So this was when they first used ABC 1 and ABC 2?
I had thought it was earlier than 2008 but there you go.
It did cause a bit of confusion though in metro areas where the ABC was often referred to as “Channel 2”.
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Some footage I found of when The X Factor aired on Network Ten in the first quarter of 2005.
The format had only launched in the UK the previous year and Simon Cowell’s attempt to bring it Down Under failed spectacularly as evidenced in the ratings.
I’d say that this was because viewers had had enough of the reality TV singing format (also worth noting, the second season of Australian Idol had just finished two months prior) when the new show premiered.
Long after Idol was axed in January 2010, Seven bought the rights to the X Factor and turned it into a ratings smash until, after mediocre ratings for the 2015 and 2016 seasons, it was axed in January 2017.
I also remember that 7TWO would air a complimentary show called The Xtra Factor, following the main show on Seven.
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ABC2 was used as a brand earlier - I think around 2005 after FlyTV and the first ABC Kids channel disappeared. The branding there was one with the giant 2 in the countryside idents.
It was back when it was unable to really have much that people would want to watch because of all the restrictions still.
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As seen on tonight’s Flashback in Brisbane Dina Heslop with a vintage news report - much better known as a children’s TV presenter.
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Didn’t she go on to Executive Produce BTQ7’s children’s television output? I think I remember her name from the credits on Wombat.
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I don’t think we have a thread for old telethon footage, so it can go here, but a couple of YouTube clips from the Melbourne ATV10 Deafness Appeal during the 1980s
In 1981, featuring Gordon Elliott, Jonathan Coleman, Lorraine Bayly and Tina Bursill, and an interview with Matthew Carden from student radio station 3SW (and later a journalist with Nine and others including QTV, SCA, etc.)
YouTube: aussiebeachut0
Later, the annual telethon had shifted from August to late November to become a “Sounds of Christmas” appeal.
In 1986, the evening component of the telethon included a “Back to Variety” special featuring a reunion of some of the former names of TV variety. This segment included Roy Hampson from Good Morning Melbourne interviewing Tommy Hanlon Jnr and a flashback to the 1960s daytime show It Could Be You.
Source: Frank Pagram
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On Classic TV Listings, there is one from 1979 during ATV0’s Nerve Deafness Telethon. Here is Gunslinger performing “Carmelita” (made famous by Linda Ronstadt) outside the Channel 0 studios in Nunawading during that telethon:
Youtube: Rick Evans
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This is the first episode of the second season of Popstars (the Australian version) that ultimately saw a mixed-gender group called “Scandal’us” formed. Their debut single “Me, Myself & I” would go on to top the ARIA Singles chart.
Notice Tamara Jaber, who’d later become Kyle Sandilands’ wife. Later on, she’d join forces with Reigan Derry to form a duo called Scarlett Belle. At the time, Derry was an ex-Idol contestant having appeared on the show in 2006 and would later appear on The X Factor in 2014.
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And this is the episode in which the music video for “Me, Myself & I” is filmed.
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From allmusic.com:
While collecting an award for their first single in 2002, Ditcham and Jaber were asked about their future plans and admitted that the group had already broken up. Ditcham cited trouble with getting out of their restrictive contracts and their inability to find a new label as the causes.
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If I remember correctly, Bardot lasted slightly longer, and split around 2002-03. Sophie Monk “graduated” as the most successful member of the franchise, embarking on a solo singing career and ultimately moving into television presenting, where she is today.
But who could also forget the massive flop that was “Popstars Live”?
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I have strong flashbacks of watching this on TV 
I think this was the first time I realised that things weren’t just shot live!
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There was a third “regular” series of Popstars in 2002, if I’m not mistaken.
I vaguely remember it, although would probably need Google to tell you who the (probably since faded into obscurity) winner was!
A girl I knew in high school was in Popstars Live.
Correct. It was the first season to allow solo performers, and Scott Cain emerged as the winner. His debut single was “I’m Movin’ On” and one of his final singles was “Hilary Duff” (interestingly, he would support the singer on her national tour of Australia in 2004).
Kayne Taylor won that series; Miranda Murphy finished as runner-up. Molly Meldrum was one of the judges, from memory.
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Obscure but he was probably more successful than all of The Voice contestants combined. 
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I somehow misread that as Scott Cam emerged as the winner. I’ve now cleaned my glasses but the mind has wandered to how he would have gone on a show like that!
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Except maybe Vera Blue
Except she had to change her name and disassociate herself from the show. 
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