As WIN is the sole commercial television broadcaster in the area, they also supply the stations AMN, a Nine Network affiliate, and the supplementary station MDN, a Network 10 affiliate. This twinstick operation was permitted due to the broadcasting authorities considering Griffith and the M.I.A. too small for three television companies, but large enough for a single company running two stations. The broadcast region covers approximately 39,700 square kilometres, encompassing 20 urban centres which include Leeton, Narrandera, Hay, Hillston and Lake Cargellico.[3][4] According to 2006 Census data, it is estimated the region has a population of 64,200.[4]
History
MTN began transmission on 15 December 1965 on channel 9.[5] At its launch, MTN was owned by Murrumbidgee Television Limited, a publicly listed company, whose shareholders at the time included local radio station 2RG.[5]
The costs of operating a television station in such a small market led MTN to join with CWN–6 Dubbo and CBN–8 Orange in forming the Television 6–8–9 network, in 1973.[6] While the majority of the programming and identification came from the network, MTN did run its own news service as well as some programs of local interest and popularity, separate to the rest of the network.[6] In March 1981, the network was rebranded as Mid State Television.[6] Rancorp, who were the existing owners of stations RVN/AMV in Wagga Wagga and Albury, acquired Mid State Television in October 1987, and thus adding additional stations to the network.[6] In November 1988, Mid State Television rebranded as Prime Television.[6] During this time, regional areas were serviced by one commercial station and the ABC, and as a result, the regional commercial network hand-picked titles from the three metropolitan commercial networks to air in their region.[7] Unfortunately, this meant that regional viewers were not able to watch all of the same shows as their metropolitan counterparts.[7] As a result, the Hawke government introduced aggregation, whereby regional stations would be grouped together and become sole-affiliates for one metropolitan station, and additional stations would launch in regional areas so that regional viewers had access to the same amount of channels as metropolitan viewers.[7] However, the government deemed Griffith and the M.I.A. to be too small a market for aggregation, and as a result, MTN was abandoned by Prime Television in 1989 and remained independently owned.[3][6] MTN then[when?] took up an affiliation with WIN Television, who in turn was a Nine Network affiliate in southern New South Wales.[8] While the majority of the programming was the same as WIN's, it retained its news service and aired some Seven Network programming, such as its coverage of the Australian Football League, in preference to Nine's rugby league.[8]
In 1979, MTN was purchased from Murrumbidgee Television Limited by Henry Jones Limited.[9] Other owners since have included The Linter Group, Broadcast Operations Group, Broadcast and Communications Limited[citation needed], Lochfield Consultants,[10] MTN Television,[11][12] and Associated Media Investments.[13]
The Australian Broadcasting Authority relaxed the rules regarding station ownership in solus markets in the mid-1990s.[8] The changes allowed for one company to operate two stations without competition, provided the Authority did not have reason to believe another company would be interested.[14] MTN applied for a Section 38A licence in 1995, and after being refused once, challenged the Authority, and was successful on appeal – ultimately being granted the second license on 18 July 1996.[14] The second channel launched on 5 October 1997, on UHF channel 31 using the callsign AMN (a variation of Victorian station AMV).[citation needed] It was a direct feed of Prime Television Orange, with the exception of its local news, which AMN replaced with alternative programming.[6][8][15] Since then, AMN has changed from being a direct feed of Prime7 to being a feed of Seven Network Sydney.[when?][citation needed]
WIN Corporation brought MTN and AMN from then-owner Associated Media Investments on 6 July 1998.[13] Following the sale of the station, minor changes occurred, including MTN changing its on-air branding from MTN Television to WIN Television, and the news service rebranded as WIN News.[8]
In 2000, the government introduced changes to the Broadcasting Services Act 1992 which allowed for two-station markets such as the M.I.A. to be granted a third license to be broadcast in digital-only.[16] This change in the Act became Section 38B, and saw the region allocated a third license on 14 June 2011.[17] This third station, using the call sign MDN and broadcasting on channel 32, launched on 13 January 2012.[18][19]
On 1 July 2016, to reflect WIN's new affiliation agreement with Network Ten, AMN and MDN swapped affiliates – with AMN becoming a Ten affiliate while MDN became a Nine affiliate.[20][21][22]
On 1 July 2021, to reflect WIN's new affiliation agreement with Nine Network, AMN and MDN swapped affiliates – with AMN becoming a Nine affiliate while MDN became a 10 affiliate.
