10 January 1964: The Third Test — Australia versus South Africa — is relayed live from Sydney to Melbourne via the recently-launched coaxial cable link between the two cities.
10 January 1977: The 0-10 Network launches its new daytime chat/variety show Adams After Noon, the replacement for The Mike Walsh Show, which is soon to re-launch on Nine. Adams After Noon is hosted by NSW-born Brian Adams, returning to Australia after some years working overseas as a journalist, actor, compere and in advertising.
13 January 1975: Number 96 returns for its fourth year on air. The new season debuts as the apartment block residents find out that a second murder has taken place in the building and the killer is still on the loose.
13 January 1991: Network Ten is relaunched as ‘The Entertainment Network’ with a new logo and a new resolve to focus on the under-40s demographic. Central to the new-look network’s line-up are new series The Simpsons and Twin Peaks and local dramas Neighbours and E Street
I remember the relaunch but I didn’t see it until the following morning when I picked up the paper and noticed that the logo in the Channel 10 listings looked somewhat different. I mostly remember it because it was just before the Gulf War and the saturation coverage that had zero interest for 10-year-old me at the time. Where’s my cartoons, dammit!
that was the same way i found out. Suddenly the TV listing in the Herald Sun had a different Ten logo on it.
The new logo came in on the Sunday, and I think the saturation CNN Gulf War coverage kicked in on the Thursday. The 24/7 news coverage seemed to be a little bit jarring against the freshly-minted “The Entertainment Network” slogan.
14 January 1973: The Nine Network screens the Elvis Presley concert special Aloha From Hawaii, broadcast live via satellite.
14 January 1985: The Nine Network launches its latest soapie, Possession. Starring Tamasin Ramsay, Tracey Callander, David Reyne, Anne Charleston, Maggie Millar and Lloyd Morris.
14 January 1991: Ten’s 6pm news bulletin is re-named from Ten Evening News to Ten Eyewitness News to coincide with the launch of the network’s new logo the previous day.
14 January 2004: Curtis Stone and Ben O’Donoghue present a new series of Surfing The Menu for ABC.
14/1/2024Nine News relaunches their graphics, and Alicia Loxley and Tom Steinfort make their debut as the new weeknight Melbourne presenters (though they began on the Sunday to coincide with the new earlier start to the Australian Open).
I was 8 years old at the time and remember the saturation Gulf War coverage, I also remember being at my next door neighbour’s house and their two year old was not happy as Sesame Street and Play School was disrupted by the coverage if I remember correctly.
January 14 2019: Nine is the exclusive broadcaster of the Australian Open Tennis Tournament for the first time after securing the rights from Seven the previous March.
17 January 1988: The movie-length pilot of Home And Away screens on Seven, with the series’ half-hour episodes commencing the next night. The pilot cast included Roger Oakley, Vanessa Downing, Alex Papps, Helena Bozich, Kate Ritchie, Adam Willits, Sharyn Hodgson, Sheila Kennelly, Ray Meagher, Judy Nunn, Gwen Plumb, Frank Lloyd, Norman Coburn and Nicolle Dickson.
17 January 1991: Much of the day’s pre-planned schedules from all networks are abandoned with the outbreak of war in the Persian Gulf and networks switching to continuous news coverage – in particular the Ten Network makes much of its connection to US network CNN, relaying the news channel through most of the day and over subsequent days, and continuing its regular overnight broadcast.
17 January 2000: ABC premieres its new evening serial, Something In The Air, airing Monday to Thursday at 6.30pm. The series, set in the rural town of Emu Plains, starred Frankie J Holden, Kate Fitzpatrick, Anne Phelan, Ray Barrett, Ullie Birve, Eric Bana, Roger Oakley, Danielle Carter, Colin Moody, Jeremy Lindsay Taylor, Mariel McClory, Melita Jurisic and Steven Adams.
And also, the very first Grand Slam Tennis Tournament of the new Millennium begins on Seven with the Australian Open live and exclusive from Melbourne Park in Victoria.
18 January 1982: The premiere of the Seven Network soap opera Sons And Daughters with episodes one, two and three combined into a movie-length debut.
18 January 1988: Seven launches its revamped and retitled half-hour news bulletin, Seven Nightly News; its new current affairs program, Hinch At Seven, with Derryn Hinch; and starts nightly episodes of Home And Away (after its movie-length pilot screened the previous night). Nine launches a revival of the A Current Affair title with former 60 Minutes reporter Jana Wendt as host.
18 January 1994: The Seven Network debuts its new cop drama Blue Heelers, starring John Wood, Martin Sacks, Grant Bowler, William McInnes, Julie Nihill and newcomer Lisa McCune.
18 January 1996: The ABC special First Day looks at the different experiences of a range of five-year-olds as they prepare for their first day of school.
18 January 2010: The Lifestyle Channel debuts the Australian franchise of UK series Come Dine With Me.
20 January 1980: Melbourne’s ATV0 is relaunched as ATV10 with an on-air introduction by Graham Kennedy. The change to the Melbourne station triggers the 0-10 Network to become known as Network Ten. The evening marks the debut of the network’s new big budget serial Arcade.
20 January 1986: Neighbours debuts on Network Ten after being axed by the Seven Network in 1985. It is the first time an Australian drama series has changed networks.
20 January 1992: Bert Newton returns to TV as host of The Morning Show, presenting 90 minutes of entertainment and infomercials. The show changes its name to Good Morning Australia the following year. Ten Eyewitness News makes the shift from 6.00pm to 5.00pm, and launches Hinch following Derryn Hinch‘s move from Seven. Meanwhile, Seven debuts Hinch’s replacement current affairs program Real Life at 6.30pm
