The National Transmission Agency (NTA) was an agency within the Australian Department of Communications and the Arts that existed from its inception in 1992 until 1997. Its main function was to administer the transmissions of the Australian government's network of broadcasting stations.
The NTA was established in July 1992 by the Australian government to supervise the operation of the National Transmission Network (NTN). The NTN was, and still is, the network of radio and television transmitters that broadcast the programs of Australia's national broadcasters, namely SBS and ABC. The NTA existed as a separate cost centre within the Department of Communications and the Arts because it was funded directly from the Department of Finance during its years of operation. [1]
Its function was to oversee various Australian government programs relating to the broadcasting of ABC and SBS television and radio programs within Australia and of ABC Radio Australia on shortwave internationally. This was done primarily through administering maintenance and equipment supply contracts. The NTA's funding agreement with the Department of Finance required it to meet savings and performance targets. It had to do this while maintaining the integrity and reliability of the transmission facilities themselves. During the life of the NTA, it moved from exclusive reliance on Broadcast Communications and Telstra towards a process of competitive tendering to provide its broadcasting services. A significant source of extra funding to the NTA was "site-sharing" of transmission facilities with commercial broadcasters, telecommunications companies and emergency service communication networks. This site-sharing meant that NTA facilities were made available in return for payment. [2]
The operational efficiency of the NTA was reviewed in 1995 and again in 1996 following a change of government in Australia. The Howard government chose to privatise the NTA in 1997. Macquarie Bank completed its acquisition of NTA in 2002 and re-branded it as Broadcast Australia.
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-owned body that is politically independent and fully accountable, with its charter enshrined in legislation, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation Act 1983. ABC Commercial, a profit-making division of the corporation, also helps to generate funding for content provision.
A television broadcaster or television network or is a telecommunications network for distribution of television content, where a central operation provides programming to many television stations, pay television providers or, in the United States, multichannel video programming distributors. Until the mid-1980s, broadcast programming on television in most countries of the world was dominated by a small number of terrestrial networks. Many early television networks such as the BBC, CBS, NBC or ABC in the USA and in Australia evolved from earlier radio networks.
The Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) is an Australian hybrid-funded public service broadcaster. About 80 percent of funding for the company is derived from the Australian Government. SBS operates six TV channels and seven radio networks.
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.
Public broadcasting involves radio, television and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service. Public broadcasters receive funding from diverse sources including license fees, individual contributions, public financing and commercial financing, and avoid political interference or commercial influence.
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.
ABC Radio Australia, also known as Radio Australia, is the international broadcasting and online service operated by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), Australia's public broadcaster. Most programming is in English, with some in Tok Pisin.
People's Television Network is the flagship state broadcaster owned by the Government of the Philippines. Founded in 1974, PTV is the main brand of People's Television Network, Inc. (PTNI), one of the attached agencies under the Presidential Communications Office (PCO).
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.
A multiplex or mux, also known as a bouquet, is a grouping of program services as interleaved data packets for broadcast over a network or modulated multiplexed medium, particularly terrestrial broadcasting. The program services are broadcast as part of one transmission and split out at the receiving end.
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation had its origins in a licensing scheme for individual radio stations administered by the Postmaster-General's Department established in 1923 into a content provider in radio, television and new media. From 1928 the National Broadcasting Service was established to take over 12 radio licences as a national broadcaster, while the Australian Broadcasting Company was responsible for supplying programs to the service.
ABC Television is the general name for the national television services of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). Until an organisational restructure in 2017/2018, ABC Television was also the name of a division of the ABC. The name was also used to refer to the first and for many years the only national ABC channel, before it was renamed ABC1 and then again to ABC TV.
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.
ABT is a television station operated by the publicly-owned Australian Broadcasting Corporation, with a transmission area covering southern Tasmania. ABT began broadcasting on VHF channel 2 on 4 June 1960, with studios in inner-city Hobart and transmitter at Mount Wellington. The "AB" in the call sign stands for "Australian Broadcasting", as in Australian Broadcasting Commission. The "T" in the call sign stands for Tasmania.
The Australian Broadcasting Control Board was an Australian government agency formed in 1949 whose main roles were to regulate commercial radio and television broadcasting. It was also the introducer and regulator for FM broadcasting.
SBS Radio is an Australian radio network owned by the Special Broadcasting Service directed towards newly arrived immigrants in Australia. It originally began as two stations based in Melbourne and Sydney, set up to provide pre-recorded information about the then-new Medibank health care system in languages other than English. Nowadays, the network targets the estimated 4+ million Australians who speak a language other than English at home with programs in 68 languages.
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.
ABC Radio and Regional Content, later ABC Radio, was the division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for radio output and regional content.
Digital broadcast radio in Australia uses the DAB+ standard and is available in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Canberra, Darwin and Hobart. However, after 11 years, regional large cities such as Townsville and Ballarat still do not have DAB. The national government owned television/radio networks, the ABC and SBS, and the commercial radio stations in each market provide many of their services and a few digital-only services on the digital platform. Australia uses the AAC+ codec provided with upgraded DAB+ standard.
The history of broadcasting in Australia has been shaped for over a century by the problem of communication across long distances, coupled with a strong base in a wealthy society with a deep taste for aural communications in a silent landscape. Australia developed its own system, through its own engineers, manufacturers, retailers, newspapers, entertainment services, and news agencies. The government set up the first radio system, and business interests marginalized the hobbyists and amateurs. The Labor Party was especially interested in radio because it allowed them to bypass the newspapers, which were mostly controlled by the opposition. Both parties agreed on the need for a national system, and in 1932 set up the Australian Broadcasting Commission, as a government agency that was largely separate from political interference.
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