WIN Television
Encyclopedia
WIN Television is an Australian television network owned by the WIN Corporation
that is based in Wollongong, New South Wales. WIN commenced transmissions on 18 March 1962 as a single Wollongong-only station, and has since expanded to 24 owned-and-operated station
s with transmissions covering a larger geographical area of Australia than any other television network.
Throughout Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and Tasmania, it is a Nine Network
affiliate. In South Australia it is a Seven Network
affiliate and in Western Australia it is an affiliate of both the Nine Network
and Network Ten
.
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.
broadcast to the Illawarra
and South Coast regions, over a number of other groups aligned to Sydney-based stations ATN-7
and TCN-9
. 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.
and ATN-7
refused to sell programming to the station, leading to an unstable financial situation which, at its peak left the station with only 42 hours' programming.
In April 1963, Media Securities, owned by Rupert Murdoch
, acquired a controlling interest in the station (his second television station after NWS-9 Adelaide) 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. 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
(now ATV-10) Melbourne.
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. 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 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. 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 26 March 1999. 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. 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%.
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.
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 30 May 2007, Southern Cross Broadcasting
announced its sale of NWS to the WIN Corporation
for A$105 million. Similarly, STW
Perth
, owned by Sunraysia Television
and affiliated to the Nine Network
, was purchased on 8 June 2007, when the station was sold to WIN Television's parent company, WIN Corporation
, for A$163.1 million.
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 27 August 2007. Preceding this in June 2007, the network announced their intention to show National Nine News.
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
). 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. On 16 August 2007 WIN Television dropped key Nine Network programs from its daytime television
schedule, including Mornings with Kerri-Anne
and National Nine News: Morning Edition
. An affiliation deal with the Seven Network
was announced on 4 September 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 WIN programming and commenced broadcasting on 1 October 2007.
On 9 August 2009 WIN began transmission of the new digital channel GO!
on channel 88 in Southern NSW, Regional Victoria, Tasmania and Regional Queensland.
at Ingleburn
in Sydney
's South-West.
On 26 September 2010 WIN began transmission of the HD digital channel GEM
on channel 80 in Southern NSW, Regional Victoria, Tasmania and Regional Queensland.
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 regional 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. 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. 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. 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
, Fishing Australia
and Postcards Australia. On 17 May 2007, WIN Television announced a new midday program called Susie
, however this was subsequently moved to a morning timeslot. WIN Television also broadcasts a range of exclusive overseas and domestically sourced programming including The Ellen DeGeneres Show
and Alive and Cooking
.
WIN News
is the network's local news service. Twenty regional bulletins are presented from studios in Wollongong
, Canberra
, Ballarat
, Rockhampton
, Toowoomba
, Mount Gambier
, Hobart
and Perth
, in addition to Nine News bulletins presented and produced from the network's metropolitan stations, STW
in Perth, Western Australia
and NWS in Adelaide. Although in most areas it is the only local news bulletin, WIN News may compete in some markets 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.
and standard definition
in all areas except Western Australia where only analogue and digital transmissions are currently available. Free-to-air
transmissions are available from both terrestrial
transmitter
s 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
.
WIN broadcasts to a larger geographical area than any other television network, in the world, through owned-and-operated station
s including RTQ
Queensland, WIN
Southern New South Wales, VTV
Victoria, TVT Tasmania, MTN Griffith, 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.
, and also began using Nine's on-air promotion, with the WIN logo replacing Nine's. In 1998, the dots were changed to spheres.
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. On 30 January 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, as a part of the Nine Network relaunch, WIN dropped the rectangle, however, it did not revive Nine Network's nine dots. However the blue rectangle can also be featured on News, Sports & Current Affairs.
WIN Corporation
The WIN Corporation is a Wollongong based media company, that owns the WIN Television network, NWS, and STW in Australia.It began broadcasting in Wollongong with one station in 1963. Bruce Gordon acquired control of the company in 1979 and initiated a period of growth which has seen the Network...
that is based in Wollongong, New South Wales. WIN commenced transmissions on 18 March 1962 as a single Wollongong-only station, and has since expanded to 24 owned-and-operated station
Owned-and-operated station
In the broadcasting industry , an owned-and-operated station usually refers to a television station or radio station that is owned by the network with which it is associated...
s with transmissions covering a larger geographical area of Australia than any other television network.
