The weird thing is that Nine doesn’t put any of the older programs on Nine main channel except Skippy The Bush Kangaroo. Similarly, Seven for a while showed Sons And Daughters (the iconic 1980s series not to be confused with any other program of a similar name).
There is a lot of Australian content that could be shown still, and I think if networks are worried about shows using insulting and derogatory language, all they have to do is put a warning up that it may offend some viewers like they do with nudity and foul language.
If the had warnings at the front of these older shows, it would open up a whole library of shows that could be used early morning on secondary channels- this would allow comedies such a Mind Your Language, Love Thy Neighbour and even It Ain’t Half Hot Mum to get another airing.
But back the the idea of classic programs being used as fillers, the following shows I remember being used by regionals (and sometimes metros)
MAS*H
Happy Days
Get Smart
Barney Miller
Good Times
Diff’rent Strokes
Sanford And Son
WRKP In Cincinnati
Hogans Heroes
McHales Navy
Rowan and Martin’s Laugh In
Bewitched
I Dream of Jeannie
Dukes Of Hazzard
BJ And The Bear
Fantasy Island
Bonanza
High Chapparrel
Gilligan’s Island
The Brady Bunch
It’s About Time
Petticoat Junction
Green Acres
Here’s Lucy
My Three Sons
The Beverly Hillbillies
That Girl
The Andy Griffith Show
Gomer Pyle
F Troop
Family Affair
The Dick Van Dyke Show
Leave it to Beaver
Gidget
The Flying Nun
The Addams Family
The Munsters
It was a short-lived comedy from the same people who made Gilligan’s Island. It got a few runs between repeats of that show. It was a very silly premise.
Astronauts travelled back to a prehistoric time and lived with a cave-dwelling family. Somehow they spoke English. When that wasn’t working, they brought the family back to the 1960s for the second half of the season.
You can mostly blame the ‘digital dividend’ for that, whereby they were pretty much forced off air as the government didn’t have enough spectrum to go around post 2014 restack.
There was enough spectrum, the government just played bully to get community TV taken off the air. Instead of fighting, TVS just packed up and shutdown. 31 Digital Brisbane tried to go to an online model, essentially what the government wanted them to do, but it failed.
Perth had Access 31 then WTV which has since gone dark.
Melbourne and Adelaide persisted and fought and are still going, for now, based on a flimsy commitment from the current government.
Bendigo IPTV was essentially an online community TV station run by a group of local businesspeople from outside the media sector, relying primarily on Telstra’s BigPond service for carriage. The service operated mainly out of the old BCV-8 studios, with most programming recorded there.
Some owners also served as presenters, and to my knowledge, the station rarely aired live content.
According to Bendigo IPTV’s YouTube channel, their last upload was on November 3, 2016, which suggests that the company likely ceased operations shortly after that date.
I remember the time when Seven outbid Nine for the FTA rights to televise the 2013 (and later 2017) Rugby League World Cup.
This came after Nine televised the 2008 tournament, and were therefore able to use their commentary team (Rabs, Peter Sterling and Phil Gould to name a few).
IIRC, for Seven’s coverage they used a world feed which included Andrew Voss (ex-Nine caller) and Mark Braybrook, among others. Ryan Phelan would be the studio host.
I know I asked for this before, and someone re-uploaded it but I cannot find it, but does anyone have the Seven - TV turns 50 montage and closedown that was on the Big Picture DVD?
When that wasn’t working, they brought the family back to the 1960s for the second half of the season. 
