TV turns 50 in Tasmania

Monday 23 May 1960 marked the official opening of Tasmania’s first TV station, TVT6 in Hobart – marking the culmination of over a decade of planning which started when the station was formed in 1950 in a board room at Hobart radio station 7HO.

The launch of TVT6 meant that every Australian state now had at least one television station – marking the completion of the second stage of the introduction of television in Australia.

The station’s opening night schedule started with a test pattern at 7.00pm followed by the Official Opening by Tasmanian governor Lord Rowallan (pictured) at 7.30pm and a news bulletin read by news editor Gordon Leed.

The Mercury newspaper documented part of Lord Rowallan’s speech on the night:

“I ask you not to be afraid of this new medium, but use it aright.  Do not abuse it, but use it with discrimination and you will find that it will have an interest not only for yourselves in broadening your lives in the Commonwealth and in geography, but it will be productive of a continuous stimulus to your children to learn more and understand more of the great world outside.”

“Good luck to the station.  May it have an excellent future from your own point of view as well as the point of view of the people of Tasmania, who are going to enjoy many hours of viewing and listening.”

American programs made up the rest of the opening night’s line-up – Dennis The Menace at 8.00pm, I Love Lucy at 8.30pm, Maverick at 9.00pm, and The Eddie Cantor Comedy Theatre at 10.00pm completed the night’s programs.

The opening night’s proceedings were based at TVT6’s headquarters in the suburb of New Town and were viewed by thousands of viewers around Hobart and surrounding areas, often with large groups of people viewing through shop windows on a cold Hobart winter night.  More than 350 guests, including prominent Tasmanian government and business identities (including Lady Rowallan, pictured) and representatives of mainland television stations HSV7, GTV9 and NWS9, were in attendance at a special reception at Wrest Point Hotel and viewed the event on TV screens positioned around the hotel’s spacious dining rooms.

TVT6 also sent out a greeting to its counterparts at ABC, which was due to open its Hobart station – ABT2 – in two weeks’ time.  The station also acknowledged the assistance of existing television stations on the mainland – in particular Perth television station TVW7 which had commenced transmission only seven months earlier.

TVT6 also received messages of congratulations and best wishes from overseas stars including Lucille Ball, Raymond Burr (who, as Perry Mason, said “I promise never to lose a case in Hobart.  Much success in your new endeavour.”) and Perry Como.

TVT6 continued as Hobart and Southern Tasmania’s only commercial TV station for over 30 years – and it would be another 25 years before Hobart got a third television station, SBS, in 1986.  TVT6 also increased its signal through Southern Tasmania with the installation of translator stations TVT8 (Bicheno, Queenstown/Zeehan, Strahan) and TVT10 (Rosebery).

During the 1980s TVT6 had fallen under common ownership with the Northern Tasmanian station, TNT9, and both stations were branded on-air as TAS TV, and for several years maintained a standard schedule across both channels, covering most of the entire State.  In 1988, TNT9 was sold off to Tricom Corporation, the company which later formed the Southern Cross Network, leading to TNT9 splitting from the TAS TV partnership.

TVT6 also won a number of TV Week Logie awards – when State-based categories were included – for its presenters and programs, including Graeme Smith, Trevor Sutton, Bert Taylor, Tom Payne, Ron Christie, Robyn Martin, KTV and Tasmania Today.

On 30 April 1994, TVT6 (TAS TV) and TNT9 (Southern Cross Network) took part in the statewide aggregation of their respective signals – giving Tasmanian viewers a choice of two commercial channels for the first time.  TAS TV, which had ties to Victorian regional network VIC TV, became an affiliate of the Nine Network, while Southern Cross struck up joint affiliation to both Seven and Ten networks.

In October 1994, TAS TV and VIC TV were sold to NSW-based regional network WIN Corporation, which already owned Nine Network regional affiliates in New South Wales, Queensland and the Australian Capital Territory.  As a result the TAS TV and VIC TV identities were replaced with the WIN branding.

WIN and Southern Cross Television later became joint venture owners in the Tasmanian-based digital channel, TDT, which commenced transmission on 1 January 2004.

WIN still has an amount of local production based in Hobart, specifically the nightly WIN News, read by Anna McMahon, a Tasmanian who worked in her early career at TAS TV and for many years on the mainland for the Ten and Nine networks and recently returned to Tasmania to join WIN.

Source: The Mercury, 23 May 1960 and 24 May 1960.  Australian Television Information Archive, Australian TV Archive.

1990: March 3-9

‘I want to show the real me!’
Sale Of The Century hostess Alyce Platt (pictured) wants to dump her conservative, quiz-show image.  The former Sons And Daughters star is now in her fourth year on the Nine Network quiz show and is daring to bring a new daring look to the long-running program.  “It was frustrating when people kept coming up to me in the street and telling me I looked younger in real life.  What has happened in the past on Sale Of The Century is that I’ve developed an image that is not really me.  I don’t dress as you’re used to seeing me on Sale.  I’ve just signed a new contract with the show and told them I wanted a say in how I look,” Platt told TV Week.  “I feel I might as well make a huge statement.  We’re finding that a lot of younger people are watching the show now.”  The new-look is set to feature designs from three major designers – Covers, Mariana Hardwick and Jenny Bannister.

