Credit: YouTube/Vaxman80
Countdown’s first broadcast in colour
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The 1974 episodes of Countdown were produced in colour and some did get to air in colour as part of ABC’s test of colour transmissions. However, the schedule of which varied from state to state.
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2 March 1957: Bob Dyer’s Pick-A-Box, a radio quiz since 1948, launches on ATN7, Sydney, and GTV9, Melbourne. It continues until 1971.
2 March 1996: The 1996 Federal Election dominates the night’s viewing with coverage across all networks.
2 March 2005: Les Murray hosts the 25th Australian Sports Awards from the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre, broadcast on SBS.
2 March 2014: The Sydney Gay And Lesbian Mardi Gras is televised on SBS2 — the first time on free-to-air television in 12 years.
2 March 2016: Ten resumes high definition simulcast of its primary channel
despite the reputation that the series gained in a very short period, it actually is probably not that bad compared to other soaps of that time. Some of the dialogue is not great and was dated even for then, but it was put into such a competitive timeslot (6.30pm in Melbourne and Brisbane, 7pm in Sydney and Adelaide) that it was probably always destined to fail no matter how good or bad it was.
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Out of the 900+ episodes made, only 73 are stored at the NFSA.
Australia Post is releasing a stamp commemorating 50 Years of Colour Television in Australia which will feature a scene from Aunty Jack on the ABC in black & white and colour.
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Interesting that it will be released as a stamp for letters and parcels sent overseas only.
It’s an odd decision. Nobody overseas would know that show but there could be some interest within Australia if it was on local letters.
3 March 1975: The first episode of The Graham Kennedy Show for 1975 sparks complaints from the Australian Broadcasting Control Board over Graham Kennedy‘s “crow call” which was sounded to resemble the F-word. The show also attracted complaints from viewers about “general vulgarity and poor taste”.
Source: The Age
3 March 1978: The 20th annual TV Week Logie Awards are televised on Nine, hosted by Bert Newton from the Southern Cross Hotel. Special guests include Florence Henderson, Sammy Davis Jnr, Patti Weaver, David Frost, Richard Anderson and Mike Farrell
YouTube: Libraries Tasmania
3 March 1981: ABC premieres two new children’s dramas: Fatty And George, a Tasmanian-made sci-fi series starring Scott Kinloch, Lisa Douglas and Mathew Excell; and The Patchwork Hero, starring Steve Bisley, Damon Herriman, Monica Maughan and Jackie Woodburne.
3 March 1985: After 28 years, the final edition of ABC‘s Weekend Magazine goes to air. The Sunday night program, which began on 11 November 1956 as Sunday Magazine, was the longest running program on Australian television.
3 March 1996: ABC six-part anthology series Naked: Stories Of Men begins with Coral Island, the story of four men gathered at a 20th anniversary dinner at a Jesuit boarding school. Starring Hugo Weaving, Joss McWilliam, Peter Hardy, Lewis FitzGerald, Justin Rosniak, Anthony Hayes and Steve Rodgers.
3 March 2002: The 2002 Foster’s Australian Grand Prix is live on the Nine Network from Albert Park, Melbourne. Commentators include Martin Brundle, James Allen, Alan Jones, Darrell Eastlake and John Watson.
3 March 2005: The Osbournes host the inaugural MTV Video Music Awards Australia, held at Luna Park, Sydney. Performances include Missy Higgins, Grinspoon, Eskimo Joe, The Dissociatives and Simple Plan. The awards are telecast live on MTV with a delayed telecast the following night on Network Ten.
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Amazing how far we’ve come in 50 years!
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4 March 1962: New TV station — NBN3, Newcastle, New South Wales
4 March 1982: ABC debuts children’s drama Come Midnight Monday, based on the book by David Burke. The seven-part series stars Stephen Comey (Sons And Daughters), Jacqui Gordon (Prisoner), Sally Boyden (Young Talent Time), Tommy Dysart, Tim Blake, Peter Cummins and Julie Hamilton.
4 March 1985: ABC launches The National, a revamped news and current affairs format replacing the traditional 7pm state-based news bulletins and the former current affairs program Nationwide.
4 March 1991: Seven’s long-running game show Wheel Of Fortune celebrates its 2000th episode with John Burgess, Adriana Xenides and voice-over man John Deeks presenting highlights from the show’s past.
4 March 2001: Drama series Head Start, based around a group of young entrepreneurs who are recipients of innovation grants, debuts on ABC.
4 March 2007: ABC screens the concert from The Kylie Showgirl Homecoming Tour, filmed at Kylie Minogue‘s 2006 Melbourne concert at Rod Laver Arena. Sandra Sully hosts Ten‘s special Cool Aid: The National Carbon Test, examining the issue of climate change and featuring interviews with Al Gore and Tim Flannery.
now we’ve got MAFS 
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I think I saw a clip of the crow call, or the show after on YouTube, but has since been take down???