Digital television
In 2000, the government introduced changes to the Broadcasting Services Act 1992 which sought for all broadcasters to transmit in digital by 1 January 2004.[16] To assist solus markets such as the M.I.A., the government allowed networks to multichannel the digital broadcasts, whereby the two stations are transmitted on the one channel or frequency.[16] Digital television transmission began in the region in 2003,[specify] with both WIN and Prime broadcasting on the one channel (channel 6).[4]
On 1 December 2010, Network Ten began broadcast into the area for the first time.[23]
In May 2011, WIN announced that it would broadcast the multichannels of the Nine, Seven and Ten networks, including high-definition channels, by December 2011.[24] However, WIN did not meet the deadline, despite the Minister for Communications setting a deadline of 4 December 2011 for the full suite of channels.[25] WIN commented in December 2011 that Go!, Eleven, One and Gem would launch by the third week of January 2012.[25]9Go!, 9Gem, Eleven and One[citation needed] began broadcasting on 13 January 2012.[19][bettersourceneeded]
At first, interference from the analogue signals caused issues with some channels, mainly Network Ten channels, which meant a duplicate service of Ten and WIN was provided (on LCN 51 and 81 respectively) and ceased on the day of the switch over.[26] Ultimately, the duplicate channels were replaced by the Seven Network's multi-channels 7TWO and 7mate. 7mate launched on 20 April 2012, replacing WIN's duplication on LCN 81; and 7TWO launched on 5 June 2012, the day of the analogue switchoff, replacing the TEN duplication on LCN 51[citation needed].[27]
As part of Australia's digital transition, MTN and AMN ceased broadcasting in analogue on 5 June 2012.[28] As part of the transition, MTN changed from broadcasting on channel 6 to channel 29.[18]
On 13 July 2013, WIN launched datacasting channel Gold 2 – a five-hour timeshift of existing datacasting channel Gold – on channel 82.[29]
On 2 March 2016 (one day later than planned), WIN began broadcasting WIN HD and 9Life in the region. However, unlike existing digital channels, these two channels are broadcast in MPEG-4 as opposed to MPEG-2.[30][31][32]
On 21 January 2016, WIN replaced datacasting channel Gold 2 with the Nine Network owned datacasting channel Extra.[citation needed]
As a result of the 2016 affiliate changes, WIN – in addition to its high definition simulcast – swapped its stations from airing Nine Network programming to Network Ten programming. WIN remained in the 8/80's channel range, but as the new Ten affiliate. Meanwhile, WIN's former affiliate, Nine, had its primary channel, 9Go!, and 9Gem moved to the 5/50's channel range. But as a consequence, 9Life ceased to be available in the region, and Extra was replaced with Network Ten datacasting channel TVSN.[22][33]
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.
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.
WIN Television is an Australian television network owned by WIN Corporation that is based in Wollongong, New South Wales. WIN commenced transmissions on 18 March 1962 as a single television station covering the Wollongong region. The WIN Network has since grown to cover much of regional Australia. The network's name, WIN, originates from its first station, Wollongong's WIN-4. WIN has a program supply agreement with metropolitan broadcaster Nine Network, covering its stations in Regional Queensland, Southern and Western New South Wales, Griffith, Regional Victoria, Mildura, Tasmania, Eastern South Australia, and Regional Western Australia. WIN also has a program supply agreement with third-placed metropolitan broadcaster Network 10, for its Northern New South Wales station. WIN also produces and broadcasts weeknight half-hour local news bulletins across its Queensland, southern New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania markets, as WIN News.
Prime7, formerly Prime Television, The Prime Network, Mid State Television and other names, is an Australian television network owned by Seven West Media, and an owned & operated affiliate of the Seven Network. Prime Television launched on 17 March 1962 as CBN-8 in Orange, and has since expanded to cover regional New South Wales, Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory. It was initially an independent affiliate before the network, and its sister GWN7, were acquired by Seven West Media on 31 December 2021.
