GTV9 showing an animated PRG, circa 1976. I’d never seen GTV do an animated PRG before the 1990s. They certainly never did them in the 1980s, so this was something new…
YouTube: steve rutherford
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In 1969 all 3 commercial channels in Sydney had separate Carols By Candlelight broadcasts. Ten’s was the telecast from Melbourne, but 7 and 9’s came from Sydney
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Channel Nine Perth Lineup, Ident and News Opener 28/12/2002:
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Christmas Eve, 1956, marked the first telecast of Carols By Candlelight. The telecast was part of GTV9’s pre-launch test transmissions and started at 8.30pm and went through to midnight, although the radio broadcast of Carols (on 3KZ) didn’t start until about 10.00pm, hosted by Norman Banks (whose idea began Carols By Candlelight) and Phil Gibbs.
https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=mlBVAAAAIBAJ&sjid=dpUDAAAAIBAJ&pg=2239%2C2905125
Despite the pioneering telecast it would not be until 1969 that Carols became an annual TV event, first on ATV0. It shifted to GTV9 in 1979, making this year the 40th Carols By Candlelight on the Nine Network.
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I seem to recall it also aired weekdays at one point (probably at 4:30pm).
Yeah I forgot all about it. Another one around that time was The Looney Tunes Show
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New upload 27 Dec 1983 ATN 7 News opener/closer- unfortunately not the best, but that’s all I kept 
Some technical problem with the opener.
And for comparison here is BTQ’s opener from the day before.
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What’s the name of that old BTQ news theme? I believe it was also used by ATN at some point.
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You Tube comments on the BTQ video say the theme was used in Sydney for a while (as well as by BTV and GMV) but no idea what the music is called.
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I can’t find the post now (it might even have been a youtube comment…), but I vaguely recall someone discussing the old Seven Nightly News Opener where in Sydney the use of the Harbour Bridge model wasn’t originally the plan, with them trying to find a statue (I think Captain Cook was mentioned) to mimic NBC’s use of the Statue of Liberty.
The relevance was that in some videos related to those old Seven National News themes, I stumbled upon this clip from Adelaide where they used what is apparently “Light’s Vision commemoration”, or just some explorer pointing as I saw it as, seemingly to actually implement that idea of trying to do the pan around an iconic statue in the opener. Nothing seems to suggest this is particularly iconic in Adelaide, at least now.
Video here of the Adelaide one
And the Sydney opener the original reference was about:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhLTH9G697I
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Dunno, but as he was pretty much the equivalent of John Batman in Melbourne, it’s left me wondering if there’s a Batman statue there? 
There was along with Fawkner in the forecourt to the old National Mutual building, they’ve been removed during redevelopment but unlikely to be replaced anywhere prominent if it all. And certainly nothing spectacular to fly around…
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Aired 20 years ago today:
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ABC iView have uploaded se road tests from Torque. I think a good motoring programme.is something missing.
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We could see a similar bulletin on 29 November 2019 if Peter Hitchener retires
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I wonder if anybody has a 16:9 widescreen broadcast of one of Brian Henderson’s broadcasts.
In 2010 I stumbled across the September 12, 2001 Sydney National Nine News opener and posted to the old MS forums. I’ll try to resurrect one of my old harddrives in the next couple of weeks and go looking for it.
The opening monologue was almost identical to Queensland’s bulletin.
“Michael Usher who is in New York, begins our coverage…”
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I’d presume Channel Nine Sydney and/or the National Film & Sound Archive of Australia (as part of their “NewsCaf” program which they’ve been doing for 30 years in co-operation with all major TV news/current affairs organisations) would have copies, although for various reasons I highly doubt the general public will ever be allowed official access to such old news bulletins in full.
Peter Hitchener’s contract will end in 2019, so if the retirement is imminent, then it will be the end of an era for him. Nine News has dominated for more than 2 decades in Melbourne (except 2007-09). Hitchener will be 73 years old and will be the oldest newsreader on Australian TV.
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And if he’s still rating well and wants to stay they’ll sign him up again.
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do we know that? Even so, contracts can be extended or renewed. Peter seems to be very active in the role so there’s no hint at this stage that he’s thinking of slowing down.
Eric Pearce read the news at Nine up until he was well into his 70s.
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I give Hitch until 2020 or 2021, unless health deteriorates (which I hope doesn’t happen).
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