GLV: Australia’s first regional channel

It is 50 years today since Australia’s first regional television station was officially opened.

GLV10, covering Gippsland and the Latrobe Valley in eastern Victoria, was opened on Saturday, 9 December 1961.  The launch was the culmination of seven years of planning, starting when a group of influential Gippsland individuals formed Gippsland Telecasters.  The group also had the support of the local print media who were keen to contribute to the proposed channel’s local news coverage.

Gippsland Telecasters then joined with other local businesses – including  newspapers, theatres and drive-ins – and local churches to become shareholders in Eastern Victorian Television, the company that would submit the application for a television broadcasting licence for Gippsland and the Latrobe Valley.

The successful application then saw the appointment of the channel’s first General Manager, Gordon Lewis, who began working from temporary offices in the former Traralgon Town Hall.  Construction then began on the station’s premises located on the Princes Highway just outside of Traralgon.

Launching five years after the advent of television in Sydney and Melbourne, GLV promised a modern and well-designed production facility – in a building designed specifically for a television station, unlike Melbourne channels GTV9 and HSV7 whose studios were converted from pre-existing buildings. 

GLV10’s opening night’s programs started at 5.45pm with a 15-minute film, Touring Gippsland, to be followed by an introduction to the station by radio 3TR announcer Don Ewart (pictured).  Unfortunately, Ewart’s opening words were never heard by anyone outside the studio as his microphone was not switched on.

Programs to follow included imports Jungle Jim, Whirlybirds and I Love Lucy before the formalities of the official opening of the station by the Chairman of the Broadcasting Control Board, Mr R. G. Osborne, accompanied by General Manager Gordon Lewis.  Opening night was also attended by a number of ‘national’ personalities including Horrie Dargie, Bobby Limb, Happy Hammond and Johnny Chester. 

Later in the evening GLV10 crossed to Melbourne’s ABV2 for a one-hour live coverage of the day’s Federal Election results before presenting a 15-minute local news bulletin and then signing off for the night.

The new channel had a staff of 35 and was planning to broadcast initially for around 30 hours a week.

Two weeks after GLV10’s debut came the launch of regional stations GMV6 Shepparton and BCV8 Bendigo.

Like many regional channels in the early days GLV maintained a number of local productions.  The channel’s first news service was a daily 15-minute bulletin presented by Don Ewart, including local news and day-old national news footage that had been sent overnight by train from Melbourne.  Early local programs included children’s program GLV Teleclub, pop music program Teen Time, talent quest Battle Of The Towns, variety program Showtime, documentary series Gippsland’s Pathway Of Time, local sports coverage and Sunday afternoon programs Spotlight On Sport and Farming Today.

By 1963, GLV10 had begun the direct relay of the main evening news bulletin from GTV9 in Melbourne to supplement its own ten-minute local news bulletin.  The channel was also using the relay facility for the broadcasting of programs like In Melbourne Tonight, Homicide, Sunnyside Up, daytime game shows and VFL coverage, enabling local viewers the chance to see these programs as they were going to air in Melbourne or at least shortly after.

By the mid-1970s GLV10 had partnered with Bendigo channel BCV8 with both channels providing a common schedule across their respective areas.  Mildura channel STV8 then affiliated with the two channels and adopted their schedule and branding. 

In 1979, GLV10 had agreed to convert its call-sign and frequency to GLV8 in January 1980 in order to allow Melbourne channel ATV0 access to convert to the channel 10 frequency.

And like many regional television stations GLV provided a training ground for some that went on to careers in the wider media industry.  Journalist Malcolm Gray went on to Melbourne channels ATV0 and HSV7.  A former Miss Victoria, Simone Semmens, was a local newsreader before joining the Seven Network.  Keith McGowan, who went on to a 50-year career in broadcasting, hosted Teen Time in the 1960s.  Richard Zachariah was a local presenter at GLV before going to the Seven Network to present Seven National News and Eleven AM, and co-host ABC’s The Home Show with then partner Maggie Tabberer.  Award-winning journalist and Four Corners reporter Sally Neighbour also came from GLV8.

Showbiz veteran Denise Drysdale, a resident of the local area, presented a morning show on GLV8 during the 1980s.

GLV has endured many on-air name changes over the last few decades – from Southern Cross TV8 (1982) to Southern Cross Network (1989), SCN (1993), Ten Victoria (1994) and Southern Cross Ten (2001).

From 1992, the aggregation of regional markets in Victoria saw the Southern Cross Network of GLV and BCV expand its signal into the regions of Ballarat, Shepparton and Albury, while the incumbents from these regions in turn expanded into the areas covered by GLV and BCV.

