WIN Television
| Ownership | |
|---|---|
| Owner | WIN Corporation |
WIN Television is an Australian television network owned by the WIN Corporation that is based in Wollongong, Australia. WIN commenced transmissions on March 18, 1962 as a single Wollongong-only station, and has since expanded to 24 owned-and-operated stations with transmissions covering a larger geographical area than any other television network,[1] throughout Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory, South Australia, Tasmania, and Western Australia.
The network's name, WIN is a reference to its original Wollongong station WIN-4, itself an acronym of Wollongong Illawarra New South Wales. Through its news division, WIN News, WIN Television broadcasts a half-hour news service to twenty regional markets.[2]
History
The Beginning
Television Wollongong Transmission Limited (TWT), was incorporated on October 4, 1955 by a group of local businessmen. Five years later, it was awarded a licence by the Postmaster-General's Department broadcast to the Illawarra and South Coast regions, over a number of other groups aligned to Sydney-based stations ATN-7 and TCN-9.[3] The new station was to broadcast on the VHF-4 frequency, using the callsign WIN (which stood for Wollongong (and the) Illawarra Network or alternatively Wollongong Illawarra New (South Wales), in line with other Australian callsigns). Soon after, a plot of land was purchased at Fort Drummond, approximately two kilometres south of the Wollongong central business district, for the station's television studios.
Prior to the opening night's transmissions, WIN-4 undertook a television conversion program, aimed at encouraging residents to acquire new tuning equipment and converting television sets in the area to receive the station's allocated frequency. A transmitter was to be erected on Knight's Hill, however test transmissions were delayed due to rain.[4]
1960s to the 1970s
WIN-4 commenced transmissions at 5:15 p.m. on March 18, 1962. The first night was met with a number of technical issues, most notably the complete loss of audio.[3] TCN-9 and ATN-7 refused to sell programming to the station, leading to a unstable financial situation which, at its peak left the station with only 42 hours' programing.[5]
In April 1963, Media Securities, owned by Rupert Murdoch, acquired a controlling interest in the station and soon appointed a new general manager, Bill Lean. Both TCN-9 and ATN-7 began purchasing several hours of first-run American television programming from WIN-4, following contractual arrangements signed by Murdoch.[5] Throughout this period WIN-4 expanded its repeater transmissions to include Moruya, Batemans Bay, Narooma, Bega and Eden. Local programming and the station's near-monopoly in the area meant that by 1973, viewership had increased to occupy 63 percent of the audience.
Murdoch sold the station in 1979 to the head of Paramount Pictures' international distribution arm, Bruce Gordon, in order to purchase controlling interests in capital city stations TEN-10 Sydney and ATV-0 Melbourne.
1980s to the 1990s
During this period, WIN expanded to include new stations in Victoria, Queensland, and New South Wales. In 1984, WIN became the first regional television station to transmit in stereophonic sound.[6] Close links between WIN Television and the Nine Network, ensured it the Nine Network affiliation for southern New South Wales when aggregation took place in 1989. The changes meant that WIN expanded into the rest of southern New South Wales, launching new stations in Canberra, Orange, Bathurst, Dubbo and Wagga, amongst others in 1989, and at the same time acquiring new facilities in Orange, Wagga and Canberra. It also provided the network with two additional competitors, The Prime Network and Capital Television.
In 1990 WIN purchased Queensland station Star TV, shortly before regional Queensland was to be aggregated. The new station was set to become a Network Ten affiliate, however WIN's links with the Nine Network caused the Nine affiliation to move from QTV, which itself became affiliated to Ten.
ENT Limited, a Launceston-based company that owned a number of television and radio stations in regional Victoria and Tasmania, was bought in 1994.[7] Vic Television and TasTV were, as a result, incorporated into the WIN network and subsequently renamed WIN Television. The network further expanded to Griffith in 1998, when WIN purchased MTN-9 Griffith and its supplementary station AMN-31 from its local owners. Although station had previously been part of the Prime Television network, MTN already had links with WIN and took its feed from the network's Wollongong base.