Throughout Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and Tasmania, it is a Nine Network
Nine Network
The Nine Network , is an Australian television network with headquarters based in Willoughby, a suburb located on the North Shore of Sydney. For 50 years since television's inception in Australia, between 1956 and 2006, it was the most watched television network in Australia...
affiliate. In South Australia it is a Seven Network
Seven Network
The Seven Network is an Australian television network owned by Seven West Media Limited. It dates back to 4 November 1956, when the first stations on the VHF7 frequency were established in Melbourne and Sydney.It is currently the second largest network in the country in terms of population reach...
affiliate and in Western Australia it is an affiliate of both the Nine Network
Nine Network
The Nine Network , is an Australian television network with headquarters based in Willoughby, a suburb located on the North Shore of Sydney. For 50 years since television's inception in Australia, between 1956 and 2006, it was the most watched television network in Australia...
and Network Ten
Network Ten
Network Ten , is one of Australia's three major commercial television networks. Owned-and-operated stations can be found in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, while affiliates extend the network to cover most of the country...
.
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 News
WIN News is a local television news service in parts of regional Australia, produced by WIN Television. 20 regional bulletins are presented from studios in Wollongong, Canberra, Ballarat, Rockhampton, Toowoomba, Mount Gambier, Hobart and Perth.-History:As well as its flagship nightly...
, WIN Television broadcasts a half-hour news service to twenty regional markets.
The Beginning
Television Wollongong Transmission Limited (TWT), was incorporated on 4 October 1955 by a group of local businessmen. Five years later, it was awarded a licence by the Postmaster-General's DepartmentPostmaster-General's Department
The Postmaster-General's Department was created at Federation in 1901 to control all postal services within Australia. Its minister was the Postmaster-General. In mid-1975 it was disaggregated into the Australian Telecommunications Commission and the Australian Postal Commission...
broadcast to the Illawarra
Illawarra
Illawarra is a region in the Australian state of New South Wales. It is a coastal region situated immediately south of Sydney and north of the Shoalhaven or South Coast region. It encompasses the cities of Wollongong, Shellharbour, Shoalhaven and the town of Kiama. The central region contains Lake...
and South Coast regions, over a number of other groups aligned to Sydney-based stations ATN-7
ATN-7
ATN is the Sydney flagship television station of the Seven Network in Australia. The licence, issued to a company named Amalgamated Television Services, a subsidiary of Fairfax, was one of the first four licences to be issued for commercial television stations in Australia...
and TCN-9
TCN-9
TCN is the Sydney flagship television station of the Nine Network in Australia and is located at Willoughby. The licence, issued to a company named Television Corporation Ltd headed by Frank Packer, was one of the first four licences to be issued for commercial television stations in...
. 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
Drummond Battery
Drummond Battery was a counter bombardment battery at Port Kembla, Australia during World War II.Constructed in 1942 to provide protection for Port Kembla from enemy shipping and submarines. Two BL 9.2 inch Mk X gun emplacements with related underground facilities were constructed near 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
Knight's Hill
Knights Hill is a ward and main road on the A215 in West Norwood, London and a mound to the north adjoining Tulse Hill.-The Road:The road itself starts in the north at West Norwood in the Norwood Triangle. It ends in the south at a junction with the A214 at Crown Lane and Crown Dale. Knights Hill...
, however test transmissions were delayed due to rain.
1960s to the 1970s
WIN-4 commenced transmissions at 5:15 pm. on 18 March 1962. The first night was met with a number of technical issues, most notably the complete loss of audio. TCN-9TCN-9
TCN is the Sydney flagship television station of the Nine Network in Australia and is located at Willoughby. The licence, issued to a company named Television Corporation Ltd headed by Frank Packer, was one of the first four licences to be issued for commercial television stations in...
and ATN-7
ATN-7
ATN is the Sydney flagship television station of the Seven Network in Australia. The licence, issued to a company named Amalgamated Television Services, a subsidiary of Fairfax, was one of the first four licences to be issued for commercial television stations in Australia...
refused to sell programming to the station, leading to an unstable financial situation which, at its peak left the station with only 42 hours' programming.
In April 1963, Media Securities, owned by Rupert Murdoch
Rupert Murdoch
Keith Rupert Murdoch, AC, KSG is an Australian-American business magnate. He is the founder and Chairman and CEO of , the world's second-largest media conglomerate....