With aggregation the Southern Cross Network affiliated with the Ten Network for the supply of programs supplemented by locally-produced programming such as maintaining local news in the Bendigo and Gippsland markets, a statewide edition of Eyewitness News with Rob Gaylard, and children’s program Surprise Surprise.

Some changes in the news format and presentation followed but the change to Ten Victoria in May 1994 saw all local production ceased and the network essentially becoming a straight relay of Network Ten’s schedule.

In 2000, GLV was forced to shutdown its Channel 8 signal in Gippsland and move to UHF Channel 37.  This was to accommodate the launch of the digital signal from GTV9 in Melbourne which was to use the 8 frequency.

From its modest beginnings with two regional channels in Victoria, Southern Cross Ten as it is now covers regional markets from Portland in western Victoria right up to Cairns in the far north of Queensland and across to Broken Hill and the Spencer Gulf region in South Australia.  Much of its on-air presentation is co-ordinated from centralised facilities in Canberra.

With the advent of digital television and multi-channels Southern Cross Ten has also adopted the Ten Network’s digital channels Eleven and One across its coverage areas.

And in Gippsland, as with the rest of regional Victoria, it was the end of an era in May this year with the shutdown of all analogue television transmissions from all local broadcasters – just a few months short of today’s 50 year milestone.

Source: TV Week, 7 December 1961.  The Age, 9 December 1961.  The Latrobe Valley Express, 9 December 1986.  Morwell Historical Society.

1991: May 11-17

Cover: Cher

The Great Ramsay Street Shake-Up!
A massive revamp of the Neighbours cast line-up is about to see eight characters written out with a swag of “young and spunky” newcomers to give the ailing soap a breath of fresh air.  Producers keen to boost the show’s popularity have also enlisted a team of consultants to oversee changes in set design, wardrobe and lighting.  While long-serving cast members Ian Smith (Harold Bishop), Lucinda Cowden (Melanie Pearson), Mark Little (Joe Mangel) and Beth Buchanan (Gemma Ramsay) have chosen to leave the series, others to depart will be Amelia Frid (Cody Willis), Ben Guerens (Toby Mangel), Miranda Fryer (Skye Bishop) and Ian Williams (Adam Willis).  Joining the series will be former Cleo covergirl of the year Rachel Blakely and former models Scott Michaelson and Andrew Williams.  John Holmes, Network Ten’s executive producer of drama, said the show needed a revamp:  “After five or six years, the show was looking very tired.  It definitely slid in 1990.  It went from being a boomer, especially in Melbourne, to getting same ratings the other soaps were getting.  It needed a fresh approach.  We need to get the young and spunkies back in and we’ve started that with Richard Huggett and Melissa Bell.”  But despite the young and colourful revamp headed for the show, Holmes said Neighbours will not become another E Street.  “E Street has a tougher edge, but Neighbours has never been about that.  Neighbours is a light, easygoing show with a strong moral base.  We’re not out to follow those tougher stories.”

Col’n finds true love… with Annie!
Actress and TV Week Logie Award winner Annie Jones has been signed to appear in two episodes of Network Ten’s Col’n Carpenter.  Jones, who won a Logie for her performance in Jackaroo, will play Alison Button, the first true love for Col’n (Kim Gyngell, pictured).  A spokesperson for the show says the actress is “delighted” to be returning to work at Ten, her home for several years when she starred in Neighbours.

Out of the shadows…
NIDA graduate Josephine Byrnes has only been acting professionally for 18 months but is already gaining the title Queen Of The Aussie Mini-Series.  The young actress, who won a Logie Award nomination for her role in last year’s Shadows Of The Heart, has since filmed two more historically-themed mini-series – Half A World Away and Brides Of Christ (both coming to ABC) – but is afraid of becoming typecast.  “I’ve loved the ladies I’ve played,” she told TV Week,  “but I think it’s time I did something contemporary.”

Briefly…
A Country Practice star Matt Day has told TV Week he was ready to move on from the long-running series until producers came up with an offer he couldn’t refuse.  “I’d been with the show two years, which is the longest run I’ve ever done,” he told TV Week.  In trying to keep Day on board, the show’s writers had promised Matt some radical character changes following the departure of co-star Sophie Heathcote, who played his romantic partner for a year.  Also, there was an increase in salary but Day says that money was not a factor.  “Money wasn’t discussed until after the decision to stay was made,” he said.

Burke’s Backyard host Don Burke, whose company recently spent 18 months producing a one-off program about the environment, is unapologetic about his obsession for accuracy, particularly when it comes to the environment – even if it puts him offside with the ‘greenies’ and bureaucrats, and the scientific experts whom he claims are ego or grant-driven.  “Much of what has been put out on the greenhouse effect has been unsubstantiated,” he told TV Week.  “What has put out on recycling has been terribly misleading.  If we lose the public by feeding them scientifically imprecise material, that would be a tragedy.”

