Regional TV History (pre-aggregation)

[TelevisionAU]

@TelevisionAU

Certainly Nine didn’t have a programming monopoly but for example at the time that Southern Cross was hoping to get the Nine affiliation in Victoria, it was reported that around 55 per cent of its schedule was based on Nine-sourced programming, according to one of the trade magazines (I think it was AdNews).

Have just found the article, from AdNews, 20 April 1990. Two years ahead of aggregation in Victoria but Southern Cross is already declaring it won’t be financially viable as a Ten affiliate, with an alternative proposal to fund an SBS relay in the market in lieu of any commercial operators. Sure, why not

Vic TV, despite being just signed up with Nine, is also concerned at the cost of aggregation in a recession and government rebates not going far enough. There is also concern that being forced onto the UHF band instead of being allowed to run its major transmission sites on VHF in its new markets is going to also add to running costs.

This article was part of a special feature of the magazine devoted entirely to regional Victoria, when I get a chance I will get some more articles or ads from it.