I do see the similarities between the two logos. The aborted rebrand lasted from 1987 to 1991.
2 Likes
Just a quick mock up here of the ATN logo, using a mirror image of the current Seven logo as a base (with no modifications, no skewing, no re-touching - just a 100% mirror flip and thatās it - Iāve left the top trapezium in to show that it really is the actual Seven logo).
Thereās absolutely no doubt in my mind that the current Seven logo is derived from that ATN logo.
6 Likes
Turn it around and give it a blue background and thereās your new Australian flag. 
3 Likes
Thought maybe just got special versions of them from master tapes
1 Like
compelling theory. Iād never considered a link between those logos before but the resemblance is uncanny
1 Like
A while back, I posted about a 1920s T&AHM parody from a Channel Nine show but no one got the right answer. Iām currently watching the interview-free DVD edit of Hamish And Andyās Gap Year on Stan (I agree with why they thought it was āmuch betterā), and during the ā100 Second New York Lessondā about Broadway, I got it! āAlmost Three Chapsā was apparently a very popular old long-running broadway show that was ārecentlyā adapted as Two & A Half Man, and they even made a small joke about Channel Nineās repeats!
1 Like
I was picked to do the weather when i did the NBC tour in new york. Iām sure the yanks found it hilarious - this aussie bloke with next to no USA geography pointing in completely the wrong places whilst mispronouncing states
1 Like
I have a question about the early days of commercial television in the metro regions. I understand that initially the channels were not part of a network as such, being owned and operated independently of each other. So what was the reason behind the VHF frequencies being 7, 9 and 0/10 in all markets? Were these allocated by the government? It seems more than a coincidence that each metro station (even Perth) had their first commercial channels on the same frequencies.
At what point did the channels become networks (unofficially or otherwise)? Branding seemed to be shared between the stations even when they were independently owned. Once a microwave or coaxial link was in place, how much content began being simulcast? I notice that as late as the 80s, many flagship shows were being played out at different times and paces in different states, even though the channels were generally thought of as networks by this stage.
Yes the government had allocated frequency plans for every projected TV market. For the major capitals 2, 7, 9 and 10 were planned.
Because some regional areas ended up using 10 by the time the 3rd commercial licences came up, Melbourne and Brisbane were instead assigned 0 for their new channels.
5 Likes
The Simpsons has purposefully done this āsecond-break-then-resumeā thing for a long time.
Which didnāt last all that long.
well TVQ was on 0 longer than ATV.
1 Like
14 years in Melbourne and 23 in Brisbane was quite a long time in my opinion. Not compared to the 30-odd years the channels have been on VHF/LCN 10, but hardly a short time.
2 Likes
I thought ATV was on 0 for around 16 years, while TVQ had about 23 on that frequency.
But yes, still a significant amount of time even though both stations were on VHF-10 for a longer period of history than they were on 0.
1 Like
Plus, TVQ and ATV were only on 0 because of regional stations GLV-10 and DDQ-10.
2 Likes
ATV changed to 10 in early 1980 and NEW came on line in May 1988 with TVQ in September 1988. This was then the first time that Network TEN was 10 in all 5 capitals all with the same logo finally.
It wasnāt until late 1987 when TVQ was taken over by DDQ that the plans were put in place to change frequencies finally (and of course the SEQ10 translator at Nambour changed to UHF). A shame that it didnāt happen until September 1988 as they had to use dual branding at Expo '88 both in their pavilion and dual brnading in their news to produce a national weekday bulletin at 10.30am during the 6 months of Expo.
6 Likes
Do any TV networks still use the Supertext Subtitles symbol for closed captioned programming?
Also, I remember the ABC used to leave a constant āThis programme is not subtitledā running on Teletext page 801 whenever a program was on which didnāt have closed captioning information. I always hated that - it seemed unnecessary and annoying for anyone who wanted to leave the closed captions on.
They donāt seem to do that anymore. Anyone got any idea when it stopped?
2 Likes
I think all the networks have moved away from using the Supertext logo, possibly due to licencing issues.
From memory, either Nine or Ten was the last to use the Supertext āSā on-screen. On the other end of the scale, Seven moved away from it in favour of their own āCCā icon back in 1999!
2 Likes
15 years for Melbourne and 23 years for Brisbane. Not an insignificant duration 
2 Likes
Of course. Just my poor mental arithmetic!