, acquired a controlling interest in the station (his second television station after NWS-9 Adelaide) and soon appointed a new general manager, Bill Lean. Both TCN-9
TCN-9
TCN is the Sydney flagship television station of the Nine Network in Australia and is located at Willoughby. The licence, issued to a company named Television Corporation Ltd headed by Frank Packer, was one of the first four licences to be issued for commercial television stations in...
and ATN-7
ATN-7
ATN is the Sydney flagship television station of the Seven Network in Australia. The licence, issued to a company named Amalgamated Television Services, a subsidiary of Fairfax, was one of the first four licences to be issued for commercial television stations in Australia...
began purchasing several hours of first-run American television programming from WIN-4, following contractual arrangements signed by Murdoch. Throughout this period WIN-4 expanded its repeater transmissions to include Moruya, Batemans Bay, Narooma, Bega
Bega, New South Wales
Bega is a town in the south-east of New South Wales, Australia in the Bega Valley Shire. It is the economic centre for the Bega Valley.-Place name:One claim is that place name Bega is derived from the local Aboriginal word meaning "big camping ground"....
and Eden
Eden, New South Wales
Eden is a coastal town in the South Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. The town, south of the state capital Sydney near the border with Victoria, is located between Nullica Bay to the south and Calle Calle Bay, the northern reach of Twofold Bay, and built on undulating land adjacent to a...
. 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
CBS Paramount International Television
CBS Studios International is a leading supplier of programming to the international television marketplace, licensing to over 200 markets and more than 30 languages across multiple media platforms...
' international distribution arm, Bruce Gordon
Bruce Gordon
Bruce Gordon may refer to:* Bruce Gordon , Canadian bassist and member of I Mother Earth* Bruce L. Gordon, American philosopher and Intelligent Design proponent* Bruce S...
, in order to purchase controlling interests in capital city stations TEN-10
TEN-10
TEN is the callsign of Network Ten's flagship Sydney television station. It was originally owned and operated by United Telecasters Sydney Limited , and began transmission on 5 April 1965 with the highlight of the opening night being the variety special TV Spells Magic.-History:TEN often lagged in...
Sydney and ATV-0
ATV-10
ATV is a television station in Melbourne, Australia, part of Network Ten - one of the three major Australian commercial television networks.-History:...
(now ATV-10) Melbourne.
1980s to the 1990s
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
. In 1984, WIN became the first regional television station to transmit in stereophonic sound. Close links between WIN Television and the Nine Network
Nine Network
The Nine Network , is an Australian television network with headquarters based in Willoughby, a suburb located on the North Shore of Sydney. For 50 years since television's inception in Australia, between 1956 and 2006, it was the most watched television network in Australia...
, ensured it the Nine Network affiliation for southern New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. 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
Canberra
Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...
, Orange
Orange, New South Wales
Orange is a city in the Central West region of New South Wales, Australia. It is west of the state capital, Sydney, at an altitude of . Orange has an estimated population of 39,329 and the city is a major provincial centre....
, Bathurst
Bathurst, New South Wales
-CBD and suburbs:Bathurst's CBD is located on William, George, Howick, Russell, and Durham Streets. The CBD is approximately 25 hectares and surrounds two city blocks. Within this block layout is banking, government services, shopping centres, retail shops, a park* and monuments...
, Dubbo and Wagga 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
Prime Television
PRIME7 is an Australian television network owned by Prime Media Group Limited. Prime Television launched on 17 March 1962 as CBN/CWN in Orange and Dubbo, New South Wales, and has since expanded to cover regional New South Wales, Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory as a Seven Network...
and Capital Television
Southern Cross Ten
Southern Cross Ten is an Australian television channel broadcast by the Macquarie Media Group in Queensland, New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory, Victoria and South Australia. The channel is owned by the Macquarie Media Group as is affiliated to Network Ten...
.
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
Network Ten
Network Ten , is one of Australia's three major commercial television networks. Owned-and-operated stations can be found in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, while affiliates extend the network to cover most of the country...
affiliate, however WIN's links with the Nine Network
Nine Network
The Nine Network , is an Australian television network with headquarters based in Willoughby, a suburb located on the North Shore of Sydney. For 50 years since television's inception in Australia, between 1956 and 2006, it was the most watched television network in Australia...
caused the Nine affiliation to move from QTV
TNQ
TNQ is an Australian television station, licensed to, and serving the regional areas of Queensland. The station is owned and operated by Southern Cross Ten.-History:...
, which itself became affiliated to Ten.
ENT Limited, a Launceston
Launceston, Tasmania
Launceston is a city in the north of the state of Tasmania, Australia at the junction of the North Esk and South Esk rivers where they become the Tamar River. Launceston is the second largest city in Tasmania after the state capital Hobart...
-based company that owned a number of television and radio stations in regional Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
and Tasmania
Tasmania
Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
, was bought in 1994. Vic Television
VTV (TV station)
VTV is an Australian television station broadcasting in regional Victoria in Australia. The network was owned by ENT Ltd., before being purchased by the WIN Corporation.-Network history:...
and TasTV were, as a result, incorporated into the WIN network and subsequently renamed WIN Television. The network further expanded to Griffith
Griffith, New South Wales
Griffith is a city in south-western New South Wales, Australia. It is also the seat of the City of Griffith local government area. Like the Australian capital, Canberra and the nearby town of Leeton, Griffith was designed by Walter Burley Griffin. Griffith was named after Sir Arthur Griffith the...
