The strike probably finished at midnight or the 11pm shift change. I think it that stage only GTV were 24 hours.
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CHY is still running to this very day. Back then, it only operated on dedicated landlines in Coffs Harbour. I think they gained their full time FM licence in 1983.
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I did laugh when I first saw their logo back then which was a blatant copy of the then 2DayFM logo.
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I remember that day 
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I wonder if all the channels just showed a Test Pattern or Snow for the remaining 22 hours.
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Is that a good thing or a bad thing?
I can’t recall enough of that specific day but on other days when similar restructions took place, stations still broadcast something during the “off” hours e.g. a test pattern or a slide with an announcement that programming was being restricted. And in Nine’s case they were back on from midnight anyway
Just reminds me how old I am 
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Look at social media on your phone next time there’s a power outage. People go out of their minds when it happens for just a brief period these days. I remember it happening quite regularly, particularly during thunderstorms, in the 1970s. We always had candles handy in a kitchen cupboard for when it happened. Could you imagine the uproar if industrial action shut everything down these days?
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GMV6 and AMV4 had their normal transmissions on that day because half of their respective viewing areas were in New South Wales, and as both main transmitters were in Victoria had to operate on emergency non-SEC power. So that NSW viewers were able to continue watching their commercial channel as normal. Both stations would have had a ticker on the screen saying something like “operating on auxiliary power for NSW viewers. Victorian viewers please turn your TV off due to power restrictions.” There were lots of those back in the 70s and 80s, they used to happen at the very least once a year.
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it’s going to happen to trains in Melbourne in the coming weeks as Metro rail staff are planning a 48-hour shutdown of the train system.
Source: 7News Melbourne facebook page
They’ve threatened similar in the recent past but a full strike never eventuated. Usually end up with other industrial action like not performing overtime, no uniforms etc.
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Every time there was a big thunderstorm, I always looked forward to having a blackout. Just the thought of walking the house with candles, and playing board games in the half-light appealed to the younger me.
It didn’t happen all that often, but I do remember my parents having a few candles and matches handy just in case.
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Today’s TV: 4.8.1984, Melbourne
Source: TV Week
Daily live Olympic coverage from Los Angeles ended at 4.00pm on weekdays but on weekends it extended to 6.00pm.
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While well off topic for this thread: the vote mentioned in that report is a formality to ensure the union can strike if negotiations with Metro and the Government fall apart. Doesn’t rule it out, of course.
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David Frost “special host” of A Current Affair. I wonder if that was a response to Michael Parkinson continually turning up on Ten in those days?
That was a tumultuous time for the show. They’d been in a ratings slump for a while and were regularly being beaten by Willesee At Seven. The regular hosts, Kevin Sanders and Sue Smith, were only supposed to be taking a “well earned break” but didn’t return following Frost’s stint. Michael Schildberger came back to host three months after he had left but the show continued to lose ground and was axed in June the following year replaced by The Sullivans.
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Melbourne TV listings: Tuesday, August 6, 1996