WIN became regional Western Australia's second commercial television network on March 26, 1999.[8] Prior to the launch of the new station, GWN held a commercial monopoly on the market. GWN became an affiliate of the Seven Network, while WIN took a combination of Nine Network and Network Ten programming. Despite the Nine Network's traditional ratings dominance throughout most of the country, GWN has remained the market's most-watched station.[9] The second ratings survey of 2006 placed WIN Television with a 34.7% commercial audience share in prime time, compared to the Golden West Network with 65.3%.[10]
In the same year, WIN purchased two stations in South Australia, SES-8 in Mount Gambier and RTS-5a in the Riverland region. They became known as WIN South Australia and until recently featured news bulletins presented from studios at both stations (bulletins are now presented from the set of studios in Mount Gambier). In 2002 supplementary licences were granted under Section 38A of the Broadcasting Services Act, allowing the network to launch additional channels, using the callsigns MGS in Mount Gambier and LRS in the Riverland, and known as WIN Ten.[11]
2000s
WIN Television began to introduce digital television soon after it became available to metropolitan areas in January, 2001. Under Section 38A of the Broadcasting Services Act, the network has been able to introduce, in partnership with other stations, additional digital-only Network Ten affiliates. These have included Tasmanian Digital Television, launched in late 2003 in partnership with Southern Cross Broadcasting, and Mildura Digital Television in January 2006, with Prime Television Limited.
On May 30, 2007, Southern Cross Broadcasting announced its sale of NWS to the WIN Corporation for AU$105 million. Similarly, STW Perth, owned by Sunraysia Television and affiliated to the Nine Network, was purchased on June 8, 2007, when the station was sold to WIN Television's parent company, WIN Corporation, for AU$163.1 million.[12]
Despite the station's ownership of Nine Perth, WIN in Western Australia broadcast Ten News Perth, produced for and shown on rival station Ten Perth up until August 27, 2007. Preceding this in June, 2007, the network announced their intention to show National Nine News.[13]
A conflict between WIN and its long-time metropolitan counterpart the Nine Network arose in mid-2007. PBL Media, Nine's parent company, requested up to 40% of the network's advertising revenue in return for program supply. WIN's owner, WIN Corporation rejected this offer, expecting to pay only 29% (a 3% decrease from the previous contract and in line with many of the network's competitors, such as Prime Television and Southern Cross Ten).[14] The network's owner, Bruce Gordon, subsequently threatened to sever the network's affiliation after negotiations stagnated, stating that his previous position at the Paramount Pictures Corporation meant he could program the network independently.[15] On August 16, 2007 WIN Television dropped key Nine Network programs from its daytime television schedule, including Mornings with Kerri-Anne and National Nine News: Morning Edition.[16] An affiliation deal with the Seven Network was announced on September 4, 2007, for the network's eastern South Australian stations in Mount Gambier and the Riverland. The new program schedule is a mixture of Seven and Nine programming and commenced broadcasting on October 1,2007.[17]
Programming
WIN Television is a sole Nine Network affiliate in most broadcast areas, with Network Ten affiliation in regional Western Australia (combined with a predominant Nine Network affiliation), and Seven Network affiliation in eastern South Australia. WIN Television has always produced local programming, including the flagship local news service WIN News, that supplement programs sourced from affiliates.
Since inception the network has produced and broadcast notable programs including Sportsview and Sportsworld, a review of international, national and local sporting events.[4] From the first week of transmissions children's television series The Channel 4 Club was produced, with children's television program Stopwatch beginning in 1979.[4] English-language educational programme You Say the Word began in 1971, catering to non-English-speaking immigrants. Short-lived cooking show Variety Italian Style premiered in 1972, with Malcom Elliott initially hosting the long-running Tonight Show in 1981 being replaced by John Tingle years later. To commemorate WIN Television's 21st year of broadcasting, a one-and-half-hour retrospective montage special was produced in 1983. WIN Television also co-produced telemovie Last Chance in 1986 with a Canadian television production company.[4] Spanning close to a decade, children's television series Goodsports was produced by WIN Television from 1991 to 2000.