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 26 March 1999. Prior to the launch of the new station, GWN
Golden West Network
GWN7 is an Australian television network owned by the Prime Media Group that is based in Bunbury, Western Australia. The Golden West Network launched on 10 March 1967 as BTW-3 in Bunbury, and has since expanded to cover regional and remote Western Australia, servicing all areas except metropolitan...
held a commercial monopoly on the market. GWN became an affiliate of the Seven Network
Seven Network
The Seven Network is an Australian television network owned by Seven West Media Limited. It dates back to 4 November 1956, when the first stations on the VHF7 frequency were established in Melbourne and Sydney.It is currently the second largest network in the country in terms of population reach...
, while WIN took a combination of Nine Network and Network Ten programming. Despite the Nine Network
Nine Network
The Nine Network , is an Australian television network with headquarters based in Willoughby, a suburb located on the North Shore of Sydney. For 50 years since television's inception in Australia, between 1956 and 2006, it was the most watched television network in Australia...
's traditional ratings dominance throughout most of the country, GWN has remained the market's most-watched station. 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%.
In the same year, WIN purchased two stations in South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
, SES-8 in Mount Gambier
Mount Gambier, South Australia
Mount Gambier is the largest regional city in South Australia located approximately 450 kilometres south of the capital Adelaide and just 17 kilometres from the Victorian border....
and RTS-5a in the Riverland
Riverland
The Riverland, is a region of South Australia. It covers the area near the Murray River from where it flows into South Australia downstream to Blanchetown.The major town centres are Renmark, Berri, Loxton, Waikerie and Barmera...
region. They became known as WIN South Australia
SES/RTS
SES/RTS, part of the WIN Television network, are Australian television stations licensed to, and serving Mount Gambier and Riverland in South Australia. The station commenced transmissions on 25 March 1966.-History:...
and until recently featured news bulletins presented from studios at both stations (bulletins are now presented from the set of studios in Mount Gambier
Mount Gambier, South Australia
Mount Gambier is the largest regional city in South Australia located approximately 450 kilometres south of the capital Adelaide and just 17 kilometres from the Victorian border....
). 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.
2000s
Digital television in Australia
Digital television in Australia comes in many forms:* Australian digital terrestrial television, branded as Freeview* VAST, a free-to-view satellite service, replacing Optus Aurora....
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
Network Ten
Network Ten , is one of Australia's three major commercial television networks. Owned-and-operated stations can be found in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, while affiliates extend the network to cover most of the country...
affiliates. These have included Tasmanian Digital Television
Tasmanian Digital Television
Tasmanian Digital Television is a digital television station in Tasmania, Australia. It is jointly owned by the WIN Corporation and Macquarie Media Group, and largely managed by WIN Television.-Introduction:...
, launched in late 2003 in partnership with Southern Cross Broadcasting
Southern Cross Broadcasting
Southern Cross Broadcasting Limited was a diversified Australian media company, that owned and operated a variety of media businesses, primarily radio and television.-History:...
, and Mildura Digital Television
Mildura Digital Television
Ten Mildura is a joint venture television station between Prime Media Group and Win Television. Based in Mildura, Victoria, Australia, it is a digital-only Network Ten affiliate, and began broadcasting on 1 January 2006....
in January 2006, with Prime Television Limited
Prime Television Limited
Prime Media Group Limited is an Australian-based media corporation, owner of regional television network Prime7 in eastern Australia, the GWN7 in regional Western Australia, and a number of radio stations in Queensland....
.
On 30 May 2007, Southern Cross Broadcasting
Southern Cross Broadcasting
Southern Cross Broadcasting Limited was a diversified Australian media company, that owned and operated a variety of media businesses, primarily radio and television.-History:...
announced its sale of NWS to the WIN Corporation
WIN Corporation
The WIN Corporation is a Wollongong based media company, that owns the WIN Television network, NWS, and STW in Australia.It began broadcasting in Wollongong with one station in 1963. Bruce Gordon acquired control of the company in 1979 and initiated a period of growth which has seen the Network...
for A$105 million. Similarly, STW
STW
-Mathematics:*The Shimura-Taniyama-Weil conjecture, a generalization of Fermat's last theorem.-Music:*Stop the War Coalition, an anti-war group in the United Kingdom*Salt the Wound, a deathcore band-Other:...
