ADS-10 began as ADS-7 on 24 October 1959, originally owned by The Advertiser newspaper, which was at the time controlled by The Herald and Weekly Times of Melbourne, founder of television station HSV-7. Therefore, ADS was originally associated with the channel 7 stations in the eastern states, forming the Australian Television Network, predecessor to today's Seven Network.[2] ADS used the national Seven Network logos and presentation in the 1970s and 1980s, and, along with HSV-7, used Frank Gari's Hello News campaign.
In the late 1980s ADS-7 was bought by media entrepreneur Kerry Stokes, who also owned CTC-7 in Canberra. In 1987, Stokes, with new regulations of the Broadcasting (Ownership and Control) Act,[3] planned to buy the Seven Network from John Fairfax & Sons, which would have seen ADS-7 Adelaide and CTC-7 Canberra, along with a soon-to-be new station in Perth for which license was granted to a group participated by Stokes, and aligned with ATN-7 Sydney & HSV-7 Melbourne. Stokes offered $100 million more than rival Christopher Skase for Seven, but was ultimately unsuccessful. Unable to build a metropolitan Seven television network, on 7 August 1987, Stokes sold ADS, CTC and his licence for what will become NEW-10 Perth to Northern Star Holdings, the then owners of Network 10.[4]
This new ownership structure led to the unusual situation that two stations in Adelaide were owned by groups associated with stations in other capital cities bearing the opposite channel numbers.[5] To better align the Adelaide stations with its new sister stations and networks, ADS-7 and Adelaide's original Network Ten station SAS-10 (owned by Seven Network affiliate TVW-7Perth starting in the 1970s, and that will be acquired the next year by Seven Network owner at the time, Skase's Qintex) agreed to switch affiliations and channel positions, ADS moving to channel 10 and thus becoming the oldest station of Network 10, the younger SAS moving to channel 7.[6] The switch was effective on 27 December 1987. The night before the swap, Seven National News reporter Alan Murrell reported about the pending changes on ADS-7, hours before the switch to Channel 10:[7]
"Tonight will mark the end of the callsigns ADS-7 and SAS-10. Tomorrow, it'll be ADS-10 and SAS-7. It's the first time such a change has been made. The switch follows a media shake-up earlier this year, which left ADS in the hands of the owners of the Ten network. Already, the cosmetic changes are being made at Strangways Terrace and Gilberton. But viewers will notice little difference. They'll still turn the knob to 10 for Channel Ten programs, and to 7 for Seven programs."
"The only difference will be that the local personalities will be seen on different channels. So if you want to watch Steve Whitham and Caroline Ainslie reading the news tomorrow night, you simply turn the dial three positions, from 7 to ADS-10. And it’s as easy as that."
Less than one month later, ADS, now on channel 10, adopted the new "X" logo that will be used for the final expansion of the network in Perth and Canberra.[5]
In February 2022, Network 10 relocated to new state-of-the-art studios on Greenhill Road in Eastwood, bringing to an end 15 years of broadcasting in Hutt Street studios in Adelaide.
Following the station's official opening, the Opening Night Variety Show was hosted by Sydney TV identity Bobby Limb, his wife Dawn Lake and comedian Buster Fiddess. Produced by Fred Maxian and directed by Geoff Grant, the show introduced the station's lineup of hosts for news, children's and daytime shows: Marie Tomasetti, Ian Cochius, Blair Schwartz, Angela Stacey, Bob Moore, Peter Cellier, Ian Boyce and Mary McMahon.
The early schedule included a talent show, Stairway to the Stars, hosted by Marie Tomasetti, the first show to recognise new talent, giving competitors an opportunity to perform. It was very basic, black and white, live action television. A weekly variety Monday night spectacular, The Light Show, which could afford interstate talent such as the schoolboy group, the Bee Gees. Like all good TV variety shows of the era, a full studio orchestra and dancers backed leading artists such as Kamahl, Little Pattie, US TV star Michael Cole, and a long list of other overseas artists including Tommy Steele who toured Australia.
