NBN celebrates 50 years

This year will be one of celebration for Newcastle-based regional network NBN as 2012 marks the 50th anniversary of its debut.

Launching on Sunday, 4 March 1962, it was the first regional television station in New South Wales and the fourth nationally.  Construction of the station’s premises in Mosbri Crescent, Newcastle, had been 18 months in the planning – culminating in a two-studio complex capable of producing large-scale “live” production as well as news bulletins, women’s and children’s programs, weather reports and commercials.  Programs were then beamed from Mosbri Crescent to a 450-foot mast atop Mount Sugarloaf which would then broadcast the NBN3 signal to an area of over 420,000 people, stretching from Gosford and Sydney’s northern suburbs in the south, almost as far north as Taree and out west to Scone and Muswellbrook. 

TV Week previewed the station’s opening night a week beforehand:

“The Postmaster-General C.W. Davidson will officially open the new Newcastle station, NBN3, during the station’s first program beginning at 6.00pm on Sunday night, March 4.  Before the official opening NBN3’s production executive Matthew Tapp will welcome viewers and talk briefly about the programs the station will show.”

“Women’s show compere Ken Eady will then conduct a 20-minute tour of the station to show NBN3 viewers how its programs are made.”

“Ken will introduce NBN3’s children’s compere and newsreader Murray Finlay, who will complete the tour with a look at the station’s newsroom.”

“Matthew Tapp will then introduce the Postmaster-General for the official opening.  This will be followed by the station’s first news service read by Murray Finlay.”

NBN3 initially promised a schedule of around 56 hours of programming a week, starting transmission each day from around 2.30pm.  Like with many Australian stations at the time, programming was predominantly American but with the addition of popular Australian programs like BP Pick-A-Box (with presenters Bob and Dolly Dyer welcomed to the NBN3 studios at the time of its local debut).

But despite NBN3 being the region’s first television station many locals were more than familiar with television.  Much of NBN3’s coverage area also received fortuitous coverage of the Sydney channels – leading to a proliferation of high-mast antennas sprouting up on top of many homes to  get a clearer picture of the Sydney-based signals. 

To compete with the imposing signals from Sydney, NBN3 had a slate of local production from Mosbri Crescent.  A Saturday afternoon teenage music program, Tempo, was hosted by local radio 2KO personality Allan Lappan.  Ken Eady hosted women’s program Home At 3, with a special Friday edition sub-titled Anything Goes, promising “community singing, quizzes and what Ken Eady calls ‘some crazy stunts’.” 

New Zealander Murray Finlay (pictured) presented NBN3’s first children’s program, The Three Cheers Show, and was also the station’s first newsreader.  NBN3’s first news service (produced in association with 2KO) was a half-hour bulletin each night at 6.30pm, comprising a mix of local, national and international news.  The bulletin was later extended to 35 minutes, then 40 minutes and then, in 1972, a one-hour newscast – the first regional-based one-hour newscast in Australia – in a format that continues to this day.

Finlay was the front man for NBN’s evening news for over twenty years and his successor, Ray Dinneen, also served at NBN for over thirty years before retiring in 2010. 

NBN has always maintained a level of local production – with programs over the years including a local franchise of pre-school program Romper Room, the long-running Travel Time With Jayes, morning shows The Breakfast Club and Today Extra, and telethons and community announcements for local charities.  The station’s mascot Big Dog (pictured) has also been a favourite with junior viewers for many years and can still be seen each evening as he wishes boys and girls a good night.

NBN3 also provided production support for an early 1970s drama, Silent Number, for the Nine Network and produced the national program Variety Italian Style. 

Over the years, the station has been acknowledged for its contribution to television – winning a TV Week Logie in 1963 for excellence in programming by a country station and then another six Logies between 1976 and 1995 for outstanding contributions by regional television.

The advent of aggregation saw NBN’s signal expand across the wider Northern NSW/Gold Coast market from December 1991, adding the markets of Tamworth, Taree, Lismore, Coffs Harbour and the Gold Coast to its coverage area as the Nine Network affiliate.

NBN now broadcasts to a market of 2,109,000 viewers – ranking it as Australia’s fourth largest market behind Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane – and won the 2011 ratings year with 31.6 per cent market share (comprising NBN’s 23.6% and digital channels GO! 4.8% and GEM 3.2%).

NBN has had a number of owners since its inception in 1962, but since 2007 it has been owned by Nine’s parent company PBL Media (now Nine Entertainment Co.).

To celebrate its 50th anniversary NBN will be holding a reunion of past and present employees on Saturday, 10 March.  The event will include a collection of nostalgic footage and photos from the past 50 years.  Any past employees wishing to attend the reunion are invited to contact NBN by email turning50@nbntv.com.au or contact Promotions Manager Mike Rabbitt on telephone (02) 49292333.

