nine Network and regional subsidiaries NBN Northern NSW and NTD Darwin. PUB’s gaming interests were transferred to Crown Ltd.141 In late 2007, CMH sold 25 per cent of its interest in PBL. Packer announced his departure from PBL in late 2008, by which time CVC Capital Partners, a British private equity firm, had become the company’s major shareholder. By mid-2009, Australia’s 44 regional commercial television licences were held by just six ownership groups. The independence quotient was, by this time, 14 per cent, which represented an almost 50 per cent decrease over the previous 10 years (see Chap. 1, Fig. 1.2).142 This dramatic decline was almost entirely due to the expansion of Southern Cross and the government’s allocation of additional services in solus and two-operator markets to incumbent operators. Principal shareholders in these groups, with the exception of Southern Cross and PBL Media, remained largely unchanged.143

Analogue Switch-Off The latter half of the 2000s was dominated by plans to switch off analogue television transmissions across Australia. But the uptake of digital television was, to this point, sluggish. According to Jock Given, this was partly due to a lack of patronage by existing television operators, who regarded digital television as simply the next step in the technical evolution of their medium.144 As a result, commercial broadcasters had combined their efforts to convince the government that any form of innovation which was likely to introduce competition would be ruinous. The government’s plans to introduce HD transmission, multi-channel broadcasting and the eventual decommissioning of terrestrial analogue television services was a lost opportunity which posed no threat to the incumbency of existing operators. On 1 January 2003, the federal government introduced high-definition programming quotas which required stations in metropolitan areas to broadcast at least 20 hours of high-definition programming each week. This same requirement was extended to Darwin in April 2005, then

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regional Queensland, New South Wales, and Victoria (including the non-­ aggregated market of Mildura) in January 2006. Meanwhile, in February 2006, the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Communications, Information Technology and the Arts recommended that analogue switch-off be extended to 2010. However, multi-channel broadcasting and datacasting would be permitted in the meantime.145 One of the first attempts at datacasting by a regional television network was MyTalk, which was launched by Southern Cross in April 2007. It featured a localised television guide for each market, news and weather information, and live video previews of Southern Cross programs, accompanied by a MyTalk website.146 The service ceased operation in February 2008, highlighting the failure of government policy in this area.147 Datacasting was originally intended to provide information to schools, and to broadcast university lectures and other non-traditional television content. However, without any legislative restriction on its use, datacasting was solely used for advertising purposes, with airtime sold almost exclusively to home shopping companies. Just three months after the closure of MyTalk, Australian journalist Malcolm Colless described datacasting as “stillborn”.148 From 13 July 2007, commercial television networks were permitted to provide separate SD and HD channels. These new HD services replaced the standard definition digital services, established in the early 2000s, ahead of the introduction of additional channels from 2009. Prime was the first regional broadcaster to commence a HD simulcast on 15 October 2007. The service was a rebroadcast of Seven HD to Northern and Southern New South Wales (NEN, CBN), Regional Victoria (AMV), and Mildura (PTV).149 This was followed by the launch of 9HD (NBN and NTD) and WIN HD on 17 March 2008. Southern Cross did not commence HD transmission in regional areas at this time. WIN HD featured unique breakaway programming until 2009, when the service reverted to a HD simulcast of the network’s main channel. These initial HD services were abandoned in 2009 and 2010 to make way for additional sub-channels. Meanwhile, on 19 October 2008 the Rudd Labor government’s Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Senator Stephen Conroy, announced the revised timetable for analogue switch-off.150 The conversion would commence with Mildura during the first half of 2010 and conclude with regional Western Australia in late 2013.151 In November 2008, Free TV Australia established the Freeview

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digital platform in an effort to increase public uptake of digital television. With some hyperbole, FTA broadcasters boasted the service was “perhaps the most significant event in Australian television since 1956”. According to Freeview’s Kim Dalton: Our traditional rivalries have been suspended in the name of a shared vision, ensuring that every Australian is ready for the future of digital television. Now it’s time for viewers to reap the rewards. Freeview will offer Australians more channels and more choice, better pictures and sound, an electronic program guide.152

In early 2009, in a reversal of the long-term trend towards closing regional news services, WIN introduced a daily, 30-minute local news bulletin for Wide Bay and Mackay.153 The move was undoubtedly intended to position WIN as a major competitor against Seven, which was the incumbent broadcaster in both markets. Local newsrooms were established in both centres and services commenced on 16 March and 6 April, respectively. The decision provided viewers in both areas with a second service in competition with the incumbent Seven Local News for the first time since 2001.154 From January 2009, broadcasters were permitted two SD channels in addition to their HD channel. This began with the launch of the Ten Network’s ONE HD in selected Southern Cross markets in July 2009.155 This was followed in August by the Nine Network’s Go! through NBN and WIN.  Go! broadcast a mix of programming aimed at people aged between 16 and 39.156 Seven Queensland, Prime, and Southern Cross in Tasmania and Darwin commenced carrying 7TWO later that year. This service targeted an audience aged over 25 with a range of new and classic programs from Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom, and United States.157 7mate was launched by Seven, Prime, and GWN from September 2010, followed by Southern Cross Tasmania and Darwin the following month. NBN, WIN, and Imparja started carrying Gem later that month. Southern Cross offered Eleven from January 2011.158 The metropolitan networks also began to introduce their own catch-up television services.159 The first to launch was the ABC’s iview in July 2008.160 The first commercial platform, the Seven Network’s PLUS7, became available in January 2010.161 In April, Ninemsn launched FIXPlay as part of its TheFIX online entertainment brand. FIXPlay incorporated content from Nine and Go! as well as local and international

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distributors.162 In mid-2012, Nine released Jump-in as a trial social television app for the London Olympics. Launched commercially in February 2012, it allowed viewers to vote in polls, post live comments, and enter competitions.163 FIXPlay and Jump-in were merged in November 2013 and rebranded as 9Jumpin from May 2014.164 Network Ten’s TENplay commenced in September 2013 and was available on web, mobile, and tablet devices as well as game consoles and smart TVs.165 The uptake of such platforms was enabled by increased consumer use of mobile broadband services; around 20 per cent of broadband subscribers were mobile users in late 2008. Meanwhile, the ALP promised, in the lead-up to the 2007 federal election, to upgrade much of Australia’s fixed line communications systems. This, as with previous technologies, had the potential to increase competition, improve access, encourage innovation, and expand consumer choice in a range of areas, including broadcasting. The National Broadband Network was established in 2009 as a state-­ owned enterprise to build and operate a wholesale-only network.166 As we will see in Chap. 11, the introduction of the National Broadband Network, as with many previous technologies, would be criticised as yet another opportunity lost.

Conclusion The consolidation of regional commercial television ownership between 2000 and 2009 was mostly due to developments which entrenched the incumbency of existing operators. But it was the government’s much-­ criticised introduction of DTT, which included the failure of datacasting which offered the potential to serve often-neglected regional communities, that became the sector’s ninth liminal moment. The positioning of digital television in a manner which was largely devoid of meaningful innovation protected existing operators from new competition. This situation was compounded by the government’s decision to extend its moratorium on new commercial services until 2008, as well as the granting of additional supplementary licences to existing operators (or joint ventures between existing operators) in non-aggregated markets. These years are also notable for consolidating ownership of Network Ten’s regional affiliates under Southern Cross. The end result was that three major networks——Prime, WIN, and Southern Cross——now controlled more than 90 per cent of regional licences. Unsurprisingly, these conditions brought a further decrease in independence (see Chap. 1,  Fig. 1.3). In

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addition, the government’s efforts to regulate minimum requirements in relation to local news and information largely failed to address declines in localism. Commercial free-to-air broadcasters had, to a large extent, influenced the government’s approach to DTT in their favour. As we will see in Chap. 11, the development of personal technologies and changing consumer behaviour have increasingly threatened to render as obsolete the regional commercial free-to-air television business model.

Notes 1. Schwartz, quoted in Australian, 17/9/2002, p. 30. 2. Given 2014, pp. 138-140. 3. HORSCCITA, 2006, pp. 5-6. 4. ABA 1995. 5. ABA 1997. 6. Alston, No. 34/98, 24/3/1998. 7. Television Broadcasting Services (Digital Conversion) Act 1998, No. 99 of 1998. 8. Given 1998. 9. Age, 25/3/1998, p. 2. 10. AFX News, 25/3/1998, p. 1. 11. Age (Melbourne), 26/3/1998, p. 4. 12. https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentar y_ Departments/Parliamentary_Library/Publications_Archive/archive/ Digitaltelevision, accessed 26/3/2019. 13. Age (Melbourne), 23/6/1998, p. 12. 14. Age (Melbourne), 10/9/1998, p. 21. 15. ABA 2002a, p. 1. 16. ABA 2002a; ABA 2005. 17. ABA 2005, p. 1. 18. Age (Melbourne), 26/6/1998, p. 2. 19. Tony Bell, quoted in Age (Melbourne), 31/10/1998, p. 2. 20. Age (Melbourne), 26/11/1999, p. 5. 21. Age (Melbourne), 31/7/1999, p. 3. 22. Richard Alston, Assistance For Digital Television In Regional Areas (media release), 9/5/2000. 23. PRC, 2000, p. iv. 24. SMH, 23/8/1999, p. 35. 25. SMH, 31/8/2000, p. 27. 26. Age (Melbourne), 13/4/2000, p. 15. 27. Age(Melbourne), 12/4/2000, p. 1.

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28. Australian, 7/2/2002, p. M1. 29. CT, 13/5/2000, p. 1. 30. Age, 26/2/2001, p. 3. 31. SMH, 1/3/2001, p. 27. 32. Age (Melbourne), 10/5/2001, p. 10. 33. Courier-Mail (Brisbane), 27/4/2001, p. 15. 34. ACMA, Digital Media in Australian Homes, p. 20. 35. IM (Wollongong), 13/2/2001, p. 20; SMH, 20/2/2001, p. 3. See Age (Melbourne), 30/6/2001, p. 3 for a description of this pilot. 36. Advertiser (Adelaide), 10/10/2001, p. 40. 37. “SP Telecommunications Ltd,” D&B, 31/10/2002. 38. Age (Melbourne), 8/8/2000, p. 5. SCB, Annual Report, 2001, p. 15. 39. CT, 17/6/2001, p. 8. 40. IM (Melbourne), 2/4/2002, p. 16. 41. SCB, 2003, p. 5, 8. 42. Grant Wilson, email to Michael Thurlow, 18/4/2019. 43. ABA, 2001b; ABA, 2002a; ABA, NR 46/2001, 24/7/2001. 44. ABA, NR 102/2002, 20/9/2002. 45. ABA, NR 74/2001, 29/10/2001; NR 95/2001, 7/12/2001. 46. ABA, NR 44/2003, 21/7/2003. 47. Greg Lederhose, email to Michael Thurlow, 27/7/2010. 48. Prime Television, Digital Rollout Schedule, [n.d]. Prime had planned to commence digital transmission on 30/6/2001; however, this appears to have been delayed due to contractual issues. See CT, 25/5/2001, p. 3. 49. DCITA 2006, p.15. 50. Terry Flew, John Schwartz and David Cox cited in Australian, 17/9/2002, p. 30. 51. Bruce Gordon, quoted in IM (Wollongong), 2/3/2002, p. 3. 52. Commercial Television Australia, media release, 29/10/2002. 53. Turner 2014, pp. 183-184. 54. Hon D. Williams AM QC MP, Australian Communications and Media Authority, (media release), 11/5/2004. 55. Flew 2014, pp. 48-49. 56. Courier-Mail (Brisbane), 16/12/2000, p.  8; Gold Coast Bulletin, 16/12/2000, p. 7. 57. Age (Melbourne), 6/9/1999, p. 1. 58. Australian, 11/7/2016, p. 25. 59. Port Macquarie News, 5/2/2001, p. 8. 60. DT (Sydney), 9/6/2001, p. 17. 61. CT, 9/6/2001, p. 1. 62. Brent Harman, quoted in CT, 9/6/2001, p. 1. 63. SCB, 2001, p. 4.

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64. Joanne Desmond, email to Michael Thurlow, 8/4/2019. 65. Courier-Mail (Brisbane), 29/11/2001, p. 8. 66. CT, 6/9/2002, p. 19. 67. Sunday Mail (North Queensland edition), 25/11/2001, p. 44. 68. Andren, quoted in ABA, 2002c, p. 45. 69. Australian, 23/11/2001, p. 5. 70. ABA 2002b, p. 54. 71. Brown, quoted in IM (Wollongong), 2/3/2002, p. 3. 72. The terms of reference initially covered all regional areas; however, the scope of this inquiry was later confined to Approved Markets A, B, C, and D. The adequacy of local news and information programs in solus markets was considered separately, in 2003. 73. Ann Pincott, submission to ABT (n.d), ABA (archived website), https:// webarchive.nla.gov.au/awa/20031206182850/http://www.aba.gov. au/tv/investigations/projects/regional_news/submissions.htm, accessed 1/12/2019. 74. “Knight family,” submission to ABA (n.d.), ABA (archived website), https://webarchive.nla.gov.au/awa/20031206182850/http://www. aba.gov.au/tv/investigations/projects/regional_news/submissions. htm, accessed 1/12/2019. 75. A. Kearney, submission to ABA (n.d.), ABA (archived website), https:// webarchive.nla.gov.au/awa/20031206182850/http://www.aba.gov. au/tv/investigations/projects/regional_news/submissions.htm, accessed 1/12/2019. 76. ABT 2002. 77. Andren, quoted in ABT 2002, p. 45. 78. FACTS, Submission in Response to ABA Terms of Reference, March 2002. 79. ABA 2002b. Programs were required to be televised within specified time zones, i.e. 3pm to 11pm Monday to Friday and 8am to 11pm Saturday and Sunday. 80. ABA, NR10/2004, 23/2/2004, ACMA, http://www.acma.gov.au/ WEB/STANDARD/pc=PC_91501, accessed 30/10/2009 (dead link as at 27/12/2019). 81. Seven did not, at that time, provide local news services for Rockhampton or Toowoomba. Rob Brough presented all bulletins and was joined by Joanne Desmond for Cairns and Townsville. 82. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-3.5. 83. Chamberlain 2004, pp. 28-31. 84. Flynn 2008. 85. ABA, NR 106/2004, 7/9/2004. 86. ABA 2004.

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87. Townsville Bulletin, 18/11/2015, p. 20. 88. Steven Byers, telephone conversation with Michael Thurlow, 8/4/2019. 89. Alex Cullen, email to Michael Thurlow, 24/4/2019. 90. Amber Austin-Wright, email to Michael Thurlow, 20/4/2019. 91. Hugh Whitfeld, email to Michael Thurlow, 2/5/2019. 92. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-3.6. 93. Aaron Haberfield, email to Michael Thurlow, 28/4/2019. Herald (Newcastle), 27/10/2006, p. 12 and 12/5/2006, p. 12. 94. Justin Thomson, email to Michael Thurlow, 18/9/2019. 95. Gold Coast Bulletin, 19/2/2009, p. 19. 96. https://www.fishingaustralia.tv/page/about-­fishing-­australia, accessed 5/4/2019; Matt Cable, email to Michael Thurlow, 18/4/2019. The program was also televised nationally on the Ten Network. 97. Matt Cable, email to Michael Thurlow, 8/4/2019. 98. http://www.saddleclubtv.com/home.php, accessed 5/4/2019. 99. Elelman 2018, p. 133; Susie Elelman, interview with Michael Thurlow, 6/3/2019. 100. https://www.hooklinesinker.tv/, accessed 5/4/2019. 101. Nick Duigan, email to Michael Thurlow, 22/4/2019. 102. Australian, 20/4/2009, p. 33. 103. Grant Wilson, email to Michael Thurlow, 2/5/2019. 104. NFSA: 508013. 105. Australian, 27/3/2008, p. 37. 106. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-2.10. 107. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-3.1. 108. SCB, 2001, p. 16; NFSA: 773649. 109. ABA, NR 40/2002, 3/5/2002. 110. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-1.12. 111. ABA, NR 73/2002, 29/7/2002; NR 140/2002, 26/11/2002. 112. ASIC, Tasmanian Digital Television P/L, Current and Historical Company Extract, 10/4/2019. TasTV P/L was renamed Tasmanian Digital Television P/L on 8/1/2014. 113. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-1.13. 114. https://www.smh.com.au/business/parliament-­p asses-­m edia-­ laws-­20061018-­gdomil.html, accessed 13/8/2018. 115. ACMA 2013, p. 3. 116. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-1.13. 117. Age, 12/8/2006, p. 3. 118. https://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot. asp?privcapId=24897631, accessed 14/4/2019. 119. IM (Wollongong), 3/2/2011, p. 7. 120. SMH, 25/2/2011, p. 5.

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121. https://www.abc.net.au/mediawatch/episodes/griffith%2D%2D-­no-­ win-­news/9975800, accessed 6/4/2019. 122. https://www.abc.net.au/mediawatch/transcripts/ep33zappacosta.pdf, accessed 6/4/2019. 123. Australian, 13/3/2012, p. 9. 124. SMH, 31/5/2007, p. 21. 125. Age (Melbourne), 2/5/2007, p. 3. 126. Age (Melbourne), 23 December 2006, p. 21. 127. SMH, 23 June 2007, p. 44. This acquisition did not include the Dendy Cinemas chain or Dendy Distribution. 128. Elelman 2018, pp. 136-137. 129. SMH, 6/8/2007, p. 19. 130. Herald-Sun (Melbourne), 5/9/2007, p.  34. The change took effect from October 2007. 131. SMH, 8/9/2007, p. 37. 132. Australian, 7/10/2009, p. 3. Butorac later filed a statement of claim in the Federal Court over his dismissal. Media reports indicated the axing of Susie was “the beginning of the end” for Butorac. 133. Elelman 2018, pp. 128-142. 134. Australian, 6//11/2007, p. 27. SCB operated in all states and territories except Western Australia at the time of this transition. The company’s radio assets were acquired by Fairfax. 135. http://www.macquarie.com/‌c om/about_macquarie/media_ centre/20040603a.htm, accessed 17/9/2019. 136. ASIC, Southern Cross Austereo P/L ACN: 109 243 110, Current and Historical Company Extract, 17/9/2019. Interim names were Macquarie Southern Cross P/L and Macquarie Southern Cross Media P/L. 137. Age (Melbourne), 22/7/2011, p. 8. 138. Courier-Mail (Brisbane), 1/9/2005, p. 31. 139. ASIC, Prime Media Group Ltd ACN: 000 764 867, Current and Historical Company Extract, 20/3/2019. 140. Australian, 29/8/2013, p. 37; Griffen-Foley 2014, p. 196. 141. SMH, 9/5/2007, p. 19. 142. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-4.8. 143. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-5.8. 144. Given, 2015, p. 141. 145. HORSCCITA, 2006, pp. xix-xxi. 146. Australian, 1/3/2007, p. 17. 147. Age, 19/2/2008, p. 2. 148. Australian, 15/5/2008, p. 40. 149. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-6.4. 150. http://www.acma.gov.au/WEB/STANDARD/‌p c=PC‌_ 91870#6, accessed 17/4/2009 (dead link as at 24/12/2019).

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151. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-6.5. 152. Kim Dalton, quoted on https://www.freeview.com.au/, accessed 17/4/ April 2019 (not available as at 24/12/2019). 153. https://tvtonight.com.au/2009/04/win-­adds-­mackay-­wide-­bay-­news. html, accessed 2/2/2018. 154. The Mackay bulletin was presented from WIN’s Rockhampton studio, while the Wide Bay edition was produced from Toowoomba. 155. https://tvtonight.com.au/2014/05/multi-­c hannel-­s urvey-­e leven-­ one-­2.html, accessed 6/4/2019. 156. https://tvtonight.com.au/2015/06/multi-­channel-­survey-­go-­gem-­3. html, accessed 6/4/2019. 157. https://tvtonight.com.au/2009/10/7two-­to-­launch-­november-­1st. html, accessed 6/4/2019. 158. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-6.4. 159. These services were initially offered via broadcasters’ existing websites. 160. ABC, Television Revolution Has Begun (media release), 24/7/2008. 161. Courier-Mail (Brisbane), 19/1/2010, p. 32. 162. https://tvtonight.com.au/2010/04/nine-­l aunches-­f ixplay-­v ideo-­ catch-­up.html, accessed 8/4/2019. 163. https://web.archive.org/web/20130410061736/http://mi9.com. au/article.aspx?id=8604359, accessed 8/4/2019. 164. Mi9 (archived), https://web.archive.org/web/20140623143556/ http://mi9.com.au/article.aspx?id=8851053, accessed 8/4/2019. 165. https://tvtonight.com.au/2013/09/tenplay-­anywhere-­anytime.html, accessed 7/4/2019. 166. Given 2014, pp. 72-73.

Bibliography Australian Broadcasting Authority (ABA). Digital Terrestrial Television Broadcasting in Australia: First Report on the Work of the Australian Broadcasting Authority Specialist Group on Digital Terrestrial Broadcasting (Sydney: ABA, 1995). Australian Broadcasting Authority (ABA). Final Report of the Australian Broadcasting Authority Digital Terrestrial Television Specialist Group (Sydney: ABA, 1997). Australian Broadcasting Authority (ABA). The ABA’s General Approach to Digital Terrestrial Television Broadcasting Planning (Sydney: ABA, 2002a). Australian Broadcasting Authority (ABA). Adequacy of Local News and Information Programs on Commercial Television Services in Regional Queensland, Northern NSW, Southern NSW and Regional Victoria (Aggregated Markets A, B, C, D) (Sydney: ABA, 2002b).

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Australian Broadcasting Authority (ABA). Adequacy of Local News and Information Programs on Commercial Television Broadcasting Services in Regional and Rural Australia (Solus Operator and Two Operator Markets) (Sydney: ABT, 2004). Australian Broadcasting Authority (ABA). Digital Terrestrial Television Broadcasting Planning Handbook (Sydney: ABA, 2005). ABT, Adequacy of Local News and Information Programs on Commercial Television Services in Regional Queensland, Northern NSW, Southern NSW and Regional Victoria (Aggregated Markets A, B, C, D) (Canberra: AGPS, 2002). Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA). Regional Commercial Television Local Content Investigation (Canberra: AGPS, 2013). Chamberlain, Peter. ‘Australia’s Southern Cross Broadcasting’, Broadcast Engineering, world edition, Vol. 46, No. 4, April 2004, pp. 28-31. Department of Communication, Information, Technology and the Arts (DCITA). Meeting the Digital Challenge: Reforming Australia’s Media in the Digital Age, Discussion Paper on Media Reform Options, 2006, p.15. Elelman, Susie. 15 Minutes of Fame: The Dark Underbelly of Celebrity (London, Sydney, Auckland: New Holland, 2018) Flew, Terry. ‘Australian Communications and Media Authority’, in Bridget Griffen-Foley (ed.), A Companion to the Australian Media (North Melbourne: Australian Scholarly Publishing, 2014), pp. 48-49. Flynn, John. ‘Locally Significant Content on Regional Television: A Case Study of North Queensland Commercial Television Before and After Aggregation’, MA thesis, Queensland University of Technology, 2008. Given, Jock. ‘Digital D-Day’, Australian Quarterly, November-December 1998, pp. 14-19. Given, Jock. ‘Digital Radio and Television’, in Bridget Griffen-Foley (ed.), A Companion to the Australian Media (North Melbourne: Australian Scholarly Publishing, 2014), pp. 138-140. Griffen-Foley, Bridget. ‘Grant Family’, in Bridget Griffen-Foley (ed.), A Companion to the Australian Media (North Melbourne: Australian Scholarly Publishing, 2014), p. 196. May, Harvey. ‘Television drama’, in Bridget Griffen-Foley (ed.), A Companion to the Australian Media (North Melbourne: Australian Scholarly Publishing, 2014), pp. 466-468 Turner, Madeleine. ‘Free TV Australia’, in Bridget Griffen-Foley (ed.), A Companion to the Australian Media (North Melbourne: Australian Scholarly Publishing, 2014), pp. 183-184.

