Classic TV Listings

Ok, don’t jump down my throat! It’s just that i thought they would only use that name during their test transmissions.

That’s only TV Scene’s label for the channel it doesn’t necessarily mean that it was SBS wording. AFAIK SBS never used “ethnic” as part of its official branding post launch. They always opted for “multicultural”.

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Plus here’s the country TV pages from the same paper:

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I always thought test cricket was on ABC in regional areas until aggregation. This suggests otherwise.

In later years that was certainly the case. Not sure why it’s not so at this particular time.

Because I certainly remember seeing test cricket on ABC regionals pre-aggregation and remember the ABC commentators giving a final sign off on the eve of aggregation in Victoria, as that was basically the end of ABC’s test cricket coverage. From the next day VIC TV took over with Nine’s coverage.

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But then SBS Radio has the 2EA and 3EA callsigns, not sure if they were ID’d on air as such back in the 1980s though. But I’m sure the E stood for Ethnic.

The callsigns were a legacy of the 70s and were used/promoted in the 1980s but were eventually dropped from on air use. I think they still exist as the official ACMA callsigns today.

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Yeah same with NSW. I remember it was the 1991/92 Summer against India. Boxing Day Test was the last on ABC then New Years Test was on NBN. Before that NBN only showed the One Dayers and also 1985 and 1989 Ashes Series. Have no memory of 1981

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NRTV was the same with ODI cricket but I don’t remember if they showed test cricket.

Today’s TV: 9.1.1997, Melbourne

and the same day, Regional Victoria and South East SA/Riverland

Source: TV Week

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No I recall during a family holiday at Nambucca Heads once watching it on ABC

Definitely recall late 80s on ABC in Gippsland and western Victoria during summer holidays. Maybe they missed that 80-81 season after WSC. I’ll delve a bit deeper when I’ve got time.

Sadly, Agro’s Cartoon Connection would be axed at the end of the year.

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Channel 9 had exclusive rights to test and one day cricket in the 1979-80 and 1980-81 seasons, that’s why the ABC did not cover cricket in those years. The ABC got the rights for regional areas for full coverage of test matches beginning in 1981-82, their first test match was Australia v Pakistan at the WACA, best known for Dennis Lillee kicking Javed Miandad.

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Today’s TV: 10.1.1981, Northern NSW… plus Wollongong… plus Canberra… plus Channel 0 from Brisbane… plus Southern Downs QLD:

Source: TV Week

Don’t quite fathom why WIN4 and CTC7 are in this edition… just as NBN3 was in the Southern NSW edition.

CBN8/CWN6 I sort of get because its coverage area probably stretches further north and perhaps has some overlap into these markets, and SDQ4 (and ABC QLD) would be picked up from within NSW.

And I gather TVQ0’s signal stretches further into NSW than what Seven and Nine do from Brisbane, so that might account for that channel’s listing.

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I still love how “TV Week” used put a lot of the VHF channel numbers in their listings back then.
Though it was a bit inconsistently done.

No mention of NBN 10 Upper Hunter or WIN 6 Bega, but RTN 5 Murwillumbah gets listed.

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They were often inconsistent even in other states too. It’s like they set the headings but never revised or updated them. Some stations they’d list translator sites, but other stations they wouldn’t.

And once UHF translators came along they were rarely added to the channel lists, although i think RTN55 got a mention when it came on-air on the Gold Coast. But in Victoria stations like GMV6 and AMV4 all had UHF translators scattered around during the 1980s but never got a mention.

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Yes, the TVQ signal travelled a lot further as well as 7 and 9 being very difficult to receive in the presence of a local 6 and 8.

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Today’s TV: 11.1.1982, Melbourne:

Plus Regional Victoria and Mt Gambier on pink pages inserted into the zip-out guide

Source: The Australian Women’s Weekly / TV & Entertainment World

  • Nine has NFL live. I suspect this was only for the playoffs before Superbowl which was in a couple of weeks, and back then Nine had no breakfast show (Today started later in the year).
  • Nine has also started showing The Tonight Show from the US. According to a review elsewhere in the magazine, Nine had held the rights to The Tonight Show for years but had never showed it. I guess being the summer season and the regular shows are all on holidays, it was an opportune time to bring it out.
  • Channel 10 had the short-lived Together Tonight, a magazine show with Greg Evans and Kerry Armstrong. I don’t think this got shown anywhere outside of Melbourne.
  • In the country, TV8 and GMV6 have extended their morning hours to include shows for the school holidays
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Today’s TV: 13.1.1975, Melbourne and Regional Victoria/SA

Source: TV Week

  • Number 96 returns for its fourth year as the apartment block residents learn that the ‘pantyhose murderer’ has claimed another victim.
  • Channel 9 is screening Days Of Our Lives in prime time over summer, perhaps with hopes to try and upstage Number 96 (which ended 1974 as Australia’s top rating show).
  • Some shows are selected to be broadcast in colour as test transmissions continue ahead of C-Day in March
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