WIN’s Mildura site was recently sold. The real estate listing has some interesting photos and a floorplan of it’s current state.
The listing says that it was being sold vacant, so it looks like WIN will move offices eventually. They still have that address listed on the website, so the timing may depend on any arrangement that can be made with the now owner.
It also states that there’s long term income from leases on the comms tower (which is used by some of the telcos) so that may restrict how soon the purchaser can knock the building down if they want to. It looks like the comms tower is attached to the roof of the building.
Can see why the old STV8 building has been sold. It appears next to nothing happens in that building anymore. From memory, STV Presentation broadcast operations ceased in that building in the early 1990s when the job function moved to Ballarat?
Incredible to think the studio is still intact to this day though. I’m not even sure WIN even have a local reporter based in Mildura anymore? I’m assuming it’s just sales staff.
From my understanding SCA10 (in Bendigo) is the last remaining original studio facility in Victoria.
From what I can recall, WIN had a separate Mildura bulletin presented out of Mildura until around 2001 before it got mixed in with the other bulletins being produced out of Ballarat. A bit like how WIN operated in Griffith until 2006.
Yes, that name sounds familiar. Haven’t seen any footage of the bulletins from back then. There is a VIC TV Mildura bulletin from mid 1991 on YouTube and it looks rather amateurish compare to what VIC were outputting from Shepparton and Ballarat at the time.
The Coffs Harbour TV transmission site was burnt to the ground last night, all services are off air, I’ve seen the photos, but can’t post here, there’s nothing left inside, it’s a total rebuild.
Looks like the SCA radio station are still on air despite (from their site further up the road), despite relaying their signal through this site. On a backup path no doubt.
2Air FM are also off air.
Any idea how long it will take to get at least a temporary setup so Coffs can get TV again? I imagine the broadcasters and TX contractors are scrambling to get whatever they can to get back on air.
Looks like some will have to swing their antennas towards Dorrigo and get signals from Mount Moombil for a while.
Most of Coffs should get a good signal. You can see the tower from Park Beach Plaza
Was the Coffs Harbour TX set up as a PMG/NRN Joint Venture when built in the 1960s?
If so, explains why all 5 networks are off air there.
If I remember correctly, in the past, WIN lent some of its mux capacity to the ABC in the Latrobe Valley after the Mt Tassie TX site was damaged by fire. WIN was not affected as badly and were shortly back on but the ABC TX was severely damaged. This at least got the ABC main channel back on air while until BA came up with a longer-term solution.
I went to the Korora or Bruxner Park site (the banana plantation is called Bruxner Park) 20 years ago and as I recall there was an Optus base in there as well. It was a NRN owned site back then from memory.
Coffs area has had vandalism issues for years - one mobile site (possibly Nana Glen) had someone break through the compound fence and start a bonfire once. Because it’s a long way from both Brisbane and Sydney, Coffs gets little attention from capital city based techs so its common to see overgrown compounds as well. The SCA TV techs in Coffs would have given that place some TLC but they may not even be there anymore since BA took over. To get it to burn like that would have required accelerant.
BAI only look after the broadcast side. The sites were sold to Axicom years ago, so I’m fairly sure being a former NRN site it would now be owned by Axicom.