CHAPTER 11

Reform and Rationalisation

In five years’ time we will just go around regional television and stream our content into those markets. We ultimately won’t have a regional affiliate deal.1 —David Gyngell, Nine Entertainment Co CEO, 2014

In the late 1980s, Brian Quinn described convergence as an abominable snowman: “You can feel it all around you but occasionally you see the odd footprint, but nobody yet has encountered the beast”.2 But by the 2010s, it had emerged as “one of the most protean forces” to impact Australia’s media industry. Stuart Cunningham identifies four dimensions to convergence, namely technological, industry, policy, and content. The first, technological convergence, refers to the ability to produce and distribute content (i.e. sound, text, images) in different formats. This has facilitated industry convergence, where formerly independent sectors such as broadcasting, telecommunications, and publishing have merged or formed alliances. These developments have, in turn, resulted in the convergence of governmental policies used to regulate associated industries. Finally, increased competition between a smaller pool of media organisations has brought pressure to maximise the use of the same content across multiple delivery platforms.3 Convergence has been accompanied by significant changes in consumer behaviour. This, in turn, has serious implications for the viability of the freeto-air (FTA) television business model in general, and the regional commercial television business model in particular. As we have already discussed, the VCR (and DVD player) provided television audiences in the 1980s with © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022 M. Thurlow, A History of Regional Commercial Television in Australia, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-10944-7_11

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the first real means to time shift their viewing. By the early 2000s, consumers could access a limited range of DVD-by-mail services such as BigPond Movies, Quickflix, and EzyDVD.4 In February 2006, Telstra (arguably one of Australia’s first “convergent” media companies) launched its movies-ondemand rental service, Bigpond Movies. The service used progressive downloads rather than streaming and was available on a limited range of devices.5 Reeltime.tv, a video-on-demand and electronic sell-through (i.e. download-to-own) service, was launched later that year. It claimed to be the first company to provide a download-to-­ own service for a major Hollywood studio outside the United States on the same day as retail release.6 But the company, which was trumpeted as the first major competitor to BigPond Movies, was placed into administration in early 2008. Its assets were acquired by EzyDVD to form its EzyDownload service.7 Video rental libraries were the first major casualty of these technological developments and the accompanying changes in consumer behaviour. Video Ezy, which had a $300 million video rental business in Australia in 2006, planned (but ultimately failed) to develop its own internet delivery model.8 The company closed 270 stores across Australia between 2007 and 2011.9 These ultimately included the closure of the last full-scale video rental libraries in regional centres, including Lithgow (NSW) and Berri (SA).10 The first digital video recorders (DVRs) also became available around this time. The DVR was similar to a VCR; however, programs were recorded to an internal hard drive rather than a magnetic tape cartridge.11 Ice TV provided viewers with an electronic program guide (EPG) and smart recording software.12 TiVo, a digital video recorder (DVR) service, was launched in 2008 by Hybrid Television Services, a Seven Network subsidiary. In August of that year, Apple announced that movie purchases and rentals were available from its iTunes store in Australia.13 Foxtel launched its download and live streaming service in September 2009.14 Microsoft introduced its Zune movie rental marketplace for Xbox users, which enabled content to be streamed or downloaded in standard or high definition, later that year.15 This was followed by the launch of Sony PlayStation’s Video Unlimited (later PlayStation Video) service. By mid-2011, Video Unlimited offered around 1,000 movie titles which was relatively modest when compared to the 3,500 offered by Bigpond and Apple’s larger iTunes library.16 Fetch TV, one of Australia’s first internet protocol television (IPTV) providers, was launched in July 2010. It offered a subscription television

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service via various internet service providers (ISPs), including iiNet.17 The service provided access to digital FTA channels, subscription channels, video on demand, and interactive content via an unmetered broadband connection.18 FetchTV arguably provided the first major challenge to Foxtel and Telstra for primacy in the nascent IPTV market. Quickflix commenced subscription-based streaming in 2011.19 Regional broadcasters have never offered their own catch-up services. This is because most of their content is supplied by the metropolitan networks so is therefore available from their platforms. Practically all regionally generated content consists of local news. Prime7 was, as of December 2019, the only regional commercial television broadcaster to provide intact news bulletins for viewing via their website and YouTube.20 Individual news stories with video were also available on Facebook.21 GWN7 and NBN enabled individual news stories to be viewed online.22 Seven, Nine, and WIN delivered video content via dedicated Facebook pages for individual regional markets.23 SCA’s Nightly News 7 Tasmania and Nightly News 7 Spencer Gulf bulletins could be viewed via YouTube.24 In January 2010, the federal government announced the Viewer Access Satellite Television (VAST) service to remote parts of Australia that were unable to receive a terrestrial digital signal. These services commenced over the next 18 months. In all cases, VAST licences for Northern, South Eastern, and Western Australia were awarded to joint ventures involving incumbent operators in each area (Table 11.1).25 In 2010, WIN and the ABC established MediaHub, a state-of-the-art digital playout centre, at Ingleburn in south-western Sydney. The facility centralised program co-ordination and presentation for all of WIN’s regional markets as well as those of the national broadcaster.26 The centre was officially opened on 30 June by Minister for Communications Stephen Conroy. But in the same week, MediaHub was criticised by ABC journalists for a series of embarrassing on-air glitches which saw the public broadcaster crash in and out of news breaks and scheduled programs.27 In April 2010, the ACMA received applications from Nine and SBS to conduct trials of 3-D television using an unassigned television channel. A Table 11.1  VAST licences (s38C) Licence (by callsign and locality) Licensee VAN Northern Australia VAN South Eastern Australia SVW Western Australia

Eastern Australia Satellite Broadcasters P/L (IMP/SCA) Eastern Australia Satellite Broadcasters P/L (IMP/SCA) WA Satco P/L (prime/WIN)

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two-month trial was approved for May to July 2010. Transmissions were undertaken in digital mode by SBS in Sydney, Adelaide, and Perth and Nine in Melbourne and Brisbane, as well as by regional operators: WIN in Wollongong and NBN in Newcastle. Viewers accessed the trial through LCN 40 on a 3-D-enabled digital television set. Programs included live telecasts of the three State of Origin rugby league matches and World Cup 2010 fixtures.28 Despite these innovations, some regional areas remained without a DTT service for many years. In late 2009, hundreds of Griffith residents signed a petition calling for DTT to be made available in their town. According to mayor Mike Neville: Bureaucracy tends to get in the way of a lot of things and becomes an impediment for things to happen … I think Griffith is one of those communities that’s always proven that if you’re prepared to back us, then we’ll support you.29

Australia’s first digital advertorial datacasting service, Television 4, was launched by Prime Media Group and Brand New Media in September 2011.30 It offered lifestyle, shopping financial, community, and educational information and interactive services such as Psychic TV from which viewers could, for a fee, obtain a reading from on-screen psychics.31 Television 4 was rebranded as TV4ME in December 2011, then 4ME in 2013.32 Prime ceased carrying the service in April 2016 after Brand New Media went into administration.33 WIN’s Gold datacasting service commenced in May 2012. It carried similar content to TV4ME as well as episodes of classic Australian series from the WIN-owned Crawfords library.34 Gold 2 was launched as a five-­ hour time shift of Gold in July 2013; however, this was replaced by the Nine Network’s Extra channel in January 2016.35 Southern Cross began carrying Ten’s TVSN shopping channel later that year.36 Prime’s ishop TV, which carried infomercials and home shopping segments, commenced on 1 May 2013.37 SCA’s Aspire TV was launched the same month. It aired mostly infomercials, other paid programs and some religious content produced in the United States.38 The service ceased operation in Tasmania and Darwin in August 2015, then Broken Hill and Spencer Gulf in July 2016 to make way for the Seven Network’s Racing.com sub-channel. Aspire TV ceased airing in Northern New South Wales on 31 August 2017 following WIN’s acquisition of NRN.  Spree TV was a similar offering provided by Network Ten from

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September 2013.39 YesShop was a short-lived, New Zealand-based shopping channel which was broadcast by Southern Cross in regional areas.40 It commenced on 1 August 2016 but ceased operation the following month.41 The vacant YesShop channel was eventually replaced by SonLife Broadcasting (SBN), a 24-hour religious channel featuring American televangelist Jimmy Swaggart, in July 2017.42 By the mid-2010s, commercial television had reached what Jock Given, Michael Brealey, and Cathy Gray describe as one of its most decisive moments.43 In March 2014, Foxtel launched Presto, a subscription-based service which offered unlimited viewing of selected movies.44 Stan, a joint venture between Nine and Fairfax Media, commenced on Australia Day 2015.45 Netflix, the United States-based video streaming service, launched in Australia in March of that year.46 Amazon’s Prime Video service commenced in December 2016.47 It seemed that a “new era of a la carte television [had] arrived – seemingly all at once”.48 In June 2014, the Department of Communications found that traditional media business models in Australia faced increasing pressure from non-traditional platforms. It determined that advertising revenue for the internet was growing (although at a lower rate than in recent years), newspapers was declining, commercial radio remained static, while commercial FTA and subscription television was experiencing very modest growth. The report also noted changes in audience behaviour, with a growing preference amongst younger generations for non-traditional media sources such as the internet, social media platforms such as Facebook, and subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) services. Furthermore, it found that consumers increasingly sought to “tailor the news content they consume to their tastes and interests while also becoming the ‘generators’ of news reporting and coverage”.49 The most immediate and direct threat to regional networks was articulated later that year when Nine Network CEO David Gyngell announced plans to stream content direct to the regions. His statement was especially potent when considered within a broader context of Australian television history. David’s father, Bruce Gyngell, had been the first person to appear on Australian television with the opening of Packer’s TCN Sydney in 1956.50 Gyngell’s death knock had an almost immediate impact on Prime’s share price. In October 2014, just prior to Gyngell’s statement, the company had traded at around 88 cents, down from a 10-year high of $1.12 in March 2013.51 In the months afterwards, Prime’s share price began a downward slide from which it has failed to recover.

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In May 2015, a snapshot of the industry, compiled from interviews with 25 Australian television industry participants, confirmed an “SVOD gold rush” and the significant (and ongoing) rise in the “what-I-want, where-I-want, when-I-want” consumption of television content.52 Tensions between regional and metropolitan networks reached a peak in October when Seven announced it would bring forward the launch of its live streaming app, 7plus Live, to Melbourne Cup day.53 The following year, Seven partnered with Facebook to deliver live Melbourne Cup-­ related video coverage of fashions, celebrities, and non-race material.54 Ten commenced a limited live streaming service of its main channel via TENplay in January 2016.55 In the same month, Nine launched its live streaming service, 9Now, in place of 9Jumpin. Live streams for 9Go!, 9Gem, and 9Life were added in May. Regional operators cited the launch of 7plus as the strongest evidence that existing cross-media ownership laws were outdated and no longer fit for purpose. Prime, WIN, Southern Cross, and Imparja CEOs accused Seven of hypocrisy. They argued the app allowed the network to circumvent the government’s reach rule at the same time it was calling for the rule to be retained.56 In February 2016, WIN commenced legal action in the Supreme Court against Nine, alleging its 9Now service violated its program supply agreement.57 But in an ominous sign for regional broadcasters, the court found the definition of “broadcasting” in the agreement did not include live streaming.58 According to WIN’s Andrew Lancaster: This case further highlights the absolute absurdity of the 75 per cent reach rule in this digital age and the need for the Turnbull government to remove this outdated legislation with a greater sense of urgency.59

In late 2016, metropolitan FTA broadcasters combined to launch their Freeview FV app for iOS and Android users. The app provided live streaming for 16 FTA channels as well as access to “catch-up” content.60 But a 2017 review of FV by consumer group Choice found that user experience was constrained by a need to sign up for FTA broadcasters’ individual streaming services within the app.61 In 2017, Seven joined with Twitter to live stream the fixture as well as Victoria Derby, Oaks, and Stakes Day races.62 In the same month, Seven launched 7plus as a replacement for PLUS7. This revised offering included on-demand television and a live streaming service.63

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Meanwhile, the National Broadband Network, which promised to revolutionise telecommunications in Australia, connected its first customers in July 2010. Following Labor’s 2013 election defeat, the incoming Abbott coalition government’s Minister for Communications, Malcolm Turnbull, announced immediate changes to the project. The most significant variation was arguably the decision to replace the fibre-to-the-­ premises (FTTP) approach chosen by the Rudd and Gillard governments with a multi-technology mix (MTM) of old and new technology.64 This mostly consisted of fibre-to-the-node (FTTN), then existing copper infrastructure to the premises. The MTM approach was considered to be less costly and not time consuming—but also technically inferior—than FTTP.65 The Abbott, then Turnbull, governments’ decisions have arguably protected incumbent television operators, particularly the metropolitan networks, to some extent from increased competition.

Regulatory Reform Amid these technological and cultural shifts, the Gillard Labor government announced in September 2011 that it would instigate an independent review of media regulation to be chaired by former Federal Court judge, Ray Finkelstein.66 It also established the Convergence Review Committee (CRC) to consider the effect of convergence on the Australian media landscape.67 In this context, the ACMA identified 55 “broken concepts” in the legislation it administered. These included “influence” in broadcasting and the definition of a “program”. It argued such concepts were becoming irrelevant in vertically integrated industries such as radio and television, where the distinctions between media content and delivery platforms were no longer clear.68 The timing of the ACMA report was arguably intended to shape the thinking of the CRC review as it sought to formulate a regulatory framework for the digital economy.69 The findings of both reviews were presented in the first half of 2012.70 Finkelstein called for the creation of a super statutory regulator for radio, television, print, and online media. Its powers would include the ability to impose sanctions on journalists and media outlets. In contrast, the ACMA recommended the establishment of an industry-appointed standards body with less direct links to government.71 Media chiefs branded the Finkelstein recommendations as “draconian” while those of the Convergence Review were labelled “less intrusive” but “unhealthy”.72

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The ALP’s attempts at media reform were led by its Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Stephen Conroy. Conroy had previously faced severe criticism for his censorship policies which had earned him the title of “Internet Villain of the Year” at the 2009 UK Internet Industry Awards.73 In late 2012, the Minister told conference delegates in New York that he had “unfettered legal power” over telecommunications legislation.74 In March 2013, Conroy announced a package of six highly contentious Bills.75 The most controversial change, which would establish a Public Interest Media Advocate (PIMA) to oversee the print media, was roundly condemned by Australia’s media organisations and others as impinging on freedom of speech.76 Member for Kennedy, Bob Katter, described the proposal to establish a government-­ appointed advocate as “thoroughly disgusting and revolting”.77 Other less inflammatory measures included a public interest test for media mergers and licence fee discounts in return for more Australian content.78 Conroy also announced the government’s intention to establish a parliamentary committee to consider further reforms, including the abolition of the 75 per cent reach rule.79 Later that month, the Joint Select Committee on Broadcasting Legislation found that convergence was undermining the intended purpose of the reach rule and that it should be abolished subject to “there being legislation or legally enforceable undertakings to support local content in regional Australia”.80 Conroy’s Bills received limited support from Parliament and were destined for failure. The House of Representatives ultimately passed just two of the six Bills, namely those pertaining to the Convergence Review and television licence fees. The remaining four Bills were discharged from the Parliamentary Notice Paper on 21 March 2013.81 As a result, Conroy advised in April that media reform would no longer be part of the government’s policy in the lead-up to the next election.82 Anthony Albanese, who became the Minister following Conroy’s resignation, announced in August 2013 that he saw no urgency for media reform.83 The Rudd Labor government lost office in September 2013. In March 2014, the fledgling Abbott Coalition government gave a strong hint that it was sympathetic to relaxing existing media ownership rules.84 But in early July, Prime Minister Tony Abbott put proposed changes to media ownership and reach rules on ice until major interests could reach a consensus on a preferred approach.85 SCA’s Grant Blackley argued such a scenario was unlikely given the long-term conflicts between metropolitan and regional media interests.86 Just days later, media reported that Abbott

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and his chief of staff, Peta Credlin, had attended a private dinner at the Broome compound of Seven West Media chairman Kerry Stokes.87 Whilst sources were adamant that media reform was not discussed, the timing of the meeting was undoubtedly intended to send a signal to regional broadcasters that change was unlikely in the short term.88 Prime, WIN, Southern Cross, Imparja, and Nine were, by this time, in favour of reform. Fairfax Media, which had been suggested as a possible buyer for Nine, also indicated it would support a lifting of current restrictions.89 But Seven, Ten, and News Ltd expressed their opposition to any change.90 The regionals stepped up their push for regulatory reform with the launch of their Save our Voices campaign and online petition in August. They argued that current ownership rules were an impediment to local media staying local, and that changing the Act would enable them to protect jobs and maintain local news services.91 But Seven West Media CEO, Tim Worner, accused the regionals of sensationalism and self-­ interest.92 Seven responded by airing its own anti-reform messages, presented by newsreader Rob Brough, on its regional Queensland stations. It accused regional rivals—including its Prime7 affiliate—of “bullying” and using viewers as “pawns”, before urging them to contact their local MP to “tell them to leave TV laws alone”.93 Amidst this campaign, WIN CEO Andrew Lancaster removed his network from Free TV Australia amid claims the forum was dominated by one member, believed by some commentators to be Seven.94 Malcolm Turnbull’s displacement of Tony Abbott as Prime Minister in September 2015 brought a major change in the government’s media reform policy. The following month, Communications Minister Mitch Fifield directed his department to provide options for changing Australia’s media ownership rules.95 Nationals MPs were cautiously in favour of a change in ownership rules but proposed that regional television broadcasters should be forced to spend more on local news if such restrictions were loosened. One unnamed regional television executive responded by accusing the party of adopting a “Stalinist” approach to media reform. Prime’s Ian Audsley responded by declaring the Nationals had “fundamentally mis-read and mis-understood what we have been telling them”.96 The Turnbull government announced its media reform package on 1 March 2016. It proposed to repeal the two-out-of-three rule which restricted companies to owning a maximum of two media (radio, television, or print) in any given market and the 75 per cent audience reach rule. New local content requirements, which would be triggered in the event of

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Box 11.1  Tenth liminal moment

The Turnbull government’s decision to relax existing media ownership rules was undoubtedly regional commercial television’s tenth liminal moment. Whereas regional interests had once lobbied the government—especially the Country Party—to keep the metropolitan stations out of regional television, they had now agitated, and succeeded, in removing this final protection of their independence in a last-ditch effort for survival. a change in control such as the sale of a licence, would also be introduced.97 Under the changes, licensees in aggregated markets would be required to broadcast 900 points (up from 720 points) of locally significant material in a six-week period. For the first time, licensees in non-­ aggregated markets would need to broadcast 360 points of locally significant content. Licensees would accrue one point for each minute of material other than news, two points for each minute of news, and three points for each minute of news that was filmed locally.98 The government’s Broadcasting Legislation Amendment (Media Reform) Bill was introduced in March 2016; however, this lapsed when the election was for July.99 But Turnbull government’s re-election saw the Bill reintroduced later that year.100 Eventually, after what was described by some commentators as “years of lobbying, false starts and horse trading”, the Broadcasting Legislation Amendment (Broadcasting Reform) Bill passed through the Senate on 14 September 2017 (Box 11.1).101 In a curious twist, media reported that Communications Minister Mitch Fifield had failed to explain receipt of a set of Foxtel cufflinks as a gift less than a week later.102 The changes came into effect on 16 October.103

Localism Local production was, by the 2010s, almost entirely focused on the provision of local news. A 2017 ACMA investigation found that television remained the most preferred source of local news (34 per cent), with commercial television news the most trusted (21 per cent).104 Nevertheless, there was a marked decline in the overall number of regional television

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news viewers in all areas except Western Australia. Furthermore, it noted a decrease in all age groups except those over 55. ACMA’s research also found that the proportion of regional Australians using social media (18 per cent) and websites (26 per cent) to access local content had significantly increased since 2013. These sources were increasingly popular with regional Australians aged under 39, although television remained the most trusted source for this group.105 Significantly, regional FTA commercial television revenue fell by almost 10 per cent on a half-­ yearly basis between 2011 and 2016.106 Local news provision remains a major cost for regional broadcasters. In 2015, media reports estimated WIN spent between $15 and $25 million on local news operations.107 The high associated cost has resulted in a major centralisation of news production and presentation from individual markets and regions to broadcast hubs in Maroochydore, Newcastle, Canberra, Wollongong, Launceston, and Bunbury. At the same time, some regional news services have been expanded while others have been scaled back. As a result, local news arrangements varied greatly between broadcasters and markets by mid-2019.108 Prime has produced daily, 30-minute local news bulletins for its “heritage” markets of Orange/Dubbo, Wagga Wagga, Albury, and Tamworth/ Taree for more than 30 years. In a bid to reduce costs, news presentation for all four markets was centralised to the network’s Canberra broadcast centre between 2010 and 2015.109 In all cases, local news crews continued to file stories from regional newsrooms. Prime was rebranded as Prime7 from 16 January 2011. GWN, also owned by Prime, was rebranded as GWN7 from the same day. Prime7 had, for many years, recorded Seven’s nightly news at 6.00pm for turn-around at 6.30pm following its own local news bulletins. But in early 2014, the network was blindsided by Seven’s decision to introduce a one-hour news in Sydney. In response, Prime7 commenced production of Prime7 News at 6.30 for the Orange/Dubbo, Wagga Wagga, and Tamworth markets.110 The bulletin was hosted by Daniel Gibson from Prime’s Canberra studio and comprised national and international news packages supplied by Seven (Box 11.2).

Box 11.2  Prime7 Local News / Prime News at 6.30 • Type: Audio-visual recording • Produced by: CBN Southern NSW, 2020 • NFSA reference: 1640214

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In 2016, Prime7 outsourced the playout of 60 discreet market channels to WIN/ABC’s MediaHub facility.111 From late 2016, veteran television journalist Ray Martin presented a series of special reports for Prime7 on a range of social issues including the ice drug epidemic and regional road fatalities.112 On 13 February 2017, the network introduced a dual-­ presenter format, with Madelaine Collignon and Kenny Heatley, for its five Prime7 Local News bulletins.113 The refreshed format came as SCA/ Nine prepared to roll out 15 one-hour news bulletins to regional Queensland, New South Wales, and Victoria.114 In August 2018, following the resignation of Heatley, Prime7 became one of the few Australian commercial television networks to introduce dual female presenters, with Liz Gwyn joining Madelaine Collignon for presentation of Prime7 Local News bulletins. Meanwhile, on 12 February 2018, GWN7 News presentation was shifted from the network’s former Robert’s Crescent studio to its new broadcast facility in the Bunbury CBD. In April 2019, GWN7 was criticised for withdrawing its sole, Kalgoorlie-based video journalist following a car crash the previous month. Newsgathering equipment was reportedly removed from the Kalgoorlie office in July.115 As we have already discussed, Seven directly controls the STQ commercial television licence which broadcasts to most parts of regional Queensland. In November 2010, the network introduced a local news bulletin for Rockhampton and Central Queensland. This was followed in October 2015 with a similar service for Toowoomba and the Darling Downs. In both cases, local news crews compile content for presentation from Seven’s Maroochydore studios.116 In September 2016, the Seven Local News branding for regional Queensland was replaced by the 7News identification used by the rest of the network. At least one social media commentator expressed concern that the rebrand might be a precursor to introducing a composite bulletin similar to that provided by Nine on behalf of SCA for regional areas from mid-2016.117 WIN was, by 2010, the largest regional producer of commercial television news. But since then, the network has scaled back its news offering in many markets and closed several regional newsrooms. In October 2010, WIN merged its previously separate bulletins for Mount Gambier and Riverland and relocated presentation of the consolidated bulletin from Mount Gambier (SA) to the Nine studios in Adelaide, which were owned by WIN.  In March 2012, with the cessation of WIN’s news service for regional Western Australia, the regional service was replaced by a newlook Nine News bulletin at 4.30pm, presented from the WIN-owned

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STW Perth.118 This was followed, in February 2013, by the axing of WIN’s pan-regional news service for South Australia, which was replaced by 90-second weekday evening news updates produced in conjunction with the Border Watch and Murray Pioneer newspapers.119 Meanwhile, WIN announced a review of its Queensland news operations, which included the sacking of its Toowoomba-based newsreader, Samantha Heathwood.120 Just three months later, WIN transferred presentation of its Cairns, Mackay, Rockhampton, and Sunshine Coast bulletins from Rockhampton to Maroochydore. The final bulletins were presented by Paul Taylor from the Dean Street studio on 11 May.121 Similarly, presentation for Toowoomba, Townsville and Wide Bay was shifted from the former DDQ Toowoomba studio in late July.122 WIN’s Queensland weather presenter, Peter Byrne, a former meteorologist who had appeared since 1990, announced his retirement around the same time and made his final appearance on 4 May.123 He later joined Seven Local News for regional Queensland where he presented Rewind, a weekly retrospective on a wide range of topics.124 In mid-2013, WIN transferred presentation of its Canberra bulletin to Wollongong. This decision was particularly sensitive as WIN provided the only half-hour local news service for the national capital. The final bulletin was presented by Danielle Post from the Kingston studio on 28 June.125 The following month, WIN completed the sale of NWS Adelaide to the Nine Network for $140 million. This was followed by STW Perth, which was sold to Nine for $200 million in September 2013.126 In February 2014, WIN commenced production of its All Australian News. The one-hour bulletin, presented at noon on weekdays, claimed to be Australia’s first daily national news program focused on regional issues. The service was a compilation of reports from WIN’s newsrooms across the country.127 That year, WIN relocated its Tasmania operations from the former TVT Hobart studio to a tenancy within the ABC Centre.128 In mid-2015, WIN announced the closure of its Mackay and Mildura newsrooms. WIN’s Mackay newsroom were not advised of its closure until after the final bulletin on 21 May. The final Mildura bulletin was broadcast the following day (Box 11.3).129 Box 11.3  WIN News Mildura • Type: Audio-visual recording • Produced by: STV Mildura (Vic) / VTV Regional Victoria, 2015 • NFSA reference: 1461536

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WIN CEO Andrew Lancaster blamed the decision to axe the bulletins on a need to constantly review the company’s business model in light of “increasing program supply and infrastructure costs as well as a lack of regulatory reform”.130 WIN’s regional news presentation was progressively centralised to Wollongong over the next three years. In February 2016, presentation of WIN’s news bulletins for Ballarat, Bendigo, Albury, Shepparton, and Gippsland was shifted from Ballarat.131 In mid-2017, presentation of WIN’s six Queensland bulletins was relocated from Maroochydore.132 On 13 August 2018, the presentation of Tasmanian news was moved from Hobart.133 WIN’s network-wide All Australian News did, however, continue to be presented occasionally from the Maroochydore studio.134 Amid these changes, WIN awarded its inaugural Bruce Gordon Scholarship for Journalism at the University of Wollongong. The $10,000 bursary is intended to provide the recipient with financial assistance as well as practical experience in a television newsroom.135 WIN’s sponsorship of the scholarship, coupled with its extensive newsroom operations (which were said to cost more than $20 million a year), demonstrates a notable commitment to regional television news. But in mid-2019, the network announced it would close its newsrooms in Orange/Dubbo (Box 11.4), Albury, Wagga Wagga, and Wide Bay. The closures affected around 40 staff and resulted in the network ceasing production of daily, 30-minute news bulletins in four markets.136 WIN cited audience behaviour, different regulatory arrangements for digital content providers, and rising infrastructure costs for the closures.137 Katelin McInerney from the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance criticised these developments, saying “fewer journalists on the ground, fewer local stories, fewer local voices … means a dangerous loss of scrutiny of regional issues including local politics”.138 The ABC described the closures as a “blow for democracy”. Acting Prime Minister Michael McCormack condemned the closures and said the NSW National Party would withdraw Box 11.4  WIN News Central West • Type: Audio-visual recording • Produced by: WIN Southern NSW, 2019 • NFSA reference: 1588147

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advertising from the network. La Trobe University Professor Lawrie Zion argued the demise of regional newsrooms creates “news deserts”, citing US research which found that people start to avoid the news if it doesn't speak to them.139 Neryl East, who helped establish WIN’s Orange and Wagga Wagga newsrooms in the 1990s, believes the changes are understandable within the context of an “ever-changing digital world”.140 Imparja was, by late 2014, reportedly the only regional television broadcaster still managing its own technical operations. But in early 2015, these were outsourced to MediaHub after Imparja found the cost of upgrading its own facilities to be prohibitively expensive. This decision to outsource technical functions resulted in the loss of 14 jobs.141 Imparja also relinquished the rights to the long-running Yamba’s Playtime to Yangapi Productions which was founded by Yamba producer Julie McAllan and entertainer (and sometimes controversial activist) Jacinta Price. The program continued to air on Imparja as well as indigenous television stations in overseas markets.142 The most significant changes to local news in this period would ultimately occur at Southern Cross. On 21 March 2011, the network launched Weeknights, a daily, half-hour news, local affairs, sport, and entertainment bulletin for the Goulburn Valley (Vic) sub-market. The program was compiled by Shepparton-based video journalists and presented from various locations in the viewing area by Joel Crean.143 Weeknights represented a major departure from the company’s Southern Cross Ten news updates which had been broadcast in most markets since 2004. The program aired until 10 June 2015.144 In 2012, SCA introduced local news updates for TDT Tasmania from its Canberra broadcast centre. Production was transferred to Hobart in October 2018.145 In mid-2016, Nine and SCA announced they had entered into a five-­ year affiliation agreement. Under the deal, SCA would become the Nine affiliate in most parts of Australia while WIN would align with Ten.146 Furthermore, the Southern Cross brand would be replaced by Nine. The changes ended a 30-year love-hate relationship between WIN and Nine, in which the former’s owner, Bruce Gordon had, at various times, threatened to put his network to “black” rather than pay the extortionately high fees demanded by the latter for program supply. Ironically, Gordon was, by 2016, the largest single shareholder in both Nine and Ten. Nine sealed the deal by acquiring a 10 per cent interest in Southern Cross. This saw SCA’s share price rise 47 per cent, from $1.14 in March to $1.68 in late September, which increased the cost of any potential takeover bid. 147 Nine sold its entire holding in its regional affiliate around this time.148

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Although the new arrangements commenced on 1 July 2016, negotiations for Nine programs by joint ventures involving WIN proved problematic. In Tasmania, for example, Tasmania Digital Television (TDT) reportedly averted a “blackout” just hours before the midnight deadline on 30 June.149 In Western Australia, West Digital Television, a Prime/ WIN joint venture, was unable to reach a deal to carry Nine programs by the July deadline. As a result, all Nine Network programming was taken off air. It was replaced with rolling images of Western Australia accompanied by “elevator music”.150 But a deal was reached and WDW commenced broadcasting Nine Network programs on 2 July.151 The net result was that, in most parts of regional Australia, SCA had become the Nine Network affiliate while WIN carried the programs of Ten.152 SCA initially announced it would not be able to upgrade its transmission systems for HD before mid-August 2016. It was reported that such a delay would antagonise viewers ahead of upcoming “big ticket” events such as the third and deciding NRL State of Origin match in mid-July. This, in turn, would risk “taking the gloss” off the expansion of the Nine brand into regional areas. But a last-minute scramble by SCA and its technology supplier, Cisco, enabled 9HD to be available from launch.153 Meanwhile, in early 2018, SCA and Seven announced a three-year extension of their affiliation agreement for Tasmania and remote area markets.154 Under the deal, the former would pay the latter 50 per cent of revenue in return for program supply.155 In March, SCA unveiled a $1.7 million upgrade for its Tasmanian news studio including replacement of the existing second-hand set which had been acquired from BCV (Bendigo, Vic) in the mid-1990s, as well as the installation of high-definition robotic studio cameras.156 As part of its deal with Seven, SCA had intended to adopt Seven Network branding in Tasmania, Darwin, Remote Central and Eastern Australia, Spencer Gulf, and Broken Hill.157 But this, along with plans to rebrand local news bulletins as Seven News from 1 July, proved to be a major stumbling block, since Seven had no editorial control over the output.158 SCA’s Tasmanian bulletin was rebranded as Nightly News 7 Tasmania from 4 December 2018 (Box 11.5).159 Box 11.5  Nightly News 7 Tasmania • Type: Audio-visual recording • Produced by: TNT Tasmania, 2019 • NFSA reference: 1595304