E Street star Melissa Tkautz (pictured) has signed a contract to record three singles and an album for Polygram Records.  The 17-year-old will have her first single, titled Read My Lips, debuted on Network Ten’s Video Hits later this month.

John Laws says…
”To the delight – and surprise, I’m sure – of Nine, the first Sale Of The Century shows with the new team (Glenn Ridge and Jo Bailey) attracted healthy ratings.  So healthy, in fact, that in some viewing areas the opposition programs were out-rated.  Glenn and Jo did a workmanlike job in their first nervous week.  Naturally enough, Glenn lacked the polished zest of Tony Barber, but he showed enough to indicate that he may well be capable of assuming the departed supremo’s mantle.  Whether Glenn and Jo can succeed in keeping Sale high in the ratings is going to be one of TV’s most intriguing test-cases.”

Program Highlights (Melbourne, May 11-17):
Saturday:  Mark ‘Jacko’ Jackson, A Country Practice star Joyce Jacobs (pictured) and Phil Smythe are contestants on this week’s Celebrity Wheel Of Fortune (Seven).

Sunday:  SBS debuts a new documentary series Through Australia Eyes, a six-part series covering a wide variety of otherwise unrelated material – except they, as the title suggests, focus on life through Australian eyes.  Seven crosses to the Gabba, Brisbane, for the AFL match between Brisbane Bears and St Kilda, followed by highlights of the Richmond versus Collingwood match.  Sunday night movies are Breaking Point (Nine) and Cocoon – The Return (Ten), while Seven presents the debut of mini-series Family Of Spies (to be concluded the following night).  Nine’s late-night line-up includes coverage of the Spanish 500cc Grand Prix and the Monaco Grand Prix.

Monday:  Ten presents a delayed telecast of the international event Save The Kurds – The Simple Truth, a charity concert to benefit the International Red Cross Relief Campaign for Kurdish refugees.  The concert includes performances by MC Hammer, Peter Gabriel, Rod Stewart, Sting, New Kids On The Block, Gloria Estefan and Chris De Burgh.

Tuesday:  In GP (ABC), Sister Julie Winters (Denise Roberts, pictured) feels she’s grown stale at the Ross Street surgery, and re-enters nursing – but discovers that nursing has become more demanding since she last did it.  She also gets embroiled in a nurses’ strike after a patient is endangered by hospital understaffing.  In Beyond 2000 (Seven), Andrew Carroll examines Indonesia’s fledgling aircraft industry and Simon Reeve introduces a cookware that allows omelettes to be cooked in 15 seconds.

Wednesday:  ABC presents Spinning Out, Anne Deveson’s documentary which gives new understanding of the most misunderstood of all mental disorders – schizophrenia.

Thursday:  Maggie Tabberer and Richard Zachariah return with a new series of The Home Show on ABC.  In Chances (Nine), Charlie (Kimberley Davenport) announces she is pregnant – but who is the father-to-be?  Is it scheming Alex (Jeremy Sims) or lovable Ben (Rhys Muldoon)?

Friday:  Some changes starting in appear in the Network Ten schedule launched earlier this year – the 5.30pm game show Let’s Make A Deal appears for the final time, while Star Search moves to the new timeslot of Friday 7.30pm with new host Mike Hammond.  Seven presents a delayed telecast of Friday night AFL – North Melbourne versus Adelaide.

Source: TV Week (Victoria edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide.  11 May 1991.  Southdown Press

1990: September 8-14

Cover: Mat Stevenson, Emily Symons (Home And Away)

Mike Munro: ‘I go home and cry’
60 Minutes reporter Mike Munro says that for the past five months, working on the story surrounding the ‘Mr Bubbles’ case involving 17 pre-school children, has often reduced him to tears.  “I get so bloody depressed.  I go home to my wife and cry.  If people want me to say that I’m on a crusade, then good.  If being a crusader means not giving up until the truth comes out then I’m proud to be called a crusader,” he told TV Week.  

‘They’ve been beauties!’
During 25 years of TV, including his years as a foreign correspondent for ABC, a reporter for 60 Minutes and now as host of Midday, Ray Martin has interviewed more than his fair share of superstars.  Pop princess Kylie Minogue wins the award for the easiest to talk to, while Joan Collins was a different story.  “Joan was difficult, until she settled in,” Martin told TV Week.  “(She) preened herself and looked at herself and was in love with the monitor.  More than anyone else, apart from Bob Hawke.  Bob Hawke just about matches her!”  Whoopi Goldberg is described as “the most natural… terrific” and Jane Fonda was “interesting.  She was interested in any subject and didn’t want to do all serious issues.”  Nicole Kidman, Elle McPherson and Sigrid Thornton are also among his favourites, while Sophia Loren is one of the most beautiful women he has ever seen.

