TVW-7

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TVW-7

Location	Perth, Western Australia
Branding	GOTTALOVEIT7
Slogan	Thank's for Watching / GOTTALOVEIT
Channels	7 (VHF) analog 6 (VHF) digital
Translators	TVW 60 (59 DT) TVW 43 (59 DT)
Affiliations	Seven Network
Owner	Seven Network
Founded	October 16, 1959
Call letters meaning	Television, Western Australia
Former affiliations	Independant (1959-1980's)
Transmitter Power	10kW analog 500W digital
http://www.7perth.com.au/

TVW-7 is a television station broadcasting in Perth, Australia, wholly owned by the Seven Network. It was the first television station in Western Australia, commencing service on October 16, 1959. It broadcasts analogue on VHF 7 and digital on VHF 6 from Bickley located in the Perth Hills. The TVW callsign stands for Television Western Australia.

It is a member of the Seven Network, whose principal shareholder is Perth-born Kerry Stokes.

1 History
2 Programming
3 News/Public Affairs
- 3.1 Seven News
- 3.2 Today Tonight
4 Mascot
5 Telethon
6 Christmas Pageant
7 Broadcasting details
8 See also
9 External links
10 Sources

[edit] History

On the October 13, 1958 the first commercial television license in Perth was granted by the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs to TVW Limited, a little over a year later they commenced broadcasting. The then Governor of Western Australia, Sir Charles Gairdner opened the station at 7.30pm October 16, 1959. Some of the first programs includes Leave It To Beaver, Sea Hunt, Father Knows Best, Gunsmoke, Perry Mason, The Epilogue and a local show called Spotlight which featured Rolf Harris.

The original owner of TVW-7 was West Australian Newspapers (WAN), which publishes the Perth daily newspaper, The West Australian.

TVW-7 didn't have a rival television station until 1965 when STW-9 commenced broadcasting. However the presence of a rival did not have a large negative impact on TVW, at least in the early years. In fact a survey by its rival found that more people agreed with a statement that "TVW-7 fulfilled their viewing needs, and it would be a matter of indifference to them if the new station were to cease transmissions" [1]. The six years TVW had as sole commercial operator flowed through for many more years to come, some would even argue that it is still present today considering how well Seven performs in the market compared to Nine, which generally wins comfortably nationally.

After STW-9 entered the market, a 'cartel' was formed between the two stations for the duty of buying from both Australian and overseas production sources. The two stations set up a separate company, TV Facilities, (50%/50% partners), this allowed the stations to purchase programs cheaper than if they were 2 separate entities, which would bid on shows and subsequently raise prices. This partnership was un-liked by eastern states stations who could not increases their charges to the extent which they would have liked. Allocation of programs was decided by a coin toss, which would allow the winner to pick first and then alternate the picking of programs. However TVW would always be in a more dominant position as it had the rights to continuing shows from the previous six years s well as half of the new programs. In 1971 TVW Enterprises purchased the Adelaide station, SAS-10, now SAS-7. 1982 saw TVW-7 (and SAS-10) purchased by Perth based businessman Robert Holmes à Court’s Bell Group. In 1988 the third commercial station entered the Perth market, it was aligned with Network Ten so for the first time in its history TVW took up an afflilation, aligning with the other Seven stations in the country. 1988 also saw the station change hands when the Christopher Skase led Qintex group purchased the station. Qintex collapsed a year later, leaving TVW-7 in the hands of receivers. In 1991 the station was combined with the other Seven stations to become the Seven Network, this was floated on the stock exchange and by 1995 Perth born Kerry Stokes was in charge of both TVW-7 and the rest of the network.

[edit] Programming

Seven Perth for the most part follows the programming of the Seven Network.