Equipped with a new three-camera outside broadcast van, imported from the German manufacturer Fernseh, the station covered live events such as the John Martin's Christmas Pageant, Glenelg Beach Concerts, special events such as the arrival of The Mickey Mouse Club talent team, The Beatles' visit to Adelaide, as well as major sporting events. The station was owned by Advertiser Newspapers and the local office of the Philips electronics group delivered a top technical fit-out at the North Adelaide studios and the Mount Lofty transmitter site (with the central of the three masts). Many of ADS-7's original staff came from Adelaide commercial radio station 5AD (also owned by The Advertiser) and the Adelaide theatre scene. Production experience was imported from Melbourne commercial television station GTV-9, Melbourne commercial radio station 3DB and the ABC's Melbourne television station, ABV-2
Under the leadership of general manager Keith McDonald and program manager Neville Thomson, the station built a national reputation for production values[citation needed] with strong Art Direction under Trevor Ling and Brian Thompson. Studio directors, John Adey, Lynton Taylor, Graeme Blair, Ted Craig and Steve Bowman, Tony Roberts and Ian Ridley turned out hours of live content each week including Sports panels, daytime game shows, cooking and lifestyle segment, religious program, and a "Funfair" hosted by Angela Stacy, Rick Patterson with Chris and Terry, lit up Adelaide afternoons.[citation needed] Chief engineer, Norm Sawyer, Financial director, Brian Sallis and head of staging John Blain, technical director John Harvey, film manager Bronte Hall, telecine manager Trevor Tipplow, musical director John Drake and news editor Don Riddell were supported by a technical team many drawn from local radio and theatre who learnt the skills of television on the job. Cora Dove handled the make-up department. The station was self-contained with film processing, technical maintenance, set construction and even a gardener.[citation needed]
A highlight for the station were visits from national television shows to record South Australian episodes such as Coles Quiz, The Mobil Limb Show and Bandstand. The station's national export program was Playroom, produced by Heather Gell, a pioneer in pre-school radio and television in Australia. The news division, led by Don Riddell, produced early documentaries on the building of the Berlin Wall, Kenya and the formation of the Malaysian states. Film of interstate and major overseas events such as the assassination of US President John F. Kennedy and the Moon landing all arrived by air and were rushed to North Adelaide for transmission. The station's news camera van could be spotted all over the state as cameramen Wally Herzfeld and Brian Taylor filmed everything from road accidents, political interviews, the arrival of VIPs at Adelaide Airport, local sport and the everyday events that made news. Donald Campbell's land speed record attempts on Lake Eyre, ship wrecks on the Coorong and the disappearance of the Beaumont children were syndicated globally.
In the studios or on outside broadcasts, Mal Boxer and Brian Thomas were the audio directors who assisted either in the studio sound mix of news assignments or out in the field with audio equipment to complete the final product so it was ready to go to air.
Popular television shows made during the ADS-7 era include children's shows Cartoon Connection, SPECCO (SPace ECho COmpany) (with Pam Tamblyn & Steve Curtis), KO (Kids Only), and later, as ADS-10, the national pre-school program Mulligrubs. Music programming from ADS included Music Express (1975–1986), hosted by Steve Curtis then Greg Clark and Nightshift hosted by David Day. Popular variety shows included On The Sunnyside, The Penthouse Club and the weekday morning show, Lionel Williams' Woman's World.
The local current affairs show State Affair, hosted by Guy Blackmore, aired weeknights at 6:30 following Seven National News and featured stories about South Australia and its people. From 1967 to 1984, the Easter Appeal telethon was held each year to raise money for the Adelaide Children's Hospital. ADS-7 also broadcast the South Australian National Football League (SANFL) Australian rules football matches for many years with a commentary team comprising Bruce McAvaney, and former SANFL players Peter Marker, Robert Oatey and Ian Day.
The Strangways Terrace site contained two studios. Studio 1 was the largest and home to productions such as the Channel Seven Easter Appeal, Wheel of Fortune, It's Academic, SPECCO and KO while Studio 2 was host to smaller-scale entertainment programmes such as The Super Fun Show [hosted by Steve Curtis and Pam Tamblyn, Music Express, and news and current affairs, including Seven National News and State Affair. Permanent studio seating was provided in Studio One, with portable seating provided in Studio Two for The Super Fun Show. Audio operators Mal Boxer and Brian Thomas were two of the longest-serving operators in the proud history ADS Adelaide television. On-camera host Steve Curtis also worked extensively behind the scenes as a control room director for some years.
The popular television game show Wheel of Fortune originally commenced recording in studio 1 at ADS-10 in July 1981 with Ernie Sigley (later John Burgess from 1984), Adriana Xenides and Steve Curtis (later John Deeks from 1984) then after the changeover to SAS-7 in December 1987 moved to their studios where it remained until July 1996 when the show moved to ATN-7 Sydney.
ADS-10 produces a 90-minute local news program at 5pm on weeknights.