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Box 11.6  Nightly News 7 Spencer Gulf • Type: Audio-visual recording • Produced by: GTS Spencer Gulf (SA) / TNT Tasmania, 2019 • NFSA reference: 1601048 In January 2019, news presentation for Spencer Gulf/Broken Hill was relocated from Canberra to Hobart and rebranded as Nightly News 7 Spencer Gulf (Box 11.6).160 SCA also announced it would transfer playout from its Canberra broadcast centre to NPC Media P/L from 2020. This facility, located in the Sydney suburb of French’s Forest, was established as a joint venture between Seven and Nine to handle playout for those networks. The deal involved NPC managing playout of all of SCA’s 105 discreet regional commercial television signals.161 A major element of the SCA/Nine tie-up involved the outsourcing of news production and presentation in most regional markets from the former to the latter. The arrangement is significant as it was the first of its nature in Australian television.162 Nine assumed responsibility for producing 15 dedicated local Nine News bulletins to viewers in its regional markets in Queensland, Southern New South Wales, and regional Victoria.163 This involved a split signal model which had been in place at NBN, Nine’s wholly owned Northern New South Wales affiliate, for almost 30 years. Under this model, a generic state, national and international bulleting is produced in each state, with local “windows” provided simultaneously for each sub-market.164 Interestingly, a similar model comprising a common core of state and national news reports with local news inserts for individual markets was first proposed by several applicants for regional commercial television licences in 1959. It is worth noting that these entities were associated with ATN Sydney and were ultimately unsuccessful in their applications.165 Nine’s Brisbane news director, Mike Dalton, was appointed head of Nine News Regional in August 2016.166 Recruitment of around 80 producers, journalists, and camera operators for 18 regional centres commenced in November.167 That month, Nine announced that former WIN News presenter Samantha Heathwood, ABC Canberra weather presenter

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Box 11.7  Nine News Central Victoria • Type: Audio-visual recording • Produced by: GTV Melbourne, 2018 • NFSA reference: 1565274 Vanessa O’Hanlon and veteran Nine News presenter Jo Hall would front bulletins for regional Queensland, Southern New South Wales, and Victoria, respectively. According to Heathwood: “[This] will be one hour of the best regional stories, the best metro, state, and national news, condensed into one bulletin made perfectly for them. It will be a lot less parochial.”168 Intriguingly, Heathwood’s remark referenced every news domain except “local”. In this context, the somewhat dismissive, “we know best” tone of this comment suggests that, in the minds of at least some metropolitan news personalities, “local” equates to “parochial” and is therefore of less value than news from other domains. As we will see shortly, news ratings would suggest that viewers see the role of “local” news rather differently. Nine News regional bulletins were rolled out between February and September 2017 (Box 11.7).169 On 12 September, presentation of Nine’s Darwin bulletin, presented by Michael Upton, was also transferred to Brisbane.170 Nine’s adoption of a composite regional news model would, as we will see later in this chapter, prompt other broadcasters to re-evaluate their own arrangements. But a small-scale analysis of Nine’s format, conducted in Cairns on 22 April 2018, produced some interesting results. WIN’s local bulletin contained the most locally originated content (23 minutes), compared to Seven (20 minutes) and Nine (10 minutes). Yet the Seven bulletin rated highest with 18,900 viewers, followed by Nine (13,500) then WIN (5,600). The relatively high ratings for Nine (in comparison to long-established WIN, despite the latter having around twice the local content) were arguably due as much to the novelty of gaining a third long-­ form local commercial television news service (still within its first 12 months of operation) for the first time in more than 20 years as it was the quality of the product on offer. However, the ratings after an 18-month period told a rather different story. A review of Regional TAM figures for nine markets on 4 February

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2019 revealed that, in all cases, Nine’s one-hour composite bulletin trailed that of rivals Seven and Prime7. The most extreme variation was in Townsville, where Nine attracted around one-sixth the number of viewers as Seven.171 The results suggest that regional viewers value proximity. If “parochial” means “local” then it could be argued that “parochial” is exactly what regional audiences want from their commercial television news. As Melody Kramer observes, the purpose of localism is to “see, know, care about and understand your community”.172 This contradicts the somewhat haughty claims to the contrary made by Nine’s Heathwood at the time of launch.173 On that basis, it could be said that Nine’s foray into regional news production was not as successful as it might have hoped. In February 2019, the network axed bulletins for Mackay and Toowoomba due to poor ratings. In the week prior to its cancellation, the latter bulletin was viewed by just over 12,000 people, which was around one-third the audience for rival Seven. The final bulletins for both markets aired on 15 February and were replaced by Nine’s Brisbane news service.174 In May 2018, WIN announced it had entered a deal with Australian News Channel (ANC) to broadcast Sky News content. The deal was significant as it was the first of its kind between FTA and subscription television. ANC CEO Angelos Frangopoulos (who we will recall had begun his broadcasting career in the regions) described the content supply agreement as “an historic moment for our company”. Sky News on WIN commenced on 3 September 2018.175 WIN also began carrying ANC’s morning Headline News on its primary channel in competition with Seven’s Sunrise, Nine’s Today, and ABC Breakfast.176 The commercial relationship between WIN and ANC was further strengthened in mid-2018, when the latter outsourced playout of its channels to MediaHub, a joint venture between WIN and the ABC.177 The COVID-19 pandemic brought pay cuts to Prime and SCA, with the latter also suspending recruitment.178 It also resulted in noticeable changes to local news production arrangements. In March 2020, Nine suspended production of its composite news bulletins for regional markets. Media commentator David Knox reported the changes were made to enable Nine to redeploy its regional journalists to cover metropolitan bulletins if needed.179 It is also likely Nine required use of studio and production facilities in Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane to enforce social distancing measures on its other productions. Regional bulletins were replaced by Nine’s half-hour state-based bulletins out of Sydney and

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Melbourne, supplemented with local news flashes inserted in advertising breaks. The latter were presented by Nine’s regional journalists against makeshift backdrops in  local offices and were similar in nature to the Southern Cross news flashes which had been phased out in 2016. From 10 August 2020, Nine re-introduced half-hour regional bulletins albeit in a new format. Nine’s state-based news was retained, alongside a smaller number of 30-minute Nine News Local bulletins. These comprise reports compiled from sub-markets in an entire region. Nine’s Southern NSW/ ACT bulletin, for example, includes content from its Canberra, Wollongong, Orange, and Wagga Wagga news crews. While these bulletins appear to be more substantial than the news flashes they replace, local content amounts to around eight minutes for each market, which is the minimum required under current legislation. Furthermore, the changes resulted in the loss of around 12 journalist positions in regional areas as bureaus in NSW and Queensland moved to a two journalist–two camera operator set-up.180 Despite these changes, regional television news crews continued to be recognised for excellence in their field. In 2017, Prime7 journalist Lucy Langtry and cameraman Rod Smith received the Paul Lockyer award for outstanding regional broadcast reporting for their coverage of the Northern Rivers floods.181 That year, WIN’s Queensland newsrooms also picked up 45 awards across every category at the Queensland Multi Media Awards. Lincoln Humphries was named Best Television Presenter.182 Non-news production was limited to a handful of programs. In 2013, Prime cancelled production of its weekly Possum’s Club (Prime7) and Doopa’s Club (GWN7) though both mascots continued to feature in goodnight segments and community-based promotional activities (Box 11.8).183 NBN’s Goodnight Boys and Girls segment continued to be presented by Big Dog and Miss Kim. Location... Lifestyle... Living (NBN) is a weekly program featuring real estate, gardening, energy-saving, and DIY tips

Box 11.8  Possum’s Club / Doopa’s Club • Type: Program material • Produced by: CBN Southern NSW, 2011 • NFSA reference: 1159156

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hosted by Naomi Findlay, Georgia Maher, and former Screaming Jets drummer Craig Rosevear.184 WIN’s Fishing Australia and SCA’s Hook, Line and Sinker continued to air regionally as well as on the Ten and Seven networks, respectively.185 The aggregation of east coast regional commercial television markets also impacted stations’ community service efforts. In May 1990, the Prime Television Flood Relief Telethon raised more than $1.5 million for Nyngan flood victims. Prime network personalities were joined by Seven Network stars including newsreader Roger Climpson, current affairs host Derryn Hinch, and A Country Practice actress Lorrae Desmond. Orange viewers contributed over $300,000, while Tamworth gave over $250,000. The Sydney Morning Herald described the fundraiser result as one which “restores our faith” in human nature.186 Notably, this was one of the last instances of a regional commercial television station staging a telethon for local causes. Based on available data, I estimate that regional stations produced, on average, around 1.3 per cent of total programs in their own studios as at mid-2019 (see Chap. 1, Fig. 1.1).187 This equated to just under two-and-­ a-half hours of local content each week given that stations were operating for 168 hours every seven days.188 Resources were almost entirely directed towards local news.189 It should, however, be noted that efforts varied significantly across the 55 regional commercial television licences in operation at that time. WIN was the largest producer, with around 39 hours of self-originated content each week.190 The centralisation of network operations to broadcasting hubs in Canberra, Wollongong, and the Sunshine Coast made many of regional Australia’s 35 original studio buildings redundant. WIN vacated the former GMV studios in Shepparton in August 2010, and they were demolished in 2011. The AMV and RVN studios in Albury and Wagga Wagga were converted for use as churches. In November 2016, RTQ’s Rockhampton studios (which had been abandoned by WIN in late 2012) were demolished after sustaining $480,000  in damage from fire and vandalism.191 In 2016, Southern Cross announced it had placed its Watchorn Street studios in Launceston up for sale.192 This was followed by plans to demolish and redevelop its Canberra studio site by mid-2020.193 Similarly, in 2018, NBN announced its Mosbri Crescent studio site had been sold for redevelopment as apartments. The deal included an arrangement under which NBN continued to lease back the studios while alternative premises

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Box 11.9  CTC studios, final tour • Type: Audio-visual material (non-broadcast) • Produced by: CTC Southern NSW, 2020 • NFSA reference: 1612558 were sought.194 In early 2019, Nine stated it would vacate its Darwin studio later that year.195 Around the same time, Gleeson Group (the family company of the late Jack Gleeson) announced that TNQ’s former Queen’s Hotel home would be restored to its former glory as part of a major Townsville CBD renewal project. CBN’s former Bathurst Road studios in Orange were demolished later that year after vandals stripped the building of copper wire.196 In mid-2020, following the transfer of playout facilities to NPC, Southern Cross relocated its remaining Canberra-based television staff to a new office in Fyshwick.197 The CTC studios, Australia’s first purpose-built colour television facility which had been in continuous operation since 1974, were demolished in August 2020 to make way for a housing development (Box 11.9). Meanwhile, Nine announced its NBN subsidiary would relocate from its Mosbri Crescent studios to a new state-of-the-art facility in Honeysuckle Drive by mid-2021.198 By that time, regional production had been centralised to studios in Canberra and Bunbury (Prime/GWN), Maroochydore (Seven), Launceston and Hobart (Southern Cross), Newcastle (NBN) and Wollongong, and Maroochydore (WIN).

Independence The lead-up to the Turnbull government’s media reforms brought a series of manoeuvres by existing broadcasters. In February 2010, Seven Network Ltd (SNL) merged with WesTrac to form Seven Group Holdings Ltd (SGH).199 In April 2011, Seven Media Group Ltd was acquired by West Australian Newspapers Ltd to create Seven West Media Ltd.200 Meanwhile, in December 2010, PBL Media was renamed Nine Entertainment Co Ltd. In early 2013, Nine announced it was in talks with Southern Cross about a possible merger.201 This move was arguably as much an attempt to move the media ownership debate forward as it was to bring the two

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organisations together. Nine even sought to sweeten the proposition by offering the government a pledge to maintain regional news bulletins.202 In February 2014, long-time Prime chairman Paul Ramsay sold out of the network he had established almost 30 years previously.203 His exit was somewhat prescient, coming 12 months before David Gyngell’s ominous warning to regional broadcasters, and less than three months before his own death.204 Nine re-iterated its interest in Southern Cross in May 2015. Intriguingly, media reports quoted Nine’s Simon Kelly as stating a merger between the network and Fairfax Media was “extremely unlikely”.205 In October, WIN’s Bruce Gordon became Nine’s largest shareholder after increasing his interest from two to 15 per cent. Gordon held a similar stake in Network Ten.206 The acquisitions positioned the Bermuda-based mogul as a key player in the slew of mergers that could result from a change in media ownership laws.207 In late 2015, it was reported that Gordon had offered Nine a three-­ month exclusivity period in which to buy WIN.208 The announcement came amid the latest round of negotiations over the affiliation agreement between the regional network and Nine, which was due to expire on 31 December. A last-minute deal failed to strike a merger; however, the existing affiliation agreement, which had been in place for 30 years, was extended for six months.209 The short-term arrangement between Nine and WIN was purportedly made on the basis of pending changes to media ownership rules. Nevertheless, news reports from that time speculated that a merger between the two companies was likely. The chances of a Nine/WIN tie-up were strengthened given the long-term relationship between the two companies. But as discussed earlier, Nine abandoned its affiliation agreement with WIN in favour of a new arrangement with Southern Cross in mid-2016. The SCA/Nine tie-up created a major anomaly in Northern New South Wales, where NBN already operated as the Nine affiliate. In January 2017, it was announced that WIN had commenced negotiations to acquire NRN Northern NSW in exchange for the sale of radio station i98FM. This deal would have given SCA access to the Wollongong radio market and allowed WIN to expand into Northern NSW for the first time. SCA withdrew from negotiations on 20 February with no explanation given; however, an agreement for the sale of NRN to WIN subsidiary, Network Investments P/L, was finalised in May. WIN assumed control of the

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licence from 1 June; however, SCA continued to maintain NRN as Ten Northern NSW until playout and transmission were transferred to WIN on 1 September. WIN Television branding was adopted for NRN from that day. Gordon, described the acquisition as filling WIN’s “one missing piece”.210 Metropolitan television networks, too, were not immune from industry pressures. In May 2017, the perennially third-rated Network Ten announced a half-year loss of $232 million. Media reports suggested Ten could scale back its state-based, one-hour Eyewitness News bulletins to 30 minutes or replace them with a single, national bulletin from Sky News.211 But on 14 June, Ten entered voluntary administration.212 This followed the withdrawal of funding guarantees by major shareholders Lachlan Murdoch and Bruce Gordon.213 Communications Minister Mitch Fifield described Ten’s collapse as a “wake-up call for opponents of media reform”.214 Murdoch and Gordon subsequently announced plans to acquire Ten through their respective private companies, Illyria and Birketu.215 The takeover was approved by the ACCC—subject to changes in media ownership rules—which found the resultant business, including a combined Ten/Foxtel news service, would still be weaker than its competitors.216 According to the ACCC’s Rod Sims: “It’s hard to see Nine and Seven disappearing off the face of the earth ... And I hasten to add it’s very important that you have got a strong Fairfax there”.217 But Sims’ remark regarding a “strong Fairfax” clearly demonstrates the rate of change in Australian media at that time. In August 2017, News Corporation and Telstra announced they would merge Foxtel and Fox Sports.218 Then, in a stunning twist, the American CBS television network blindsided Lachlan Murdoch and Bruce Gordon with its purchase of Ten.219 The acquisition was described as “a plot twist few anticipated in the ongoing drama that is Australian TV”.220 Within days, the CBS takeover of Ten—which was said to have been widely supported by the network’s employees—was approved by the Foreign Investment Review Board. The NSW Supreme Court approved the transfer of shares to CBS on 9 October.221 Murdoch retaliated by terminating Fox’s contract to provide popular programs to Ten including The Simpsons—which had aired on the network since 1991—and Modern Family.222 The Ten deal was followed in July 2018 by Nine’s $4 billion takeover of Fairfax Media.223 This combined Nine’s television and Fairfax’s print entities along with several other media businesses, including Macquarie

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Media radio stations and the Stan streaming service.224 The transaction was completed later that year and created Australia’s first large-scale print, radio, television, and digital media company. (In 2019, Nine sold the recently acquired Australian Community Media subsidiary—which operated more than 160 regional mastheads—to former Fairfax Media executive Antony Catalano, for $115 million.225 Media reports suggest the sale could pave the way for a tie-up between Nine and Macquarie Radio.)226 According to media ethics expert Denis Muller: “The Fairfax story has all the elements of Greek tragedy: heroism in the creation of the company, then a combination of comedy, pride, stupidity, greed, arrogance and hubris to bring it down”.227 The changing fortunes of regional television can also be seen by examining the share price of the major operators over recent years. Between early 2017 and late 2019, Prime has seen a 39 per cent decrease, from 31 to 19 cents.228 Similarly, SCA saw its shares fall from $1.50 to 96 cents, which represented a 36 per cent decline over the same period. 229 Note the only major variation to this downwards trend occurred around the time of passing the government’s Broadcasting Legislation Amendment (Media Reform) Bill in September 2017, which brought a brief surge in media share prices. Australia’s 54 regional commercial television licences were, by mid-2021, held by six ownership groups.230 The majority of these were controlled, either directly or through joint ventures, by Prime, WIN, and Southern Cross.231 The independence quotient was, by this time, 11 per cent, which represented a 20 per cent decrease over the previous 10 years (see Chap. 1, Fig. 1.2).232 While the number of ownership groups remained unchanged from 2009, there has been considerable change in their composition, particularly in relation to principal shareholders.233 As discussed earlier, Paul Ramsay had sold out of Prime Media Group in 2014. WIN’s Bruce Gordon, through his private company, Birketu P/L, had, by mid-2018, emerged as Prime’s single-largest shareholder.234 (Gordon and related entities remained the single-largest shareholder in Nine.)235 In April 2019, Gordon’s total interest in Prime had increased to more than 26 per cent, thereby placing him in a position to control the company. The ACMA subsequently found Gordon had breached the “one-to-a-market” rule in eight separate licences areas in which both Prime and WIN operate. The situation also created an “unacceptable” diversity situation in a further 40 markets. Gordon claimed the breach—which he subsequently

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remedied—had occurred as a result of actions taken by a third party that were contrary to his instructions.236 In late 2019, Seven West Media Ltd (SWM), owner of the Seven Network, announced a $64 million takeover of its regional affiliate, Prime Media Group.237 The deal was part of a major restructuring of SWM, which included the sale of its Pacific Magazines business—publisher of titles including New Idea and Better Homes and Gardens magazines—to rival Bauer Media.238 It was also the first planned full-scale merger between metropolitan and regional television interests to be struck following the Turnbull government’s removal of the 75 per cent reach rule in 2017. Also in October 2019, the Nine Network’s regional affiliate, Southern Cross, was reported to be a takeover target for private equity funds following a major profit downgrade.239 Meanwhile, ACM’s Antony Catalano increased his stake in Prime to around 14 per cent. The Seven-Prime tie-up involved a scheme of implementation which had a 75 per cent shareholder acceptance requirement rather than the 90 per cent usually needed for a takeover. But on 19 December, Catalano joined with Prime’s other major shareholder, Bruce Gordon (WIN) who, with a combined holding just over 25 per cent, were able to defeat Seven’s bid.240 Seven responded by acquiring 15 per cent of Prime, thereby becoming that company’s single-largest shareholder.241 Seven West Media commercial director Bruce McWilliam also confirmed his company’s ongoing interest in its regional affiliate. On the same day, outgoing Prime chairman John Hartigan aimed a parting salvo at online streaming services such as Netflix, warning regional viewers that if they “want to watch US soaps and Hollywood movies … at some point they may not have a local news service”.242 In late 2020, Prime transferred its playout arrangements from the ABC/WIN-owned MediaHub to the Telstra-owned MediaCloud. The latter also handled playout for SBS.243 Around the same time, regional operators Prime, WIN, Southern Cross, and Imparja, along with Australian Community Media newspapers, stepped up their Save the Voices campaign by asking regional viewers to sign an online petition urging regulatory reforms. The petition had just 30,272 signatories by 10 March 2021.244 Their campaign continues to position such a change as vital for the survival of local news services: Your local media outlets are the only ones committed to shining a light on your community’s issues, in good times and in bad. They are a lifeline in

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times of drought, bushfire, and flood. They create a sense of community and purpose. They celebrate what is unique about where we live.245

Save Our Voices argued that technologies which give social media giants such as Google and Facebook an unbalanced level of bargaining power has resulted in an 800 per cent increase in competition for regional radio, television, and newspapers. Fronted by popular media personality Ray Martin, the campaign enlists testimony from media executives, politicians, and regional mayors. Perhaps the most compelling call to action is provided by prominent children’s campaigners Bruce and Denise Morcombe, who maintain that the remains of their son, Daniel (who was abducted and murdered in 2003) might never have been found “if there was no local news on the Sunshine Coast”. But while the campaign is long on rhetoric, and emotion, it is short on detail. While the campaign makes it clear that regional media companies are under threat from “archaic” media regulations, increased competition, and diminishing revenue streams, Save Our Voices failed to directly mention its ultimate objective, which includes the removal of the “one in a market rule” prohibiting a single operator from owning more than one television station in any given market. Such changes, if approved, are likely to result in a further consolidation of ownership and control, a merging of newsgathering resources, the loss of regional jobs and, ironically, fewer local voices. The increased power of international social media companies and their impact on Australian media outlets was brought to a head in 2020. In December, in a world first, the Morrison Coalition government tabled legislation to force Google and Facebook to negotiate payments for using news content on the former’s search engine and the latter’s newsfeed. Google responded by encouraging its users to bombard the ACCC with complaints. Facebook retaliated by threatening to prevent Australians from sharing news.246 In February 2021, Facebook delivered on this threat by restricting major news outlets from posting or sharing content on its platform.247 This blanket ban was reversed a week later following negotiations between treasurer Josh Frydenberg and Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg resulted in last-minute changes to the legislation.248 In return, Facebook and Google agreed to make commercial arrangements with Australian news outlets to use their content.249 The government’s amended News Media and Digital Platforms Bargaining Code was passed by parliament on 25 February 2021.250

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In the following month, mainstream and social media reports confirmed the industry’s “worst kept secret” involving plans by Nine to abandon its five-year affiliation agreement with Southern Cross in favour of a new seven-year deal with WIN, effective from 1 July.251 Just days later, it was revealed that Gordon had also secured a board seat at Nine. Media reports positioned these developments as a likely precursor to a full-scale acquisition of WIN by Nine. 252 Around the same time, Gordon reduced his shareholding in Prime. Some of these shares were acquired by ACM’s Antony Catalano and Alex Waislitz, lifting their holding to just under 20 per cent and making them Prime’s largest shareholder, ahead of the Seven Network.253 WIN also announced it would end its agreement with Australian News Channel to supply Sky News on WIN. Southern Cross subsequently signed a two-year program supply deal with Network Ten. The affiliation changes, which took effect from 1 July 2021, added to an already convoluted series of ownership and affiliation arrangements. This was most pronounced in Northern NSW, where WIN (which had reverted to being the Nine affiliate in most markets in which it operates) remained as the Network Ten affiliate in Northern NSW. This was due to NBN, a wholly owned subsidiary of Nine, already operating on behalf of its parent company. In most other regional markets, WIN promotes its offering as “Channel 9 on WIN”. SCA operates under a range of brands across its regional markets.254 The most significant change in this period undoubtedly came in November 2021, when Seven West Media (SWM) announced it would acquire the business and assets of Prime Media Group for $132 million.255 The transaction would involve Seven purchasing Prime Television (Holdings) P/L, Seven Affiliate Sales P/L, and their subsidiaries. The bid came almost two years after Prime’s major shareholders, Antony Catalano and Bruce Gordon, scuppered Seven’s $64 million plan to acquire its regional affiliate.256 Prime’s chief executive, Ian Audsley, said the acquisition by Seven was in the company’s best interest, as a lack of regional media reform had left it facing failure.257 Prime shareholders, including Catalano and Gordon, voted overwhelmingly in favour of the all-cash deal. The transaction was approved by the ACCC and completed on 31 December 2021. Prime Media Group Ltd was renamed as PRT Company Ltd from 5 January 2022,258 ahead of being wound up.259 SWM’s takeover of Prime is significant for several reasons: firstly, it is the first television network consolidation since legislation was passed in

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September 2017 abolishing the so-called “reach rule” under which a broadcaster could not reach more than 75 per cent of the Australian television audience. Secondly, the transaction once again gave a Kerry Stokescontrolled entity control of GWL and the SSW, VEW, GTW, and WAW commercial television licences. Thirdly, and most significantly, the transaction represents the first time in Australian broadcasting history that a metropolitan television network had acquired control of a major regional network. In this context, it is important to note that Frank Packer’s early interests in NBN and WIN did not involve his television companies and were limited to single markets. Christopher Skase’s acquisitions of SEQ (1985) and MVQ (1987) did not involve his Seven Network. Kerry Packer’s 1988 acquisition of NTD was conducted through Publishing and Broadcasting rather than the Nine Network. Seven’s 1995 acquisition of STQ was the first direct takeover of a single regional commercial television station licence, rather than a major network, by a metropolitan commercial television operator. Nine’s 2000 acquisition of NBN was also a direct takeover of a single regional commercial television station licence, as opposed to a major network. Importantly, the Seven/Prime transaction also reduced the number of ownership groups for Australia’s 54 regional commercial television licences from six to five, thereby decreasing the independence quotient from 11 to 9 per cent. In mid-2022, Prime7 and GWN7 branding was replaced by network wide Seven branding. Local news bulletins were rebranded as 7News. Seven could also achieve cost savings through consolidating its newly expanded regional television operations, including its Maroochydore, Canberra, and Bunbury news presentation studios. The network has also indicated that it could launch a full news service for Canberra, with local bulletins for Newcastle, Wollongong, Ballarat, Bendigo, Shepparton, and Traralgon.260 Playout arrangements for the former Prime stations might also switch from MediaCloud to NPC. Media reports have also positioned Seven as a potential buyer of SCA’s Tasmanian television business, which operates as a Seven affiliate. Seven’s acquisition of Prime’s television businesses could also prompt similar takeovers of WIN (most likely by Nine), and Southern Cross. In February 2022, The Australian reported that Southern Cross had engaged investment bank Grant Samuel to advise the company on options for its regional television business. The decision followed separate—but ultimately unsuccessful—purchase enquiries from Antony Catalano’s ACM and Seven West Media.261

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These ownership and affiliation changes have also resulted in widely varying approaches to “local” news. Seven provides 30-minute local news bulletins for most sub-markets in regional Queensland, Northern NSW, Southern NSW, and Western Australia. Other sub-markets, including Newcastle, Canberra, and those in most of regional Victoria, receive short news “flashes” at various times of the day. From July 1, WIN controversially replaced its daily, 30-minute local WIN News bulletins for the regional Queensland and Victoria sub-markets with composite, state-wide bulletins. This pan-regional format was also introduced for the western NSW sub-markets of Orange/Dubbo/Wagga Wagga and Griffith—from which WIN had withdrawn local news services—as well as Albury, which had previously been regarded as a regional Victoria sub-market due to the location of its transmitter in that state. The network continued to provide a daily, 30-minute local bulletin for the Wollongong and Canberra sub-markets. WIN ceased production of its All Australian News on 30 June 2021. Southern Cross, which had outsourced news production and presentation to Nine between mid-2016 and mid-2021, resumed production of daily news “flashes” for its regional Queensland, Southern NSW, and Victoria sub-markets. These were telecast under “10 News First Local Update” branding and presented from the network’s Launceston and Hobart studios.262 The network continues to provide 30-minute news bulletins for its Tasmania and Spencer Gulf/Broken Hill markets each weeknight.  SCA also commenced airing Sky News Regional, provided by Australian News Channel, as a dedicated multi-channel from 1 August 2021. Nine’s tie-up with WIN enabled the network to retreat from regional news production in all areas except for its owned-and-operated stations in Northern NSW (NBN) and Darwin (NTD). The final Nine News Local bulletins for regional Queensland, Southern NSW/ACT, and Victoria were aired on 30 June (Box 11.10). In September 2022, Nine announced it would establish a 9News service for Tasmania in early 2023. Bulletins will be produced from a Hobart studio and air on Nine's regional affiliate, WIN.