‘You have no idea some of the things that were invented!’
This year has been a busy one for actor Marcus Graham – moving on from soapie E Street to starring roles in mini-series Shadows Of The Heart and Ratbag Hero, a guest role in ABC’s GP and an upcoming appearance in The Flying Doctors.  But a possible lowlight this year has been media speculation of a relationship with actress Nicole Kidman.  Graham (pictured) had been dating Kidman briefly before she went to the US and met Tom Cruise.  On a recent trip back to Sydney, Kidman had called at his house but he was not home, but it was enough to prompt speculation of a romance.  “You have no idea some of the things that were invented!” he told TV Week.

Briefly…
Former A Country Practice star Anne Tenney (pictured) returns to TV this week in an episode of ABC series Fresh Start, playing the part of a sheepfarmer’s wife struggling with illiteracy.  It is only her second TV appearance since leaving A Country Practice in 1985, having recently appeared in the children’s series Elly And Jools.

Actress Linda Hartley has spoken to TV Week after her sudden departure from Neighbours where her character, Kerry Mangel, was accidentally shot dead while at a duck-hunting protest.  “Joe (Mark Little) and Kerry couldn’t have split up – that just wouldn’t have happened.  If you’re going to go, you might as well go with a bang!  Kerry has been a wonderful character to play and I won a Penguin Award for her, so I’ve had a very rewarding time,” she told TV Week. 

Former Neighbours star Guy Pearce is set to make a big impact on the big screen.  The 22-year-old actor is currently on location in Fiji for the film Young Flynn, portraying screen legend Errol Flynn from a 16-year-old schoolboy to when he made his first Hollywood feature at the age of 24.  Pearce also has a key role in upcoming film Heaven Tonight, co-starring John Waters, Kim Gyngell and Rebecca Gilling, due for release later this year.

John Laws says…
”There are some annoying little traits on television.  One of them is the oft-spoken line, “Thank you for your time,” which Jana Wendt uses on every interview she conducts.  Others have taken up the courtesy – some to an irritating extent.  But perhaps the most irritating trait of all is the one that they all use – every night, without fail – on news and current affairs programs.  It’s the two words “but first”.  Once you’ve noticed these words it becomes hypnotically riveting to wait for them to be spoken each night.  Example: “Later we’ll talk to Idi Amin about how he would handle the Gulf War crisis, but first…”

Program Highlights (September 8-14):
Saturday:  ATV10 wipes out its usual overnight schedule of B-grade re-runs and movies and from tonight replaces that with Ten Newswatch, a direct telecast of news coverage from US network CNN with emphasis on the escalating situation in the Middle East.  GTV9 crosses live to Flushing Meadow, New York, for the Men’s Semi-Final and Women’s Singles Final of the US Open tennis.

Sunday:  The Sunday night movie is Innerspace (GTV9), while HSV7 presents the first part of mini-series Poor Little Rich Girl and ATV10 debuts mini-series Blood Ties.  GTV9 then crosses to Monza for the Italian Grand Prix.

Monday:  GTV9 presents early morning coverage of the Men’s Singles Final of the US Open, live from Flushing Meadow, New York.  In A Country Practice (HSV7), on the eve of her wedding Lucy Tyler (Georgie Parker) is told by her mother Lois (Jill Perryman) that she is divorcing her father who is refusing to attend the wedding.

Tuesday:  In Beyond 2000 (HSV7), reporter Simon Reeve finds out why Volvo is leading the way with the production of environmentally safe vehicles.  David McCubbin and Gia Carides are guest stars in this week’s episode of GP (ABC).

Wednesday:  ABC presents the debut of the 13-part drama series Embassy, tracing the story of Australian Embassy staff in strife-torn Ragaan, a fictional Islamic, South East Asian country.  The series stars Bryan Marshall, Janet Andrewartha, Alan Fletcher, Nina Landis, Frankie J Holden, Gerard Maguire, Nicki Wendt, Joseph Spano and Anthony Wong.

Thursday:  Maggie Tabberer and Richard Zachariah present ABC’s new lifestyle series, The Home Show, a weekly series focusing on how to get the best out of where you live.  In E Street (ATV10), a boxing match between Harley (Malcolm Kennard) and Max (Bruce Samazan) is staged to see who wins the affection of Toni (Toni Pearen) who appears rather dubious about the whole situation.

Source: TV Week (Victoria edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide.  8 September 1990.  Southdown Press