Southern Cross Television

Last updated

Southern Cross Seven
Southern Cross.svg
Launched 9 December 1961
Owned by Southern Cross Austereo
Picture format 576i (SDTV) 16:9
1080i (HDTV) 16:9 (Tasmania only)
SloganGottaloveit
Country Australia
Language English
Broadcast area Tasmania, Darwin, Spencer Gulf SA, Broken Hill NSW, Central Australia
Affiliates Seven Network
Network Ten (Spencer Gulf SA and Broken Hill NSW)
Headquarters Canberra, ACT
Formerly called TNT-9 (Tasmania, 1980–1985)
Southern Cross Network (Tasmania, 1989–1994)
Southern Cross Television (Tasmania, 1994–2018)
Seven Central/Seven Darwin (Darwin and Central, 1998–2005)
Website www.southerncrosstv.com.au
Availability
Terrestrial
Freeview SCTV owned (virtual) 6/7
Freeview SCHD (virtual) 60
Satellite
Optus C1 Transponder 6
Optus D1 Transponder 15

Southern Cross Television (SCTV) is an Australian television network available in Tasmania, Darwin, Regional South Australia, and Remote Central and Eastern Australia. Although the programming varies from region to region, all areas are affiliated with the Seven Network. On 5 November 2007, Southern Cross Television was officially purchased by the Macquarie Media Group. [1]

Television broadcasting in Australia

As early as 1929, two Melbourne commercial radio stations, 3UZ and 3DB were conducting experimental mechanical television broadcasts - these were conducted in the early hours of the morning, after the stations had officially closed down. In 1934 Dr Val McDowall at amateur station 4CM Brisbane conducted experiments in electronic television.

Tasmania island state of Australia

Tasmania is an island state of Australia. It is located 240 km (150 mi) to the south of the Australian mainland, separated by Bass Strait. The state encompasses the main island of Tasmania, the 26th-largest island in the world, and the surrounding 334 islands. The state has a population of around 526,700 as of March 2018. Just over forty percent of the population resides in the Greater Hobart precinct, which forms the metropolitan area of the state capital and largest city, Hobart.

Darwin, Northern Territory City in the Northern Territory, Australia

Darwin is the capital city of the Northern Territory of Australia, situated on the Timor Sea. It is the largest city in the sparsely populated Northern Territory, with a population of 145,916. It is the smallest and most northerly of the Australian capital cities, and acts as the Top End's regional centre.

Contents

History

Origins

Southern Cross began in 1982 as a small network of three stations in regional Victoria. The then TV-8 network comprised GLV-8 Gippsland, BCV-8 Bendigo, and STV-8 Mildura. [2]

Victoria (Australia) State in Australia

Victoria is a state in south-eastern Australia. Victoria is Australia's most densely populated state and its second-most populous state overall. Most of its population lives concentrated in the area surrounding Port Phillip Bay, which includes the metropolitan area of its state capital and largest city, Melbourne, Australia's second-largest city. Geographically the smallest state on the Australian mainland, Victoria is bordered by Bass Strait and Tasmania to the south, New South Wales to the north, the Tasman Sea to the east, and South Australia to the west.

GLV and BCV are television stations licensed to serve Traralgon and Bendigo and regional Victoria, Australia. The stations are owned and operated by Southern Cross Nine.

Gippsland Region in Victoria, Australia

Gippsland is an economic rural region of Victoria, Australia, located in the south-eastern part of that state. It covers an area of 41,556 square kilometres (16,045 sq mi), and lies to the east of the eastern suburbs of Greater Melbourne, to the north of Bass Strait, to the west of the Tasman Sea, to the south of the Black-Allan Line that marks part of the Victorian/New South Wales border, and to the east and southeast of the Great Dividing Range that lies within the Hume region and the Victorian Alps. Gippsland is generally broken down into the East Gippsland, South Gippsland, West Gippsland, and the Latrobe Valley statistical divisions.

GLV was the first regional television station in the country, launched on 9 December 1961. [2] BCV-8 launched in the same year, on 23 December, while STV followed four years later, on 27 November 1965. [2] GLV-10 became GLV-8 in 1980, when Melbourne commercial station ATV-0 moved frequences to become ATV-10 [2] The network began life in 1982 as TV-8, but later changed its name in 1989 to the Southern Cross Network. [2] Soon after this, STV-8 left the network after it was bought by businessman Alan Bond, and eventually sold on to ENT Limited (owners of Vic TV and Tas TV). [2] [3] This network began as a "cherry picking" network, taking programs from all three metropolitan commercial networks at the time. At aggregation, it became an affiliate of Network Ten.