WIN Television's current Australian programming productions consists of television shows including; Susie, Destinations, and Fishing Australia. On May 17, 2007, WIN Television announced a new midday program called Susie, however this was subsequently moved to a morning timeslot.[18][16] WIN Television also broadcasts a range of exclusive overseas and domestically sourced programming including The Ellen DeGeneres Show, The Brady Bunch and Good Chef Bad Chef.
News & Current Affairs
WIN News is the network's local news service. Nineteen regional bulletins are presented from studios in Wollongong, Canberra, Ballarat, Rockhampton, Toowoomba, Mount Gambier, Hobart and Perth,[19] in addition to National Nine News bulletins presented and produced from the network's metropolitan stations, STW in Perth, Western Australia and NWS in Adelaide.[2] Although in most areas it is the only local news bulletin, in some markets it may compete with Prime News, Seven Local News, GWN News, or Southern Cross Nightly News.
WIN has produced independent news reports and bulletins since 1962 for its original Wollongong station. As well as the flagship nightly bulletin, WIN Television has in the past produced current affairs programming including community affairs program Roving Eye, and Sunday Review, a weekly review of international, national and local stories.[4]
Current schedule
| 6:00 PM | 6:30 PM | 7:00 PM | 7:30 PM | 8:00 PM | 8:30 PM | 9:00 PM | 9:30 PM | 10:00 PM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SUN | National Nine News | Animal Emergency | Royal Flying Doctor Service | 60 Minutes | Sunday Night Movie | ||||
| MON | WIN News | A Current Affair | William & Kate: A Royal Romance | CSI: Crime Scene Investigation | CSI: NY | ||||
| TUE | Moment of Truth | Kitchen Nightmares | Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles | ||||||
| WED | The Chopping Block | Underbelly | Cashmere Mafia | ||||||
| THU | Getaway | Kitchen Nightmares | The Footy Show | ||||||
| FRI | Friday Night Football (NRL) | ||||||||
| SAT | Australia's Funniest Home Videos | Saturday Night Movie | Saturday Late Night Movie | ||||||
Note: News & Current Affairs are in Grey; Drama is in Blue; Sitcoms, Animation and Comedy are in Purple; Lifestyle programs are in Green; Factual programs and Documentaries are Yellow; Reality, Game shows and Talk shows are in Red; Sport is in Orange; Movies are in Pink. The above represents WIN Television's usual primetime schedule. It does not reflect one-off events or region specific programming, notably the Western Australian and South Australian broadcast markets, and program starting times may vary from those shown. National Nine News is not shown in Tasmania. Underbelly is not shown in Victoria, it is replaced by CSI: Miami. The Footy Show has two versions, the AFL version is shown in Victoria, Tasmania and Western Australia, the NRL version in Queensland, Southern New South Wales and the ACT. For up-to-date information, see WIN's online television guide. (link)
Availability
WIN Television simulcasts in analogue, standard definition and 1080i high definition in all areas except Western Australia where only analogue transmissions are currently available.[1] Free-to-air transmissions are available from both terrestrial transmitters in major regional centres, and satellite transmissions across remote and regional Western Australia on the free-to-view Optus Aurora platform. Subscription cable is also provided by TransACT in the Australian Capital Territory, and Neighbourhood Cable in Ballarat and Mildura.[20][21]
WIN broadcasts to a larger geographical area than any other television network,[1] in the world, through owned-and-operated stations including RTQ Queensland, WIN Southern New South Wales, VTV Victoria, TVT Tasmania, MTN Grifith, STV Mildura, SES Mount Gambier, RTS Riverland, and WOW Western Australia. NWS Adelaide and STW Perth, both owned by WIN Corporation, follow a schedule similar to that of the network's regional stations.
