I suspect all three channels could be picked up in that area, particularly the main Channel 8 service. Channel 1 was later decommissioned.
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Makes sense. They were probably in the process of replacing Channel 1 with Channel 69
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Nice
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I think that 1 (and channel 4 for ABC) were for Gympie Town which is in a bit of a hollow. The surrounding area could receive the main Wide Bay signals. ABC 4 had to be moved to UHF accommodate the intro of FM so the SEQ translator was moved as well (plus band I was being cleared). Many people in the area also had large installations for Brisbane. Channel 1 and 4 required quite a large antenna due to the frequency and it was also complicated by being vertically polarised which required a stand off mounting from the antenna mast.
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It looks like wherever you were in Queensland you could pick up Sunshine Television.
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Well that was the idea.
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Something that confuses me at times is why the heck channel 9 was called Channel 8 in Darwin for 20-30 odd years, even though they had all of the Channel 9 brandings, idents, news format, etc?
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Not in Brisbane or Gold Coast.
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Because it was broadcast on Channel 8 up until the time the analogue signal was switched off.
I should also clarify that NTD8 was an independent channel with no connection or affiliation to any network, before it became part of the Nine Network in the early 1990s. At that point it adopted many of Nine’s on-air and programming elements but still carried some Seven and Ten programming, and continued to broadcast on Channel 8.
Seven Darwin began in 1998 and took over the Seven Network programming from NTD8.
On New Year’s Day 2003, NTD8 then dropped all Network Ten programming and re-branded as Nine as it was now carrying only Nine Network programming.
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nor in the outback! Although this area did gain a channel 7 service when QQQ (then the only commercial channel licenced) changed its programming allegiance from Ten to Seven.
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It was cherry-picked programs broadcast on Channel 4 in Spencer Gulf, Channel 7 in Broken Hill, Channel 8 in Mount Gambier and Channel 5A in Riverland until the analogue signals was switched off in 2010.
An independent affiliation of regional SA stations GTS/BKN, SES-8 and RTS-5A broadcast a mixture of programs derived from the Seven Network, Nine Network, and Network Ten.
Southern Cross TEN Spencer Gulf and Broken Hill began in December 2003.
In January 2004, WIN TEN in Mount Gambier and Riverland was launched.
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I know that SES-8 and RTS-5A merged in the 90s - from then on did they share a common schedule? You mention an affiliation between these stations and GTS-BKN, but did the latter share a schedule with the others?
When WIN bought out SES-RTS did the programming become quite Nine-centric in a similar way to GTS-BKN’s schedule becoming quite Seven-heavy after they were bought by Southern Cross?
As a matter of interest, what was the last regional/remote station to have joint-affiliation (or not be completely aligned with a metro channel)? I believe some stations remained like this right until DSO in their market.
[quote=“Si-Co, post:650, topic:5146, full:true”]
WIN Western Australia was the last to have joint-affiliation with Nine and Ten. The last Ten programme (Late Night with David Letterman) aired on March 2, 2012. All Ten programming moved to WIN’s second WA channel WDT (now the Nine affiliate) after that. I was in outback WA at the time, but didn’t watch it (the accommodation I stayed at didn’t have mobile phone reception let alone a TV!), television (apart from some glimpses at roadhouses and pubs along the way) was the last thing on my mind at the time.
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And don’t forget about the most important thing: To avoid mappy.
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Didn’t NBN Newcastle help setup or operate NTD for a while?
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Maybe you’re thinking of NTN - Niugini Television Network. That was the 2nd(?) PNG television network. Parry Corp owned both NBN3 and NTN.
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How many regional tv stations are “aligned” with Seven that used to be under Southern Cross branding?
I know Hobart and the Spencer Gulf networks are, as their bulletins are extremely similar to the ones on metropolitan Channel Seven stations.
Another fact relating to these stations are that they’re cherry-picked stations (i.e. they choose programming from all three commercial channels due to the sparse population in their broadcast areas, am I right?)
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The were cherry-picking stations until aggregation, that later included one station markets being allocated a second licence, and two station markets being allocated a third licence.
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… it was more than that … before aggregation all regional stations across Australia programmed totally independently … overseas program and movie rights were purchased by the capital cities stations/networks for five capital cities only … the regional stations rights were purchased directly from companies like Paramount, Fox, Warner Bros, etc through a joint venture called Regional Television Australia (RTA) … rights for Australian programs made by and for the networks were sold independently to each regional station …
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it was an arrangement that saw some overseas shows shown by regional channels well before getting picked up by metropolitan networks. IIRC, shows like talk show Donahue, sitcom Allo Allo and sci-fi series Buck Rogers In The 25th Century appearing on regional channels before being shown in the cities.
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