Locally produced programs, which can also be seen in regional Western Australia on GWN include:

Drivetime TV: Motoring, hosted by Tolley Challis and David Karsten
Go Racing: News/discussion about the racing scene in both Perth and the Eastern States
Have a Go TV: Features segments on travel, finance and investment, sport and recreation, health and wellbeing. Hosted by Tod Johnston.
Home In WA: Lifestyle, building and renovation
Our WA: A long-running series of specials which highlight a specific aspect of WA life
Resources West: Magazine program with a focus on the mining and resources industry

Locally produced programs, which can also be seen around Australia through the Seven Network and affiliates include:

The Force: Behind the Line: Observational documentary about the Western Australia Police

[edit] News/Public Affairs

[edit] Seven News

Seven News promo

The Seven News bulletin is fronted by Rick Ardon and Susannah Carr. 2005 saw Rick and Sue celebrate their 20th anniversary as a reading duo. Sport is presented by Basil Zempilas and weather by Jeff Newman.

Across the weekend the news is hosted by Yvette Mooney with sport by former West Coast Eagles player Chris Mainwaring.

The current tagline for their news service, is 'Nobody Knows News Like Seven/The Pulse of Perth'.

Other news programming is produced by the network, this includes the morning news program Sunrise, Seven Morning News and Seven's 4.30 News, late news updates are also provided from the Sydney newsroom.

The local reporters for Seven Perth are as listed below:

General Reporters: Louise Momber, Chantelle Toohey, Alex Cullen, Mara Pritchard, Heather McDonald, Mark Gibson, Jennifer Nichols, Bianca Hayley

Sports Reporters: Steve Nelkovski, Mariana Vlahoh, Chris Young, Adrian Barich, Chris Mainwaring

Political Reporter: Reece Whitby

Court Reporter: Alison Fan

Crime Reporter: David Cooper

Special Reports: Paula Voce

The current news director is Shaun Menegola.

[edit] Today Tonight

The nightly news is followed by locally produced public affairs program Today Tonight hosted by Monika Kos. The program uses a mixture of reports from its sister programs on the East Coast and in Adelaide as well as reports from locally based reporters. Like Seven News the program is very successful ratings wise, with the program consistently beating its Sydney based rival A Current Affair. The program is produced by Mario D'Orazio.

Reporters: Graeme Butler, Natalie Bonjolo, Andrea Burns

Summer Host/Special Reports: Tina Altieri

[edit] Mascot

Seven Perth has long been the home of Fat Cat, the name standing for Francis Aloysius Thomas Cat. Fat Cat is "put to bed" every night at 7.30pm signalling the end of programs suitable for children. Fat Cat has been the only WA television mascot to survive. Long time rival STW-9 used a large elephant, Flapper, as its mascot and NEW-10 used Kenny Kidna from the Kangaroo Creek Gang as its mascot.

Fat Cat is also used for Telethon, Fat Cat dolls and cds are sold to raise money for sick children.

[edit] Telethon

Telethon began in 1968 and is a charitable oranisation which seeks to raise funds for the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children, aiding research into children's diseases. Many fundrasing events run throughout the entire year culminating in a live 24 hour broadcast on a weekend in October/November. The program is broadcast across the state by Seven and its regional affiliate GWN. 2004 saw the program leave its Dianella studios for the first time, with the entire broadcasting coming out of the Perth Convention Exhibition Centre.

Stars from Seven Network shows such as Home and Away, Sunrise and All Saints make the journey west for the weekend to entertain the audience, visit sick children and read donations on air.

Musical guests are also a big part of the weekend. Over the years many acts including Michael Jackson, Harry Connick Jr., Whitney Houston, Stevie Wonder, Tina Turner, Julian Lennon, Sammy Davis Jr. and Céline Dion have performed.

In 2006, Telethon raised $3,217,437 AUD, a record, surpassing the $3 million mark for only the second time.

2007 sees Telethon celebrate it's 40th anniversary.

[edit] Christmas Pageant

The station organises an annual Christmas parade through the streets of the Perth CBD. It is claimed to be the largest Christmas parade in the southern hemisphere. More than 600 floats and 60,000 participants have taken part in the procession in the history of the parade, which commenced in 1972.