Box 11.10  Nine News Local, Victoria edition • Type: Audio-visual material • Produced by: GTV Melbourne, 2021 • NFSA reference: 1050620

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Significantly, WIN’s decision to adopt state-wide bulletins means most  regional Victoria sub-markets no longer receive a dedicated, 30-­minute local news bulletin  from any network. These developments have undoubtedly resulted in further declines in  locally produced news content since 2019. Such reductions will arguably generate the same sense of “second-rateness” and lack of amenity which the introduction of television to regional areas in the 1960s had sought to address. In August 2021, Media Diversity Australia found that “Australia’s television news media acutely lacks cultural and linguistic diversity”.263 Its report singled out regional television networks as having “virtually no cultural diversity” among their news presenters: This dearth of diversity is concerning on two levels. One is the lack of diversity in the regional workforce. The other is that regional newsrooms could be considered as a potential pipeline to train and feed young journalists into more senior roles.264

It is worth noting that, in what was arguably a first in regional commercial television, Prime7 had, at the time of writing, introduced a news presenter of south-east Asian appearance for some of its nightly bulletins. Similarly, by early 2022, Prime7 regularly featured an all-female news presentation team, a rarity in Australian television; for example, on 16 March, Prime7 Local News Central West was read jointly by Madelaine Collignon and Elly Wicks, with weather presented by Kirsty Fitzpatrick.

Conclusion The challenges to regional commercial television viability since 2010 have mostly been driven by the introduction of alternative delivery platforms and changes in consumer behaviour which threaten obsolescence. Unlike previous technological developments, free-to-air broadcasters have largely failed in their efforts to influence its formation, capitalise on its application, or stave off competition. Furthermore, the introduction of live streaming services by metropolitan networks risked making their regional affiliates redundant. These developments brought further declines, particularly in  localism, as regional television companies, particularly WIN, ceased production of news bulletins in some markets (see Chap. 1, Fig. 1.3) . Meanwhile, regional broadcasters mustered government and public support in relaxing media ownership and audience reach rules which, ironically, will likely see the demise of their businesses as distinct entities. In late 2016, the chief executives of Prime, WIN, and Southern Cross told

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a Senate committee that local content, regional jobs, and media diversity were at stake unless regulatory reform was forthcoming. Their pleas resulted in the Turnbull Coalition government’s 2017 changes to media legislation which was undoubtedly the sector’s tenth liminal moment. The ageing of free-to-air television’s traditional audience, the continued decline in advertising revenue, and the increase in low-cost, personalised entertainment services (coupled with the accompanying pressures for further regulatory reforms and cost reductions) will likely continue to threaten to the viability—and existence—of regional commercial television as a distinct entity in the years ahead.

Notes 1. Gyngell, quoted in SMH, 20/11/2014, p. 23. 2. Quinn 1990, pp. 96-107. 3. Cunningham 2014, pp. 116-117. 4. SMH, 29/7/2000, p. 8. 5. SMH, 26/2/2006, p. 6; DT (Sydney), 1/3/2006, p. 15. 6. Australian, 12/2/2008, p. 19. 7. Australian, 19/6/2008, p. 26. 8. Australian, 21/2/2006, p. 33. 9. https://www.perthnow.com.au/news/western-­a ustralia/online-­ demand-­killing-­video-­rental-­stores/story-­e6frg13u-­1226118789866, accessed 10/7/2014. 10. Lithgow Mercury, 19/2/2013; Riverland Weekly, 17/1/2013, p. 3. 11. https://web.archive.org/web/20171101105346/https://www. mytivo.com.au/, accessed 7/4/2019. The TiVo service was withdrawn in October 2017. 12. https://www.icetv.com.au/about-­icetv/, accessed 10/4/2019; Australian, 24/3/2008, p. 29. 13. https://www.apple.com/au/newsr oom/2008/08/14Apple-­ Premieres-­M ovies-­o n-­t he-­i Tunes-­S tore-­i n-­A ustralia-­N ew-­Z ealand/, accessed 7/4/2019. 14. https://www.smh.com.au/technology/foxtel-­launches-­tv-­downloads-­ live-­streaming-­20090929-­ga6a.html, accessed 8/4/2019. 15. https://web.archive.org/web/20100225083445/http://www.digital-­ media.net.au/article/full-­hd-­streaming-­comes-­to-­the-­xbox/506116. aspx, accessed 8/4/2019. 16. CT, 29/11/2011, p. 29. 17. Australian, 9/11/2010, p. 33. 18. https://www.fetchtv.com.au/press-­r eleases/fetchtv-­e xpands-­ international-­news-­services, accessed 7/4/2019.

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19. https://www.smh.com.au/technology/quickflix-­comes-­to-­sony-­gear-­ and-­pcs-­20110713-­1hd00.html, accessed 7/4/2019. 20. https://www.prime7.com.au/, accessed 2/12/2019; https://www. youtube.com/watch?v=IIGLO5A76VA, accessed 2/12/2019. 21. https://www.facebook.com/Prime7NewsNorthWest/, accessed 2/12/2019. 22. https://www.gwn7.com.au/news/latest-­news, accessed 2/12/2019; https://www.nbnnews.com.au/hunter-­news/, accessed 2/12/2019. 23. https://www.facebook.com/7NEWSCairns/, accessed 2/12/2019; https://www.facebook.com/9NewsCentralWest/, accessed 2/12/2019; https://www.facebook.com/WINNewsBallarat, accessed 2/12/2019. 24. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrPjLlhFf2k, accessed 2/12/2019. 25. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-1.14. 26. Transmission, pp. 68-72. 27. Australian, 30/6/2010, p. 4. 28. ACMA, 2010, p. 137. 29. Mike Neville, quoted in https://www.abc.net.au/news/2009-­12-­01/ griffith-­fights-­for-­digital-­tv/1163888, accessed 1/5/2010. 30. http://www.adnews.com.au/adnews/prime-­u nveils-­b rand-­f unded-­ datacast-­channel, accessed 8/4/2019; ESM/Appendices/Appendix-6.4. 31. https://tvtonight.com.au/2016/01/psychic-­s how-­r eturns-­a fter-­ bullying-­campaign.html, accessed 8/4/2019. 32. https://tvtonight.com.au/2011/12/tv4me-­now-­testing.html, accessed 8/4/2019. 33. https://tvtonight.com.au/2016/04/datacasting-­c hannel-­4 me-­i n-­ doubt-­as-­producers-­enter-­administration.html, accessed 8/4/2019. 34. https://tvtonight.com.au/2012/05/win-­g old-­l aunches-­o n-­ channel-­84.html, accessed 8/4/2019. 35. https://tvtonight.com.au/2013/07/win-­l aunches-­g old2.html, accessed 8/4/2019. 36. SCA, 2013, p. 6. TVSN was initially available in the aggregated markets only and was gradually extended to other markets over the following years. 37. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-6.4. 38. SCA, Annual Report, 2013, p. 6. 39. https://tvtonight.com.au/2013/09/ten-­t ipped-­t o-­l aunch-­n ew-­ datacasting-­channel.html, accessed 8/4/2019. 40. SCA, “YesShop Coming To SCA Regional Viewers August 1,” 25/7/2016. 41. https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/ar ticle.cfm?c_ id=3&objectid=11719322, accessed 8/4/2019.

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42. https://tvtonight.com.au/2017/07/religious-­c hannel-­c oming-­t o-­ southern-­cross-­network.html, accessed 8/4/2019. 43. Given, et al, Television 2025, p. 6. 44. CT, 25/1/2015, p.  12; Australian, 5/10/2016, p.  21. A spin-off, Presto TV, was a joint venture with the Seven Network. This latter service was discontinued in January 2017 and users were migrated to the Foxtel Now platform. 45. https://www.businessinsider.com.au/this-­i s-­how-­streamcos-­stan-­i s-­ making-­it-­difficult-­for-­netflix-­to-­open-­properly-­in-­australia-­2014-­11, accessed 8/4/2019. 46. SMH, 24/3/2015, p. 9. 47. https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-­a nd-­r adio/amazon-­ prime-­v ideo-­j ust-­l aunched-­i n-­a ustralia-­b ut-­i s-­i t-­w or th-­y our-­ time-­20161215-­gtbfdc.html, accessed 8/4/2019. 48. https://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/17/business/cbs-­to-­offer-­web-­ subscription-­service.html, accessed 1/9/2015. 49. DOC, 2014, p. 29. 50. Stone 2014, pp. 116-117. 51. “Death knock” is a journalistic term which refers to the practice of approaching the family or friends of someone who has recently died, often in unusual circumstances, for comment or interview. 52. Given, et al, Television 2025, pp. 10, 31. 53. AFR, 26/10/2015, p. 28. 54. AFR, 24/10/2016, p. 25. 55. https://tvtonight.com.au/2016/01/rumour-­t en-­t o-­e xpand-­l ive-­ streaming.html, accessed 30/9/2019. The service introduced 24-hour streaming in January 2018. 56. http://www.smh.com.au/business/media-­and-­marketing/regional-­ networks-­accuse-­seven-­of-­hypocrisy-­over-­streaming-­20150819-­gj2w96. html#ixzz3ozRp0RqO, accessed 20/5/2019. 57. Age (Melbourne), 11/2/2016, p. 21. 58. CT, 29/4/2016, p. 10. 59. Andrew Lancaster, quoted in https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/wins-­streaming-­case-­against-­nine-­dismissed-­20160428-­goh6lr. html, accessed 26/8/2021. 60. CT, 7/11/2016, p. 35. 61. https://www.choice.com.au/electronics-­a nd-­t echnology/home-­ entertainment/tvs-­a nd-­p rojectors/articles/freeview-­f v-­a pp-­r eview, accessed 15/4/2019. 62. https://tvtonight.com.au/2017/10/seven-­partners-­with-­twitter-­for-­ live-­melbourne-­cup.html, accessed 11/10/2019.

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63. https://tvtonight.com.au/2017/10/7plus-­l aunches-­i n-­n ovember. html, accessed 7/4/2019. The launch followed the end of the longstanding arrangement between Yahoo and Seven. PLUS7 became unavailable on most platforms between December 2017 and March 2018. 64. SMH, 9/4/2014, p. X. 65. ABC, ‘What’s wrong with the NBN?’ Four Corners, 23 October 2017. 66. Commonwealth 2012a. 67. Commonwealth 2012b. 68. ACMA 2011, pp. 6-7. 69. Australian, 29/8/2011, p. 32. 70. Commonwealth 2012b; Commonwealth 2012b. 71. Australian, 25/7/2012, p. 11. 72. Advertiser (Adelaide), 7/9/2012, p. 24. 73. https://www.smh.com.au/technology/conroy-­named-­internet-­villain-­ of-­the-­year-­20090713-­di8q.html, accessed 24/12/2019. 74. https://www.smh.com.au/technology/senators-­red-­undie-­remarks-­fall-­ flat-­in-­new-­york-­20120928-­26pqt.html, accessed 24 December 2019. 75. These comprised the Broadcasting Legislation Amendment (Convergence Review and Other Measures) Bill 2013; Television Licence Fees Amendment Bill 2013; News Media (Self-Regulation) Bill 2013; New Media (Self-­Regulation) (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2013; Public Interest Media Advocate Bill (2013) and the Broadcasting Legislation Amendment (News Media Diversity) Bill 2013. 76. Davies 2014. 77. Advertiser (Adelaide), 21/3/2013, p. 4. 78. Daily Advertiser (Wagga Wagga), 15/3/2013, p. 15. 79. Stephen Conroy, “Government Response To Convergence Review And Finkelstein Inquiry,” (Media Release), 12/3/2013. 80. https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentar y_Business/Committees/ House_of_Representatives_Committees?url=jscbl/index.htm, accessed 1/6/2016. 81. https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentar y_ Departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/rp/rp1314/MediaReform, accessed 1/6/2016. 82. Australian, 21/3/2013, p. 1. The government’s ultimately unsuccessful efforts to gain support for its media reform bills was arguably due, at least in part, to ongoing instability within the Gillard ministry. 83. AFR, 19/8/2013, p. 6. 84. SMH, 10/3/2014, p. 21. 85. Tony Abbott, cited in https://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/ jul/02/tony-­abbott-­puts-­media-­reform-­on-­ice-­telling-­major-­players-­to-­ reach-­consensus, accessed 15/7/2016.

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86. Grant Blackley, cited in http://www.smh.com.au/business/media-­and-­ marketing/southern-­cross-­chief-­executive-­grant-­blackley-­backs-­media-­ reform-­20150703-­gi4tb3.html 87. SMH, 24/8/2015, p. 7. 88. Australian, 10/8/2015, p. 25. 89. Australian, 25/8/2014, p.  20; https://www.smh.com.au/business/ companies/hywood-­calls-­for-­media-­reform-­as-­takeovers-­bolster-­fairfax-­ revenue-­20150506-­ggv0f3.html, accessed 6/5/2015. 90. https://www.smh.com.au/business/ownership-­review-­opens-­door-­to-­ mergers-­f or-­s even-­n ine-­a nd-­t en-­n etworks-­2 0140611-­3 9xqb.html, accessed 1/3/2015. 91. http://www.saveourvoices.com.au/, accessed 1/9/2015. 92. https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/southern-­cross-­chief-­ executive-­grant-­blackley-­backs-­media-­reform-­20150703-­gi4tb3.html, accessed 10/7/2015. 93. https://mumbrella.com.au/seven-­l aunches-­a nti-­m edia-­r eform-­a ds-­ aimed-­at-­regional-­rivals-­as-­sca-­hires-­ex-­news-­lobbyist-­312505, accessed 30/9/2019. 94. http://www.smh.com.au/business/media-­a nd-­m arketing/win-­ corporation-­pulls-­out-­of-­industry-­lobby-­free-­tv-­20150901-­gjcqs2.html, accessed 11/4/2019. 95. CT, 31/10/2015, p. 9. 96. http://www.smh.com.au/business/media-­and-­marketing/nationals-­ accused-­o f-­s talinist-­a pproach-­o ver-­l ocal-­c ontent-­r ules-­2 0160115-­ gm6hv9.html, accessed 11/4/2019. 97. This latter requirement would apply in areas where a change in control “trigger event” (such as the sale of the licence to a new owner) resulted in that licence becoming part of a media group which reached more than 75 per cent of the Australian population. This new requirement would take effect six months after the relevant “trigger event”. 98. DCA, Australia’s Media Control and Ownership Rules (fact sheet), 2016; DCA, Protecting Local Content in Regional Australia (fact sheet), 2016. 99. Broadcasting Legislation Amendment (Media Reform) Bill 2016 (C2016B00032). 100. Broadcasting Legislation Amendment (Media Reform) Bill 2016 (C2016B00053); Age (Melbourne), 2/9/2016, p. 23. 101. AFR, 23/9/2017, p. 25. 102. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-­10-­09/fifield-­refuses-­to-­explain-­ foxtel-­gift-­after-­media-­reform/9031500, accessed 15/10/2017. 103. Broadcasting Legislation Amendment (Broadcasting Reform) Bill 2017 (C2017B00125). The Act was No. 113 of 2017.

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104. ACMA, Local Content, May 2017; https://vision2020.acma.gov.au/ Industry/Broadcast/Television/TV-­c ontent-­r egulation/regional-­ australians-­put-­their-­trust-­in-­tv-­local-­news, accessed 4/4/2017. 105. “Regional Australians Put Their Trust in TV Local News,” ACMA. 106. ACMA, 2017, p. 9. 107. SMH, 7/12/2015, p. 20. 108. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-3.12. 109. Doug Hogan, email to Michael Thurlow, 20/8/2010. 110. https://tvtonight.com.au/2014/02/prime-­adds-­new-­bulletin.html, accessed 11/4/2019; Border-Mail (Albury), 25/2/2014, p. 9. 111. https://www.mediahubaustralia.com.au/news/#2016-­s uccessfully-­ completes-­outsource-­of-­60-­channels-­to-­mediahub-­in-­just-­4-­months, accessed 6/4/2019. 112. https://mediaweek.com.au/prime7-­ray-­martin-­ice/, accessed 14/4/2019. 113. These comprised 30-minute bulletins for Albury/Wodonga, Wagga Wagga, Central West (Orange/Dubbo), North West (Tamworth) and North Coast (Coffs Harbour/Lismore). 114. https://mediaweek.com.au/prime7-­refresh-­paul-­patrick/ accessed 11/11/2018. 115. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-­08-­02/car-­crash-­leads-­kalgoorlie-­ to-­lose-­reporter-­sparking-­outcry/11372492?pfmredir=sm, accessed 18/9/2019. 116. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-3.11. 117. https://forums.mediaspy.org/t/seven-­n ews-­r egional-­q ld/235/72, accessed 29/9/2019. 118. https://www.watoday.com.au/national/western-­australia/win-­cancels-­ wa-­news-­bulletin-­20120312-­1utvb.html, accessed 6/4/2019. WIN newsrooms in Bunbury and Kalgoorlie were initially retained while its Albany, Broome and Geraldton bureaus were closed. 119. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-­02-­18/win-­tv-­makes-­r egional-­ cuts/4525056, accessed 1/5/2019. 120. Chronicle (Toowoomba), 19/1/2012, p. 5; 17/2/2012, p. 7. 121. Morning Bulletin (Rockhampton), 19/5/2012, p. 34. 122. Chronicle (Toowoomba), 26/7/2012, p. 65. 123. https://tvtonight.com.au/2012/05/win-­tv-­weatherman-­peter-­byrne-­ to-­retire.html, accessed 8/4/2019. 124. https://www.themorningbulletin.com.au/news/popular-­weatherman-­ is-­returning-­on-­channel-­7/1569303/, accessed 8/4/2019. 125. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-­06-­26/win-­to-­move-­canberra-­ bulletin-­to-­wollongong/4782974, accessed 6/4/2019. Rivals Prime and Southern Cross both transmitted multiple news flashes for Canberra throughout the day to meet minimum local content requirements.

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145. Grant Wilson, email to Michael Thurlow, 2/5/2019. 146. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-3.13. 147. https://www.asx.com.au/index.htm, accessed 2/12/2019. 148. CT, 1/10/2016, p. 27. 149. Australian, 1/7/2016, p. 24. TDT operates under a 38B licence which was allocated to a joint venture between WIN and SCA to establish a third commercial television service for Tasmania. Affiliate fees for 38B licences are typically lower than for primary channels and their operation is considered something of a community service. Under the agreement, TDT agreed to pay Nine just under 20 per cent of its revenues for program supply. 150. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-­07-­01/channel-­9-­goes-­off-­air-­in-­ regional-­wa/7561024, accessed 5/7/2016. 151. AFR, 4/7/2016, p. 37. 152. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-3.12. 153. Daily Liberal and Macquarie Advocate (Dubbo), 23/6/2016. SCA had previously announced it would not be able to upgrade its transmission systems in time for the 1 July changeover from Ten to WIN. 154. It is important to note that, from July 2016, SCA operated as a Nine affiliate in major regional Queensland, Southern NSW, and Victoria markets, and a Seven affiliate in Tasmania and other remote area markets. 155. https://tvtonight.com.au/2018/02/seven-­s outhern-­c ross-­r enew-­ regional-­deal.html, accessed 11/4/2019. 156. Grant Wilson, cited in Mercury (Hobart), 10/3/2018, p. 12. 157. https://tvtonight.com.au/2018/06/southern-­c ross-­t elevision-­t o-­ rebrand-­as-­seven.html, accessed 6/4/2019. 158. Mercury (Hobart), 12/7/2018, p.  13; https://tvtonight.com. au/2018/07/oops-­not-­seven-­news-­yet.html, accessed 11/4/2019. 159. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlcOneEHvuw, accessed 11/4/2019. 160. Grant Wilson, email to Michael Thurlow, 14/4/2019. 161. https://www.southerncrossaustereo.com.au/media/media-­r eleases/ sca-­to-­outsource-­television-­playout-­services-­in-­canberra-­to-­npc-­media/, accessed 11/4/2019. 162. http://www.canberratimes.com.au/entertainment/tv-­and-­radio/nine-­ n a m e s -­t v -­n e w s -­m a n -­t o -­b a t t l e -­w i n -­p r i m e -­l o c a l -­b u l l e t i n s -­i n -­ regions-­20160816-­gqtnid.html, accessed 1/8/2018. 163. This applied to markets in which SCA was the Nine affiliate. SCA retained its news operations in Tasmania, Spencer Gulf/Broken Hill, Darwin, and Remote Central and Eastern Australia where it continued to operate as a Seven Network affiliate. 164. http://www.southerncrossaustereo.com.au/media/2016/11/07/nine-­ news-­to-­launch-­15-­regional-­news-­bulletins/, accessed 10/11/2016.

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165. NAA/Vic: MP1228/4, 21: Central Western Television Ltd, Application, 1959. 166. https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-­and-­radio/nine-­names-­tv-­ news-­man-­to-­battle-­win-­prime-­local-­bulletins-­in-­r egions-­20160816-­ gqtnid.html, accessed 20/8/2016. 167. http://www.smh.com.au/business/media-­and-­marketing/nine-­and-­ southern-­cross-­austereo-­to-­hire-­80-­new-­regional-­journalists-­20161107-­ gsjh6j.html, accessed 15/11/2016. 168. CWD (Orange), 10/11/2016, p. 6. 169. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-3.8. 170. NT News (Darwin), 9/9/2017, p. 3. 171. Regional TAM, email to Michael Thurlow, 22/4/2018. These markets comprised Cairns, Townsville, Mackay, Toowoomba, Canberra, Central West, Wollongong, Bendigo, and Ballarat. 172. https://www.poynter.org/reporting-­editing/2015/why-­does-­local-­ matter-­lets-­ask-­our-­audience/?__cf_chl_jschl_tk__=pmd_a4HWc.bPlzS T 8 p h f A E F F W 3 n i s g c j r u B Z y _ O E w K P c Q b g -­1 6 2 9 9 0 6 8 7 4 -­0 -­ gqNtZGzNAiWjcnBszQpl, accessed 1/7/2015. 173. I recall, for example, compiling and producing a news report on a new multiple-birth support group for Rockhampton mothers. Whilst this topic was of both interest and relevance to local viewers, it is unlikely that such a report would be aired under the current model. 174. https://tvblackbox.com.au/page/2019/2/15/exclusive-­channel-­9-­ axes-­2-­news-­bulletins, accessed 9/4/2019. It is worth noting that presenter Samantha Heathwood had previously presented WIN News Toowoomba and had familial ties with the local area. Despite these connections, the Nine News bulletin rated poorly and was among the first to be axed. 175. http://www.adnews.com.au/news/win-­network-­to-­launch-­sky-­news-­ channel-­after-­securing-­supply-­deal, accessed 24/10/2018; http:// more.skynews.com.au/sky-­news-­on-­win/, accessed 19/9/2019. 176. Morning Bulletin (Rockhampton), 6/8/2018, p. 6. 177. https://www.mediahubaustralia.com.au/news/#sky-­news-­switching-­ playout-­to-­mediahub, accessed 6/4/2019. 178. https://tvtonight.com.au/2020/03/southern-­cross-­staff-­forced-­to-­ take-­pay-­cuts-­annual-­leave.html, accessed 21/7/2021; PML, Annual Report, 2020, p. 2. 179. https://tvtonight.com.au/2020/03/nine-­n ews-­s uspends-­r egional-­ bulletins.html, accessed 10/3/2021. 180. Daily Liberal and Macquarie Advocate, 1/8/2020, p. 2. 181. https://mediaweek.com.au/kennedy-­a wards-­2 017-­w inners-­c hris-­ okeefe/, accessed 14/4/2019.

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182. https://mediaweek.com.au/queensland-­m ulti-­m edia-­a wards-­2 017-­ win/, accessed 14/4/2019. 183. Shauna Willis, email to Michael Thurlow, 25/9/2019. 184. https://www.theherald.com.au/story/5601634/newcastle-­tv-­show-­to-­ hit-­our-­screens/, accessed 9/4/2019. 185. Matt Cable, email to Michael Thurlow, 8/4/2019; Andrew Duigan, email to Michael Thurlow, 22/4/2019. 186. SMH, 13/5/1990, p. 148. 187. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-3.1. 188. These statistics were derived from multiple documents contained in NAA series B2152, B2305, C546, C3868, MP1170 and MP1839, ABT licence renewal reports and other sources. 189. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-3.7. 190. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-3.11. 191. https://www.themorningbulletin.com.au/news/Investigations-­still-­ underway/3047751/, accessed 6/4/2019; Morning Bulletin (Rockhampton), 15/2/2019, p. 4. 192. https://www.examiner.com.au/stor y/3783235/southern-­c ross-­ television-­to-­move-­on/, accessed 12/4/2019. 193. https://www.southerncrossaustereo.com.au/media/media-­r eleases/ sca-­t o-­o utsource-­t elevision-­p layout-­s er vices-­i n-­c anberra-­t o-­n pc-­ media/#:~:text=SCA%20to%20outsource%20television%20playout%20 ser vices%20in%20Canberra,ser vices%20for%20an%20initial%20 period%20of%20seven%20years., accessed 1/2/2020. 194. https://www.theherald.com.au/story/5526956/nine-­network-­sells-­nbn-­ television-­studios-­site-­to-­newcastle-­developer/, accessed 10/4/2019. 195. NT News (Darwin), 8/9/2019, p. 8. 196. CWD (Orange), 5/11/2018, p.3. 197. https://tvtonight.com.au/2019/06/southern-­c ross-­f inds-­n ew-­ fyshwick-­home.html, 26/6/2019, accessed 19/11/2020. 198. https://www.nbnnews.com.au/2020/10/13/nbn-­t elevision-­i s-­ moving-­to-­a-­new-­home-­in-­honeysuckle/, accessed 19/11/2021. 199. SMH, 21/2/2010, p. 1. 200. http://www.sevenwestmedia.com.au/investors, accessed 18/9/2019. 201. Age, 1/3/2013, p. 1; Australian, 2/3/2013, p. 23. 202. AFR, 14/3/2013, p. 1. 203. CT, 1/3/2014, p. 5; PML, Annual Report, 2014. Prime’s major shareholders following Ramsay’s departure comprised institutional investors including Perpetual Limited as well as interests associated with the Seven Network and Kerry Stokes. 204. CT, 3/5/2014, p. 5. 205. Australian, 8/5/2015, p. 21.