10 Regional is an Australian television network owned by Southern Cross Austereo that is broadcast in Queensland, New South Wales, Australian Capital Territory, Victoria and South Australia. The network is the primary affiliate of Network 10 in most regional areas.
Griffith is a major regional city in the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area that is located in the north-western part of the Riverina region of New South Wales, known commonly as the food bowl of Australia. It is also the seat of the City of Griffith local government area. Like the Australian capital, Canberra, and extensions to the nearby town of Leeton, Griffith was designed by Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin. Griffith was named after Arthur Hill Griffith, the then New South Wales Secretary for Public Works. Griffith was proclaimed a city in 1987, and had a population of 20,251 in June 2018.
In Australia, regional television is the local television services outside of the five main Australian cities.
Datacasting is the broadcasting of data over a wide area via radio waves. It most often refers to supplemental information sent by television stations along with digital terrestrial television, but may also be applied to digital signals on analog TV or radio. It generally does not apply to data which is inherent to the medium, such as PSIP data which defines virtual channels for DTT or direct broadcast satellite systems; or to things like cable modem or satellite modem, which use a completely separate channel for data.
Digital terrestrial television in Australia commenced on 1 January 2001 in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth using DVB-T standards. The phase out of analogue PAL transmissions began on 30 June 2010 and was completed by 10 December 2013.
TVSN is an Australian and New Zealand broadcast, cable television and satellite television network specializing in home shopping. It is owned by parent company Direct Group Pty Ltd, a home marketing and shopping company based in the Sydney suburb of Frenchs Forest, which also owns sister channel Expo.
WIN Corporation is a private Australian media company, that owns assets including the WIN Television network, Crawford Productions and several local radio stations. The company is based in Wollongong, New South Wales.
WOW is an Australian television station licensed to WIN Television, serving regional and remote Western Australia. The station officially commenced transmissions on 26 March 1999 as the second commercial regional broadcaster in Western Australia, alongside former monopoly, Golden West Network (GWN7).
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.
9HD is an Australian television channel owned by Nine Entertainment, originally launched on 17 March 2008 featuring unique "breakaway" programming until 2009 and a high-definition simulcast of the Nine Network from 2009 to 2010 and again since 26 November 2015. The channel is available on high definition digital television viewers in metropolitan and regional areas through a number of owned-and-operated and affiliate stations. Originally 9HD only simulcast blocks of programming from the Nine Network, and in 2008 it added time-shifted news, movies, drama and entertainment programs. Following the launch of 9Go! in August 2009, 9HD reverted to a HD simulcast of the Nine Network. The channel was replaced completely in 2010 and the space occupied by the newly launched multichannel 9Gem. Following the government's decision to remove the SD Primary Channel limitations, the channel returned as a HD simulcast on channel 90 on 26 November 2015.
AMN is a television station licensed to serve Griffith and the surrounding Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area (M.I.A.). The station is owned and operated by WIN Corporation as a Nine Network affiliate, WIN Television.
Gold is an Australian advertorial datacasting channel that launched on 1 May 2012 by the WIN Corporation. It is available to homes in most regional WIN Television viewing areas on LCN 85. The channel broadcasts mostly infomercials, as well as education, lifestyle, community programming as well as television classics from the Crawfords library.
West Digital Television is an Australian digital television network jointly owned by Seven West Media and WIN Corporation. It broadcasts free-to-air on a number of digital terrestrial transmitters in regional and remote areas of Western Australia, as well as free-to-view on the Viewer Access Satellite Television service. The network began as an affiliate of Network 10, remaining so until 1 July 2016, when it switched to the Nine Network. In 2021 it returned to Network 10, broadcasting a direct feed of NEW-10 Perth.
9Life is an Australian free-to-air digital television multichannel owned by Nine Entertainment. The channel airs mostly foreign lifestyle and reality programs, with the channel having a licensing agreement with Discovery Inc. for the distribution of many formats.
↑ "Company Profile". Prime TV. Archived from the original on 13 February 2002. Prime also broadcasts in Griffith NSW, under licence to another operator.
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