Is this the new Kylie?
Beth Buchanan, the younger sister of Hey Dad! star Simone Buchanan, is to become a new resident of Ramsay Street.  The 17-year-old has been offered a high-profile role in Neighbours, following the departure of actress Rachel Friend from the show, sparking speculation that she is set to become “the new Kylie.”  A Network Ten spokesperson is staying tight-lipped, though:  “She has been offered the part, but I cannot confirm whether she has signed on the dotted line.” 

Are Denise and husband about to be reunited?
The year just passed is not one that Denise Drysdale (pictured) will want to cope with again.  The Hey Hey It’s Saturday and In Melbourne Today co-star is still coming to terms with the announcement that her ten-year marriage to actor Chris Milne had ended, and the impact it has had on her two boys, aged 9 and 7.  But there is no evidence of bitterness or discomfort when it comes to her former husband.   When asked if she would consider reuniting with Milne, she only responds “I just don’t know.  Stranger things have happened… I’m the sort of person who lives day to day.”  As well as working on her farm property in Gippsland, a 90-minute drive from Melbourne, Drysdale commutes to Melbourne twice a week for tapings of In Melbourne Today and Hey Hey It’s Saturday, hosts a weekly magazine show for local Gippsland channel GLV8 and is in constant demand for club appearances with long-time colleague Ernie Sigley.  Drysdale also responds to rumours that all is not well with her Hey Hey It’s Saturday co-stars, with reports that they’re miffed that she was doing and saying too much.  “Because Jacki MacDonald had been there for so long, I think it’s taken a lot of time for the others to realise there’s someone there to make a lot of noise… I can’t just stand there.  But I don’t think I would have been put in the job if they (the producers) didn’t like the way I work.  They know I’m not like Jacki.  I still think it will take more time to settle in.”  And when asked if she tires of her co-stars constant references to her anatomy, she only responds “No, they’ve been hanging around for years!”

Briefly…
Joining the list of guests jetting in for the upcoming TV Week Logie Awards is actor John Travolta, on the eve of the Australian release of his latest movie, Look Who’s Talking, and Aussie actress Sigrid Thornton, currently based in Los Angeles as the star of the CBS series, Paradise.

The arrival of Julian McMahon’s (pictured) character, Ben Lucini, in Seven’s Home And Away triggers a whirlwind romance with Carly (Sharyn Hodgson) with the pair becoming engaged within only a couple of weeks.

This week sees comedian Glynn Nicholas take over from Wendy Harmer as host of ABC’s popular comedy program, The Big Gig.  Harmer is now working on her own show, In Harmer’s Way, which is set to debut on ABC in April.

John Laws says…
”Kerry O’Brien, for whom I have a high personal regard, launched his promising new show Lateline at a time when a transport workers’ strike was gripping NSW and elsewhere, when Andrew Peacock was reeling from another pre-election poll tumble, when TNT had announced a dramatic fall in profits due to the airline dispute, and when the nation was on the brink of another national election campaign.  But what did O’Brien serve up on his first Lateline?  South Africa!  Sure, Nelson Mandela had been freed a couple of days earlier and South Africa was dominating TV news and hogging all the newspaper headlines.  But that’s my point:  By the time Lateline arrived, I suspect we were all totally overdosed on Mandela and the South African issue.  How much more were we expected to take?”

Program Highlights (March 3-9):
Saturday:  GTV9’s Cartoon Company returns to early Saturday mornings, but is now also joined by C-Company, presenting three-and-a-half hours of C-rated programming, including The Curiosity Show and Tasmanian-based KTV.
Sunday:  ATV10 crosses to the banks of the Yarra River to televise the 1990 Birdman Rally, part of the annual Moomba festival, hosted by Greg Evans and Colette Mann.  Sunday night movies are Cop (HSV7), White Mischief (GTV9) and Rambo III (ATV10).
Monday:  ABC and GTV9 interrupt their normal Monday night schedules for a half-hour Liberal Party policy speech, leading up the the Federal Election.  A re-run of the early-‘80s soap opera Holiday Island begins to get a late-night re-run on ATV10, screening Monday to Thursday nights after midnight.
Wednesday:  In E Street (ATV10), Alice (Marianne Howard) learns the truth about Paul (Warren Jones) and Lisa (Alyssa-Jane Cook).  A new beginning for Chris (Paul Kelman) and Megan (Lisbeth Kennelly) fuels the Abby (Chelsea Brown) and Vi (Bunney Brooke) feud.
Thursday:  After Tuesday night’s Liberal Party speech, it is now the ALP’s turn with Prime Minister Bob Hawke getting equal time with a half-hour policy speech on ABC and GTV9.
Friday:  Mark Mitchell hosts the 32nd annual presentation of the TV Week Logie Awards, live from the Hyatt On Collins Hotel, Melbourne, and televised on ATV10.  The two-and-a-half presentation culminates with the presentation of the Gold Logie to Australia’s most popular TV personality.  Up against the Logie Awards are movies The Dirty Dozen (HSV7), Every Which Way But Loose (GTV9) and The Last Innocent Man (ABC).

Source: TV Week (Victoria edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide. 
3 March 1990. Southdown Press.