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206. http://www.smh.com.au/business/media-­a nd-­m arketing/bruce-­ gordons-­win-­to-­buy-­13pc-­of-­nine-­20151019-­gkdb3c.html, accessed 11/4/2019. 207. http://www.smh.com.au/business/media-­a nd-­m arketing/bruce-­ gordon-­e xpands-­h is-­m edia-­e mpire-­w ith-­s take-­i n-­n ine-­2 0151020-­ gkdr1w.html, accessed 11/4/2019. 208. Australian, 26/12/2015, p. 21. 209. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-­12-­31/win-­tv-­could-­go-­black-­if-­ nine-­impasse-­continues/7061396, accessed 4/1/2016. 210. Daily Examiner (Grafton), 23/5/2017, p. 3. 211. Age (Melbourne), 3/5/2017, p. 13. 212. Ten Network Holdings, Ten Group Enters Voluntary Administration (media release), 14/6/2017. 213. AFR, 8/9/2017, p. 40. 214. https://www.afr.com/news/ten-­a -­w akeup-­c all-­f or-­m edia-­r eform-­ mitch-­fifield-­says-­20170614-­gwqz3p, accessed 14/8/2018. 215. AFR, 27/6/2017, p. 3. 216. https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/lachlan-­m urdoch-­ bruce-­g ordon-­g et-­a ccc-­g reen-­l ight-­t o-­b uy-­t en-­2 0170824-­g y2w8q. html, accessed 28/8/2017. 217. Rod Sims, quoted in https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/ lachlan-­m urdoch-­b r uce-­g ordon-­g et-­a ccc-­g reen-­l ight-­t o-­b uy-­ ten-­20170824-­gy2w8q.html, accessed 1/10/2017. 218. https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/fox-­sports-­play-­from-­ news-­telstra-­lays-­path-­for-­foxtel-­float-­20170817-­gxythz.html, accessed 28/8/2017. The new entity would be 65 per cent owned by Foxtel with the remaining 35 per cent to be held by Telstra. 219. DT (Sydney), 29/8/2017, p. 17. 220. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-­08-­29/channel-­ten-­cbs-­takeover-­ plot-­twist-­seven-­nine-­will-­hate/8853182, accessed 1/9/2017. 221. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-­11-­10/cbs-­clears-­court-­hurdles-­ to-­takeover-­network-­ten/9138910, accessed 14/8/2018. 222. Australian, 31/10/2017, p. 4. 223. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-­07-­26/nine-­announces-­fairfax-­ takeover/10037712, accessed 14/8/2018. 224. https://mumbrella.com.au/the-­other-­companies-­involved-­in-­the-­nine-­ fairfax-­merger-­531786, accessed 12/9/2018. 225. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-­0 4-­3 0/nine-­s ells-­f air fax-­ community-­newspapers-­to-­the-­cat/11058066, accessed 4/6/2019. 226. SMH, 29/4/2019, p. 28. 227. http://theconversation.com/a-­modern-­tragedy-­nine-­fairfax-­merger-­ a-­disaster-­for-­quality-­media-­100584, accessed 14/8/2018.

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228. https://www.asx.com.au/index.htm, accessed 2/12/2019. 229. https://www.asx.com.au/index.htm, accessed 2/12/2019. 230. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-4.9; 4.10. 231. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-5.9. 232. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-4.9. 233. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-5.9. 234. PML, Annual Report, 2018, p. 66. 235. NEC, Annual Report, 2018, p. 113. 236. ACMA, Bruce Gordon breached media ownership and diversity rules (press release), 29/10/2019. 237. AFR, 18/10/2019, p. 22. 238. AFR, 14/10/2019, p. 9. 239. Australian, 18/10/2019, p. 18. 240. AFR, 16/12/2019, p. 17. 241. AFR, 20/12/2019, p. 16. 242. https://www.prime7.com.au/news/18636-­merger-­rejected, accessed 19/12/2019. 243. https://tvtonight.com.au/2021/07/sbs-­r enews-­p layout-­c ontract-­ with-­mediacloud.html 244. https://www.change.org/p/local-­members-­of-­parliament-­save-­our­voices-­fight-­for-­your-­local-­media 245. https://www.saveourvoices.com.au/, accessed 10/3/2021. 246. https://www.theguardian.com/media/2020/dec/09/australia-­i s-­ making-­google-­and-­facebook-­pay-­for-­news-­what-­difference-­will-­the-­ code-­make, accessed 25/8/2021. 247. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-­0 2-­1 9/facebook-­n ews-­b an-­ could-­backfire-­advertisers-­communities/13169930, accessed 25/8/2021. 248. https://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/entr y/facebook-­a ustralia-­ blocking-­access_au_6034c1b1c5b66dfc1021374a, accessed 25/8/2021. 249. https://www.cnbc.com/2021/02/23/facebook-­t o-­r estore-­n ews-­ pages-­for-­australian-­users-­in-­coming-­days.html, accessed 26/8/2021. 250. https://ministers.treasury.gov.au/ministers/josh-­frydenberg-­2018/ media-­r eleases/parliament-­passes-­news-­media-­and-­digital-­platforms, accessed 26/8/2021. 251. Australian, 10/3/2021, p. 14. 252. SMH, 26/3/2021, p. 24. 253. Australian, 10/3/2021, p. 15. 254. ESM/Appendices/Appendix-3.14. 255. https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/seven-­west-­media-­to-­ buy-­regional-­affiliate-­prime-­for-­132m-­20211101-­p594v3.html 256. https://tvblackbox.com.au/page/2021/12/23/prime-­shareholders-­vote­in-­support-­of-­seven-­network-­takeover/

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257. https://www.afr.com/companies/media-­and-­marketing/prime-­ceo-­says­lack-­of-­regional-­media-­reform-­left-­it-­facing-­failure-­20211124-­p59boh 258. ASIC Current and Historical Company Extract, PRT Company Limited ACN 000 764 867, 9/1/2022. 259. https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/seven-­c ompletes-­ prime-­deal-­as-­executives-­exit-­20220102-­p59lba.html 260. https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/companies/why-­kerry-­ stokes-­s even-­n etwork-­i s-­b etting-­o n-­p rime-­t ime-­a gain/news-­s tory/ d689c9ffdf188afd0ef6a0b743b144ba. Prime ceased production of a 30-minute local news service for Canberra in 2001. 261. https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/dataroom/southern-­ cross-­taps-­grant-­samuel-­for-­sale-­of-­its-­television-­unit/news-­story/131b 95f1477f4a20af72d7231f557c7e, accessed 5 March 2022. 262. Grant Wilson, email to Michael Thurlow, 21/7/2021. 263. https://www.mediadiversityaustralia.org/wp-­content/uploads/2020/ 08/Press-­release_final.pdf, accessed 26/8/2021. 264. https://www.mediadiversityaustralia.org/wp-­c ontent/uploads/ 2020/08/Who-­Gets-­To-­Tell-­Australian-­Stories_LAUNCH-­VERSION. pdf, accessed 26/8/2021.

Bibliography Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA). Broken Concepts: The Australian Communications Legislative Landscape (Canberra: AGPS, 2011). Commonwealth. Report of the Independent Inquiry into the Media and Media Regulation (Canberra: AGPS, 2012a). Commonwealth. Convergence Review Final Report (Canberra: AGPS, 2012b). Cunningham, Stuart. ‘Convergence’, in Bridget Griffen-Foley (ed.), A Companion to the Australian Media (North Melbourne: Australian Scholarly Publishing, 2014), pp. 116-117. Davies, Anne. ‘Freedom of Speech’, in Bridget Griffen-Foley (ed.), A Companion to the Australian Media (North Melbourne: Australian Scholarly Publishing, 2014), pp. 185-187. Quinn, Brian. ‘Convergence of Communications Technologies’, Elizabeth More (ed.), in TV 2000 Choices and Challenges (Sydney: ABT, 1990), pp. 96-107. Stone, Gerald. ‘Gyngell, Bruce’, in Bridget Griffen-Foley (ed.), A Companion to the Australian Media (North Melbourne: Australian Scholarly Publishing, 2014), p. 199.

CHAPTER 12

Conclusion

Digital disruption is driving media consolidation. You’re forced to make a choice, in or out? If you’re out, you need very deep pockets [to compete] against the likes of Google, Facebook and others.1 —Ian Audsley, Prime Media Group CEO, 2019

Regional communities in all parts of Australia have access to a greater range of commercial television services than ever before. But this has come at the cost of both localism and independence which were the hallmarks of government policy at the time licences were first granted in the 1960s. Since then, regional television has been shaped by the complex interplay of political, regulatory, economic, technological, industrial, and social forces. These influences have caused regional commercial television stations to shift from local, independent operation to little more than extensions of the metropolitan networks. It is difficult to imagine what those responsible for designing Australia’s television system, in which the ABC provided a national service, and commercial operators a local service, would make of the system in its current form. As this study has demonstrated, regional commercial television has developed in five distinct phases. These developments, in turn, have produced a number of liminal moments which have had an indelible impact on the sector. A key feature of this research has been the development of

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022 M. Thurlow, A History of Regional Commercial Television in Australia, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-10944-7_12

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a Localism-Independence Index. This device reveals sustained declines in both localism and independence from the 1960s to late 2010s and indicates a causal link between the remoteness of station ownership and decreases in local program productions. In other words, it seems the more removed a proprietor is from a station and the community it serves, the less likely that station is to provide content that is of interest and relevance to local viewers. Furthermore, the reduction in local programs as a proportion of total programs suggests that efforts to regulate minimum local content requirements have mostly been ineffective. The changing role and status of regional commercial television can be seen through a case study of CBN Central Tablelands (Orange, NSW) and its sister station, CWN Central Western Slopes (Dubbo, NSW). In many respects, the fate of Australia’s regional commercial television stations mirrors the broader patterns of prosperity and declines in the financial and social status of rural communities which have occurred over the same period. The first phase, the Establishment of regional commercial television up to the mid-1960s, was highly political in nature. The Menzies Coalition government’s 1955 decision to grant the first metropolitan commercial television licences to groups controlled by powerful newspaper and radio interests created an inherently unbalanced system in which the Sydney and Melbourne stations, as the major centres of production, sought to control commercial television across Australia. In 1959, the government announced it would extend television to country areas. This followed years of lobbying by regional communities which, as with the start of radio broadcasting in the 1920s and 1930s, desired services which catered to the specific needs of people outside the capital cities. Country Television Services Ltd (CBL) was formed in 1959 and was principally sponsored by local interests including radio industry stalwart Jack Ridley.2 In August 1960, CBL was granted the CBN licence, and the company commenced construction of its purpose-built Orange studios and Mount Canobolas transmitter. Its establishment was fostered by government regulations which restricted ownership to a maximum of two stations, a licence restriction which prohibited exclusive program supply and, perversely, an initial exemption from the ABCB’s Australian content quotas which limited its reliance on programs from the metropolitan stations. Regional stations were also a product of Australia’s geography, since many areas lacked the telecommunications infrastructure which would later link country with city in real time. CBN commenced test transmissions on 16 February

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1962 ahead of its official opening on 17 March. 3 Its program schedule in these early years included locally produced women’s, children’s, and quiz sessions. The station employed around 35 people and it was profitable by 1964, its second full year of operation. The Expansion of regional commercial television from the mid-1960s to the mid-1970s was dominated by economic concerns. The early part of this period saw Stages 4 and 5 in the government’s television development program. These extended services to a further 22 areas which were, on the whole, considered to be marginal. CBL was granted the adjoining Central Western Slopes licence. 4 CWN commenced operation from its Mount Cenn Cruaich transmitter in the Warrumbungle Mountains near Coonabarabran as a full relay of CBN on 1 December 1965. 5 By 1968, the stations had gained access to a PMG microwave link which enabled the direct relay of news and other programs from Sydney. This tendency towards dual station ownership and relay operation illustrates the tensions which existed between localism and independence and the need to remain financially viable. But this major expansion coincided with a downturn in economic conditions which threatened the viability of services in some areas. A deterioration in trading conditions, coupled with colour conversion costs and the need to comply with the ABCB’s Australian content quotas, placed many stations under financial pressure. In July 1973, CBN began providing MTN Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area (Griffith, NSW) with up to 95 per cent of that station’s programs on direct relay. Despite these hardships, the stations were, by now, at the heart of economic and social activity in their communities. In 1973, a CBN/CWN telethon raised over $10,000 for Junior Deaf Education, while an appeal for Regional Sheltered Workshops garnered $50,000 in donations. In 1975, CBN/CWN commenced colour transmissions and also established a permanent off-air link between Sydney and Orange for the pick-up of network programs from the Sydney stations.3 Within two years, CBL had risen to be the fifth most profitable company in Australia. The Maturation of regional television between the mid-1970s and mid-­ 1980s was driven by technological developments. This period of prosperity, coupled with the Fraser Coalition government’s 1979 decision to introduce a domestic communications satellite, positioned the sector as an ideal target for investment. In that same year, CBL provided airtime valued at more than $500,000 free of charge to local causes. By the early 1980s, CBN/CWN were known on air as “MidState Television” and employed almost 70 people. Local news, women’s, rural, information,

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religious, sport, and documentary programs were produced. An outside broadcast van was equipped to provide coverage of a diverse range of sporting and cultural events including ballroom dancing, rugby league, snooker, rugby union, basketball, cricket, tennis, and the inauguration of two local bishops. In 1983, businessman Sam Gazal acquired almost 20 per cent of CBL before gaining full control in 1985.6 In the mid-1980s, CBN/CWN (under independent ownership) joined with RVN/AMV to form “The Prime Network” for the joint sale of airtime to national advertisers. The Equalisation of regional commercial television between the mid-­1980s and the late 1990s was fused with both political and economic tensions. It was dominated by efforts to increase the number of television services in regional areas. But while such changes were positioned as giving regional audiences greater choice, they were primarily motivated by the Hawke Labor government’s desire to placate powerful metropolitan media mates who had accused it of botching the introduction of Australia’s domestic communications satellite. Its decision to aggregate the largest and most profitable regional commercial television markets while introducing a 60 per cent audience reach rule destabilised the industry. Paul Ramsay’s Ramcorp Ltd acquired CBN/CWN in 1988. In early 1989, the CBN/CWN’s and RVN licences, now under common ownership, were consolidated as CBN Southern New South Wales/ACT.  In December, the CBN/CWN/RVN service areas were aggregated with those of CTC Canberra and WIN Wollongong, with “Prime Television” as the Seven affiliate. The need to accommodate network program schedules brought a gradual reduction then cessation of local production except news and advertising. Outside broadcasts were abandoned. The Keating Labor government’s 1992 decision to increase its audience reach rule to 75 per cent enabled more extensive networking in both the metropolitan and regional television spheres. These conditions brought further declines in both localism and independence as the majority of licences were acquired by the Prime, WIN, and Southern Cross networks. The Disruption of regional commercial television from 2000 resulted from profound social and regulatory changes. The Howard Coalition government’s much-criticised introduction of digital television, which had positioned digital television as the next evolution of the medium rather than an opportunity for meaningful innovation, further entrenched the incumbency of existing commercial television operators. But the development of alternative content delivery platforms and changes in consumer

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preferences placed traditional broadcasting business models under pressure. In an effort to cut costs, Prime centralised master control and playout for individual stations, including CBN, to its national broadcast centre. In mid-2010, presentation of Prime News Central West was transferred from Orange to the network’s Canberra headquarters almost 300 kms away. The Bathurst Road studios were closed later that year after 48 years of operation. Prime’s remaining news and sales staff of around 10 people were relocated to a shop-front office. Meanwhile, the introduction of live streaming services by metropolitan networks also threatened to render regional affiliates as redundant. Commercial television operators—particularly the regionals—agitated for legislative reform. In 2014, Prime, WIN, and Southern Cross joined forces to launch their “Save the Voices” campaign to gain public support. In October 2016, network CEO’s Ian Audsley (Prime), Andrew Lancaster (WIN), and Grant Blackley (Southern Cross) told a Senate hearing that media diversity, local content, and regional jobs were at stake.7 The Turnbull Coalition government’s 2017 changes to media ownership and reach rules removed long-standing ownership and reach protections and led some commentators to question the relevance and viability of regional commercial television in the digital age. In a somewhat symbolic gesture, CBN’s Orange studios, which had been vacated in 2010, were demolished in late 2019.  Prime Media Group’s television assets were acquired by Seven West Media in December 2021; Prime7 and GWN7 branding was replaced with network wide Seven branding in mid-2022. The Hawke Labor government’s decision to equalise regional commercial television markets is arguably the most significant liminal moment in the sector’s history, as it irrevocably subordinated the interests of regional operators to those of the metropolitan networks. It is possible to imagine that the state, and fate, of the industry might have been markedly different had the government chosen to adopt the model proposed by regional operators, as discussed in chapter eight, in place of aggregation. Such a scheme might have enabled the regional stations to each focus on a particular aspect of program production. This output might then have been shared across all stations, through Regional Television Australia, via the national communications satellite, in a de facto fourth network arrangement. In any case, if aggregation had failed, it is likely that various interests, particularly the metropolitan networks, would have continued to apply pressure for structural change. In 2018, Free TV Australia described the industry as being at a “critical point in its history,” after having “changed more in the past decade than at any time since its creation”.8 But such change is likely to escalate further in the years ahead. FTA broadcasters, including those in regional areas, are

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likely to see a continuation of the long-term decline in so-called “appointment” viewing, where audiences watch programs according to a set schedule, as demand for SVOD services continues to experience strong growth. Industry analyst, Paul Budde, notes that Netflix has emerged as Australia’s dominant SVOD operator, while the Nine-owned Stan has also built a significant customer base. Furthermore, Budde says that incumbent operators have been late to act as their focus has been on protecting declining revenues from their existing business rather than establishing a meaningful presence in the SVOD market.9 Competition for viewers intensified with the Australian launch of the Disney+ and Apple TV+ streaming services in November 2019.10 The uptake of SVOD services in regional areas is also expected to increase as the National Broadband Network and 5G mobile technology is rolled out. Paul Budde cites this ageing of FTA television’s traditional audience, the continued decline in advertising revenue and the increase in low-cost, personalised entertainment services as the biggest threat to the FTA business model in the early 2020s.11 It is in this context that all three major regional networks considered plans for a full-scale merger. Under the scheme, which was put to the Minster for Communications, Cyber Safety and the Arts, Paul Fletcher, in March 2020,12 the television assets of Prime, WIN, and Southern Cross (SCA) were to be merged, or one network (most likely WIN, according to one source) would act as the acquirer. Such an arrangement was expected to release up to $30 million in capital, which would be invested in regional television’s future, and to create new revenue streams such as providing marketing services to regional businesses. The new entity was also to give a commitment, through legislation, to carry all the channels of metropolitan television networks Nine, Seven, and Ten, and an undertaking to provide a local news service in each regional market.13 Such an arrangement was, at the time of writing, prohibited under media legislation; however, regional networks have continued to lobby for regulatory change under their “Save Our Voices” campaign. SCA was, according to media reports, especially keen to offload its television operations.14 Such a move is, however, now unlikely, given Seven’s acquisition of Prime’s television assets; however, that transaction is likely to prompt further mergers between regional and metropolitan commercial television operators. Nine’s decision to enter into a seven-year affiliation agreement with WIN has been described as a potential precursor to a full-scale merger. Furthermore, the Nine-WIN tie-up has created a major anomaly in the Northern NSW market: NBN, a Nine owned and operated station,

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remains as a Nine affiliate, while WIN operates as the Ten affiliate. In this context, WIN could decide to offload its Northern NSW operations to Southern Cross (from which it was acquired in 2016) or other party. Such a move would add to the complexity of station ownership and program supply arrangements in regional commercial television. Another possibility is that WIN’s Bruce Gordon—who began his career as a magician— could seek to perform the trick of a lifetime by acquiring Nine Entertainment Co. In March 2022, the Australian Financial Review reported that Seven could acquire SCA’s television operations in Tasmania, with Network Ten a likely buyer for stations in other states. 15 WIN, too, has been cited as a potential acquirer of at least part SCA’s television business; however, this would be thwarted under the existing “one-per-market” rule, which limits a business to owning one television licence in any given market. It is in this context that incumbent operators are likely to agitate for further regulatory reform. Ironically, the removal of the “one-per-market” rule could facilitate the re-establishment of the regional commercial television ownership monopolies which had existed prior to aggregation in the 1980s–90s Cross. Regional operators will likely continue to seek ways to reduce their cost bases. In early 2019, SCA reduced the book value of its regional television operations by $200 million to zero. SCA’s decision was reportedly the first time that a commercial television operator declared its network had no tangible value.16 Significant costs have already been removed through the centralisation of operations and outsourcing of some functions to third parties such as MediaHub and BAI Communications (formerly Broadcast Australia). However, news production and presentation remain areas of major expenditure. The SCA/Nine outsourcing model, in place between 2016 and 2021, is likely to encourage other operators to at least consider similar arrangements. There is the remote possibility, given WIN’s Bruce Gordon is also Nine’s largest shareholder, that both companies could look to streamline their news operations. Another scenario could see Southern Cross, or even WIN, outsource news production and/or presentation to Australian News Channel (ANC), a News Corp Australia P/L subsidiary and producer of Sky News Australia. In December 2019, Sky News UK announced plans to launch regional bulletins in competition to the BBC and ITV.17 Although under separate ownership, Sky News Australia could adopt a similar approach to broaden its reach. Alternatively, regional networks could look to exploit the content generated from their local news services as an additional revenue

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stream.18 One option could involve supplying other regional media organisations, particularly newspapers, with video footage to fill out digital sites. In 2019, Prime CEO, Ian Audsley, said his company would be “open to a commercial discussion” with other outlets but doubted whether any would be willing to pay enough for this content.20 It is likely that secession-related changes will occur at some of the networks in coming years. In August 2021, it was announced that Kerry Stokes would step down as chairman of Seven Group Holdings Ltd. Stokes’ chairmanship of Seven West Media, which ultimately controls the Seven Network, remained unchanged.19 There is also the possibility of intergenerational change at WIN, should Bruce Gordon choose to pass the mantle to either his son Andrew or, more likely, his daughter Genevieve in the coming years.20 There is also the potential for regional television, radio, and newspaper groups to share newsgathering resources. This was undoubtedly one option being considered by Antony Catalano when he and Bruce Gordon defeated Seven’s immediate takeover plans for Prime in December 2019. Under such an arrangement, multi-media newsrooms could be established as joint ventures between established operators in each major regional market to supply raw or packaged news content to individual television, radio, and newspaper outlets. Such ventures could even operate in partnership with tertiary education institutions. Charles Sturt University has proposed a licensing partnership model in which skilled journalists would work alongside students to provide quality news content to media companies for dissemination via traditional channels as well as social media platforms.21 For its part, Prime has stated the potential for synergies between television and print newsrooms was dubious, given their different formats. The reduction of locally produced content has resulted in several notable grass-roots efforts to provide programs and content of interest and relevance to regional communities. In 2015, entrepreneur Adam Drummond launched WaggaWagga.TV, a video production and livestreaming company which also provides local interest VOD content including news, sport, information, and lifestyle segments.22 In 2017, Drummond announced plans to franchise his operating model under the banner of “reech.tv”: “We’ve seen production people made redundant at regional TV stations like WIN and Prime and with online technology it’s well and truly in their reach to become their own bosses”.23 Similarly, Australian company LIGR aims to provide cost-effective alternatives for livestreaming sporting matches direct to fans online.24 The firm cites an

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example of where Queensland Cricket has used its technology to live-­ stream amateur cricket club matches across Australia.25 Jock Given suggests that technological convergence is unlikely to bring the “end of television”.26 Seven West Media’s acquisition of Prime Media Group's television assets indicates we are witnessing the beginning of the end of regional commercial television as a distinct entity. This absolute and irrevocable merging of regional and metropolitan commercial television interests, with its resultant declines in localism and independence, is arguably the logical, if not inevitable, outcome from the complex interplay of political, economic, industrial, technological, and social forces which began almost 60 years ago. Australian regional commercial television—as with television around the world—is likely set for further transformations in the years ahead. In the words of media historian Erik Barnouw, “Not for one moment … has the subject sat still for its portrait”.27

Notes 1. Audsley, quoted in AFR, 18/10/2019, p. 22. 2. ABCB (1960, p. 9). 3. NFSA: 441923. 4. ABCB (1963, pp. 27–28). 5. ABCB (1966, p. 44). 6. CBL, annual report (1986). 7. I attended this Senate Environment and Communications Committee hearing in Sydney on 24/10/2016. 8. FTVA (2018). 9. https://www.budde.com.au/Research/Australia-­Pay-­TV-­Free-­to-­Air-­ TV-­Statistics-­and-­Analysis, viewed online 19/9/2019. 10. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-­7374495/Apple-­plans-­ launch-­streaming-­service-­two-­months.html, accessed 19/9/2019. 11. Paul Budde, email to Michael Thurlow, 20/9/2019. 12. https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/destined-­for-­market-­ failure-­regional-­tv-­s-­dire-­warning-­20210807-­p58gph.html, accessed 26/8/2021. 13. SMH, 22/3/2021, p. 30. 14. Australian, 18/9/2020, p. 16. 15. https://www.afr.com/companies/media-­and-­marketing/how-­southern-­ cross-­plan-­to-­sell-­tv-­assets-­could-­play-­out-­20220327-­p5a89p 16. https://www.crikey.com.au/2019/02/21/tv-­southern-­cross/, accessed 19/9/2019.

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17. Daily Telegraph (London), 18/12/2019, p. 1. 18. https://www.pwc.com.au/industry/entertainment-­and-­media-­trends-­ analysis/outlook/free-­to-­air-­television.html, accessed 15/10/2019. 19. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-­08-­25/kerry-­stokes-­steps-­down-­ as-­seven-­west-­group-­chair/100405032, accessed 26/8/2021. 20. https://www.news.com.au/finance/gordons-­girl-­in-­the-­r unning-­for-­ win-­television-­crown/news-­story/5f70c4fbacd64d3b7a7e3d1bd0f24af2, accessed 26/8/2021. 21. https://news.csu.edu.au/opinion/regional-­m edia-­s hutdowns-­a re-­a -­ partnership-­opportunity, accessed 3/10/2019. 22. http://waggawagga.tv/waggawagga-­tv/, accessed 13/4/2019; Adam Drummond, email to Michael Thurlow, 6/5/2019. 23. Adam Drummond, cited in Jobs For NSW, ‘National plans for regional TV streaming service’ (media release), 8/8/2017. 24. Australian, 1/5/2020, p. 19. 25. https://www.ligrsystems.com/case-­studies/how-­ligr-­and-­interact-­sport-­ teamed-­up-­to-­provide-­tv-­quality-­production-­to-­grassroots-­cricket-­games-­ all-­across-­australia, accessed 10/3/2021. 26. Given (2016). 27. Barnouw (1990, p. v).

Bibliography Australian Broadcasting Control Board (ABCB). Report and Recommendations to the Postmaster General on Applications for Commercial Television Licences in Provincial and Country Areas (Melbourne: AGPS, 1960). Australian Broadcasting Control Board (ABCB). Report and Recommendations to the Postmaster General on Applications for Licences for Commercial Television Stations in the Manning River, Central Western Slopes, Murrumbidgee Irrigation, Bega-Cooma, Broken Hill, Mildura, Murray Valley, Cairns, Mackay, Southern Downs, South East (South Australia) and Bunbury Areas (Canberra: AGPS, 1963). Australian Broadcasting Control Board (ABCB). Report and Recommendations to the Postmaster General on Applications for Licences for Commercial Television Stations in the Southern Agricultural Area and Central Agricultural Area of Western Australia (Melbourne: AGPS, 1966). Barnouw, Eric. Tube of Plenty: The Evolution of American Television (New York: Oxford University Press, 1990). Given, Jock. “There Will Still Be Television But I Don’t Know What It Will Be Called!’ Narrating the End of Television in Australia and New Zealand’, Media and Communication, Vol. 4, No. 3, 2016, pp. 109-122.

