Television broadcasting in Australia began officially on 16 September 1956, with the opening of TCN-9, quickly followed by national and commercial stations in Sydney and Melbourne, all these being in 625-line black and white. The commencement date was designed so as to provide coverage of the Olympic Games in Melbourne. It has now grown to be a nationwide system that includes a broad range of public, commercial, community, subscription, narrowcast, and amateur stations.
BBC UKTV is an Australian pay television channel in Australia and New Zealand, screening British entertainment programming, sourced mainly from the archives of the BBC, RTL Group and ITV plc. The channel was originally a joint venture with Foxtel, the RTL Group and BBC Worldwide. It is now owned solely by BBC Studios. It is the home of the channel's flagship programme The Graham Norton Show.
The Seven Network is a major Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by Seven West Media Limited, and is one of five main free-to-air television networks in Australia. The network's headquarters are located in Sydney.
Foxtel is an Australian pay television company—operating in cable television, direct broadcast satellite television, and IPTV streaming services. It was formed in April 2018, superseding an earlier company from 1995. The service was established as a 50/50 joint venture between News Corporation and Telstra, with News Corp and Telstra holding 65% and 35% ownership shares respectively.
MTV is a 24-hour general entertainment channel specialising in music and youth culture programming which serves Australia and New Zealand. It is operated by parent company Paramount Networks UK & Australia headquartered in London with a local office at Network 10's headquarters in Sydney.
Television in Australia began experimentally as early as 1929 in Melbourne with radio stations 3DB and 3UZ, and 2UE in Sydney, using the Radiovision system by Gilbert Miles and Donald McDonald, and later from other locations, such as Brisbane in 1934.
Showtime Movie Channels is a group of Australian pay-TV movie channels, available on the Foxtel, Optus and Austar TV platforms. The service consisted of five original channels, three HD simulcasts and two timeshift channels. It was owned and operated by the Premium Movie Partnership (PMP), a joint venture in which Sony Pictures Entertainment, NBCUniversal, Viacom, News Corporation and Liberty Global had equal shares. Foxtel took over managing and producing the Showtime channels as of 31 October 2012, with it purchasing assets of the PMP. On 9 December 2012, it was announced that Movie Network and Showtime would be replaced with a new line-up of Foxtel branded movie channels to be named Foxtel Movies
The Ovation Channel was created by Optus Television to "present dance, opera, theatre, literature, jazz, classical music, design and even fashion, food and wine", modelling it on Canada's Bravo!, which formerly focused on such programming.
Fox Sports Australia Pty Limited is the division of Foxtel that owns and operates the Fox Sports television networks and digital properties in Australia. The group operates nine Fox Sports Channels as well as Fox Sports News, Fox Cricket, Fox League, Fox Footy, Watch AFL and Watch NRL. Fox Sports channels such as Fox Netball are available via Foxtel or Kayo. The group's main competitors are beIN Sports, ESPN, Optus Sport and Stan Sport. Unlike Fox Sports the group is not owned directly by the Fox Corporation. However News Corp which holds a 65% stake in Foxtel is Fox Corporation's sister company.
Disney Channel was an Australian pay television channel. It was the flagship television property owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company in Australia. Launched in 1996, the network targeted towards children and their families, with original series and movies.
SBS is a national public television network in Australia. Launched on 24 October 1980, it is the responsibility of SBS's television division, and is available nationally. In 2018, SBS had a 7.7% audience share.
Turner Classic Movies was an Asian digital classic film channel featuring commercial-free classic movies, mostly from the Turner Entertainment and Warner Bros. film libraries, which include many MGM titles. It was the Asian version of the US Turner Classic Movies and aired in the Indian Subcontinent, Southeast Asia and Middle East.
National Indigenous Television (NITV) is an Australian free-to-air television channel that broadcasts programming produced and presented largely by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. It includes the six-day-a-week NITV News Update, with programming including other news and current affairs programmes, sports coverage, entertainment for children and adults, films and documentaries covering a range of topics. Its primary audience is Indigenous Australians, but many non-Indigenous people tune in to learn more about the history of and issues affecting the country's First Nations peoples.
Fetch TV is an Australian IPTV provider that offers a subscription television service over a user's regular internet connection. Its majority owned by Telstra, who acquired a 51.4% stake in the company on the 2nd of August 2022. Fetch TV was initially launched in July 2010 by Malaysian Astro Malaysia Holdings.
STUDIO was a subscription television arts channel available in Australia on the Foxtel and Austar platforms.
Movie Network Channels was an Australian premium television movie service that consisted of five original channels, two SD timeshifts and three HD simulcasts. Its main competitor was Showtime. Movie Network channels were originally only available through Optus TV, who produced and part-owned the channels prior to 1 January 2000.
SBS Food is an Australian free-to-air television channel owned and operated by the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS). The channel airs programs about food and cooking, from cultures around the world.
SBS Viceland is an Australian free-to-air television channel owned by the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS). It began as SBS TWO on 1 June 2009, and was branded as SBS 2 between 2013 and 2016. On 8 April 2017, SBS Viceland began simulcasting in high definition. On 17 June 2019, the standard definition broadcast was closed and replaced by SBS World Movies, leaving SBS Viceland as a high definition-only channel.
High-definition television in Australia is available via cable, IPTV, satellite and terrestrial television. The first high-definition broadcasts began in 2001 and since then the number of channels available to view has grown to a maximum of 27 that can be viewed on pay-TV service, Foxtel.
Optus Sport is an Australian group of sports channels, owned by Optus launched on 13 July 2016. The network was launched after Optus outbid the incumbent Foxtel.