And throughout 2012, NBN News will be presenting a series of special reports on different aspects of the station’s history and significant community events of the last half century.

Later this year it will be the end of an era when NBN switches off analogue transmission across its coverage area (excluding Gold Coast and Gosford, which will occur later) in the conversion to digital-only broadcasting – but more significantly it will mark the end of transmission from Channel 3 from Mt Sugarloaf, the signal that launched NBN 50 years ago.

Source:  NBN.  TV Week, 24 February 1962.  TV Times, 21 July 1979.  TV Week, 15 May 1982.  The Newcastle Star, 4 March 1987.  TV Eye – Classic Australian Television.  Regional TV Marketing. Regional TAM.

YouTube: markspyreport

Remembering Seven’s Epping era

The Sunrise team earlier this week posted a picture via their Twitter feed showing the demolition (“using Gladiator props as wrecking balls?”) of the Seven Network’s former studios in Sydney.

The studios, in the suburb of Epping, were barely completed when the ribbon across the Studio B doors was cut on ATN7’s opening night – 2 December 1956.  And the opening night almost didn’t happen at all as a massive thunderstorm hit Sydney earlier that day, blacking out many suburbs – including Epping.  Power was restored just in time to allow the studio cameras the required 45 minutes to warm up before airtime.  VIPs arrived at the complex in torrential rain and had to make their way across mud tracks to get to the building.

In its early years the Epping complex hosted many Australian television firsts – the first ‘tonight’ show, Sydney Tonight with Keith Walshe, the first breakfast news show, Today with Ray Taylor, the first current affairs show, Seven On 7, and the first soap operas, Autumn Affair and The Story Of Peter Grey.  ATN7 was the first TV station in Australia to install videotape equipment in the late 1950s.  The station also partnered with Melbourne’s GTV9 to complete the first ever transmission between Sydney and Melbourne via a series of microwave links.

Other shows to have emanated from Epping include Revue ‘61, Startime, Sing Sing Sing (The Johnny O’Keefe Show), Beauty And The Beast, Captain Fortune, Pick-A-Box, The Mavis Bramston Show (pictured), My Name’s McGooley What’s Yours?, Great Temptation, Sydney Today, Eleven AM, The Naked Vicar Show, Kingswood Country, Romper Room, Sounds, Cartoon Connection, Saturday Morning Live, Sportsworld, Terry Willesee Tonight, Wheel Of Fortune, Hey Dad!, Real Life, Sunrise and The Main Event.

Some of TVs most famous names have also spent time at Epping.  Roger Climpson was ATN7’s principal newsreader for many years and also hosted This Is Your Life and Australia’s Most Wanted.  Mike Willesee, Graham Kennedy, Clive Robertson, Rex Mossop, Paul Hogan (pictured), Norman Gunston (Garry McDonald), Peter Luck, Bill Collins, Maggie Tabberer, Jana Wendt and Andrew Denton have also worked at the Epping studios.  And of course the many actors and actresses that passed through the various dramas to have come from Epping – series including Jonah, Motel, Catwalk, Class Of ‘74, Glenview High, A Country Practice, Sons And Daughters, Rafferty’s Rules, Home And Away, All Saints and Packed To The Rafters.

ATN7 has now moved to new facilities at the Australian Technology Park (pictured) in the Sydney suburb of Redfern – while news production facilities, including Sunrise, Seven News, Today Tonight and The Morning Show, are based at Martin Place in the Sydney CBD.

Source: Sunrise, Sydney Architecture, Forty Years Of Television: The Story Of ATN7.

1979: July 21-27

TV’s bravest star
Being confined to a wheelchair has had little effect on the enthusiasm of actress Louise Philip.  Since her car accident, in late 1972 while on a break from the long-running series Bellbird, Philip has been paralysed from the waist down.  In a recent national magazine poll, Philip was ranked third as one of the most admired women in Australia.  As well as starring in TV series Cop Shop, Philip (pictured, with co-stars Terry Norris and Greg Ross) also runs a card shop in the Melbourne suburb of Glen Waverley.  But such is her popularity in the series that when it appeared likely that she would leave the program, the fan mail begging her to stay was so overwhelming that her contract was renewed for a longer period than anyone else in the series.

Kelly rides again for TV
Former Crawfords producer Ian Jones admits that he has no idea who will play Ned Kelly in his upcoming mini-series The Last Outlaw.  Jones and Bronwyn Binns are preparing the series for the Seven Network.  Writing and pre-production is under way but Jones doesn’t want to comment on when production will start. 