Perth
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
, owned by Sunraysia Television
Sunraysia Television
Sunraysia Television is the publicly-listed parent company of Swan Television and Radio Broadcasters, former owners of STW-9 . Sunraysia TV is majority owned by Eva Presser, who owns around 55% of the company. WIN Television owns 40% of the company...
and affiliated to the Nine Network
Nine Network
The Nine Network , is an Australian television network with headquarters based in Willoughby, a suburb located on the North Shore of Sydney. For 50 years since television's inception in Australia, between 1956 and 2006, it was the most watched television network in Australia...
, was purchased on 8 June 2007, when the station was sold to WIN Television's parent company, WIN Corporation
WIN Corporation
The WIN Corporation is a Wollongong based media company, that owns the WIN Television network, NWS, and STW in Australia.It began broadcasting in Wollongong with one station in 1963. Bruce Gordon acquired control of the company in 1979 and initiated a period of growth which has seen the Network...
, for A$163.1 million.
Despite the station's ownership of Nine Perth, WIN in Western Australia broadcast Ten News Perth
Ten News
Ten News is the national news service of Network Ten in Australia. The majority of its news bulletins are presented from the TEN-10 studios in Pyrmont...
, produced for and shown on rival station Ten Perth up until 27 August 2007. Preceding this in June 2007, the network announced their intention to show National Nine News.
A conflict between WIN and its long-time metropolitan counterpart the Nine Network
Nine Network
The Nine Network , is an Australian television network with headquarters based in Willoughby, a suburb located on the North Shore of Sydney. For 50 years since television's inception in Australia, between 1956 and 2006, it was the most watched television network in Australia...
arose in mid-2007. PBL Media
PBL Media
Nine Entertainment Co. is a media company owned by CVC Asia Pacific.Originally a 50/50 joint venture with Consolidated Media Holdings, in June 2007 PBL announced that it would sell a further 25% to CVC for A$ 515 million...
, Nine's parent company, requested up to 40% of the network's advertising revenue in return for program supply. WIN's owner, WIN Corporation
WIN Corporation
The WIN Corporation is a Wollongong based media company, that owns the WIN Television network, NWS, and STW in Australia.It began broadcasting in Wollongong with one station in 1963. Bruce Gordon acquired control of the company in 1979 and initiated a period of growth which has seen the Network...
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
Prime Television
PRIME7 is an Australian television network owned by Prime Media Group Limited. Prime Television launched on 17 March 1962 as CBN/CWN in Orange and Dubbo, New South Wales, and has since expanded to cover regional New South Wales, Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory as a Seven Network...
and Southern Cross Ten
Southern Cross Ten
Southern Cross Ten is an Australian television channel broadcast by the Macquarie Media Group in Queensland, New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory, Victoria and South Australia. The channel is owned by the Macquarie Media Group as is affiliated to Network Ten...
). The network's owner, Bruce Gordon
Bruce Gordon (businessman)
Bruce Gordon is the owner of the Australian television network, WIN Television.Gordon gained control of Television Wollongong Transmission Ltd in 1979 from Rupert Murdoch...
, subsequently threatened to sever the network's affiliation after negotiations stagnated, stating that his previous position at the Paramount Pictures Corporation
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
meant he could program the network independently. On 16 August 2007 WIN Television dropped key Nine Network programs from its daytime television
Daytime television
Daytime television is the general term for television shows produced that are intended to air during the daytime hours on weekdays. This article is about American daytime television, for information about international daytime television see Daytime television....
schedule, including Mornings with Kerri-Anne
Mornings with Kerri-Anne
Kerri-Anne is an Australian morning television program shown on the Nine Network, hosted by Kerri-Anne Kennerley. It aired weekdays at 9am for two hours. The final episode of the series aired on November 25, 2011.-History:...
and National Nine News: Morning Edition
National Nine News
Nine News is the news service of the Australian Nine Network.Nine News's flagship bulletin is the nightly 6:00pm localised bulletin, produced by networked owned-and-operated stations in Sydney , Melbourne , Brisbane and Darwin alongside localised bulletins produced by the WIN-owned Nine Network...
. An affiliation deal with the Seven Network
Seven Network
The Seven Network is an Australian television network owned by Seven West Media Limited. It dates back to 4 November 1956, when the first stations on the VHF7 frequency were established in Melbourne and Sydney.It is currently the second largest network in the country in terms of population reach...
was announced on 4 September 2007, for the network's eastern South Australian stations in Mount Gambier
Mount Gambier, South Australia
Mount Gambier is the largest regional city in South Australia located approximately 450 kilometres south of the capital Adelaide and just 17 kilometres from the Victorian border....
and the Riverland
Riverland
The Riverland, is a region of South Australia. It covers the area near the Murray River from where it flows into South Australia downstream to Blanchetown.The major town centres are Renmark, Berri, Loxton, Waikerie and Barmera...
