From what I can recall, Seven News was never going to beat Nine News at 6:00pm hence the move to 6:30pm.
Also around this time, Nine News was even beating Seven News in Perth before the latter bulletin went on its record ratings rampage that still continues today.
I think Seven in Melbourne did the same, shifting to 6.00, leaving Home And Away sandwiched between the news and Hinch at 7.00.
Coincidentally, Prime in Canberra (and presumably Wollongong) shifted their local news bulletin from 6pm to 5:45pm that same day, therefore halving its duration time from 30 minutes to 15 minutes, allowing them to air Seven Nightly News from Sydney live at 6pm.
Prime would shift their local Canberra news bulletin back to 6pm in a half-hour format the following May before it was axed a year later. The Wollongong bulletin was unaffected by the axing that happened in Canberra then.
First in a string of failures for the struggling Ten Network.
I had forgotten about that but it appears Wollongong followed suit:
By May 1990 Prime Local News was back at 6pm with Home and Away moving to 5.30pm.
This is how Seven promoted the move in the SMH:
The 0-10 Network was struggling back then. Geez, that was some shockers
Nice to see Ann Sanders is still going strong at Seven nearly three decades on.
Off topic, but that article lists Max Walker as host if the World Cup of Skiing from Thredbo, wonder if anyone batted an eyelid about a former VFL footballer and test cricketer hosting skiing like Woodbridge is copping now for hosting the cricket.
you mean the cricket don’t you?
Ah indeed, will fix.
Max was such a good presenter (and a brilliant orator) that hardly anyone complained.
Happy 60th birthday to TV in Queensland 
Some background on the launches of QTQ, BTQ and ABQ… plus a “mystery” fourth channel 
Great article. That was a fast turn around to get the 3 stations studios and towers designed, approved, built and equipped (presumably from OS) in around 12 months as well as finding trained staff to operate the new equipment.
The mystery channel sounds like community TV.
Apparently there was no actual programming on it as such, but rather just experimental stuff like text, graphics and images. Just for the trainee techs to have something to work from
Nine Queensland is celebrating 60 years of informative, fun-filled and captivating television since launching on August 16, 1959.
The team from past and present at Nine Queensland are honoured by this momentous milestone and recognise all those who have walked our hallowed halls and contributed to the station’s formidable success in the media landscape today.
Managing Director, Kylie Blucher, said Nine Queensland’s commitment to sharing great, trustworthy and exclusive local, national and international content – thanks to an ever-evolving and adaptive team – is the cornerstone of its success over six great decades.
“It has been an honour to witness and be a part of Nine Queensland going above and beyond the traditional expectations of television,” Ms Blucher said.
“We are proud to have gone from strength to strength over the past 60 years, and what a time to mark our fabulous milestone with Nine Queensland having a sensational ratings year in 2019.”
Over the past decade Nine Queensland’s audience has consistently grown and convincingly secured the number one position for audience share against competitors in the free-to-air television market.
Nine Queensland celebrated its birthday a day early with over 100 guests, including Hugh Cornish (85), the first man to appear on television in Queensland and utter the famous words “Good evening and welcome to television”. Surrounded by 180-degree panoramic views of Brisbane city, guests partied well into the night, paying homage to Nine’s embrace to #lovethiscity.
HAPPY 60TH BIRTHDAY, NINE QUEENSLAND
Happy Birthday QTQ9!
August 16, 1993: Ten strips The Simpsons Monday to Friday for the first time. The animated series takes over the 6pm time-slot vacated by Tony Barber’s failed Jeopardy game show. Ten promises to air it from the beginning but actually starts from episode two, Bart The Genius. The first episode, Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire, is held over until Christmas. Ten had just finished airing season four episodes on Sundays at 6.30pm. Viewers are shocked to see how the characters had evolved over that time.
A newspaper report the previous week had falsely claimed The Simpsons was amongst some of Ten’s top rating imports that would be moving to Seven in 1994.
August 16, 1987: Television gossip columns go into overdrive with speculation about changes to the television landscape in 1988 following a tumultuous year in media ownership changes.
The Sun-Herald reports television networks could be known by names instead of numbers in 1988 claiming Seven will be known as the Universal Network with Ten adopting the Fox Network name.
The same gossip columnist claimed changes were afoot at Ten News with the news hour to be renamed Ten News Headquarters and divided into fifteen minute blocks:
6pm: National Report with Steve Liebmann.
6:15pm: World Report with George Donikian.
6:30pm: The Doogue Report current affairs with Geraldine Doogue,
6:45pm: The Mossop Report sport with Rex Mossop.
It is also claimed Mike Willesee won’t be returning to Nine’s 6:30pm current affairs slot and will be replaced by either Richard Carleton or Jana Wendt.
Ten wouldn’t air the next season (Season 5) until January 1995, more than a year after it first aired in the US. It then aired Season 6 straight afterwards, concluding with Who Shot Mr Burns, Part 1, perhaps the only time in which a season of The Simpsons ended on a cliffhanger.