At last, Sheila steals the show
Sheila Florance has fought against the odds, suffering personal tragedy and plugging away in showbusiness for 45 years but was never a star.  But now, since appearing in the 0-10 Network’s Prisoner, she is constantly recognised by people in the street, but doesn’t give any complaint of her past misery.  “You can’t afford to let things get you down or you go under.  I’ve always thought that way.”  Working in London during the war, with two babies and another on the way, Florance learned that her English husband had been killed.  While living in the Yorkshire countryside, she met her second husband, a Polish fighter pilot, Jan.   Having suffered severe injuries during the war, Jan was on crutches when the pair married in the early-1950s.  His health has deteriorated to the point where he is now a permanent invalid, but the pair battle on.  Florance has also had two of her four children pass away, one son died in England and a daughter died later after the family had come to Australia.  But for now, Florance is enjoying her new role as ‘lovable old rascal’ Lizzie Birdsworth (pictured) in Prisoner: “I think Lizzie is a gorgeous character. The public seem to like her, too, and when I watch the show I find she makes me laugh as well.  I know that sounds peculiar as I play the part, but it’s true.  When I watch Lizzie, I see nothing of myself at all – just a funny old lady.  Lizzie and I are so completely different.”

Newcastle: That’s Australia all over!
Mr and Mrs Typical Australia are alive and well and living in Newcastle, NSW.  The region, described once by former PM Sir Robert Menzies as “a microcosm of Australia,” is recognised by TV advertisers as the number one test market for new products and campaigns.  So what Newcastle buys today Australia may well be buying tomorrow.  As the only local commercial TV station in the region, NBN3 is the major outlet for advertisers wanting to reach this captive market of around 500,000 viewers throughout Newcastle and the Hunter Valley.  The channel is watched by approximately 60 per cent of viewing audience, many of who also have access to watching TV channels from Sydney, and in the 1977-78 financial year achieved a profit of $1.3 million.  General manager George Brown isn’t modest in discussing the success of the channel: “We are successful simply because we present 130 hours of good TV each week.  We buy the best possible programs from any place at any time.  We do things here before the rest of the Australian TV industry.”  NBN3 also produces about 20 hours of local content each week, including breakfast and children’s shows, including a local version of Romper Room, a local one-hour news bulletin each weeknight (believed to be the first one-hour news bulletin in Australia), a weekly performing arts program and a two-hour Sunday sports show.  The channel also produces the program Variety Italian Style which is shown nationally through the 0-10 Network.  Program manager John Kidd said that NBN also conducts regular surveys with a panel of 1000 local viewers to determine how a program is performing: “Our viewers are very interested in news and current affairs.  We were staggered, for instance, to see how well 60 Minutes did after only a short time on air.  By and large, successful Sydney programs are successful in Newcastle, but if a program is dying you will see it in Newcastle first.  We pulled out of Number 96 and The Box before Sydney because we thought those programs were dying.”  NBN3 is also proud of its commitment to the local community, with considerable amounts of airtime given to promoting local community causes and charities. 

Briefly…
While taping a drowning scene for the pilot episode of Paradise Village for the Seven Network, actress Suzy Gashler got caught in an undertow and had to be rescued by real lifesavers.  Once recovered, she re-did the scene – in shallower water.

Actress Deborah Coulls has spoken out about the circumstances surrounding her sudden exit from The Restless Years, last year: “So much was written about me that was distorted.  I came out of as a big-headed starlet who had been sacked for playing up.  Nothing was further from the truth.  The simple truth was that for one publicity call I overslept and was half an hour late.  The day after the incident I was carpeted.  In retrospect, though, it was obvious I was used as an object lesson for the rest of the cast.”  Coulls is now starring as a flight attendant in the new Seven Network series Skyways.

Prisoner actor Jim Smillie is providing the voices for the characters of Swag the Emu and Professor Wombat for a new indigenous children’s program, The Bush Bunch, currently being considered for purchase by the networks.  If it goes ahead the series is expected to cost around $40,000 an episode.

Viewpoint: Letters to the Editor:
”How much longer do we have to have Tony Barber on Family Feud?  A few people I have spoken to feel the same way, finding him at times quite childish, bordering in being conceited.” A. Eveele, NSW.

“We are fans of Cop Shop and are hoping that when George Mallaby leaves, he will return soon.  We will miss him.” N & L Leoni, QLD.

“In my area we are unfortunate enough to only receive ABC and local CWN6.  During the week I must admit we do get some good programs, but this entails staying up late or missing them because we have to get up early for work.  But Friday, Saturday and Sunday when we like to have some entertainment and don’t mind staying up a little later we have very poor shows, particularly Saturdays and Sundays.” H. Slattery, NSW.

