I wonder how long it was after One HD started that Lachlan Murdoch decided the channel was a threat to Foxtel and decided to charge in and kill it?
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Wasn’t it about about 18 months or so? From memory, non-sports programming started to creep into the schedule even before the SD simulcast was dropped to make way for Eleven.
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Was it a threat though? Ratings were terrible.
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I had forgotten… 
But here is what went to air on that first night for One HD:
Ratings were not great but I think Murdoch just nobbled it before it became significant
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Didn’t Ten have plans to remedy that by raiding some of the sports rights Foxtel had secured for Fox Sports as renewals came up?
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I’ve never heard that.
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20 years ago, WIN Television also commenced operations on 26 march 1999 in Regional WA. Back in the early 1990s GWN was the sole commercial network in Regional & Remote Western Australia with Seven, Nine & TEN affilates. WIN Western Australia was a dual affiliate of Nine and TEN, hence GWN turned to become a sole Seven Affiliate.
Dual affiliation of Nine/TEN ended in 2010, with TEN West being launched. In mid-2016, WIN WA cut ties with Nine and gone to being a TEN affiliate.
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WIN for a short period of time O&O’ed NWS Adelaide and STW-9 Perh before selling them to Nine in 2013.
First step in Bruce’s failed plan to takeover the Nine Network from PBL media
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That was always the speculation: Ten would come in for the next round of rights, and try to build One that way.
From memory, the NRL and AFL were about half way through their current contracts, and the EPL was off in the distance too. So, it did seem a stretch to believe that Ten could wait it out that long.
Also, didn’t events on the anti-siphoning list have to be simulcast on the analogue and SD channels back then?
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Imagine what it would be like if WIN Corporation owner, Mr Bruce Gordon took over Nine Sydney, Nine Melbourne, Nine Brisbane and Nine Darwin. Things will be completely different with their on-air looks. Thankfully, I was very happy that Nine severed ties with WIN TV because they didn’t follow suit with Nine reinstating dots.
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But we’d get premium programming like Kojack, Colombo an Tom Sellleck’s Magnum PI on Nine metro stations every Saturday night.
I never realised the original season one of Magnum PI had a different opening theme to the seasons that followed. I would never have known this if I hadn’t been in a household with Magnum playing on the TV last weekend. Thanks for enlightening me, Bruce!
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Nine News would be very different under a mega-network than it is today. There would definitely be no Nine-Fairfax merger
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For all the faults of the Nine Entertainment Company (and there are plenty), I think their metropolitan TV network is far better off being under the ownership of a modern, diversified media company rather than someone like WIN who despite some more tweaks to their overall imaging, doesn’t seem to have really evolved their business model that much over the past decade or so.
While it’s definitely all for the best that Nine Adelaide & Perth are owned & operated by the network (arguably they should’ve been for many years prior to 2013), at the same time it would’ve been incredibly fascinating to see how they would’ve handled certain challenges of recent years. Namely, would NWS & STW have launched Nine HD/9Life along with the East Coast O&O stations on 26/11/2015 or wait until March 2016 like the regionals did? And what would’ve happened to both non-Nine O&O stations during great Australian TV/media realignment that has happened over the past few years?
Ahh, well there’s something else I’m sure TVAU might eventually do as a flashback. Presumably @WAtvVideos vividly remembers the launch of WIN Western Australia? 
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WIN Television WA televised a 55% of Nine, 45% of 10 programming. In 2006, when the commonwealth games was on Nine, WIN took priority over NAB Cup Grand Final that coincides with the event. Now that regional WA had 3 private commercial stations it was easier for people to show sporting events live without any blackouts!
Between 2002-06, When Nine/ten had afl rights, WIN WA televised Friday night, Saturday Arvo, saturday night, Sunday arvo. Win Tv also televised finals footy.
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I sure do. I remember someone at school mentioning they could pick up the new WIN channel at their place. The launch was being advertised heavily in the papers at the time. After school I went straight to the TV, tuned it in and saw Dennis Walter talking about antennas in front of a WIN logo. Exciting times. Of course I popped a blank tape into the VCR, went straight to the kitchen to grab a Hazelnut Roll and an AC Cola and settled in to watch WIN WA for the first time.
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Have not had a chance to but here’s one I prepared (ten years) earlier
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WIN Television WA struggled in ratings since 2000, due to GWN’s dominance. However WIn TV had a few successes during dual affiliate including AFL, Commonwealth Games In 2006, The block, cricket.
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All good, I can understand that people might be busy with other things sometimes. The one you linked to was a great read about the first decade of WIN WA.
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National Nine News Sydney - Partial 2/5/2002:
Horrible WIN Production Closer:
WIN Sunday Night at the Movies Opener 13/6/2004:
WIN Television - 50 Years of TV Promo:
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A rare video with Ken Sparkes doing the voiceover for Sunday Night at the Movies on WIN.