Appendices

Note on Electronic Supplementary Material (ESM) The appendices have been provided as Electronic Supplementary Material from the author’s website, www.channel35.au. They have been organised as follows: • Group 1: Licencing data • Group 2: Operational and financial data • Group 3: Program data • Group 4: Ownership data • Group 5: Shareholder data • Group 6: Technical data

Note on National Archives of Australia (NAA) Resources The appendices contain data extracted from hundreds of files held by the National Archives of Australia (NAA). Relevant resources have been detailed in the chapter endnotes. Files series have been listed below. For brevity, these NFSA resources have not been listed in the bibliography. National Archive of Australia (NAA)/ACT: A432: Attorney General’s Department, correspondence files, 1857– © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022 M. Thurlow, A History of Regional Commercial Television in Australia, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-10944-7

443

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APPENDICES

National Archive of Australia (NAA)/ACT: A452: Department of Territories (and its successors), correspondence files, 1901–90. National Archive of Australia (NAA)/ACT: A463: Prime Minister’s Department (and its successors), correspondence files, 1903– National Archive of Australia (NAA)/ACT: A571: Department of Treasury, correspondence files, 1901–78. National Archive of Australia (NAA)/ACT: A1838: Department of External Affairs (and its successors), 1914–93. National Archive of Australia (NAA)/ACT: A2700: Cabinet Secretariat, Curtin, Forde, and Chifley Ministries, 1941–49. National Archive of Australia (NAA)/ACT: A2718: Cabinet Secretariat, Bruce-Page Ministry, 1923–29. National Archive of Australia (NAA)/ACT: A4639: Cabinet Secretariat, Fourth Menzies Ministry, cabinet submissions and associated decisions, 1949–51. National Archive of Australia (NAA)/ACT: A4905: Cabinet Secretariat, Fifth Menzies Ministry, cabinet submissions, 1951–54. National Archive of Australia (NAA)/ACT: A4906: Cabinet Secretariat, Fifth Menzies Ministry, cabinet submissions, 1951–54. National Archive of Australia (NAA)/ACT: A4926: Cabinet Secretariat, Sixth Menzies Ministry, cabinet submissions, 1955–58. National Archive of Australia (NAA)/ACT: A4940: Cabinet Secretariat, Menzies and Holt Ministries, cabinet files, 1958–67. National Archive of Australia (NAA)/ACT: A4943: Cabinet Secretariat, Seventh Menzies Ministry, cabinet decisions, 1958–63. National Archive of Australia (NAA)/ACT: A5827: Cabinet Office, Eighth Menzies Ministry, cabinet submissions/decisions, 1963–66. National Archive of Australia (NAA)/ACT: A5628: Snowy Hydro Head Office, correspondence files, 1960–. National Archive of Australia (NAA)/ACT: A5818: Cabinet Office, Seventh Menzies Ministry, cabinet submissions/decisions, 1958–61. National Archive of Australia (NAA)/ACT: A5841: First Holt Ministry, cabinet submissions/decisions, 1966. National Archive of Australia (NAA)/ACT: A5842: Cabinet Office, Second Holt Ministry, cabinet submissions, 1966–67. National Archive of Australia (NAA)/ACT: A5868: Cabinet Secretariat, Second Gorton Ministry, cabinet submissions/decisions, 1968–69. National Archive of Australia (NAA)/ACT: A5869: Cabinet Office, Third Gorton Ministry, cabinet submissions, 1969–71.

 APPENDICES 

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National Archive of Australia (NAA)/ACT: A5908: Cabinet Office, McMahon Ministry, cabinet submissions, 1971–72. National Archive of Australia (NAA)/ACT: A12909: Cabinet Office, Second, Third, Fourth, and Fifth Fraser Ministries, cabinet submissions, 1975–83. National Archive of Australia (NAA)/ACT: A13977: Cabinet Office, First Hawke Ministry, cabinet submissions, 1983–84. National Archive of Australia (NAA)/ACT: A14039: Cabinet Office, Second, Third, and Fourth Hawke Ministries, cabinet submissions, 1984–91. National Archive of Australia (NAA)/NSW: C3868: ABA, ownership and control files, 1977–92. National Archive of Australia (NAA)/NSW & Vic: B2305: ABCB, commercial television station correspondence files, 1954–96. National Archive of Australia (NAA)/NSW: C3548: ABCB, general correspondence files, 1949–66. National Archive of Australia (NAA)/NSW: C4693: General Post Office, ABCB and ABT, radio and television service licences and schedules, 1928– National Archive of Australia (NAA)/NSW: C546: ABA, public inquiry exhibits and associated reports, 1956– National Archive of Australia (NAA)/NSW & Vic: B2152: ABCB, commercial television station files, 1956-93. National Archive of Australia (NAA)/Vic: MP1170/4: ABCB, television general and policy files, 1947–70. National Archive of Australia (NAA)/Vic: MP1170/5: ABCB, commercial television licensing, program, and technical files (various). National Archive of Australia (NAA)/Vic: MP1228/3: Royal Commission on Television, exhibits and transcripts of evidence, 1953–54. National Archive of Australia (NAA)/Vic: MP1228/4: ABCB, commercial television station application files (various). National Archive of Australia (NAA)/Vic: MP1233/4: ABCB, public hearings into television and broadcasting licence applications, 1958–71. National Archive of Australia (NAA)/Vic: MP1839/2: ABCB, television and broadcasting station files, 1947–77. National Archive of Australia (NAA)/Vic: MP1897/1: ABCB/ABT, commercial television station files, 1952–77. Principal among these resources are the commercial television station licence renewal reports produced by the Australian Broadcasting Control

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APPENDICES

Board (ABCB), and Australian Broadcasting Tribunal (ABT) in series B2152, B2305, MP1170/5, MP1839/2, and MP1897/1. For brevity, these reports have not been listed in the bibliography. The ABCB produced annual reports for each station, which comprised separate administrative services, program services, and technical services sub-reports. These were not numbered and have collectively been denoted as “LRR” in the endnotes. For example, the licence renewal reports for CBN for 1970 have been collectively referenced as “ABCB, CBN LRR, 1970”. The ABT produced a single report for each station, usually on a three-­ yearly basis. These were generally numbered, and details have been provided in the endnotes. For example, the BTV licence renewal report for 1986 has been referenced in the endnotes as “ABT, No. 585/86 R(T)”.

Note on National Film and Sound Archive (NFSA) Resources This project has utilised numerous artefacts held by the National Film and Sound Archive. These are indicated in the boxes (callouts) and endnotes in each chapter and can be located in the NFSA catalogue by searching on the title number. For brevity, these resources not been listed in the bibliography.

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Index

A Abbott, Tony, 396, 397 Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), 259 Advertising, 74, 114, 156, 199, 247 cigarette and tobacco advertising, 75 over-commercialisation, 172 sponsored program, 75, 114 sponsored program rate, 75 spot announcements, 75, 114 spot rate, 75, 114 time standards, 74, 172 Advertorials, see Shopping guides Advisory Committee on Educational Television Services (Weeden Committee), 93 Affiliation, 303, 314, 404 affiliation changes (2016), 7, 403 affiliation changes (2021), 7 Aggregation, 6, 12, 275, 293–295, 301–306, 337 Approved Markets, 293, 302 (see also equalisation) licence consolidation, 298

Albury Upper Murray TV Ltd, 109, 179 Allsop, Ray, 30 Alston, Richard, 354, 356, 357 Amalgamated Television Services Ltd, 32 Amalgamated Wireless Australasia Ltd (AWA), 18, 20, 21, 39, 67, 95 Amazon Prime, 5, 393 Amphlett, Patricia “Little Pattie,” 85 Ampol Stamp Quiz, 85 Anderton, Rick, 217, 261, 270 Andren, Peter, 8, 9, 211, 257, 259, 307, 362 Angel, Isabel, 116, 122, 129 Anglia Television (England), 68, 86 Ansett Airways, 39 Ansett, Reginald, 39 Anthony, Larry, 26, 27, 30 Apple TV+, 438 Armytage, Samantha, 2, 340 Artransa Park film studios, 77

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022 M. Thurlow, A History of Regional Commercial Television in Australia, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-10944-7

467

468 

INDEX

Arts programs, 93, 133, 177, 219 Christmas at the Inn (RTN), 93 A Christmas Carol (RTN), 93 East Lynne (AMV), 133 In the Land of Old King Cole (CBN), 93 The Mikado (AMV), 133 No Room at the Inn (RTN), 93 The Owl and The Pussycat (RTN), 219 Three Good Witches and the Bad, Bad Prince (DDQ), 177 The World of Jesus Christ Superstar (NBN), 177, 179 Aspermont Ltd, 272, 314 Associated Broadcasting Services Ltd, 135, 136, 165, 206, 221, 222, 225, 299, 302 acquisition of GMV (1970), 135 Associated Television (England), 68, 94, 134 Astley, David, 247, 301, 306, 309 Audience measurement, 114–115, 156, 200, 247 Audience research, 195, 198–199, 238 Audsley, Ian, 397 AUSSAT, 250, 329 Austar, 330, 358 Austarama Television P/L, 40 Austin-Wright, Amber, 368 Australia Fair, 58 Australian Broadcasting Authority (ABA), 326, 327, 339 Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC), 2, 4, 20, 29, 30, 114–115 Behind The News (ABC), 115 news relays to regional commercial stations, 125 Play School (ABC), 115 See also Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) Australian Broadcasting Company, 19

Australian Broadcasting Control Board (ABCB), 25, 30, 34–36, 38, 39, 54 Advisory Committee on Religious Programmes, 132 Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) Rage (ABC), 265 See also Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC) Australian Broadcasting Tribunal (ABT), 193–195, 292, 326 Australian Capital Television P/L, 224 Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), 360 Australian Community Media (ACM), 413, 414 Australian Consolidated Press Ltd, 40 Australian content quotas, 84, 166 Australian Federation of Commercial Broadcasters (AFCB), 25 Australian Journalists’ Association, 213 Australian Mutual Provident Society, 136 Australian News Channel, 257, 407 Sky News on WIN, 407, 416 Sky News Regional, 418 Australian Subscription Television and Radio Association (ASTRA), 354 Australian Television Facilities P/L (ATF), 54, 83, 126, 167, 170, 246 Awards, 270, 408 See also Logie Awards; Penguin Awards; Thorn EMI Awards B Baird, John Logie, 22 Ballarat and Western Victoria Television Ltd, 61, 221, 222 Barber, Tony, 202

 INDEX 

Barden, Roy, 145 Barlin, George, 64, 153, 168 Barlin, Karen, 174 Barnouw, Erik, 441 Barr, Natalie, 2, 313 Bartlett, Max, 77 Batchelor, John, 132 Bath, Chris, 2, 313 Bauer Media, 414 Beazley, Kim, 326 Bednall, Colin, 28, 34, 81 Begbie, Sally, 217, 270 Begg, Ken, 335 Bell, Kerry, 257 Bell, Tony, 337, 362 Bendat, Jack, 223, 241, 242, 274, 297 Bendigo and Central Victoria Telecasters Ltd, 61, 180 BigPond Movies, 390 Blackley, Grant, 396 Bok, John, 307 Bond Media Ltd, 300 Bond, Alan, 225, 274, 300 Bray, Colleen, 304 Breakfast programs, 125 Breakfast at Seven (CTC), 128 Pricey for Breakfast (TNQ), 371 Saturday on Seven (BKN), 128 Ten for Breakfast (FNQ), 128 Brice, David, 117, 128, 132 Brisbane TV Ltd, 36 British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), 20 Broadcast and Communications Ltd, 272 Broadcast Associates, 20 Broadcast Operations Ltd, 225, 272, 274, 298 Broadcaster video on demand (BVOD), 379–380, 391, 394 Broadcasting and Television Act, 163, 259, 292

469

Broadcasting for Remote Aboriginal Communities Scheme (BRACS), 244 Broadcasting Services Amendment (Media Ownership) Bill (2006), 372 Broadcom Australia, 274, 301, 328 Broadway, Remi, 338 Brogden, Stanley, 23 Broken Hill Television Ltd, 109, 180, 372, 373 Brough, Rob, 397 Brow, Rob, 87 Brown, Angela, 261, 263 Brown, Melanie, 338 Brown, Neil, 238 Brown, Norman, 86 Brown, Shirley, 362 Brown, Tara, 3 Brunning, Noel, 312 Bunting, E.J. (John), 37, 54 Burrows, Laurie, 86 Button, John, 293 Butts, Brian, 130 Byrne, Peter, 401 C Cable television, see Pay television Cahill, Shirley, 337 Callsigns, vii, 69, 157 Callsigns, changes to BTV/GMV to RTV (1989), 303 BTW/GSW to SSW (1990), 303 RTV to VTV (1990), 303 WBQ to SEQ (1976), 164 Calwell, Arthur, 31 Cameron, Donald, 24 Campbell, Craig, 218, 257 Canberra “TV Wars,” 335 Canberra Television Ltd, 61, 122, 164, 224

470 

INDEX

Canlab Film Laboratory, 122 Capital Television, 301, 303–304, 307, 308, 310 Caption cards, 67 Caralis, Bill, 298 Carroll, Andrew, 267 Catalano, Antony, 413, 414, 416, 440 Catch-up television, see Broadcaster video on demand (BVOD) Cato, Nancy, 77 CBS (American TV network), 6 acquisition of Network Ten (2017), 6 Centralisation, 358, 371, 399, 401, 402, 439 Chant, Dick, 130 Chapman, Janelle, 264 Chester, Johnny, 71 Children’s characters, 88, 129, 215, 263 Barney Sludge (AMV), 129 Big Bloo Roo (CTC), 174, 215 Big Dog (NBN), 262, 263, 312, 408 Buttons the Cat (NBN), 174, 262, 263 Carnaby the Bear (BTW), 174 Cedric (CTC), 88 Constable Kenny (CTC), 263 Dexter the Puppet (GMV), 215 Doopa Dog (GTW, later BTW), 215, 311, 369 Ebenezer G. Dragon (DDQ), 174 Fat Cat (TVW), 77 Howie the Yowie (TNT), 263 Joey the Clown (NRN), 129 Prime Possum (Prime), 338, 368 Rowdy Rabbit (CTC), 264 Rupert Rabbit (TNT), 215 Space Ace (WIN), 263 Strawberry Scarecrow (BCV), 88, 129

Uncle Ebenezer (DDQ), 215 Victor Featherhead (SES), 129 Yamba the Yerrampe (IMP), 338 Zac, the puppet in a bucket (GWN), 312 Children’s program committees, 262 Children’s programs, 87–88, 128, 129, 174, 214–215, 262, 368–369 Ace (WIN), 263 The Adventures of Bernie and Buttsy (AMV), 130 Afternoon Shift (CBN), 264 Arabella’s Attic (TNT), 129 Big Bloo Roo Show, The (CTC), 174 Big Dog and Friends (NBN), 262, 338 Birthday Book (BKN), 147, 174 The Breakfast Club (NBN), 214, 262 BTV Juniors (BTV), 77, 174 Chris’s Super Saturday Show (GMV), 264 Cohns Cobbers Teleclub (AMV), 129 Constable Kenny on Duty (CTC), 263 Constable Kenny’s Casebook (CTC), 263 Doopa’s Club (GWN), 369, 408 Early Shift (CBN), 264 4-2-5 (MVQ), 214 Fun Time with John Tyler (WIN), 129 GMV Juniors (GMV), 77 Goodsports (TVT), 311 GWN Saturday Club (GWN), 312, 369 Junior Auction (NBN), 88 Junior Police 7 (CTC), 263, 267 Just-4-Fun (GTS), 174, 214 Kid’s Army (TNQ/FNQ), 262, 310

 INDEX 

Kid’s News (WIN), 249, 263 Kid’s Only (BTV), 202 KTV (TNT/TVT), 263 Looking In (NBN), 170 Looking On (NBN), 174 Makin’ Trax (BTV), 214 Possum’s Club (Prime), 369, 408 The Prime Possum Show (Prime), 338, 368 Prime Saturday Club (Prime), 368 Quiz Quest (TNT), 214 Razzamataz (NRN), 263 Romper Room (CBN), 87 Romper Room (MTN), 88, 128 Romper Room (NBN), 88, 128, 174, 262, 312, 337 Romper Room (RTN), 88 Saturday Morning Live (CTC), 264 Six’s Super Saturday Show (BTV/ GMV), 264 Stopwatch (WIN), 214 Teleclub (WBQ/SEQ), 117, 129, 214 Televille (TNQ), 88 Ten Club (FNQ), 129 Three Cheers Show (NBN), 86 Triad (STV), 174 What’s Doing (GMV), 214 What’s Happening (CTC), 214 Yamba’s Playtime (IMP), 338, 371, 403 The Younger Set (RVN/AMV), 214 Children’s Television Workshop, Canberra, 218 Chippindall, Giles, 34 Christensen, Keith, 68 Christian Television Association, 175 Cigarette and tobacco advertising, 155, 156 Clarke, Liz, 131 Coaxial cable, 34–35, 81 Coleman, Barry, 260

471

Collignon, Madelaine, 369, 400 Color Tran Laboratories, 206 Colour television, 11, 112, 153–155 commencement, 154 cost, 154 demonstration, 153, 154 Commercial television applicant qualities, 31 unsolicited applications, 26 Commercial Television Australia, 360 Commercial television licences public hearings, 194 Community access programs, 177, 219 Panel Probe (GTS), 219 West of Coal Island (NBN), 177 Women in ’75 (WIN), 177 Community service, 76, 122, 165–166, 202, 249 Community television, 153, 241, 327, 331–332 Bendigo Community Television Inc, 331 BushVision, 332 LINC TV, 331 Novacast, 332 Competitions, 76, 156, 201 Conroy, Stephen, 378, 391, 396 Consolidated Media Holdings (CMH), 377 Consolidated Press, 226 Consolidated Press Holdings Ltd, 297 Consumer behaviour, changes in, 389–391 Convergence, 12, 18, 389 Cooking programs, see Family programs Cooper, Ron, 265 Coren, Anna, 340 Cork, Jan, 174 Cosser, Steve, 301, 328 Costello, Peter, 356

472 

INDEX

Coughlan, Ian, 158 Country music, 266 Country Television Services Ltd, 56, 61, 69, 109, 135, 164, 206, 210, 225, 251, 253, 273, 295, 297, 298, 302, 434 Country Women’s Association (CWA), 28, 29 COVID-19, 407 Cowan, Bill, 272 Cowin, Jack, 340 Cox, Jim, 300 Cracknell, Jo Anne, 261 Craig-Gardiner, Diana, 129 Craig-Gardiner, John, 217 Crawford, Dorothy, 33 Crawford, Hector, 33, 172, 221 Crawford Productions, 33, 124, 210, 221 acquisition by WIN, 299 Credlin, Peta, 397 Cremasco, Jacalyn, 374 Crook, Wes, 214 Cross-investment, 136, 165, 206 Crosthwaite, Peter, 68 Cullen, Alex, 365 Cullen, Barbara, 29 Cummiskey, Peter, 213 Curran, Charles, 301, 311, 341, 342 Current affairs programs, 92–93, 131–132, 173, 217, 267 Canberra Report (MVQ), 174, 267 Comment (FNQ), 131 Dateline Thursday (TNT/ TVT), 267 Footprints (IMP), 371 Network (BTW), 217 Newsweek (TNQ/FNQ), 217, 310 North West Current Affairs (ITQ), 267 Outlook (GMV), 267 Point of View (MVQ), 173

Scope (RVN/AMV), 267 University Comment (NEN), 131 The Voice of Youth (FNQ), 131 This Week (SEQ), 267, 271 What’s Your Opinion (DDQ), 92 Cyclone Althea, 165 Cyclone Daisy, 165 Cyclone Tracy, 154, 158, 165, 212 Darwin Appeal telethon, 166 D Dalton, Kim, 379 Dalton, Lara, 312 Dalton, Mike, 405 Daly-Watkins, June, 116 Daniels, Jan, 261 D’Arcy, Mike, 217 Dare, Eric, 136, 180, 222, 272 Dare and Company Ltd, 272 Dargie, Horrie, 71 Darling Downs TV Ltd, 61, 109, 136, 165, 206, 222, 253, 273, 298, 301, 302, 305, 306, 314, 341 Datacasting, 357, 392 Gold (WIN), 392 Television 4 (Prime), 392 TV4ME (Prime), 392 Davidson, Charles, 34–38, 54, 58, 59 Davis, Jason, 117 Davis, Melissa, 214 Dayparting, 33 Deane, Jan, 259 Denyer, Grant, 3, 340 Department of the Media, 148, 150–151 Department stores Myer, 61 Newcastle and Suburban Co-operative, 70 The Western Stores, 92 Desmond, Joanne, 361

 INDEX 

Dick, Nigel, 38, 197, 199 Digital television, 12, 353–356, 358–359 analogue switch-off, 377–379 high definition (HD), 378 multi-channel broadcasting, 354, 379 simulcast start dates, 358 subsidies, 356 Digital video recorders (DVRs), 390 Dinneen, Ray, 172, 212 Disney+, 438 Diversification, 2, 122, 164, 205, 252, 358, 376 Doctor Blake Mysteries, The, 62 Documentary programs, 210, 212–213, 268, 271, 339 Autumn Faces (GMV), 271 Footsteps of a Legend (GMV), 213 Goin’ Down The Road (CBN), 212 Goodbye Blinky Bill (NEN), 268 Hellfire Jack (BTV), 268 Killers of Twofold Bay (WIN), 221 No Fixed Address (WIN), 339 The Prime Ministers (RTA), 255 Rape of the Big Scrub (NRN/ RTN), 271 Salt and the Earth (GMV), 268 Sandakan The Untold Story (NBN), 339 Ships of Gold (GMV), 268 This Dawning Land (SEQ), 268 Dorsey, Mike, 273 Douglas, Harry, 19 Doyle, Melissa, 2, 313, 335 Drama programs Silent Number (ATF), 171 Drysdale, Denise, 3, 260, 311 Dual news presenters, 90, 400 Dual station ownership, 108, 134 Duffy, Michael, 241, 242, 291, 292, 294

473

Dunn, Roger, 212, 257 Durie, Robert, 33–34 DVD-by-mail, 390 Dwyer, April, 260 Dye, Bianca, 376 Dyer, Bob, 85 Dyer, Dolly, 85 Dyson, Graham, 270 E Eady, Ken, 86 East Coast Television Ltd, 109, 179, 180, 222 financial failure, 135 Eather, Rosemary, 3, 78, 88, 126 Eddy, Chris, 264 Eddy, Graeme, 310 Education programs, 93, 133, 176–177, 218, 268 Activeight (WBQ), 177 Australia, Naturally (NEN), 269, 271 Beating Around the Bush (NBN), 219 Changing Education – Why Bother? (CTC), 218 Effective Communication (RVN), 176 It’s Your Business (CBN), 176 Junior News and Sport (NBN), 133 Lumiere (NBN), 177 Meeting in the Middle (CTC), 218 Nganampa Anwernekenhe (IMP), 312 Tech on TV (VEW), 177 Watch This Pace (GMV), 268 You, Me and Education (BTV), 218 Educational television, 93, 153 Efficiency ratio, 83, 121, 164 Elcoate, Steve, 266 Electronic Industries Ltd, 38, 136

474 

INDEX

Electronic newsgathering (ENG), 162, 250 Elelman, Susie, 159, 199, 369, 376 Elliott, Gordon, 256 Elliott, John, 163, 197, 224, 239 Elliott, Malcolm T., 217 Elliott, Tom, 22 Email Ltd, 136 Emdur, Larry, 249 ENT Ltd, 272, 299, 300, 341 acquisition of ABS (1988), 300 Equalisation, 291–293, 333 See also Aggregation; Supplementary licences Erby, Nick, 265 Evans, David, 212 Ewart, Don, 1, 90 Ewart, Jennifer, 214 Examiner-Northern TV Ltd, 135, 253, 275 Expenditure, 82, 121, 164 EzyDVD, 390 F Facebook, 391, 393, 394, 415 Facilities companies Queensland Provincial Telecasters, 83 Victorian Country Telecasters P/L, 82 See also Australian Television Facilities (ATF); Group Television Services P/L Facsimile broadcasting, 23 Fairfax Media Ltd, 393, 397, 411–413 acquisition by Nine (2018), 6 (see also John Fairfax and Sons Ltd) Fairfax newspapers, 226 Family programs, 86–87, 131, 173, 215–216, 259

An Afternoon Affair with Errol (DDQ), 173 Bird Talk (SEQ), 260 Coffee Break (DDQ), 260 Coffee Break (TNQ), 159 Cooking Better Electrically (TNQ), 87 Cooking with Di Coffey (CBN), 215 Cooking with Julie (BTV), 126 Country Girl (BTW), 215 Dee Dee and Company (GLV), 311 Edgell’s Country Kitchen (CBN), 87 Eye Spy (TNQ), 159 Feminine Touch (RTQ), 260 Fun Cooking with Bob Fenn (CBN), 215 Grape Vine (SEQ), 261 Home on Three (NBN), 86 Inside Dooley’s Kitchen (SEQ), 261 I’ve Got Gardenitis (BTV), 215 Jazzercise (NRN), 261 Jazzercise with Jo Anne (WIN), 261 Jazzfitness (NBN), 261 King in the Kitchen (RVN), 261 Midday Show (BTV), 86 The Morning Show (BTV/GMV), 259, 269 North Queensland Today (TNQ/ FNQ), 260, 310 Petticoat Panel (RVN), 131 Radiant Living (FNQ), 131, 337 Rendezvous (NEN/ECN), 260 Round About (NRN/RTN), 260 Shape Up (SEQ), 261 Tea and Biscuits (BTW), 131 Today Extra (NBN), 337 Trav’l Tips (NRN), 261 Travelcade (TNQ), 261 Travel Time with Jayes (NBN), 87, 262 2.30 Live (TNQ/FNQ), 260

 INDEX 

Wednesday Magazine (BTV), 86 Wednesday Magazine (GLV), 260 Wednesday Matinee (BKN), 128 Wednesday Woman (SES), 131 WIN Today (VTV), 337 Woman’s World (GTS), 173 Woman’s World (RTQ), 260 Woman’s World (SES), 131, 173, 215 Women’s Magazine (GMV), 77 Women’s World (RTQ), 215 Fargher, Fred, 175, 265 Far Northern Television Ltd, 109 Federation of Australian Commercial Television Stations (FACTS), 249, 329, 354, 356, 360, 363 Federation of Australian Radio Broadcasters (FARB), 21 Fenn, Bob, 215 Ferguson, Mark, 2, 248 Fetch TV, 390 Fifield, Mitch, 397, 398, 412 Film Australia, 209 Financial deregulation, 296 Financial performance, 82–83, 121–122, 164, 166, 205–206, 252–253, 314 See also Profitability Finkelstein, Ray, 395 Finlay, Murray, 86, 90, 172 Fisk, Ernest, 22 Fitzpatrick, Kate, 209 Fleay, Stephen, 92, 132 FM broadcasting, 151–153 Band II clearance, 152, 295–296 Foley, Brian, 27, 29 Fordham, David, 202 Forrest, Tony, 314 Forsyth, Arnold, 112 Fox, R.W., 80, 81 Fox Sports, 412

