When did the Seven Network start broadcasting in stereo?
I’m guessing somewhere around 1984/85.
Different stations in the network may have launched stereo transmission at different times as well.
1 Like
SAS10 were promoting their stereo broadcasts in 1987.
2 Likes
My friend Wikipedia tells me NBC was the first US network to trail stereo sporadically in 1984.
While Australia doesn’t necessarily lag behind the US, I think in this case it’s probably reasonable to assume the Australian networks would have watched before implementing.
The other factor is that the US would have been developing stereo to embed in an NTSC signal… I’m no engineer but it may have been possible that stereo with PAL was a completely separate project with a completely different timeline.
So there you go, in an attempt to add some information, I’ve succeeded in raising more questions and clouding the issue 
Australia was different to the US and used the German developed Zweikanalton system.
I only know when stereo came to Brisbane - I think it was not long after Sydney in 1984.
This is the Nine promo and one of the first programs to be broadcast that had stereo sound. Prior to that, even though the stereo light lit up on the TV the programs were mono.
Luckily I was prepared with a stereo VCR.
8 Likes
PS - Seven and Ten followed AFAIK in 1985. However, Ten was only able to broadcast stereo (as far as I could tell as a viewer) that was on relay from Sydney. This was fine for part of the year but when daylight savings kicked in, recorded programs were back to mono.
2 Likes
Of course even after the introduction of stereo transmissions in the mid-80s, local FM stations would continue to run simulcasts of big concerts & special events (mostly music-related) from TV well into the 1990s and Early 2000s in some cases.
Seven’s annual telecast of Cross Promotion and Product Placement Carols in the Domain was simulcast on Mix 106.5 here in Sydney for many years, possibly even right into the early part of this decade because I think Smooth 95.3 took over after Mix became KIIS.
1 Like
Nine ad in the SMH in March 1984. Poor quality image from the SMH archives.
A clearer Nine ad from May 1984. SMH archives.
4 Likes
Stereo TV also coincided with the introduction of Stereo HiFi VCRs. Prior to this, VCR audio was recorded as a mono track and later a linear stereo audio track. However, because the tape speed of a VCR was at or below that of a cassette player, the audio quality was poor. The audio on HiFi VCRs was multiplexed into the video signal and the tape track was helical. This resulted in sound quality that could rival CDs. The trouble, initially, was finding tapes that had been produced with the sound. You could also, in a domestic environment, achieve audio recordings as professional as reel-to-reel tape.
You could also record TV sound in it’s full fidelity which was better than FM radio quality. This was because the Zweikanalton stereo system involved the TV station transmitting two separate signals to achieve stereo. This could be noticed on FM radios that could tune channels 3, 4 and 5 audio signals where, with the introduction of stereo, a second signal (at 1/10th the power) could be received.
3 Likes
A National Nine News Melbourne promo from 1988
3 Likes
Love the double dots to indicate stereo broadcasting.
1 Like
Rare look at 9 Gold Coast News from the 2006 era
This Nine News presentation in 2006 was terrible and unfortunately, i didn’t like this package. Their set was a downgrade from 2005.
The current BTN graphics date back to 2 May 2016, when 3News rebranded to BTN Newsbreak without telling anyone. Here’s that bulletin…
I previously posted this in the BTN thread, but however decided to remove it and post it here instead
A promo for WIN’s Crawfords early morning airings.
A little earlier here in the TV history thread we spent some time remembering that shocker “Arcade”
It wasn’t alone…
1 Like
A historical milestone which will probably only interest people here on Media Spy - 15 years tonight since National Nine News (at least on the East Coast) relaunched with an updated set and graphics package which could’ve been their first to use the now common VizRT graphics system.
Was it something commissioned by Graham Cousens during his time as Nine’s Creative Director? Either way, certainly way better than the National Nine News branding package which succeeded it in 2006 with those ridiculous “logo flying around the city” Openers and whatnot.
7 Likes
I always liked that package. The opening shot in Melbourne with the Arts Centre spire and Crown Casino gas brigades looked really good I thought. Melbourne also used the ‘cowbell’ theme during that period which I don’t think was used in any other markets for the bulletin opener, but it was used as background music for the newsbreak sponsor.
It was far better than the package which came after it.
5 Likes