Interesting reading that now and also knowing how things have gone since then. I’m thinking WIN never did recover from when they lost here. Titmus was successful until he passed the baton on to Jo Cornish/Palmer and ever since then WIN has remained very distant. It’s also interesting to see them talk about a ratings battle, it feels like it’s rarely talked about in Tasmania because the margin is so great with Southern Cross.
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Bit surprised WIN still delivers news in Tassie considering how low the numbers are there. Still doing 7 days too.
given the numbers sank even lower then the weekend news was originally axed (and the Southern Cross promos highlighting it) , i don’t think WIN Tasmania would like to swing the axe again
Damage already done?
If WIN axed their news in Tas, they may as well shut up shop. They’ll never have a chance at being competitive. They’ve just lost the Big Bash and are going to continue to struggle.
Seems that somebody accidentally pressed rewind during the daytime movie:
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How long was NRTV known as 11-8 Television?
“At the time the present networking system was proposed, the Regionals suggested each station be given one extra licence, which would ensure all worthwhile programs reached the bush, but local content, local control, and employment could be maintained.
Unfortunately, the Networks were too powerful and the Government established the present system. It is a great pity, but it was a great experience while it lasted.”
I recall it being 11-8 in 1982/83.
Though I’m not sure when the change to NRTV came.
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I think they changed to NRTV in 1983-4 even though the 11-8 logo was still seen. There was a brief period when they used the GET (Great Eastland Television) brand on air.
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GET would have been a great brand.
Think of all of the promotional slogans you could have…GET with the latest news… GET it on…
That’s probably what Nine should have used instead of GEM… It fits better with GO too…
This is the oldest combined 11-8 NRTV ident I have - the v/o says NRTV but Eric Walters and the logo say 11-8 
GET was quite a significant campaign to try and get capital city advertisers to spend money in the region.
They took out double-page ads in Sydney and Melbourne newspapers and also ran advertising campaigns on the 3 commercial channels in each city in prime time
Source: Sydney Morning Herald
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Great Eastland Television was a network of affiliated country television stations servicing northern New South Wales and South East Queensland from 1975 to 1987. The stations involved in the network were:
DDQ-10 and DDQ-5a Toowoomba/Darling Downs
SDQ-4 Southern Downs
NRN-11 Coffs Harbour
RTN-8 Lismore
NEN-9 Tamworth
ECN-8 Taree
The three sets had similar programming, being formed as a response to rising programming coasts incurred by regional stations in the 1970s.
Under GET they were using the relevant channel numbers so as an example DDQ/SDQ were GET 10-4-5a, NRN/RTN was GET 11-8 and NEN/ECN was GET 9-8. On air promotions went to 10-4-5a, 11-8 and 9-8 for a while before DDQ/SDQ adopting Vision TV and NRN/RTN adopting NRTV by mid to late 1980s and NEN/ECN becoming Prime Television In 1989 (albeit a little later than its former counterparts).
The station was dismantled in the late 1980s prior to television aggregation. Initially independently owned, at one point NRN/RTN and DDQ/SDQ had the same owners. DDQ/SDQ has since been merged into the RTQ licence area. RTN and ECN call signs were dropped and aligned under NRN and NEN. NRN and DDQ are now controlled by WIN Television and NEN controlled by Prime Media Group.
Here is a clip of 9-8 Local News from May 1988
ABRQ3
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This is 10-4-5a using the GET logo in their ident.
This is an audio recording I made from 11-8 when they were using the GET branding.
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So 11-8 Television was 1982-84?
If all 3 channels (DDQ, NRN and NEN) had been under the same owner and there wasn’t the financial problems in the late 1980s/ early 1990s for NRN and DDQ, it would have been interesting to see if NSW was treated as one licence area or whether CBN/CWN/MTN would have formed part of the northern region or if the federal government could force the sale of one of the northern NSW channels to a third party
Late 1980s c1988/89 or so. I remember one week he intro a presentation of The Muppet Movie that we taped off air. The continuity announcer made a reference to Home and Away so it would’ve been either when it initially started or about a year into it’s run. Hope that helps with the timeline