I am not aware that the actual footage of it exists.
There is a clip of him teasing at making a bird call in an earlier clip but it’s in B&W so would have pre-dated the actual offending incident. It was an ongoing gag of him to do bird calls during commercials.
YouTube: Aaron’s Archive
I might have been thinking of this The Graham Kennedy Show (16.4.1975)
The Graham Kennedy Show (lost television episode with "crow call" incident; 1975) - The Lost Media WikiThe Graham Kennedy Show (lost television episode with “crow call” incident; 1975)
YouTube: Andrew Zur
6 March 1985: ABC‘s consumer affairs program The Investigators debuts with reporters Ian Altschwager, Clare Petre, John Hosking and Sonia Humphrey.
YouTube: ARIA
6 March 1992: The ARIA Awards are telecast for the first time, live from Melbourne’s World Congress Centre. Hosted by Richard Wilkins and Julian Lennon, with appearances by John Farnham, Jimmy Barnes, Jenny Morris, Noiseworks, Diesel, Wendy Matthews, Margaret Urlich, Rockmelons, Sophie Lee, Craig McLachlan, Dannii Minogue and international artists Diana Ross, Rod Stewart and Harry Connick Jnr.
6 March 1994: Comedian Jimeoin launches his new Seven Network series, Jimeoin, featuring Glenn Robbins, Bob Franklin, Rachel Griffiths, Daina Reid, Tamara Cook, Angus Smallwood and Brian Nankervis.
6 March 1996: Highlights from the parade at the 1996 Sydney Gay And Lesbian Mardi Gras airs on ABC.
YouTube: Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras
6 March 1999: SBS‘ short film compilation series Eat Carpet celebrates its 10th anniversary.
6 March 2000: Sports-based talk show The Fat debuts on ABC, hosted by Tony Squires with panellists Rebecca Wilson and Peter Wilkins.
6 March 2006: Nine airs a delayed telecast of the 78th Academy Awards from the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, hosted by comedian Jon Stewart.
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7 March 1975: Bert Newton hosts the TV Week Logie Awards from the Southern Cross Hotel, Melbourne — the first Logies to be telecast in colour. Hollywood star John Wayne presented the Gold Logies to winners Ernie Sigley and Denise Drysdale.
7 March 1985: ABC debuts comedy-drama series The Fast Lane, starring Terry Bader, Debra Lawrance, Peter Hosking and Richard Healy. The series was created by John Clarke and Andrew Knight.
7 March 1979: The winner of the 1978 series of Mastermind, John Bond, represents Australia in Mastermind International, debuting on ABC. The series, taped in London, features Mastermind winners from around the world including the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Nigeria, Canada and the Republic of Ireland.
7 March 1992: The Seven Network hosts Olympathon, a nationwide telethon to raise financial support for Australia’s athletic team to compete in the Barcelona Olympic Games.
7 March 1993: ABC broadcasts The Great Debate in the lead up to the 1993 Federal Election, featuring Prime Minister Paul Keating and Opposition Leader Dr John Hewson and moderated by Kerry O’Brien. ABC also begins broadcasting 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with the expansion of overnight programming from Friday and Saturday nights to every night of the week.
7 March 1997: The Sydney Gay And Lesbian Mardi Gras parade is covered on commercial TV for the first time, with Network Ten screening a highlights package of the previous weekend’s event. Hosted by Tottie Goldsmith.
7 March 1999: The Nine Network telecasts the 1999 Qantas Australian Grand Prix, live from Albert Park, Melbourne. Hosted by Eddie McGuire.
7 March 2005: ABC launches its new digital-only television channel ABC2 — containing a mix of original programs, such as regional news and information, and ‘time shifted’ content from the main ABC channel. Anyone watching to see the launch at 6.30am were left to view a test card before the channel finally triggered into the scheduled screening of Landline several minutes in (at the 7:18 mark in the video below).
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8 March 1969: The world title fight between Lionel Rose and Alan Rudkin becomes the highest rated program in Australian television history to date.
8 March 1974: Bert Newton hosts the TV Week Logie Awards, live from the Southern Cross Hotel, Melbourne, and telecast on Nine. International guests include Gina Lollobrigida, David Cassidy and MacDonald Carey. Gold Logie winners are Graham Kennedy (The Graham Kennedy Show) and Pat McDonald (Number 96).
YouTube: Phil Johnson (low audio)
8 March 1992: Network Ten debuts the two-part mini-series The Other Side Of Paradise, an Australian-UK-NZ co-production starring Vivien Tan and Australians Garry McDonald, Jay Laga’aia, Judy Morris, Josephine Byrnes and Su Cruickshank.
8 March 1996: Due to Cricket World Cup commitments over the weekend, Hey Hey It’s Saturday becomes Hey Hey It’s Friday.
8 March 1998: Murray Walker hosts Nine‘s coverage of the Australian Formula One Grand Prix, live from Albert Park, Melbourne.
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