. The new program schedule is a mixture of Seven and WIN programming and commenced broadcasting on 1 October 2007.
On 9 August 2009 WIN began transmission of the new digital channel GO!
Go! (Australian TV channel)
GO! is an Australian free-to-air standard definition digital television channel launched by the Nine Network on Sunday 9 August 2009.-Origins:...
on channel 88 in Southern NSW, Regional Victoria, Tasmania and Regional Queensland.
2010s
In June 2010, playout was moved from WIN's Wollongong headquarters to a new facility shared with ABC TelevisionABC Television
ABC Television is a service of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation launched in 1956. As a public broadcasting broadcaster, the ABC provides four non-commercial channels within Australia, and a partially advertising-funded satellite channel overseas....
at Ingleburn
Ingleburn, New South Wales
Ingleburn is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Ingleburn is located 44 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of City of Campbelltown and is part of the Macarthur region...
in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
's South-West.
On 26 September 2010 WIN began transmission of the HD digital channel GEM
GEM (Australian TV channel)
GEM is an Australian free-to-air high definition digital television channel, launched by the Nine Network on Sunday 26 September 2010 at 6am...
on channel 80 in Southern NSW, Regional Victoria, Tasmania and Regional Queensland.
Programming
WIN Television is a sole Nine NetworkNine Network
The Nine Network , is an Australian television network with headquarters based in Willoughby, a suburb located on the North Shore of Sydney. For 50 years since television's inception in Australia, between 1956 and 2006, it was the most watched television network in Australia...
affiliate in most broadcast areas, with Network Ten
Network Ten
Network Ten , is one of Australia's three major commercial television networks. Owned-and-operated stations can be found in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, while affiliates extend the network to cover most of the country...
affiliation in regional Western Australia (combined with a predominant Nine Network
Nine Network
The Nine Network , is an Australian television network with headquarters based in Willoughby, a suburb located on the North Shore of Sydney. For 50 years since television's inception in Australia, between 1956 and 2006, it was the most watched television network in Australia...
affiliation), and Seven Network
Seven Network
The Seven Network is an Australian television network owned by Seven West Media Limited. It dates back to 4 November 1956, when the first stations on the VHF7 frequency were established in Melbourne and Sydney.It is currently the second largest network in the country in terms of population reach...
affiliation in eastern South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
. WIN Television has always produced regional 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. 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. English-language educational programme You Say the Word began in 1971, catering to non-English-speaking immigrants. Short-lived cooking show
Cooking show
A TV cooking show is a television program that presents the preparation of food, in a kitchen on the studio set. The host of the show, often a celebrity chef, prepares one or more dishes over the course of the show, taking the viewing audience through the food's preparation showing all...
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. Spanning close to a decade, children's television series Goodsports
Goodsports
Goodsports is an Australian children's television series, produced by WIN Television in Hobart, Tasmania. The half-hour show premiered in 1991, and was broadcast on WIN Television each Saturday morning at 7.30am. WIN Television are currently airing repeats of Goodsports at 3:30pm Weekdays on the...
was produced by WIN Television from 1991 to 2000.
WIN Television's current Australian programming productions consists of television shows including; Susie
Susie (TV program)
Susie was an Australian morning talk and variety show, produced by WIN Television and hosted by Susie Elelman in Wollongong, New South Wales. The hour-long show premiered 25 June 2007, is broadcast on WIN Television each weekday morning at . It is also broadcast on two Nine Network affiliate...
, Destinations
Destinations
Girl Scout Destinations, formerly Wider Opportunities or Wider Ops, are events for individual Girl Scouts hosted by GSUSA or individual Girl Scout councils...
, Fishing Australia
Fishing Australia
Fishing Australia is an Australian fishing television program, produced by WIN Television.The informative program first premiered in 2001 and is broadcast on WIN Television each Saturday...
and Postcards Australia. On 17 May 2007, WIN Television announced a new midday program called Susie
Susie (TV program)
Susie was an Australian morning talk and variety show, produced by WIN Television and hosted by Susie Elelman in Wollongong, New South Wales. The hour-long show premiered 25 June 2007, is broadcast on WIN Television each weekday morning at . It is also broadcast on two Nine Network affiliate...