475

Foxtel, 329, 330, 354, 390, 391, 393, 398, 412 Foxton, Maud, 28 Frangopoulos, Angelos, 3, 257, 407 Franks, Mary, 307 Free TV Australia, 360, 378 Freeview, 378, 394 Frequency changes DDQ/TVQ (1988), 298 GLV/ATV (1980), 205, 237 NRN (1966), 112 Frew, Alistair, 340 Frydenberg, Josh, 415 Future Flipper, 206 G Galaxy, 329, 330 Gamble, William (Ray), 110, 113, 163, 197, 202, 272, 295, 299, 315, 342 Gatenby, Jeanette (Cooper), 116 Gaylard, Rob, 257 Gazal, Sam, 273, 275, 315 Gazzard, Carolyn, 173 General Television Corporation Ltd, 32, 35, 38 Geraldton Telecasters P/L, 148, 242, 297, 298 Ghidella, Sharyn, 313 Gibson Committee, 23 Gibson, Daniel, 399 Gibson, William, 23 Gilbertson, Graeme, 131 Gillies, Kylie, 2 Gillies, Mark, 248 Gippsland-Latrobe Valley Telecasters Ltd, 61, 95 Gleeson, John (Jack), 20, 58, 68, 112, 340 Glyn, Fernande, 124 Goff, Gary, 270

476 

INDEX

Golden West Network Ltd, 224, 241, 245, 272, 274, 275, 297, 365 Golden West Satellite Communications P/L, 245, 246 Goodings, Graeme, 175 Google, 415 Gordon, Andrew, 374, 440 Gordon, Bruce, 6, 223, 274, 296, 299, 305, 310, 315, 329, 341, 374, 375, 403, 411, 413, 416, 439, 440 acquisition of WIN, 222 investment in Prime, 413 Oberon Broadcasters P/L, 222 privatisation of WIN, 299 Scholarship for Journalism, 402 Gordon, Genevieve, 440 Gordon, Terry, 266 Goulburn Murray Television Ltd, 61, 162, 165 Grant, Jack, 68 Grant Broadcasters, 376 Graves, Tim, 270 Great Depression, 22 Green, Frank, 193 Greste, Peter, 249, 258 Griffiths, Paul, 111 Groen, Sara, 338 Group Television Services P/L, 147, 240, 242, 273 Grundy, Reg, 315 GTW Geraldton (WA), 149 Gulpilil, David, 210 Gyngell, Bruce, 193, 223, 226, 329, 393 Gyngell, David, 393 H Hadjoin P/L, 272 Hall, Jo, 406 Hammond, Happy, 71 Hansen, Clarke, 114 Hardie, Bob, 269

Hargreaves, John, 210 Harper, Bernie, 130 Hartigan, John, 414 Hassell and McConnell architects, 61 Hawke, Robert (Bob), 291, 293, 294, 302, 326 Haynes, David, 305 Hayward, Trevor, 68 Haywood, Nick, 270 Hebblewhite, Ted, 176, 270 Henderson, Brian, 85 Henderson, Rupert (‘RAGs’), 35, 37, 54, 95, 137, 179, 180, 224 Henry Jones (IXL) Ltd, 136 Herald and Weekly Times Ltd, 21, 40 Herald-Sun TV Ltd, 32 Heylen, Syd, 33 Higginbotham, Darien, 110 Higginbotham, Ernest, 113, 224 Hill, Ian “Beat,” 219 Hillhouse, Leisl, 263 Hiscock, Geoff, 307, 335, 337 Hodges, Glenice, 68, 88 Hogan, Doug, 307 Holmes à Court, Robert, 315 Homestead and Community Broadcasting Satellite Service (HABCSS), 245 Horrocks, Blake, 22 Howell, Francis, 29 Howson, Denzil, 129 Hoy, Allan, 3, 92, 273 Humphrey B. Bear, 215 Humphries, Cameron, 264 Humphries, Lincoln, 408 Hunt, Scott, 262 Hurst, John, 260 I Ice TV, 390 Imparja Television, 241, 246, 295, 315, 333, 334, 338, 339, 341, 371, 397, 403

 INDEX 

Imported programs, 123, 206, 254 And Mother Makes Five, 167 And Mother Makes Three, 167 Battlestar Galactica, 206 The Beverly Hillbillies, 85 Bewitched, 123 B.J. and the Bear, 206 The Brady Bunch, 167 CHiPs, 206 Coronation Street, 85, 123 Dallas, 207, 256 Days of Our Lives, 123, 304, 333 Dynasty, 256 Eight is Enough, 207 Father Dear Father, 167 The Flintstones, 85 Get Smart, 123 Gilligan’s Island, 167 Hogan’s Heroes, 123 I Dream of Jeannie, 123 I Love Lucy, 85 Lost in Space, 123 The Mary Tyler Moore Show, 167 Maverick, 123 McHale’s Navy, 85 The Mickey Mouse Club, 85 The Money Changers (miniseries), 207 Peyton Place, 123 (see also Program sources) Rawhide, 85 Roots (miniseries), 207 Sesame Street, 115 Superman, 85 Wagon Train, 85, 123 Income, 82, 121, 164 Independence quotient, 9, 10, 95, 136, 180, 226, 275, 301, 315, 343, 377, 413 Independent Broadcasting Authority, 169

477

Independent programs A Sunburnt Country, 209 The Fabulous Century, 209 It’s An Odd Country (RTA), 255 Young Ramsay, 210 Independent Television Corporation P/L, 38 Independent Television News Australia (ITNA), 209 Independent Television Production Group (ITPG), 209, 269 Australian Oddities, 210 The Coast Kid, 210 Gulpilil–The Real Australian, 210 Kid’s Country, 209 The Men From Snowy River, 209 Tell Me More, 209 Indigenous interest programs Milbindi (BTW), 312 Information programs, 91, 132, 176, 216, 266 Around The Schools (CBN), 216 CES Job Shop (GMV), 266 Community Corner (GMV), 266 Country Affair (Trans Media), 169 CountrySide (NEN), 176 Farming Today (BTW), 266 Farm Topics (MTN), 132, 176 Junior Farmers (DDQ), 91 On Stage (RTN), 133 Points West (CBN), 176 Police 7 (CTC), 266 Rural Roundup (CBN), 266 Rural Topics and News (RTN), 133 Rural Views (DDQ), 91 Stock Report (STV), 266 This Week in Agriculture (BTV), 266 Top Town Quest (DDQ), 91 Inglis, Ken, 19 Inman, John, 207

478 

INDEX

Inquiries Adequacy (2004), 364–365 Adequacy of news and information (2001), 362–363 Convergence Review (2011), 395 Foster Inquiry (1981), 238 Green Inquiry (1976), 193 Localism (1983), 243 McLean Inquiry (1973), 151–152 Satellite Program Services (1983), 243–245 SSCESA (1971), 149–151 Interactive television, 357 Internet Protocol Television (IPTV), 390 Inter-regional relays, 160 ITQ Mount Isa (Qld), 149 J Jacobs, Steven, 3, 249, 263 Jayes Travel Service, 206, 262 Jeffrey, Nat, 337 Jingles and slogans, 248 Jinks, Peter, 128 Joel, Asher, 180, 224 John Fairfax and Sons Ltd, 40, 224, 315 Johns and Waygood, 66 Johnston, Kerryn, 374 Joint ventures, 372–375 Central Digital Television (SCB/ IMP), 373 Darwin Digital Television (SCB/ Nine), 373 Darwin Digital Television P/L (SCB/Nine), 373 Eastern Australia Satellite Broadcasters P/L (IMP/SCA), 391 Mildura Digital Television P/L (Prime/WIN), 373 TasTV P/L (SCB/WIN), 372, 373

WA Satco P/L (Prime/WIN), 391 West Digital Television No. 2 P/L (Prime/WIN), 373 West Digital Television No. 3 P/L (Prime/WIN), 373 West Digital Television No. 4 P/L (Prime/WIN), 373 West Digital Television P/L (Prime/WIN), 373 Jones, David, 195 Jose, Adrian, 70, 84 K Katter, Bob, 396 Kay, George, 131 Kaye, Barbara, 86 KCTV P/L, 340–341 acquisition of NRTV (1994), 341 See also Telecasters Australia Ltd Keating, Paul, 293, 294, 326, 328, 343 Kehoe, Fred, 133 Kellaway, Sue, 256 Kelly, Ned, 213 Kemp, Sid, 222 Kenison, Tony, 216 Kennedy, Gerard, 124 Kennedy, Graham, 35, 85, 211 Kennedy, Trevor, 315 Kenny Dog Wonder, 263 Kerin, John, 326 Khoury, Peter, 174 Kidd, Maree, 172 Kilgour, Don, 257 Kilgour, Rod, 257 kinescope recordings, 79 King Quinn Productions, 220 King, Bernard, 220, 261 Kininmonth, Christine, 307, 335 Koch, David, 313 K-tel, 253

 INDEX 

L Lake, Dawn, 33 Lamb, Stewart, 54, 57 Lancaster, Andrew, 394, 397, 402 Lane, Don, 35 Lanyon family, 224 Lanyon, Bill, 272 Lappan, Allan, 86 Larkin, Mike, 308 Lawler, Denise, 124 Lawrence, Ron, 91 Lean, Bill, 154, 156 Leibmann, Steve, 132 Leonard, Peter, 335 Leslie, Ian, 78 Lever, Graham, 217 Leyland, Mal, 220 Leyland, Mike, 220 Licence fees, 82, 121, 164 Licence period, 326 Licence renewals, 113 abolition, 339 Liddle, Catherine, 371 Liebmann, Steve, 117, 256 Lifestyle programs, 256, 369, 370 Alive and Cooking (WIN), 369 Fishing Australia (WIN), 369, 409 Homes of Australia (TNT), 370 Hook, Line and Sinker (SCA), 409 Hook, Line and Sinker (TNT), 370 Location… Lifestyle… Living (NBN), 408 Postcards Australia (WIN), 369 Light entertainment programs, 91–92, 132, 175, 216–217, 263 Airwaves (TNQ), 265 Allan Hoy Show (WIN), 92 An Evening With (CTC), 132 Astor Showcase (NBN), 86 BHP High School Quiz (NBN), 132 BHP High School Quiz (WIN), 175 Breezin’ (BCV), 202, 216

479

Chalk It Up (CBN), 92 Charity Challenge (SEQ), 217 Cinderella Story (GLV), 91 Corroboree Rock (IMP), 338 Country By Request (GMV), 216 Executives, The (WIN), 178 Hammond Harmonies (RTN), 92 Here Tonight (NBN), 132, 175 Hit Pick (RTQ), 265 In Newcastle Tonight (NBN), 175 In Wollongong Tonight (WIN), 217 Jackpot Quiz (CBN), 92, 117 Jackpot Quiz (CTC), 92 Jackpot Quiz (NBN), 92 Junior Magazine (RTN), 91 Magazine Time (RTN), 91 Make The Grade (DDQ), 175 Matinee Melody (CBN), 92, 132 Music Express (RTS), 265 Music Man (BTW/GSW), 132 Music, Music, Music (CBN), 92 Must Be Country (NEN), 266 National Star Quest (ATF/Grundy), 208, 220 New Faces (SEQ), 216 Nick Erby’s Country Close-up (CTC), 210, 265 Noughts and Crosses (RTQ), 92 Off The Record (BTV), 202 Right On (NBN), 216 Rock Till Dawn (CTC), 265 Saturday Show, The (TNT), 175 Showbiz ‘81 (BTV), 264 Showbiz ‘82 (BTV), 264 Sincerely Yours (NBN), 86 Six Showcase (BTV/GMV), 264 Six Tonight (BTV), 175, 216, 264 Six’s Super Saturday Show (BTV), 202 Sounds Like Country (GMV), 217 Star Quest (GMV), 175, 216, 265 Susie (WIN), 369

480 

INDEX

Light entertainment programs  (cont.) Teenbeat (NBN), 86 Tempo (NBN), 86 Thursday Night Live (BTV), 175, 265 Tonight (WIN), 217 Tonight In Canberra (CTC), 117, 132 Tonight with Ernie Sigley (BTV), 264 Travlin’ Out West (Grundy), 170 Trax (RTQ), 216 Up, Up and Away (DDQ), 170 Variety Roundabout (NEN), 216 Video Rock (RVN/AMV), 216 LIGR, 440 Lilburn, Herb, 113, 147, 180, 224, 240, 242, 273 Limb, Bobby, 71 Liminal moments, 32, 60, 109, 155, 197, 245, 296, 328, 359, 398 Limpus, Charles, 217 Linter Group, 274, 298 Live streaming, 394 Local content requirements, 397 Localism, 4, 19, 238, 243, 306–313, 360–371, 398–402 Localism marker, 9, 85, 124, 169, 208, 255, 310, 339, 371, 409 Localism-independence index, 9, 10, 95, 137, 181, 227, 276, 316, 343, 381, 419 Local news and information licence conditions, 363 Logan, Rhonda, 263 Logie Awards, 78, 86, 168, 178, 202, 209, 213, 221, 269, 271, 339 Looms, Barry, 213 Lowy, Frank, 241, 297, 301, 340 Luciano, Antony, 220 Luck, Peter, 209 Lynas, Tony, 259

Lynch, Donna, 264 Lyons, Joseph, 21 M MacDonald, Alistair, 270 Macdonald, Hamish, 3 MacIntosh, Pam, 173 Mackay Television Ltd, 109, 206, 251, 273, 274, 297, 315 Macquarie Broadcasting Service, 24, 35, 54, 125 Macquarie Regional Radioworks P/L, 376 Macsween, Prue, 159 Magee, Wayne, 129 Maher, Edwin, 122, 131 Marconi, 67 Marsden, William, 113, 116, 156 Marsh, Athol, 262 Marsh, Ray, 216, 261 Martin, Ray, 78, 400, 415 Marwick, Judith, 147 McBride, Philip, 31 McClelland, Douglas, 148, 162–163, 169–172 McClelland, James, 149–150 McDowell, Val, 22 McGready, Bob, 92, 117 McKern, Leo, 268 McKinnon, Leila, 340 McMahon, William, 56 McManus, Frank, 112, 197 McQuestin, David, 300 Meahan, Andrea, 88 Meakin, Peter, 3, 116 Media concentration, 339–340 Media ownership rules, 21, 38, 394, 396, 398 audience reach rule, 293, 294, 397 two-out-of-three rule, 397 two-station rule, 292 Media reform, 325–327, 397, 398

 INDEX 

Medical films The Lazy Pancreas (WIN), 178 Melbourne Olympic Games (1956), 30, 31 Melville-Jones, Meredith, 263 Mendelsohn, Ronald, 17, 57 Menzies, Robert, 30, 35, 37 Merchandising, 215 Mergers and takeovers, 134, 179, 271 Metropolitan commercial radio stations 3DB Melbourne (Vic), 22 3UZ Melbourne (Vic), 22 2UE Sydney (NSW), 22 Metropolitan commercial television licences ADS Adelaide (SA), 36, 301 ATN Sydney (NSW), 32, 34, 35, 37, 38, 40, 54, 55, 73, 77, 83, 124, 125, 315 ATV Melbourne (Vic), 40, 61, 74, 164, 205, 226, 297 BTQ Brisbane (Qld), 36, 125, 253, 298, 307, 315 GTV Melbourne (Vic), 32, 34, 35, 37, 38, 40, 55, 73, 75, 80, 81, 119, 125 HSV Melbourne (Vic), 32–35, 37, 38, 40, 55, 68, 79, 80, 90, 124, 315 NEW Perth (WA), 241, 301, 374 NWS Adelaide (SA), 36, 37, 75, 206, 209, 215, 272 QTQ Brisbane (Qld), 36, 73, 213 SAS Adelaide (SA), 40, 164, 206, 209, 315 STW Perth (WA), 40, 164, 209, 274, 300, 335, 374, 375 TCN Sydney (NSW), 1, 32–35, 37, 38, 40, 54, 58, 73, 74, 164, 393 TEN Sydney (NSW), 40, 74, 158, 226, 297

481

TVQ Brisbane (Qld), 40, 164, 172, 274, 298, 301 TVT Hobart (Tas), 36, 180, 200, 205, 206, 209, 253, 267, 275, 299, 300, 311, 341 TVW Perth (WA), 36, 77, 165, 206, 209, 315 Metropolitan programs, 85 Against The Wind (miniseries), 207 All the Rivers Run (miniseries), 256 Are You Being Served? (Australian version) (ATV), 207 Bandstand (TCN), 85, 124, 147 Beauty and the Beast (ATN), 124 The Bert Newton Show (ATN), 304 Blankety Blanks (TEN), 211 Bluey (HSV/Crawfords)), 220 Bodyline (miniseries), 256 The Box (ATV/ Crawfords), 168–169 BP Super Show (GTV), 71 A Country Practice (ATN/ JNP), 304 The Cowra Breakout (miniseries), 256 The Curiosity Show (NWS), 168, 206 A Current Affair (TCN), 117, 168 The Delo and Daly Show (HSV), 79, 81 The Dismissal (miniseries), 256 Division 4 (GTV/Crawfords), 124, 166, 220 The Flying Doctors (Nine/ Crawfords), 256 For the Term of His Natural Life (miniseries), 256 Good Morning with Rosemary (TEN), 78, 126 The Henderson Kids (Ten/ Crawfords), 256 Here’s Humphrey (NWS), 124, 168, 206

482 

INDEX

Metropolitan programs  (cont.) Homicide (HSV/Crawfords), 33, 85, 124, 166, 220, 221 Hunter (GTV/Crawfords)), 124 In Melbourne Tonight (GTV), 35, 85 The Last Outlaw (miniseries), 207 The Magic Circle Club (ATV), 78, 85, 124 Matlock Police (ATV/Crawfords), 166, 221 The Mavis Bramston Show (ATN), 85 The Midday Show with Ray Martin (TCN), 261, 333 The Mike Walsh Show (TEN), 207, 261 MTV (TCN), 265 Name that Tune (TCN), 33 Number 96 (TEN/Cash Harmon), 156, 166, 168–169, 172, 273 Pick a Box (TCN), 85 The Power, The Passion (ATN), 304 Prisoner (ATV/Grundy), 207 The Restless Years (TEN/Grundy), 158, 207, 210, 211 Return to Eden (miniseries), 256 Richmond Hill (TEN/Grundy), 158 Rosemary’s Roundabout (QTQ), 78 Sale of the Century (GTV), 202, 333 Shirl’s Neighbourhood (ATN), 207 Simon Townsend’s Wonder World (TEN), 263 60 Minutes (TCN), 78, 207 Skippy (TCN), 147 Sound Unlimited (ATN), 168 The Sullivans (GTV/Crawfords), 207, 210, 221 Sunday (TCN), 270 Sydney Tonight (TCN), 35 This Is Your Life (ATN), 207 Today (1968) (TCN), 114 Today (1982) (TCN), 117

Totally Wild (TVQ), 263 A Town Like Alice (miniseries), 256 VFL Match of the Day (HSV), 266 Wide World of Sport (TCN), 118 Willesee at Seven (ATN), 207 Wombat (BTQ), 202 The Young Doctors (TCN/ Grundy), 158 Young Talent Time (ATV), 168, 207 Michaels, Harry, 220 Microwave links, 125, 160, 161 Middleton, Elizabeth (Libby), 87 Mid-Western Television P/L, 148, 203, 204, 272, 274, 298 Migrant workers, 66 Millar, Lisa, 340 Miller, Harry M., 194 Miller, Monte, 220 Mining Television Network, 205, 241 Mirror Newspapers Ltd, 73 Molin, Erin, 3 Moran, Richard, 3, 249, 270 Morovich, Mike, 266 Morrison, Errol, 173, 215 Moses, Charles, 29–30 Mount Isa Television P/L, 148, 206, 301 Movietone newsreels, 4 MTN Television P/L, 299, 334, 342 Mulry, Wendy, 215, 260 Multi-Channel Services (MCS), 292 Murdoch, Lachlan, 412 Murdoch, Rupert, 35, 37, 73, 74, 94, 96, 222, 226 Murdoch, Sir Keith, 21, 35 Murphy, Greg, 129 Murray, Stan, 92, 176 Murrumbidgee Television Ltd, 109, 163, 165, 180, 224, 328 Murrumbidgee Television P/L, 272 Musical interludes, see Light entertainment programs

 INDEX 

Music programs, 92 See also Light entertainment programs Mutual Life & Citizen’s Assurance Co. Ltd, The, 136 N National Broadband Network, 332, 380, 395, 438 National Communications Satellite System Task Force (NCSSTF), 196 National Farmers’ Union (NFU), 27 National Institute of Dramatic Arts (NIDA), 250 NBN Productions, 205 Negus, George, 78 Net profit ratio, 83, 121, 164 Netflix, 5, 393, 438 Networking, 33, 34, 315 affiliation changes (2021), 416 (see also On-air identification) Newcastle Broadcasting and Television Corp Ltd, 53, 54, 61, 164, 165, 204–206, 272, 274 Newcastle Video Productions, 165 News bulletins, 89, 127–128, 172, 212, 256 News helicopters, 251 News Ltd, 226, 356, 397 News magazine programs, 89, 212, 256 Focus (CBN), 172, 212 Focus (NBN), 86, 128 Focus on Whyalla (GTS), 212 National Roving Eye (ATF), 126, 208 Newscast (AMV), 212 Our Australia (ATF), 208 Roving Eye (CBN), 128

483

Seven Days (RTQ), 212 Sunday Report (TNQ/FNQ), 212 Sunday Review (WIN), 128 Sunraysia at Six (STV), 212 This Week on Film (SEQ), 212, 213 Weeknights (BCV), 403 Your Man in Canberra (BCV/ GLV), 212 News programs, 89, 127, 172–173, 212, 256–262, 306–309, 335–337, 364 Capital 7 News (CTC), 307 Eyewitness News (CTC), 307 Imparja National News (IMP), 371 MidState News (CBN/CWN), 259 (see also News bulletins) News Centre Six (BTV/GMV), 257 Nightly News 7 Spencer Gulf (GTS/ TNT), 391, 405 Nightly News 7 Tasmania (TNT), 391, 404 Nine News Central Victoria (GTV), 406 Nine News Local, 408 Nine News Local (GTV), 418 Prime National News (CBN), 399 QTV Eyewitness News (TNQ), 308, 309 Southern Cross News, 371 Southern Cross Ten news update, 403 Ten News (CTC), 307 TV8 Newshour (BCV), 271 TV8 Newshour (BCV/GLV), 271 Vic TV News (VTV), 309 WIN News, 8, 418 WIN News Central West (WIN), 402 WIN News Late Edition, 8 WIN News Mildura (STV/ VTV), 401 News relays, 160

484 

INDEX

News services discontinuation, 127 inadequacy of, 213 Newsreaders cultural diversity, 419 Newsroom closures, 310, 337 Prime (2000), 360 Prime (2001), 360–361 Sunshine Television (1994), 337 Ten Northern NSW (1995), 337 Ten Victoria (1994), 337 WIN (2015), 401 WIN (2019), 402 Newsroom systems, 251 Newsvision, 328 Newton, Bert, 85, 159 Nicholls, Virginia, 337 Nicholson, Dan, 264 Nine network, 2, 7, 40, 80, 85, 300, 303–305, 325, 375, 397 acquisition of Fairfax Media (2018), 413 acquisition of NWS Adelaide from WIN (2013), 401 acquisition of STW Perth from WIN (2013), 401 Channel 9 Network, 38 Consolidated Media Holdings, 377 formation, 38 National Television Network, 38, 80, 85 Nine Entertainment Co Ltd, 410; acquisition of Fairfax Media (2018), 6 Nine News Local, 418 9Now, 394 PBL Media Ltd, 377 Publishing and Broadcasting Ltd, 377 NITV, 338 Noblett, Andrew, 129

Northern Rivers Television Ltd, 109, 206, 219, 223, 297, 298, 302 merger with Richmond-Tweed TV Ltd (1971), 135 Northern Star Holdings Ltd, 223, 297, 298, 301 Northern Television (TNT9) P/L, 205, 206 Northern Television Ltd, 61 North Western Telecasters P/L, 109 Norton, John, 129 O O’Brien, Kerry, 308 Ogilvy, Clive, 24, 35, 54, 95 O’Hanlon, Vanessa, 406 Oldfield, Valerie, 68, 86 On-air identification, 76 Capital (CTC), 337 Capital 7, 248 Capital Television, 310–311 Golden West Network, 200, 303 MidState Television, 248, 257 NBN Television, 306 NQTV, 200, 248 NRTV (NRN), 303, 306, 337 The Prime Network, 248 QTV (TNQ), 302, 303, 305, 306, 308, 310, 337 SCN (BCV/GLV), 337 Six Network, 248, 265 Southern Cross Network (BCV/ GLV), 337 Southern Cross TV8, 248, 265 Star TV, 303, 305, 306 Sunshine Television, 248, 303 Sunshine Television Network, 306 Tas TV North, 253 Tas TV South, 253 Television 6-8-9, 200

 INDEX 

Ten Northern New South Wales (NRN), 337 Ten Northern NSW (NRN), 337 Ten Queensland (TNQ), 337 Ten Victoria (BCV/GLV), 337 Tropical Television, 248 Vic TV, 303, 306, 308, 314 Vision TV, 303, 305, 306, 310 135 Nominees P/L, 274, 297 Osborne, Robert, 28, 30, 56, 58, 71 Oswin, Jim, 54, 148, 243 Outside broadcasts, 79, 133–134, 177, 214, 219, 269–270 Outsourcing, 80, 400, 405, 409, 439 Overlap, 156 Ownership and control, 93–95, 134, 179–180, 221–226, 271–275, 315, 340–342, 372, 376–377, 410–414 Ownership groups, 95, 136, 180, 225–226, 275, 301, 315, 342–343, 377, 413 P Packer, Clyde, 94 Packer, James, 377 Packer, Kerry, 94, 196, 212, 244, 247, 291, 293, 316, 326 Packer, Sir Frank, 7, 35, 37, 54, 58, 73, 74, 81, 94–96 Packer family entry into regional commercial television, 94 Far P/L, 94, 95 re-entry to regional television, 297 Paige, Bruce, 117, 308 PAL colour system, 112, 153 Panel discussions, see Light entertainment programs Panorama Productions, 177

485

Parliamentary Standing Committee on Broadcasting (PSCB), 23 Parry, Kevin, 271, 272, 274, 295, 296, 300 Parry Corporation Ltd, 295, 300 Paske, Ashley, 249, 263 Paton, Professor George, 28 Pay television, 153, 197–198, 239, 325, 326, 328–331 Pearce, Colin, 174, 214 Pearson, Rob, 212 Penguin Awards, 178, 221, 269, 271 Personnel, 68, 77, 115–118, 157–159, 201–202, 248–249, 312–313, 340, 365–368 training, 159 Phillips, Hazel, 3, 260 Phillips, John, 68 Pickering, Gina, 262, 265 Playout facilities, 400 MediaHub, 391, 400, 403, 407, 439 NPC Media P/L, 405 PlayStation Video, 390 Political affairs programs The Candidates (CBN/CWN), 217 Meet Your Member (CBN/ CWN), 217 Postmaster-General’s (PMG’s) Department, 22, 25, 66, 80 Pratt, Joan, 68 Pratt, Richard, 272 Presenters children’s comperes, 129, 174 comperes, 87 hostesses, 77, 87 Presser, Eva, 274, 300, 335, 374 Presto, 393 Price, Jacinta, 403 Price, Steve “Pricey,” 265, 371