In Australia, regional television is the local television services outside of the five main Australian cities.

Melbourne City in Victoria, Australia

Melbourne is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia and Oceania. Its name refers to an urban agglomeration of 9,992.5 km2 (3,858.1 sq mi), comprising a metropolitan area with 31 municipalities, and is also the common name for its city centre. The city occupies much of the coastline of Port Phillip bay and spreads into the hinterlands towards the Dandenong and Macedon ranges, Mornington Peninsula and Yarra Valley. It has a population of approximately 4.9 million, and its inhabitants are referred to as "Melburnians".

ATV is a television station in Melbourne, Australia, part of Network 10 – one of the three major Australian commercial television networks.

1960s to the 1970s

Tasmanian television station TNT-9 commenced broadcasting at 5:57 pm on 26 May 1962. Fred Archer was the first person to appear on the station, during its first five hours of transmission. On the opening night the station was officially inaugurated by Lord Rowallan, the Governor of Tasmania. The Mickey Mouse Club was the first programme to be broadcast, and advertisements included: Abbott's cordial, Hydro, Launceston Bank for Savings, Peters Ice Cream, Hicks Atkinson and the Saturday Evening Express.

Thomas Corbett, 2nd Baron Rowallan British Baron and scout leader

Thomas Godfrey Polson Corbett, 2nd Baron Rowallan, KT, KBE, MC, TD had a distinguished military career, and was Chief Scout of the British Commonwealth and Empire and Governor of Tasmania.

Governor of Tasmania vice-regal representative of the Australian monarch in Tasmania

The Governor of Tasmania is the representative in the Australian state of Tasmania of Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia. The Governor performs the same constitutional and ceremonial functions at the state level as the Governor-General of Australia does at the national level.

GTS/BKN began transmissions as a solus commercial television service by Spencer Gulf Telecasters in the upper Spencer Gulf in 1968, with Port Lincoln and Broken Hill commencing in 1970 and 1974 respectively[ citation needed ].

GTS/BKN

GTS/BKN are Australian regional television stations serving the Spencer Gulf of South Australia and the Broken Hill area of New South Wales. Based in Port Pirie, South Australia with satellite offices in Broken Hill, Port Augusta, Whyalla and Port Lincoln, and studio and playout facilities based in Hobart, the station's name originates from the Port Pirie and Broken Hill stations' callsigns, GTS Port Pirie and BKN Broken Hill.

Spencer Gulf A large inlet in South Australia between the Eyre Peninsula and the Yorke Peninsula

The Spencer Gulf is the westernmost of two large inlets on the southern coast of Australia, in the state of South Australia, facing the Great Australian Bight. It spans from the Cape Catastrophe and Eyre Peninsula in the west to Cape Spencer and Yorke Peninsula in the east.

Port Lincoln City in South Australia

Port Lincoln is a city on the Lower Eyre Peninsula in the Australian state of South Australia. It is situated on the shore of Boston Bay, which opens eastward into Spencer Gulf. It is the largest city in the West Coast region, and is located approximately 280 km as the crow flies from the State's capital city of Adelaide. The city is reputed to have the most millionaires per capita in Australia. The town claims to be the "Seafood Capital of Australia".

1980s to the 1990s

TNT-9's customised Nine Network logo before Southern Cross acquired it TNT9.png
TNT-9’s customised Nine Network logo before Southern Cross acquired it

On 13 May 1989[ citation needed ], TNT-9 was sold by ENT Ltd. to Southern Cross Broadcasting and was integrated into the Southern Cross network.

ENT Ltd, standing for Examiner-Northern TV Ltd, is a private shell company owned by WIN Corporation. In its heyday, ENT was a publicly listed Australian media company based in Launceston, Tasmania. It was run by major shareholder Edmund Rouse until 1994, when a bribery scandal led to Rouse stepping down as managing director and it was taken over by Bruce Gordon's WIN Corporation.

Southern Cross Broadcasting

Southern Cross Broadcasting (Australia) Limited was a diversified Australian media company, that owned and operated a variety of media businesses, primarily radio and television.

Tasmania was aggregated on 30 April 1994, albeit with only two stations – Southern Cross became a dual Seven and Ten affiliate, while TAS TV took programming from the Nine Network. Both stations commenced statewide transmission from this time.