, however this was subsequently moved to a morning timeslot. WIN Television also broadcasts a range of exclusive overseas and domestically sourced programming including The Ellen DeGeneres Show
The Ellen DeGeneres Show
The Ellen DeGeneres Show, often shortened to Ellen, is an American television talk show hosted by comedian/actress Ellen DeGeneres. Debuting on September 8, 2003, it is produced by Telepictures and airs in syndication, including stations owned by NBC Universal. For its first five seasons, the show...
and Alive and Cooking
Alive and Cooking
Alive and Cooking is an Australian television cooking show hosted by James Reeson. It is produced by WIN Television and airs on a number of television channels within Australia.- History :...
.
News & Current Affairs
WIN News
WIN News is a local television news service in parts of regional Australia, produced by WIN Television. 20 regional bulletins are presented from studios in Wollongong, Canberra, Ballarat, Rockhampton, Toowoomba, Mount Gambier, Hobart and Perth.-History:As well as its flagship nightly...
is the network's local news service. Twenty regional bulletins are presented from studios in Wollongong
Wollongong, New South Wales
Wollongong is a seaside city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. It lies on the narrow coastal strip between the Illawarra Escarpment and the Pacific Ocean, 82 kilometres south of Sydney...
, Canberra
Canberra
Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...
, Ballarat
Ballarat, Victoria
Ballarat is a city in the state of Victoria, Australia, approximately west-north-west of the state capital Melbourne situated on the lower plains of the Great Dividing Range and the Yarrowee River catchment. It is the largest inland centre and third most populous city in the state and the fifth...
, Rockhampton
Rockhampton, Queensland
Rockhampton is a city and local government area in Queensland, Australia. The city lies on the Fitzroy River, approximately from the river mouth, and some north of the state capital, Brisbane....
, Toowoomba
Toowoomba, Queensland
Toowoomba is a city in Southern Queensland, Australia. It is located west of Queensland's capital city, Brisbane. With an estimated district population of 128,600, Toowoomba is Australia's second largest inland city and its largest non-capital inland city...
, Mount Gambier
Mount Gambier, South Australia
Mount Gambier is the largest regional city in South Australia located approximately 450 kilometres south of the capital Adelaide and just 17 kilometres from the Victorian border....
, Hobart
Hobart
Hobart is the state capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Founded in 1804 as a penal colony,Hobart is Australia's second oldest capital city after Sydney. In 2009, the city had a greater area population of approximately 212,019. A resident of Hobart is known as...
and Perth
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
, in addition to Nine News bulletins presented and produced from the network's metropolitan stations, STW
STW
-Mathematics:*The Shimura-Taniyama-Weil conjecture, a generalization of Fermat's last theorem.-Music:*Stop the War Coalition, an anti-war group in the United Kingdom*Salt the Wound, a deathcore band-Other:...
in Perth, Western Australia
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
and NWS in Adelaide. Although in most areas it is the only local news bulletin, WIN News may compete in some markets 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
Current affairs (news format)
Current Affairs is a genre of broadcast journalism where the emphasis is on detailed analysis and discussion of news stories that have recently occurred or are ongoing at the time of broadcast....
programming including community affairs program Roving Eye, and Sunday Review, a weekly review of international, national and local stories.
Availability
WIN Television simulcasts in analogueAnalog television
Analog television is the analog transmission that involves the broadcasting of encoded analog audio and analog video signal: one in which the message conveyed by the broadcast signal is a function of deliberate variations in the amplitude and/or frequency of the signal...
and standard definition
Standard-definition television
Sorete-definition television is a television system that uses a resolution that is not considered to be either enhanced-definition television or high-definition television . The term is usually used in reference to digital television, in particular when broadcasting at the same resolution as...
in all areas except Western Australia where only analogue and digital transmissions are currently available. Free-to-air
Free-to-air
Free-to-air describes television and radio services broadcast in clear form, allowing any person with the appropriate receiving equipment to receive the signal and view or listen to the content without requiring a subscription or one-off fee...
transmissions are available from both terrestrial
Terrestrial television
Terrestrial television is a mode of television broadcasting which does not involve satellite transmission or cables — typically using radio waves through transmitting and receiving antennas or television antenna aerials...
transmitter
Transmitter
In electronics and telecommunications a transmitter or radio transmitter is an electronic device which, with the aid of an antenna, produces radio waves. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which is applied to the antenna. When excited by this alternating...
s in major regional centres, and satellite
Satellite television
Satellite television is television programming delivered by the means of communications satellite and received by an outdoor antenna, usually a parabolic mirror generally referred to as a satellite dish, and as far as household usage is concerned, a satellite receiver either in the form of an...
transmissions across remote and regional Western Australia on the free-to-view
Free-to-view
Free-to-view is a term used for free of charge and encrypted audio and/or video contents transmission that do not require any form of continual subscription...