486 

INDEX

Prime network, 273, 298, 299, 302–304, 306–311, 313–315, 334, 335, 337, 341, 343, 356, 361, 362, 365, 375, 376, 380, 397, 413, 414 acquisition of CBN/CWN (1987), 298 acquisition of GWN (1996), 342 acquisition of NEN/ECN (1987), 298 acquisition by Seven West Media Ltd (2021), 12 Paul Ramsay Communications P/L, 273 Prime Media Group Ltd, 376 Prime News Canberra, 307 Prime Radio, 376 Prime7 News at 6.30, 399 Prime Television (Northern) P/L, 298 Prime Television (Southern) P/L, 298 Prime Television (Victoria) P/L, 334 Ramcorp Ltd, 295, 298, 299 Production, 86–93, 126–134, 172–178, 211, 221, 256, 337–339, 368–371, 408–409 Production facilities music video production, 220 national television commercials, 220 subtitling, 220 use by third-party producers, 177–178, 220–221, 270 Profitability, 83, 121, 164, 205, 247, 252, 309–310, 313–315, 342 Program classifications, 206 Program costs, 121 Programs, 83, 123–126, 166–172, 206–211, 254–256 Australian Overseas Buying Pool, 40 High Court proceedings (1964), 73

interchange between regional stations, 170 program categories, 84 program classifications, 85 supply arrangements, 84 Program sales, 216, 218 Program sources, 83, 84, 123, 167, 206–208, 254–256 Program standards, 166 breaches, 171 deregulation, 327 Promotional networks, 156 Central and North Queensland Television, 157 Central and South Eastern Queensland Television, 200 Central Television Network, 315 Channel 22, 157, 200 Great Eastland Television (GET), 157, 200, 248, 249 NETwork, 248 Queensland Regional Television, 248 Southern Associated Television, 200 Television Centre of Victoria, 157 Promotions, 76, 115, 156, 201 Provincial Television Network, The, 119 Publishing and Broadcasting Ltd, 297, 330, 374 Pye Industries, 59 Q Qintex Group, 297–299, 315, 325 Queen’s Hotel, Townsville, 165 Queensland Satellite Television, 246, 292, 295 Queensland Television Ltd, 36 Quickflix, 390, 391 Quiz shows, see Light entertainment programs

 INDEX 

R Radio broadcasting, 18–20 A-class stations, 19, 20 B-class stations, 19 mobile radio stations, 19 networks, 21 sealed set scheme, 18 Radio Rentals, 70 Radiovision, 22 Ramsay, Paul, 248, 271, 273, 295, 296, 299, 315, 329, 376, 411 Rankin, Annabelle, 25 Rawhide, 59 Ray, Jill, 201 Reception issues, 120 Reg Grundy Productions, 85, 170, 208 Regional cinema, 4 Regional commercial radio stations 4AY Ayr (Qld), 58, 165, 252 4CA Cairns (Qld), 158 4GR Toowoomba (Qld), 165 4RR Townsville (Qld), 295 3BA Ballarat (Vic), 221 3WR Wangaratta (Vic), 19 2DU Dubbo (NSW), 4, 298 2GZ Orange (NSW), 25, 56, 295 2HD Newcastle (NSW), 19 2LM Lismore (NSW), 60 2MG Mudgee (NSW), 298 2NZ Inverell (NSW), 56, 295 2PK Parkes (NSW), 298 2RG Griffith (NSW), 298 Regional commercial television licences AMV Upper Murray (Albury, NSW), 75, 109, 110, 114, 118–120, 122, 124, 125, 129, 154–156, 161, 162, 168, 176, 179, 212, 216, 224, 248, 265, 267, 273, 302, 304

487

BCV Bendigo (Vic), 60, 61, 69, 74–76, 80, 81, 112, 122, 153, 157, 159–161, 165, 173, 177, 179, 180, 197, 199, 202, 203, 205, 212, 216, 221, 248, 271–273, 302 BKN Broken Hill (NSW), 109–111, 127, 128, 155, 161, 164, 165, 180, 201, 224, 251, 315 BTV Ballarat (Vic), 61, 66, 68, 75, 79–81, 87, 90, 94, 95, 165, 174, 175, 200, 202, 203, 206, 215, 216, 218, 220–222, 225, 248, 251, 257, 264, 266–269, 271, 299, 300, 302 BTW Bunbury (WA), 115, 118, 119, 131, 155, 156, 162, 165, 166, 172, 174, 200, 201, 205, 210, 215, 217, 223, 224, 242, 266, 272, 274, 297, 313 CBN Central Tablelands (Orange, NSW), 7, 61, 67–69, 71, 72, 79, 82, 94, 95, 109, 119, 122, 124, 156, 160, 162, 164, 166, 170, 172, 176, 200, 202, 203, 206, 210–213, 215, 217, 219–221, 225, 248, 249, 251, 253, 257, 258, 264, 266, 275, 295, 297–299, 302, 304, 434 CTC Canberra (ACT), 61, 64, 71, 75, 79, 81, 82, 94, 95, 122, 124, 128, 153, 154, 164, 168, 174, 218, 224, 248, 250, 252, 263, 265, 266, 270, 301, 304 CWN Central Western Slopes (Dubbo, NSW), 4, 7, 109, 119, 156, 162, 164, 166, 176, 200, 202, 206, 210–213, 217, 219, 225, 248, 249, 251, 253, 257, 275, 295, 297, 298, 302, 434

488 

INDEX

Regional commercial television licences (cont.) CWN Central Western Slopes and Plains (Dubbo, NSW), 108, 109, 117–119, 122, 124, 134, 137 DDQ Darling Downs (Toowoomba, Qld), 6, 61, 78, 80, 119, 128, 162, 165, 174–177, 201, 206, 222, 248, 253, 260, 272, 273, 298, 302, 305, 310 ECN Manning River (Taree, NSW), 109, 125, 135, 137, 160, 176, 179, 202, 210, 212, 222, 224, 248, 249, 252, 253, 271, 298, 299, 302 FNQ Cairns (Qld), 109, 111, 118, 127, 128, 130, 133, 137, 158, 161, 162, 164, 172, 200, 205, 211, 217, 248, 252, 262, 266, 273, 297, 302, 313 GLV Latrobe Valley (Traralgon, Vic), 1, 61, 69, 71, 74–76, 80–83, 90, 94, 95, 119, 121, 160, 173, 180, 203, 205, 212, 221, 248, 260, 272, 273, 302 GMV Goulburn Valley (Shepparton, Vic), 61, 69, 75, 76, 80, 81, 83, 87, 90, 119, 121, 122, 154, 160, 162, 165, 166, 175, 179, 200, 201, 206, 212, 216, 220–222, 249, 251, 257, 264, 266–271, 299, 300, 302 GSW Southern Agricultural (Albany, WA), 108, 109, 115, 118, 119, 137, 155, 156, 162, 165, 172, 200, 201, 205, 223, 224, 242, 272, 297, 313 GTS Spencer Gulf North (Port Pirie, SA), 109, 110, 118, 173, 174, 180, 201, 212, 219, 224, 251, 315

GTW Geraldton (WA), 148, 201, 215, 242, 297, 298, 311, 312 ITQ Mount Isa (Qld), 148, 155, 158, 206, 224, 267, 301, 308, 341 MTN Murrumbidgee Irrigation Areas (Griffith, NSW), 109, 110, 122, 124, 125, 160, 176, 197, 200, 202, 203, 224, 225, 248, 272, 274, 298, 299, 328 MVQ Mackay (Qld), 109, 112, 118, 158, 162, 165, 172, 173, 206, 221, 248, 251, 252, 267, 273, 274, 297, 299, 315 NBN Newcastle (NSW), 61, 71, 73, 75, 81, 82, 86, 87, 90, 94, 95, 121, 125, 127, 156, 157, 159, 164, 166, 170, 172, 174, 177, 179, 202–206, 210, 212, 215, 216, 219–221, 224, 248, 249, 251, 261–263, 272, 274, 275, 295, 300, 303, 313 NEN Upper Namoi (Tamworth, NSW), 109, 110, 122, 124, 160, 176, 177, 179, 202, 204, 210, 212, 216, 221, 222, 224, 248–250, 252, 253, 260, 266, 268–271, 298, 299, 302, 304 NRN Grafton-Kempsey (Coffs Harbour, NSW), 75, 109, 110, 112, 114, 125, 128, 135, 160, 206, 223, 248, 249, 260–263, 271, 297, 298, 302, 310 NTD Darwin (NT), 148, 155, 158, 164, 165, 201, 212, 225, 297, 316, 334 RTN Richmond-Tweed Heads (Lismore, NSW), 60, 61, 76, 80, 82, 88, 90, 94, 119, 124, 125, 160, 206, 219, 223, 248, 249, 260, 297, 298, 302

 INDEX 

RTQ Rockhampton (Qld), 61, 66, 76, 80, 82, 91, 110, 125, 126, 165, 212, 216, 260, 265, 274, 299, 302, 305 RTS Loxton/Renmark (SA), 148, 201, 206, 265, 315, 342, 375 RVN South Western Slopes and Eastern Riverina (Wagga Wagga, NSW), 75, 109–111, 114–116, 118, 119, 122, 124, 125, 154, 156, 158, 161, 172, 176, 179, 216, 224, 248, 261, 265, 267, 273, 299, 302, 304 SDQ Southern Downs (Warwick, Qld), 108, 109, 119, 137, 162, 165, 176, 206, 222, 248, 253, 272, 273, 298, 302, 305 SEQ Wide Bay (Maryborough, Qld), 164, 200, 205, 210, 212, 213, 216, 217, 221, 249, 258, 260, 261, 266–268, 271, 274, 299, 302, 315, 337 SES South East SA (Mount Gambier, SA), 109, 111, 116, 118, 162, 200, 201, 203, 206, 208, 215, 224, 248, 253, 315, 342, 375 STV Mildura (Vic), 109, 121, 125, 155, 161, 206, 212, 224, 248, 266, 274, 300, 334, 341 TNQ Townsville (Qld), 61, 68, 70, 78, 93, 110, 122, 159, 164, 165, 172, 200, 203, 205, 206, 217, 248, 252, 260–262, 265, 266, 270, 273, 295, 297, 300–302, 305, 306, 313 TNT North Eastern Tasmania (Launceston, Tas), 61, 63, 66–68, 76, 81, 110, 122, 127, 164, 172, 175, 200, 203, 205, 206, 210, 253, 263, 267, 272, 275, 299

489

VEW Kalgoorlie (WA), 147, 148, 157, 177, 201, 203, 224, 225, 272, 274, 298 WBQ Wide Bay (Maryborough, Qld), 109, 110, 117, 125, 164, 165, 174, 177 WIN Illawarra (Wollongong, NSW), 61, 73–76, 80, 81, 94, 95, 119, 156, 158, 159, 164, 165, 170, 171, 175, 177, 178, 201, 217, 221, 222, 224, 249, 253, 261, 263, 270–272, 274 Regional commercial television licences (aggregated) AMV Regional Victoria, 302, 306 BCV Western Victoria, 302, 306, 337 CBN Southern NSW/ACT, 304, 307, 311, 337 CTC Southern NSW/ACT, 304, 305, 307, 310, 337 GLV Eastern Victoria, 302, 306, 337 NBN Northern NSW, 306, 312, 358, 360, 368, 374, 377–379 NEN Northern NSW, 306, 308 NRN Northern NSW, 306, 308, 314, 337, 341 RTQ Regional Queensland, 306, 308 STQ Regional Queensland, 306, 315, 341, 364, 375 TNQ Regional Queensland, 306, 308, 310, 337, 340, 341, 361, 362, 364, 371 TNT Tasmania, 372 TVT Tasmania, 372 VTV Regional Victoria, 306, 341 WIN Southern NSW/ACT, 304, 307 Regional commercial television licences (s38B) TDT Tasmania (Tas), 372

490 

INDEX

Regional newspapers Canberra Times, 58 Courier (Ballarat), 61, 69 Daily Bulletin (Townsville), 70 Examiner (Launceston), 67, 69 Gilgandra Weekly, 4 Gippsland Times (Sale), 70 Newcastle Sun, 22 Northern Star (Lismore), 60 Regional Television Australia P/L (RTA), 200, 246–247, 255, 360 Regional Television News Australia (RTNA), 209, 256 Regional Television P/L, 334, 341 Regulation, 17–18, 29 Australian Broadcasting Act 1942, 23 Australian Broadcasting Act, 1948, 25 Broadcasting Amendment Act 1987, 294 Broadcasting and Television Act, 58 Broadcasting and Television Act 1956, 32, 38 Broadcasting Services Act 1992, 327, 333, 340, 341, 372 News Media and Digital Platforms Bargaining Code (2021), 415 Television Act 1953, 28 Wireless Telegraphy Act 1905, 18 Relays, 35, 80, 118, 124, 125, 159, 160 BCV to GLV (1973), 160 BCV to STV (1975), 161 between regional stations, 202 CBN to MTN (1973), 160 from metropolitan stations, 202 full-time, 119 GTS to BKN (1974), 161 GTV-GLV, 119 NEN to ECN (1971), 136, 160, 179

NRN to ECN (1969), 119, 136 NRN to RTN (1971), 135, 160 RVN to AMV (1972), 161, 179 third-party, 119 Religious programs, 88–89, 132, 174–175, 218, 267–268 Epilogue (BTV), 89 Sounds of Sunday (BTV), 218, 267 Time to Live (CBN), 89 Remote Area Television Scheme (RATS), 241 Remote Commercial Television Service (RCTS) licences, 245, 295, 302, 315 Central Zone, 245 IMP Central Zone, 246 North Eastern Zone, 245, 295 QQQ North Eastern Zone, 246, 295, 300, 302, 308, 315 South Eastern Zone, 245, 295 WAW Western Zone, 245, 246, 297 Western Zone, 245, 295, 297 Remote or Underserved Communities Scheme (RUCS), 241 Repeater stations, 163, 204–205, 241, 242 Restructures, 135 Rice, Gary, 3, 175, 329 Richards, Digby, 85 Richardson, Graham, 326 Richardson, Lawford, 136 Richmond Tweed TV Ltd, 61 Ridge, Glenn, 3, 202, 216, 264 Ridley, Alan, 171 Ridley, Ian, 259 Ridley, John (Jack), 25, 56–58, 110 Riggers, 66 Riverina and North East Victoria TV Limited, 179, 273, 302 Riverina Television Ltd, 109, 154, 179 acquisition of AMV (1971), 179 Riverland Television P/L, 148, 206

 INDEX 

Rivkin, Rene, 225 Rixon, Cheryl, 168 Roach, Mike, 307 Roberts, Nev, 175 Robson, Greg, 307–308, 337 Rockhampton Television Ltd, 61, 165, 274, 299 Roggenkamp, Peter, 266 Rouse, Edmund, 205, 299, 315 bribery charges, 300 Royal Commission on Television (1953), 11, 27, 28, 32 Royal Commission on Wireless (1927), 19 Rural programs, see Information programs Russell, Peter, 307 Ryan, Art “Poppa,” 214 Ryan, Laurie, 215 S The Saddle Club, 369 Sales agents Provincial Television Services, 75 Television Associates, 75 Satellite broadcasting, 153, 196–197, 243–246, 295 Save Our Voices campaign, 397, 414–415, 438 Saxarra, Helga, 262 Schapel, Ken, 54 Schoff, Colleen, 116, 129 Scott, Allan, 180, 315 SelecTV, 374 Self-help Television Reception Scheme (STRS), 241 Semi-attended operation, 119 Senate Select Committee on Television Equalisation (SSETE), 294 Seven network, 2, 7, 85, 298, 303, 304, 315, 375, 397, 400

491

acquisition of STQ (1995), 341 attempted takeover of Prime, 414 Australian Television Network, 38, 85 Channel Seven Queensland P/L, 341 Network 7, 38 Seven Group Holdings Ltd, 410 Seven Local News, 379 Seven Media Group Ltd, 375, 410 7plus Live, 394 Seven West Media Ltd, 410; acquisition of Prime Media Group TV assets (2021), 7, 12 Sunday Night, 313 Sunrise, 313 Shakespeare, Arthur, 58 Shareholders, 136, 180, 226, 275 Sharratt, Paul, 262 Sharratt, Rhonda, 260 Shopping guides, 87 Angus and Coote Session (CBN), 87 Western Stores Session (CBN), 87 Short, Rhonda, 174 Sievers, Wolfgang, 61 Sigley, Ernie, 3, 264, 337 Signal overlap, 114 Simultaneous retransmission, 80 Sinclair, Ian, 198 Skase, Christopher, 221, 271, 273, 296, 297, 299, 315, 325, 342 Sky News Australia, 257, 439 Smith, Hyacinth, 131 Smith, Sue, 3, 117 Smithers, Joy, 265 Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Authority, 120 Socialism, 25 Social media, 391, 393, 399, 415 Somers, Daryl, 3, 264 South Australian Telecasters Ltd, 40 South East Telecasters Ltd, 109, 206, 253, 342

492 

INDEX

Southern Cross network, 7, 291, 303, 306, 308, 310, 311, 314, 315, 343, 356, 358, 361, 362, 365, 370, 372, 380, 397, 413, 414 acquisition of Broken Hill Television P/L, 372 acquisition of CTC (1994), 341 acquisition of Spencer Gulf Telecasters P/L, 372 acquisition of Telecasters Australia Ltd, 372 Southern Cross Austereo P/L, 376 Southern Cross Communications Ltd, 272 Southern Cross Media Australia P/L, 376 State Focus, 364 Ten News Canberra, 308 Southern Television (England), 68 Southern Television Corporation Ltd, 36, 206, 272 South Pacific Films, 170 South Western Telecasters Ltd, 109, 165, 205, 223, 224, 272 Special Broadcasting Service (SBS), 5, 195, 239–240, 270 Spencer Gulf Telecasters Ltd, 109, 180, 372, 373 Splicing, 79 Sport programs, 90–91, 130–131, 173, 213–214, 266 Football Forum (BCV), 173 Grandstand (CTC), 173, 213 Grandstand (SEQ), 266 Grandstand (TNQ/FNQ), 266 Hook, Line and Sinker (FNQ), 130 Kick for Kick (SES), 131 Scoreboard (RTQ), 91 SEQ 8-Ball (SEQ), 214 Sporting Roundup (FNQ), 130 Sports Parade (RTQ), 91 Sports Review (RTQ), 91

Spotlight on Sport (FNQ), 130 Telepool Competition (BCV), 173 VFL Match of the Day (SEQ), 266 World of Sport (SES), 131 Spot rates, 156, 200 Staff salaries, 82 Staley, Tony, 195, 198, 203, 240 Stan, 5, 393, 413, 438 Standards for the Technical Equipment and Operation of Television Stations, 113, 154 Stapp, John, 89, 175, 221 Star Video, 196, 238 Station establishment, 60–70, 110–112 Station layout, 110 film room, 62 main studio, 62 master control, 62 presentation studio, 62 studio control, 62 Station operations, 74–76, 113–115, 155–157, 199–201, 247–248 downsizing, 365 Stefanovic, Karl, 2, 340 Stephenson, Bud, 263 Stereo television, 250 Stokes, Kerry, 223, 224, 241, 242, 296, 297, 315, 340, 341, 397, 440 K.M. Stokes Investments P/L, 224 Storer, Anne, 214 Stratovision, 23–24 Streaming services, 5, 393–394, 414, 440 Stringers, 121 Strom, Jan, 261 Sturrock, James (Jim), 136, 180, 224, 315 STW Perth (WA), 146 Subscription television, 163 See also Pay television

 INDEX 

Subscription video on demand (SVOD), 393 Sully, Sandra, 307 Sunraysia Television Ltd, 109, 206, 274, 300, 374 Sunshine Television Network, 305, 308, 337 Sunshine Broadcasting Network Ltd, 315 Sunshine Television Network Ltd, 315, 341 Supplementary Licence Scheme (SLS), 240–241, 292 Supplementary licences (s36), 198, 332–335, 372–374 AMN Griffith (NSW), 334 PTV Mildura (Vic), 334 TND Darwin (NT), 334 WOW Remote and Regional WA, 335 Supplementary licences (s38A) LRS Loxton/Renmark (SA), 372 MRS Mount Gambier (SA), 372 SCN Broken Hill (NSW), 372 SGS Spencer Gulf (SA), 372 Supplementary licences (s38B) BDN Broken Hill (NSW), 373 CDT Remote Central and Eastern Australia, 373 DTD Darwin (NT), 373 GDS Spencer Gulf (SA), 373 GDW Geraldton (WA), 373 IDQ Mount Isa (Qld), 373 MDN Griffith (NSW), 373 MDV Mildura (Vic), 373 RDS Loxton/Renmark (SA), 373 SDS Mount Gambier (SA), 373 SDW South West (WA), 373 TDT Tasmania (Tas), 373 VDW Kalgoorlie (WA), 373 WDW Remote Western Australia (WA), 373

493

Supplementary licences (s38C) VAN Northern Australia, 391 VAS South Eastern Australia, 391 SVW Western Australia, 391 Supplementary licences (s72), 333 AMN Griffith (NSW), 334 PTV Mildura (Vic), 334 TND Darwin (NT), 334 WOW Regional Western Australia, 334 Sutcliffe, Ken, 118 Sutton, Henry, 21 Swan Television Ltd, 40 Sweeney, Jim, 217, 261 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, 332 Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 17 T Talent quests, 91 See also Light entertainment programs Tasmanian Television Ltd, 36, 180, 253 Taylor, Paul, 401 Techcom Australia P/L, 272 Technical equipment, 67–68 Technical operations, 79–82, 118–121, 159–164, 202–205, 250–252 Technical Standards for the Australian Television Service, 113, 152 Technology as a connective agent, 3 “electronic sterilisation,” 153 irregular use of, 148 Teleauctions, 253 Telecasters Australia Ltd, 334, 341, 343, 356, 361

494 

INDEX

Telecasters North Queensland Ltd, 7, 61, 164, 205, 206, 252, 273, 295, 297, 300–302, 305, 340, 341 acquisition of FNQ (1969), 134 Telecine, 62, 67 Telegraphy, 17 Marconi system, 18 Telemovie production, 270 Last Chance (WIN), 270, 271 Telemovies Human Target (ATF/SPF), 170 Last Chance (WIN), 270 Telephane, 21 Telepro, 205 Teletext, 203, 250 Telethons, 2, 76, 122, 165, 166, 202, 249, 409 Darwin Appeal, 154 Television development, 27 development stages, 1 dual system, 11, 26–30 early developments, 21 experiments, 21–23 golden age, 95 influence on fashion, 70 influence on furniture, 70 regional commercial operating models, 56–57 role of women, 77, 158 speculative investment in regional, 296–301 Stage 1 television development, 31 Stage 2 television development, 35 Stage 3 television development, 59 Stage 4 television development, 107–108 Stage 5 television development, 36–40 Stage 6 television development, 146 Stage 7 television development, 146 unsolicited licence applications, 24

Television and Radio Laboratories P/L, 22 Television Broadcasters Ltd, 36 Television clubs, 88, 129–130 Channel Niners’ Club (MTN), 129 Channel 2 Children’s Club (RVN), 129 RTN Juniors Club, 88 Television cookbooks, 215 Television Corporation Ltd, 32, 38 Television New England Ltd, 109, 179, 180, 204, 206, 222, 252, 253, 295, 298, 302 Television Operator’s Certificate of Proficiency, 154 Television Programme Standards, 132 Television Society of Australia, 178 Television viewers’ licence, 32, 70 Television Wollongong Transmissions Ltd, 53, 54, 61, 94, 164, 222, 224, 253, 272 Telmak Teleproducts, 253 Ten network, 2, 7, 40, 81, 85, 241, 303, 325, 368, 374, 380, 397, 412 acquisition by CBS (2017), 6, 412 Independent Television System of Australia, 40, 81, 85 Network Ten Holdings Ltd, 297 Ten Group Ltd, 340 TENplay, 394 0/10 Network, 40, 168 Tentative Standards for Unattended Television Station Operation, 119 Territory Television P/L, 148, 297, 334 Test pattern advertising, 69 Test patterns, 69 3-D television, 250, 391–392 Third-party productions Ask the Leyland Brothers, 162, 169 Greek Affair, 220 King’s Kitchen (King Quinn), 220

 INDEX 

The Leyland Brothers Great Outdoors, 220 Tonight Italian Style, 177 Variety Italian Style, 177, 220 You Say The Word, 177 Thorn EMI Awards, 217, 221, 267, 270 Time shifting, 390 Tingle, John, 217 TiVo, 390 Today (1968) (TCN), 125 Today (1982) (TCN), 125 Townsend, Simon, 271, 273 Translator stations, 120–121, 162, 203–204, 242, 251 Trans Media Productions, 169 Transmission facilities, 68, 80, 110, 119 shared, 66 Transmission hours, 113, 155, 199, 247 Transmission sites, 64 Transmission standards, 25 Tricom Corporation Ltd, 299 Tudor, Jenny, 259 TVW Ltd, 36 TVW Perth (WA), 146 TWL Ltd, 274 Two-airline policy, 39 Twomey, Peter, 112, 121, 222 TWT Ltd, 272, 299 U Unattended operation, 119, 162 United Telecasters Sydney Ltd, 40 Universal Telecasters Ltd, 274, 297, 298 Universal Telecasters Qld Ltd, 40 Upton, Michael, 406 Usher, Michael, 2, 312

495

V Vallance, Geoff, 212, 257, 267 Variety programs Susie (WIN), 375 See also Light entertainment programs VBN Ltd, 95, 180 Verney, Jim, 91 Victorian Broadcasting Network (1983) P/L, 272 Victorian Broadcasting Network Ltd, 94, 122, 180, 221, 272, 273 acquisition of BCV (1968), 122, 134 Victorian Wheat and Wool Growers’ Association, 29 Video cassette recorders (VCRs), 195, 238–239 Video-on-demand (VOD), 390 Video rental libraries, 238, 390 Videotape operation, 79, 118, 161, 202 Viewer Access Satellite Television (VAST), 391 Viewer complaints, 172, 211 Visionstream, 329 Vogelsinger, Gloria, 260 W WaggaWagga.TV, 440 Wagstaff, Stuart, 124, 265 Waley, Jim, 270 Walker, Stephen, 63 Walter, Denis, 308 Walters, Eric, 217 Ward, Diana, 125 Warne, Tom, 115 Warner, Arthur, 35, 37, 55 Washington H Soul Pattinson and Company Ltd, 300

496 

INDEX

Watkins, Marg, 173, 215 Weatherley, Alan, 78 Web TV (netcasting), 332 Wendt, Jana, 78 Westfield Corporation Ltd, 297, 301 Whelan, Olgamary, 118, 129 White, Matthew, 313 Whitfeld, Hugh, 368 Wide Bay Burnett TV Ltd, 109, 164, 274 Wilkins, Richard, 265 Willesee, Michael, 169 Williams, Gina, 312 Williams, John, 35, 37 Williams, Ron, 80 Williamson, John, 170, 268 Willis, Shauna, 312 Wilson, Kerrie, 262 Wilson, Robert, 28 Wilson, Ron, 158 WIN network, 7, 8, 223, 300, 303, 306, 308, 310, 313, 315, 334, 335, 343, 356, 365, 369, 372, 374–376, 380, 397, 400, 413 acquisition of DDQ (1990), 305 acquisition of MTN/AMN (1998), 342 acquisition of NWS Adelaide (2007), 374 acquisition of SES/RTS (1999), 342 acquisition of STW Perth (2007), 374

acquisition of VTV, STV and TVT (1994), 341 All Australian News (WIN), 401, 402, 418 WIN News Canberra, 307 WIN Television Griffith P/L, 342, 373 WIN Television SA P/L, 342, 372 WIN Television WA P/L, 334 WIN Television SA P/L, 373 Wireless telegraphy, 18 Women in regional commercial television, 77 Women’s programs, see Family programs Work experience programs, 249 World Series Cricket, 208 Worley, Lisa, 264 Worner, Tim, 397 Worthy, John, 115 Wright, Miles, 94 W.R. Rolph & Sons P/L, 135 Y Young, Norman, 28 Young Ramsay, 210 YouTube, 391 Z Zuckerberg, Mark, 415