Remote Central and Eastern Australia were the final areas to be aggregated – one of the largest geographical licence areas, taking in parts of the Northern Territory, western Queensland, and other areas in which terrestrial television signals cannot be received. Stations broadcast to this area mainly through satellite or re-transmission stations. Imparja Television, based in Alice Springs, became a dual Nine and Ten affiliate, while Seven Central became a Seven affiliate.

2000s and 2010s

Southern Cross Broadcasting purchased Spencer Gulf Telecasters in April 2002. In 2002, Southern Cross Broadcasting and WIN Corporation joined forces to create Tasmanian Digital Television, which launched in late 2003. TDT was a sole Network Ten affiliate. Southern Cross operates the transmission of the station.

In 2003, Seven Darwin and Seven Central were purchased by Southern Cross Broadcasting, retaining their sole Seven Network affiliation. On 31 December 2003, Network Ten programming was broadcast for the first time to the Upper Spencer Gulf and Broken Hill broadcast areas via SGS/SCN. In May 2005, the service was integrated into the Southern Cross Television network.

On 3 December 2004, presentation was centralised to Southern Cross Broadcasting's play-out centre in Canberra. In May 2005, the service in Darwin was integrated into the Southern Cross network, losing its generic Seven on-air presentation. This coincided with Southern Cross Darwin commencing dual affiliations with both Seven Network and Network Ten programming.

In 2007, a joint venture station owned by Southern Cross Broadcasting and PBL Media, the owners of NTD-8 Darwin, was announced. [4] The station, named Darwin Digital Television, began broadcasting on 28 April 2008. [5] It is a digital-only Network Ten affiliate, similar to other digital only joint venture channels introduced in Australia.

On 3 July 2007 Southern Cross Television's parent company, Southern Cross Broadcasting, recommended Macquarie Media Group's offer of A$1.35 billion, for a takeover of the corporation. [6] On 5 November 2007, the network was officially purchased by the Macquarie Media Group. [1]

In early 2009, Southern Cross Tasmania dropped all of its remaining Network Ten programming, except for AFL telecasts, as it has gradually dropped other programming since 2004 when TDT was launched, which broadcast all Network Ten programming. It is now affiliated only with Seven and broadcasts all of its programming.

From 1 July 2018, all local branding will be phased out on all of Southern Cross' Seven-affiliated stations to be replaced by generic Seven Network branding. This includes all news services offered by Southern Cross to be rebranded as Seven News. [7] [8]

News

As the following stations are affiliate broadcasters of the Seven Network the following Seven News national programs are aired on these stations:

For regional news, TNT in Tasmania have their daily bulletins produced from the station's Launceston studios, while the local news bulletins on GTS/BKN serving the Spencer Gulf and Broken Hill areas, as well as shared news summaries broadcast on ITQ/QQQ serving remote areas and TND in Darwin, have their programs produced from Southern Cross Austereo's studio in Canberra.

Programming

Local programming

Although, in the past, various birthday specials, telethons and locally produced TV shows have been aired. Quiz Quest (children's game show), The Saturday night show (variety), Down the line (morning talk/local events), Targa Tasmania (annually), The Saturday Morning Fun Show (kids), Tasmanian New Faces (talent), Launceston Cup (OB) and so on.

The series' that Southern Cross produce are listed below.

Hook, Line and Sinker

Hook, Line and Sinker is a fishing show hosted by former news journalists Andrew Hart and Nick Duigan.

Renovation Relief

Renovation Relief is a DIY program hosted by famous wood-chopper David Foster in which he and a team of people from sponsors (i.e. Gunns) renovate a house, most commonly for people who have done something for the community or have disabled children. Renovation Relief is not airing at this time.

Targa Tasmania

For the two weeks in which Targa Tasmania runs, each night Andrew Hart and Nick Duigan share the events of the day in Targa Torque, this usually airs at around 10.30 pm.

Holiday at Home

Holiday at Home is a lifestyle programme which promotes places to stay at and things to do in Tasmania.

Discover Tasmania

This show was produced by Southern Cross but was hosted by Seven Network personalities Ed Halmagyi and Tim Campbell and a mention was made about the Seven Network broadcast centre model in the village of Lower Crackpot in the Tasmazia maze complex. It is similar to Holiday at Home except featured more famous attractions and was arguably better quality television. The second season saw Tim Campbell being replaced by Jack Campbell as host because Tim Campbell had moved to the Nine Network.

Homes of Tasmania

Homes of Tasmania is screened each year showcasing the year's award-winning homes. It is hosted by Nick Duigan and Andrew Hart, like Hook Line and Sinker.