Optus Aurora
Optus fleet of satellites
This is a list of the satellites operated by Optus, an Australian telecommunications company. The satellite communications facility is located at Belrose on Sydney’s Northern Beaches.-A-Class:*Satellite Type: Hughes HS-376...
platform. Subscription cable is also provided by TransACT
TransACT
TransACT Capital Communications is an Australian telecommunications company based in Canberra which provides broadband internet access, fixed telephony, cable television services, and mobile phone services in Canberra and a subset of these services in Queanbeyan, throughout South-east New South...
in the Australian Capital Territory
Australian Capital Territory
The Australian Capital Territory, often abbreviated ACT, is the capital territory of the Commonwealth of Australia and is the smallest self-governing internal territory...
, and Neighbourhood Cable
Neighbourhood Cable
Neighbourhood Cable is a telecommunications provider based in regional Victoria, Australia . Neighbourhood Cable owns and operates Hybrid Fibre Coaxial cable networks in three Victorian regional cities:* Mildura* Ballarat* Geelong...
in Ballarat
Ballarat, Victoria
Ballarat is a city in the state of Victoria, Australia, approximately west-north-west of the state capital Melbourne situated on the lower plains of the Great Dividing Range and the Yarrowee River catchment. It is the largest inland centre and third most populous city in the state and the fifth...
and Mildura
Mildura, Victoria
Mildura is a regional city in northwestern Victoria, Australia and seat of the Rural City of Mildura local government area. It is located in the Sunraysia region, and is on the banks of the Murray River. The current population is estimated at just over 30,000.Mildura is a major agricultural centre...
.
WIN broadcasts to a larger geographical area than any other television network, in the world, through owned-and-operated station
Owned-and-operated station
In the broadcasting industry , an owned-and-operated station usually refers to a television station or radio station that is owned by the network with which it is associated...
s including RTQ
RTQ
RTQ is an Australian television station broadcasting in regional Queensland in Australia. The network was owned by Star Television, before being purchased by the WIN Corporation on 5 October 1988.-Network history:...
Queensland, WIN
WIN (TV station)
WIN is a television station serving southern New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory. It is the flagship station of the WIN Television network.-WIN News:WIN News produces four regional news bulletins for the area markets covered by WIN....
Southern New South Wales, VTV
VTV (TV station)
VTV is an Australian television station broadcasting in regional Victoria in Australia. The network was owned by ENT Ltd., before being purchased by the WIN Corporation.-Network history:...
Victoria, TVT Tasmania, MTN Griffith, STV
STV (TV station)
STV is an Australian television station licensed to and serving the regions surrounding Mildura, Victoria, owned and operated by the WIN Corporation and part of the WIN Television network. The station commenced transmissions on November 27, 1965...
Mildura, SES
SES/RTS
SES/RTS, part of the WIN Television network, are Australian television stations licensed to, and serving Mount Gambier and Riverland in South Australia. The station commenced transmissions on 25 March 1966.-History:...
Mount Gambier, RTS
SES/RTS
SES/RTS, part of the WIN Television network, are Australian television stations licensed to, and serving Mount Gambier and Riverland in South Australia. The station commenced transmissions on 25 March 1966.-History:...
Riverland, and WOW
WOW (TV station)
WOW is an Australian television station licensed to WIN Television, serving regional and remote Western Australia. The station officially commenced transmissions on 26 March 1999 as the second commercial regional broadcaster in Western Australia, alongside former monopoly, Golden West Network...
Western Australia. NWS Adelaide and STW
STW
-Mathematics:*The Shimura-Taniyama-Weil conjecture, a generalization of Fermat's last theorem.-Music:*Stop the War Coalition, an anti-war group in the United Kingdom*Salt the Wound, a deathcore band-Other:...
Perth, both owned by WIN Corporation
WIN Corporation
The WIN Corporation is a Wollongong based media company, that owns the WIN Television network, NWS, and STW in Australia.It began broadcasting in Wollongong with one station in 1963. Bruce Gordon acquired control of the company in 1979 and initiated a period of growth which has seen the Network...
, 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 NetworkNine Network
The Nine Network , is an Australian television network with headquarters based in Willoughby, a suburb located on the North Shore of Sydney. For 50 years since television's inception in Australia, between 1956 and 2006, it was the most watched television network in Australia...
, and also began using Nine's on-air promotion, with the WIN logo replacing Nine's. In 1998, the dots were changed to spheres.
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. On 30 January 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, as a part of the Nine Network relaunch, WIN dropped the rectangle, however, it did not revive Nine Network's nine dots. However the blue rectangle can also be featured on News, Sports & Current Affairs.