Logos
The original WIN Television logo was used by the station until 1980, featuring the word WIN TV, derived from the station's call sign. In 1980, the logo was updated with the TV removed, and the WIN placed inside a blue rectange. Coinciding with the network's aggregation in 1989, WIN added nine dots into a new logo designed similarly to the Nine Network, and also began using Nine's on-air promotion, with the WIN logo replacing Nine's. In 1998, the dots were changed to spheres.[22]
Three-dimensions were added to the letters WIN in 2002, coinciding with a revamp of the network's on-air identity, concurrently with Nine Network.[22] On January 30 2006, the station relaunched its logo to coincide with the Nine Network's fiftieth year of broadcasting. The new logo designed by Bruce Dunlop Associates saw the removal of the nine dots, with a blue rectangle added to behind the letters WIN. Following this in 2008, blue rectangle was removed from the logo.[23]
| File:WIN1970.svg | File:WIN1980.svg | File:WIN1989.svg | .svg)
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|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 - 1979 | 1980 - 1989 | 1989 - 2006 | 2006 - 2008 | 2008 - present |
References
- ^ a b c "About WIN Corporation". WIN Corporation. Retrieved 2007-06-05.
- ^ a b "Local content on regional TV". Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts. 2007-04-11. Retrieved 2007-08-19.
- ^ a b "Local TV on March 18". Illawarra Mercury. 1962-03-01.
{{cite news}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help) - ^ a b c d e "WIN4 Company Records and News Film". University of Wollongong. 2007-07-10. Retrieved 2007-08-18.
- ^ a b "W'gong Television Station Deprived of Top Programmes". Illawarra Mercury. 1962-03-09.
{{cite news}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help) - ^ "WIN boasts list of firsts". Illawarra Mercury. 1989-03-31.
{{cite news}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help) - ^ Tanner, Stephen (1995). "The Rise and Fall of Edmund Rouse" (PDF). University of Queensland. Retrieved 2007-08-19.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - ^ "WIN TV: A new rural view". The West Magazine. 1999-03-20. p. 51. Retrieved 2007-08-19.
- ^ "Trends in audience share". ACNielsen. Australian Film Commission. Retrieved 2007-08-18.
- ^ "7 Years on and GWN is still at the top!" (PDF) (Press release). Prime Television Limited. 2006-01-15. Retrieved 2007-01-16.
{{cite press release}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "ABA determines simulcast start dates for regional digital TV services". Australian Communications and Media Authority. 2001-07-21. Retrieved 2007-08-18.
- ^ "WIN buys Channel 9 Adelaide". The Age. 2007-06-08. Retrieved 2007-06-08.
- ^ Klinger, Peter (2007-06-21). "Poor state of Perth 9 shocks new owner". The West Australian.
{{cite news}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help); Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "PBL talks with Gordon on regional TV close to collapse". The Sydney Morning Herald. 2007-08-11. Retrieved 2007-08-16.
- ^ "WIN boss threatens to sever Nine link". The Sydney Morning Herald. 2007-08-06. Retrieved 2007-08-16.
- ^ a b "War as WIN junks key Nine shows". The Australian. 2007-08-16. Retrieved 2007-08-16.
- ^ "WIN turns to Seven". The Australian. 2007-09-05. Retrieved 2007-09-05.
- ^ "WIN Television to produce new regional daytime program 'Susie'". WIN Television. ebroadcast.com.au. 2005-05-17. Retrieved 2007-05-17.
- ^ "WIN Television Increases News Production Capability". WIN Corporation. Retrieved 2008-03-02.
- ^ "TransTV Channel Lineup". TransACT. Retrieved 2007-08-19.
- ^ "Neighbourhood Cable Channel Lineup". Neighbourhood Cable. Retrieved 2007-08-19.
- ^ a b Brooklyn Ross-Hulands. "WIN Television History". AusTVHistory. Retrieved 2008-03-09.
- ^ "Mission incredible". The Age. 2007-11-29. Retrieved 2007-11-29.