What’s On (July 21-27):
ABC’s Saturday Special is Rolf Harris In Concert, taped at the Perth Entertainment Centre and featuring Rolf Harris with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra.

ABC presents the final instalment of multicultural television programs from the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) on Sunday morning.

On Sunday afternoon GTV9 presents a replay of last Friday night’s Miss Universe 1979 pageant, held in Perth.

ATV0 begins a Monday night screening of police drama Matlock Police (pictured), featuring episodes from towards the end of the show’s run which had never previously screened though they were made three years earlier.

Marcia Hines, Jon English and The Little River Band are guest performers on The Paul Hogan Show, screening Wednesday night on GTV9.  Later in the week, the final episode of Marcia Hines’ series, Marcia’s Music (ABC, Friday) features guest performer Doug Parkinson.

Sunday night movies: Monty Python And The Holy Grail (HSV7), The Alf Garnett Saga (GTV9), Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid (ATV0).

Source: TV Times (Melbourne edition), 21 July 1979.  ABC/ACP

1978: January 14-20

Cover: Cop Shop's Restless Mum
Actress Rowena Wallace is feeling that she's becoming typecast after a succession of roles which the 30-year-old has played a "homely wife" figure - a perception not helped by her naturally silver hair ("a hereditary thing") and that one of her earlier roles in the mini-series Power Without Glory had her play an aging role. Image problems aside, Rowena is happy in her new role in Seven's Cop Shop opposite actor George Mallaby (pictured with Rowena on the TV Times cover), although playing a housewife with a teenage daughter is a far cry from her trail-blazing teenage role in You Can't See Round Corners a decade earlier.

Sparring partners' birthday toast:
The 0-10 Network's daytime talent show Pot Of Gold has reached its 600th episode, celebrated by host Tommy Hanlon Jnr and resident judge Bernard King. The pair had an uneasy on-air partnership - Hanlon insisting King's vicious criticisms of contestants were too harsh, but King felt Hanlon was too soft on them. Over its 600 episodes, 4300 acts have appeared.

John finally cops the job:
Sydney-based actor John Orcsik has finally scored a role in a Crawford Productions series. The former Number 96 actor had auditioned for roles in Bluey and Homicide, and for the original casting of Cop Shop, and had missed each time - but now had been chosen by Crawfords to appear in a new Cop Shop role to fill the gap left behind by departing actor Tony Bonner.

The Sullivans' Greek connection:
Greek-born actress Chantal Contouri has just made her debut appearance in the World War II series The Sullivans, as a widow who becomes involved with some of the Australian soldiers fighting in Greece. The 27-year-old actress had made a recent trip to Greece and with husband Peter Walker had restored a peasant cottage into a home where the pair plan to spend time each year.

Max-In-The-Box bounces back:
Following the demise of the soap opera The Box, actor Barrie Barkla moved to Perth in the hope of distancing himself from his character from the series, TV executive Max Knight. But for Barkla, who has established himself at Perth's STW9 with on-air and backstage roles, it was harder to move on from the character than he had expected - especially given that The Box still had a considerable time to run still in Perth.

Viewpoint - Letters to the Editor:
"My complaint is not about the quality of Australian TV so much as the misrepresentation of Australians. There is no reflection on the mixture of races in Australia. I would like to see Italian or Indian teachers in the Grundy programs set in schools - for example, Glenview High." M.S., NSW

"I am evidently (and as usual) in the very small minority, but I remain completely amazed that a really hilarious show like Celebrity Squares should be replaced with a sort of B-class quiz effort called Blankety Blanks...." R.H.G., WA

"I thank Crawford Productions and the Seven Network for Cop Shop. It is not just another police series. It is a more realistic series, showing the pressure on police and their families." F.M., NSW.

What's On (Melbourne):
More cricket on GTV9 with World Series Cricket, but also there's cricket action on ATV0 with Tasmania versus South Australia in the Gillette Cup.

On weekday afternoons, with non-ratings still dictating the schedules, GTV9 presents re-runs of police drama Division 4, while ATV0 presents a magazine program Shoulder To Shoulder with journalist Mickie de Stoop. In the mornings, ATV0 starts the day at 7.00am with The Early Bird Show, GTV9 has the Holiday Fun Show in the same timeslot, and ABC has Sesame Street at 8.00am. HSV7 doesn't commence weekday transmission until 10.00am with Miss Patricia on Romper Room starting the broadcast day.

David Johnston and Honor Walters present the children's magazine program This Week Has Seven Days on HSV7. Among this week's topics are toffee making, macrame, safety when canoeing and resident vet Dr Tim looks at water dragons.

Sunday night movies are Honky Tonk (HSV7), The Chairman (GTV9) and Crooks And Coronets (ATV0).

Source: TV Times, 14 January 1978. ABC/ACP