from The Age
ABV2
6.00 Growing Awareness
6.30 Reading Writing Roadshow
7.00 First Edition
7.30 Australian Environmental Studies
8.00 Discovering Psychology
8.30 Sesame Street
9.25 Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends
9.30 Play School
10.00 The Magic Library
10.15 Look Up
10.30 Take a Look
10.40 Geographical Eye Over Africa
11.00 Inside Out
11.30 Behind the News
12.00 World at Noon
12.30 English Have a Go
1.00 Four Corners
1.45 Media Watch
2.00 GP
3.00 Sesame Street
3.55 Miffy
4.00 Play School
4.30 Jim Henson’s Secret Life of Toys
4.45 Insektors
5.00 Legends of Treasure Island
5.25 Bangers & Mash
5.30 Mot
6.00 Secret World of Alex Mack
6.30 Yes, Prime Minister
7.00 ABC News
7.30 The 7.30 Report
8.00 The Bill
8.28 ABC News Update
8.30 GP
9.20 Backchat
9.28 ABC News Update
9.30 Foreign Correspondent
10.25 ABC News-Late Edition
10.30 Lateline
11.05 Birds of a Feather
11.35 Australia Television News
12.00 Movie “On the Black Hill”
2.00 The Adventurers
3.00 Marketing: Theory & Practice
3.30 Out of Empire
4.00 Anthropology
4.30 Time to Grow
5.00 French in Action
5.30 Dragon’s Tongue
HSV7
6.00 Sunrise
7.00 Agro’s Cartoon Connection
8.30 The Book Place
9.00 A Country Practice
10.00 Sister, Sister
10.30 Seven Morning News
11.00 Eleven AM
12.00 Movie “If It’s Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium”
2.00 Wiseguy
3.00 My Three Sons
3.30 Disney Adventures
4.00 A*mazing
4.30 Family Feud
5.00 Seven News at Five
5.30 Wheel of Fortune
6.00 Seven Nightly News
6.30 Today Tonight
7.00 Home and Away
7.30 Better Homes & Gardens
8.00 The Great Outdoors
8.28 Oz Lotto
8.30 Blue Heelers
9.30 Witness
10.35 Seven Nightly News
11.05 Star Trek: The Original Series
12.05 Rugby Union (Tri-Nations): South Africa v. Australia
2.00 NBC Today
4.00 Cop Shop
5.05 Dateline NBC
GTV9
6.00 ITN World News
6.30 Daybreak (includes Business Today)
7.00 Today
9.00 Here’s Humphrey
9.30 Mark Walberg
10.30 National Nine Morning News
11.00 What’s Cooking?
11.30 Entertainment Tonight
12.00 Midday with Kerri-Anne
1.30 Days of Our Lives
2.30 Young and the Restless
3.30 Pacific Drive
4.00 New Adventures of Skippy
4.30 Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
5.00 What’s Up Doc?
5.30 The Price is Right
6.00 National Nine News
6.30 A Current Affair
7.00 Sale of the Century (Keno at 7.29)
7.30 Australia’s Funniest Home Video Show
8.00 Animal Hospital
9.00 Father Ted
9.30 Wycliffe
10.30 Nightline
11.00 Star Trek: Voyager
12.00 Late Show with David Letterman
1.00 Entertainment Tonight
1.30 CTA Special
2.00 Movie “Prince of the City” (part 1 of 2)
4.15 Love & War
4.45 Carson’s Comedy Classics
5.00 Good Times
5.30 Maude
ATV10
6.00 Sports Tonight (repeat)
6.30 Aerobics Oz Style
7.00 Fudge
7.30 X-Men
8.00 Dog City
8.30 The Music Shop
9.00 Good Morning Australia
11.30 Ten News
12.00 Ricki Lake
1.00 Donahue
2.00 Oprah Winfrey
3.00 Monday to Friday
4.00 Totally Wild
4.30 Bold and the Beautiful
5.00 Ten News
6.00 The Simpsons
6.30 Neighbours
7.00 Seinfeld
7.30 Beverly Hills, 90210
8.30 Melrose Place
9.30 Northern Exposure
10.30 Ten News
11.00 Sports Tonight
11.30 Heartbreak High
12.00 Winnetka Road
1.00 Manhunter
2.00 Telemall Shopping
4.00 Life in the Word
4.30 Kenneth Copeland
5.00 General Hospital
SBS
6.00 Japanese News
6.30 Ta Nea Toy Antenna
7.00 Telegiornale Italiano
7.30 Weatherwatch & Music
8.00 Mandarin News
8.30 Das Journal
9.00 Le Journal
9.45 Vremya
10.30 Weatherwatch & Music
11.00 The Journal
11.30 (Nightly) Business Report
12.00 English at Work (Greek)
12.30 Movie “Black Rain” (Japan)
2.35 TV Ed
3.00 PAGE: Professional & Graduate Education
4.30 Look & Cook with Anne Willan (US)
5.00 FYI (Italian)
5.05 Newshour with Jim Lehrer
6.00 Happiness (Brazil)
6.30 SBS World News
7.00 World Sport
7.30 Front Up
8.00 A Fork in the Road (from Buenos Aires)
8.30 On Dangerous Ground (Denmark)
9.30 The Swine (Germany; part 2 of 3)
11.10 Girlfriends (Greece)
11.40 Movie “White Marriage” (Poland)
1.15 close
Channel 31
6pm Musical Portraits
7.00 Antena Hispana
7.30 From Crime to Christ
8.00 World of Style
8.30 Australia Alive
9.00 Salvation Jane
10.00 Richmond 3121 Oh
10.30 Half a Doughnut
11.00 Mr. Ged Show
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We tend to forget there was a lot of copycat programming even in that era. Nine’s What Will They Think Of Next was a blatant rip off of the ABC’s successful The Inventors program. Nine even nabbed some of the talent from the ABC show but Di “Bubbles” Fisher remained loyal to The Inventors. I remember Lorraine Bayly, one of my favourite Play School presenters, being on the panel judging the inventions on the Nine show.
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Today’s TV: 6.8.1994, Melbourne
YouTube: Regional TV Australia Web Project
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