Going Bush

This was the third show hosted by Nick Duigan and Andrew Hart. It was a five-part series screening on Sunday mornings and later afternoons, about Tasmanian bushland and related topics, and co-produced with Forestry Tasmania. There have been two seasons.

Burnie Ten – Ten Week Challenge

For the ten weeks leading up to the Burnie Ten Mark Connelly trains a group of people in a program sponsored by Southern Cross. Each week there are updates given during ad-breaks. In the early years of the programme, people who took part were well known in Tasmania. However, in 2006 a Launceston family were trained to run the event.

Locally

Southern Cross Community Connect

A service provided to the community to promote community based events.

The Scope

A service that informs the viewer what is on in the area.

Availability

Southern Cross is available in standard definition digital format. The network is available primarily through free-to-air terrestrial transmitters, with satellite transmissions available in Remote Central and Eastern Australia. The network's owned-and-operated stations include, TNT Tasmania, TND Darwin, GTS Spencer Gulf, BKN Broken Hill, ITQ Mount Isa, and QQQ Central Australia.

Southern Cross HD

Southern Cross launched a high definition simulcast of its main channel via TNT Tasmania in June 2009 on digital channel 60, following a period of looped HD test broadcasts. TND Darwin also provided a high definition simulcast of its main channel, on digital channel 70. Both services were replaced by 7mate on each station's respective HD channel when it launched in all Southern Cross areas on 24 October 2010; the launch of 7mate was delayed due to technical difficulties and the use of Southern Cross HD for coverage of the 2010 Commonwealth Games. [9] [10]

In March 2017, Southern Cross announced that it would be launching a high definition simulcast of its main channel, Southern Cross HD in Tasmania on digital channel 60, in time for the first match of the 2017 AFL season later that month. [11] Although SCHD launched in Tasmania on 22 March 2017 (whilst downgrading 7mate to standard definition on digital channel 63), it only began broadcasting Channel 7 programming in native High Definition on the 19th June, 2018. [12]

Logos

Southern Cross's first networked logo produced and used across its regional stations, featured a blue rounded square with the Southern Cross constellation in white. [13] This logo was used on TNT and GLV/BCV until 1993, when GLV/BCV adopted an original logo. TNT retained the logo until 2000, when a new logo was introduced featuring an orange Tasmanian tiger above the word Southern Cross. [13] In 2005, a new logo was produced and used across the network, this time to a blue and red star. This logo has been used since, and was launched concurrently with similarly designed logos across Southern Cross's television assets. [13] The Seven Network brand has partially appeared through the later years until the stations fully rebrand to full generic network branding on 1 July 2018.

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References

  1. 1 2 "Southern Cross falls to Mac and Fairfax". The Australian . 3 June 2007. Archived from the original on 9 November 2007. Retrieved 3 June 2007.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Brooklyn Ross-Hulands. "Southern Cross Ten: Victoria". AusTVHistory. Retrieved 10 September 2007.
  3. ↑ Bruce Arnold. "WIN, Gordon and ENT: chronology". Caslon Analytics. Archived from the original on 21 June 2007. Retrieved 10 July 2007.
  4. ↑ "New digital commercial television service for Darwin" (Press release). ACMA. 18 May 2007.
  5. ↑ "DTD set to start tests next week". MediaSpy. 20 April 2008. Archived from the original on 1 May 2008. Retrieved 4 May 2008.
  6. ↑ "Southern Cross Broadcasting sold for $1.35b". abc.net.au. 3 June 2007. Retrieved 3 June 2007.
  7. ↑ Mayfield, Louis (8 June 2018). "Southern becomes Seven". Whyalla News. Whyalla. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
  8. ↑ Kinniburgh, Chanel (9 June 2018). "Southern Cross Television rebadged from next month". The Mercury . Hobart. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
  9. ↑ Tennant, Simon (31 August 2010). "Tasmania to wait on new TV channel". The Examiner. Retrieved 30 March 2017.
  10. ↑ Tennant, Simon (17 September 2010). "Tassie TV viewers to get 7mate - in October". The Examiner. Retrieved 30 March 2017.
  11. ↑ Southern Cross News Tasmania (14 March 2017). YouTube: Southern Cross announces HD launch for Tasmania (14 Mar 17) (Television news bulletin). WAtvPresentation.
  12. ↑ Knox, David (16 March 2017). "Southern Cross Tas switching on HD". TV Tonight. Retrieved 30 March 2017.
  13. 1 2 3 Brooklyn Ross-Hulands. "Southern Cross Television History". AusTVHistory. Retrieved 9 March 2008.
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