10 News First is presented from the network's Sydney studios by Kate Freebairn with sports presenter Max Bulford and weather presenter Tiffany Warne. Reporters, camera crews and editorial staff are based at ADS-10's Greenhill Road studios in Eastwood.
In September 2020, studio production of the Adelaide bulletin was transferred to Network 10's Melbourne headquarters, leading to redundancies among local presentation and production staff.[8]
Network 10 is an Australian commercial television network owned by Ten Network Holdings, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Paramount Global's UK & Australia division. One of five national free-to-air networks, 10's owned-and-operated stations can be found in the state capital cities of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth while affiliates extend the network to regional areas of the country.
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 the five main free-to-air television networks in Australia. The network's headquarters are located in Sydney.
ATV is a television station in Melbourne, Australia, part of Network 10 – one of the three major Australian free-to-air commercial television networks. The station is owned by Paramount Networks UK & Australia.
TVT is Tasmania's first television station, delivering its first official broadcast on 23 May 1960. The callsign stands for "TeleVision Tasmania". Unlike the commercial stations in Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Adelaide, and later Perth, TVT held a monopoly in the Hobart market for many years.
GLV and BCV are Australian television stations licensed to serve Traralgon and Bendigo and the region of Victoria. The stations are owned and operated by Southern Cross 10.
Mal Walden is an Australian retired journalist and television news presenter based in Melbourne. On his retirement, he was reported to be the longest continually serving face on Australian television with a media career spanning six decades.
TVW is a television station broadcasting in Perth, Western Australia, wholly owned by Seven West Media. It was the first television station in Western Australia, commencing broadcasting on 16 October 1959. It broadcasts a modulated 64-QAM signal of five DVB channels. The primary channel was available as a PAL-B modulated simulcast on VHF channel 7 at 182.25 MHz before being discontinued in the first half of 2013; it had been the station's primary signal since its inception. The TVW callsign stands for TV (Television) Western Australia.
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.
ATN is the Sydney flagship television station of the Seven Network in Australia. The licence, issued to a company named Amalgamated Television Services, a subsidiary of John Fairfax & Sons, was one of the first four licences to be issued for commercial television stations in Australia. The station formed an affiliation with GTV-9 Melbourne in 1957, in order to share content. In 1963, Frank Packer ended up owning both GTV-9 and TCN-9, so as a result the stations switched their previous affiliations. ATN-7 and HSV-7 joined to create the Australian Television Network, which later became the Seven Network. ATN-7 is the home of the national level Seven News bulletins.
Ernest William Sigley was an Australian Gold Logie award winning television host, comedian, variety performer, radio presenter and singer. Known as a pioneer of radio and television in Australian, he was often styled as a "little Aussie battler" with a larrikin sense of humour.
SAS, formerly SAS-7 and before that SAS-10, is a television station in Adelaide, South Australia. It is part of the Seven Network.
Jennifer Anne Keyte is an Australian journalist and news presenter.
HSV is a television station in Melbourne, Australia. It is part of the Seven Network, one of the three main commercial television networks in Australia, its first and oldest station. It launched in time for the 1956 Summer Olympic Games in Melbourne. HSV-7 is the home of AFL coverage.
The Penthouse Club was an Australian weekly variety program produced live to air from the studios of HSV-7 Melbourne from 10 October 1970. It was originally hosted by Michael Williamson and comedian Mary Hardy.
VTV is an Australian television station broadcasting in regional Victoria in Australia. The network was owned by ENT Ltd., before being purchased by the WIN Corporation.
CTC is a television station in Canberra, Australia. The station was the tenth to begin transmission in regional Australia, and the 26th station in Australia as a whole. CTC has an affiliation agreement to show content from Network 10. Just as it has had a number of owners, CTC has also had many different identities on-air – including CTC-TV, Super 7, Capital 7, 10 TV Australia, Capital Television, Ten Capital, Southern Cross Ten, Channel 9 and Channel 10. The station is owned and operated by Southern Cross Austereo through Australian Capital Television Pty Ltd, as one of SCA's 10 stations.
This timeline of Australian television lists important station launches, programs, major television events, and technological advancements that have significantly changed the forms of broadcasting available to viewers of television in Australia. The history of television in Australia can be traced back to an announcement from the Menzies' government concerning plans for television services in Sydney and Melbourne.
Seven West Media Limited is an Australian ASX-listed media company and is Australia's largest diversified media business, with an extensive presence in broadcast television, radio, print and online publishing.
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