Seven Network
| Seven Network | |
|---|---|
| Launched | 2 December 1956 |
| Owned by | Seven Media Group |
| Picture format | 576i (SDTV), 1080i (HDTV) |
| Audience share | 27.2% Nationally (16 February 2008, [1]) |
| Slogan | GOTTALOVEIT |
| Country |  Australia |
| Broadcast area | Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, Regional QLD |
| Website | yahoo7.com.au |
| Availability | |
| Terrestrial | |
| Free-to-air Analogue | Normally tuned to 7 |
| Free-to-air SD Digital |
Channel 7 (Duplicate's 71,72,73)[1] |
| Free-to-air HD Digital |
Channel 70 (Seven HD) |
| Satellite | |
| Foxtel Digital | Channel 107 (Sydney only) |
| Austar Digital | Channel 006 |
| Cable | |
| Foxtel Digital | Channel 107 |
| Foxtel HD+ | Channel 207 |
The Seven Network is an Australian television network, owned by the Seven Media Group. Seven dates back to 2 December 1956, when the first stations on the VHF7 frequency were established in Sydney and Melbourne. The network is currently the largest network in the country in terms of population reach.[2] Seven has traditionally been the second highest rating television network in Australia, trailing its traditional rival the Nine Network, but just ahead of Network Ten. Seven have won the ratings year three times since 1978, in 2000, 2007 and 2008.[3]
Seven's headquarters are based in a converted warehouse at Jones Bay Wharf in Pyrmont, Sydney. National news and current affairs programming is based at studios in Martin Place, while the network's main production studios are located at Epping in Sydney's northern suburbs. In 2009, Seven will move their Epping based operations to a purpose built high-definition television production facility at the Australian Technology Park in Redfern.[4] The majority of content is broadcast out of the network's digital Broadcast Centre in the Melbourne Docklands.
Contents |
History
Origins
The Seven Network began as a group of independent stations in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth.[5] HSV-7 Melbourne, licensed to The Herald and Weekly Times Ltd (owners of two local papers at the time, The Herald and The Sun), was the first station in the country to use the VHF7 frequency.[5] It launched on 4 November 1956, soon joined on 2 December by Amalgamated Television Services ATN-7 in Sydney.[5][6] By 1957 the two stations had begun to form content-sharing partnerships with their VHF9 counterparts - in ATN's case GTV-9, for HSV, TCN-9.[5][6] HSV's relationship with the Victorian Football League, forerunner to the Australian Football League, began in April, 1957 when the station broadcast the first ever live Australian rules football match. TVW-7 Perth began broadcasting almost two years later, on 16 October 1959. The city's first commercial station was licensed to TVW Limited, owned by West Australian Newspapers, publisher of The West Australian.[5] BTQ-7 Brisbane, the city's second commercial television licensee, followed on 1 November.[5][6]
Throughout this time, the stations operated independently of each other, with schedules made up of various simple, and relatively inexpensive, programmes - shows such as Pick a Box and spinoffs of popular radio shows.[5] In the early 1960s, coaxial cable links, formed initially between Sydney and Melbourne, allowed the sharing of programmes and simultaneous broadcasts of live shows.[6] Frank Packer, owner of HSV's Sydney partner TCN-9 bought a controlling share of the station's Melbourne counterpart, GTV-9, in 1960, in the process creating the country's first television network.[6] HSV and ATN joined together to form the Australian Television Network in 1963.[7] ADS-7 in Adelaide was the final capital city station to launch, on 26 July 1965.[7] The station later swapped frequencies with SAS-10, however, in order to become SAS-7.[7]
The newly-formed network began to produce and screen higher-budget programming in order to attract greater numbers of viewers, most notably Homicide - a series which would continue for another 12 years, becoming the nation's longest running drama series.[7] It was not, however, until the 1970s that a national network began to appear, albeit still with independently owned and operated with localised advertising campaigns.[8]
Colour television was introduced across the network in 1975, along with a new logo incorporating a bright ring of the colours of the visual light spectrum. Rupert Murdoch made an unsuccessful bid for the Herald and Weekly Times, owners of HSV-7, in 1979, later going on to gain control of rival ATV-10. Fairfax, however, successfully bought a 14.9% share of the company later in the same year.[6]
1980s
This decade saw the introduction of stereo, as well as a number of successful shows, most notably A Country Practice in 1981, and Sons and Daughters, which began in 1982.[9] Wheel of Fortune began its twenty five year run in July, 1981, produced from ADS-7's studios in Adelaide. The 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow were shown live on the network the year before.[9] Neighbours began on Seven in 1985, however low ratings in Sydney led to the cancellation of the new series at the end of the year; the show later achieve international success with rival Network Ten.[9]
Perth-based businessman Robert Holmes à Court, through his business the Bell Group, bought TVW-7 from its original owners, West Australian Newspapers in 1982.[6] The Herald and Weekly Times, owner of HSV-7 and also ADS-7, was sold to Rupert Murdoch in December, 1986 for an estimated $1.8 billion.[6] Murdoch's company, News Limited sold off HSV to Fairfax soon afterwards, for $320 million.[6] Fairfax went on to axe a number of locally-produced shows in favour of networked content from its Sydney counterpart, ATN-7 (also owned by Fairfax at the time).[9]
Cross-media ownership laws introduced in 1987 forced Fairfax to choose between its print and television operations - it chose the former, and later sold off its stations to Qintex Ltd., owned by businessman Christopher Skase.[9] Qintex had previously bought, and subsequently sold off, stations in Brisbane and regional Queensland before taking control of the network.[6] The next year, another new logo was introduced along with evening soap Home and Away and a relaunched Seven National News, now known as Seven Nightly News. The network expanded in 1988 when Skase bought out TVW for $130 million.[9]
Despite the network's successes, a failed $1.5 billion bid for MGM Studios in the same year sent Qintex into receivership.[6] Christopher Skase fled Australia in 1990, in order to escape extradition.[9] The business' assets were bundled together by receivers and made into a new company, the Seven Network Limited, in 1991.[6]
1990s
Real Life, a national current-affairs program hosted by Stan Grant, similar in format to the Nine Network's A Current Affair, was launched in 1992 but was later replaced by the more successful Today Tonight. [10]
The network was listed on the stock exchange in 1993, soon after the entry of subscription television provider Australis. One of Seven's most popular series, A Country Practice, ended in 1993 after 1058 episodes. 1994 saw the introduction of Blue Heelers, which after a number of timeslot changes, was moved in 1998 to Wednesdays. This was in order to make room for a new series, medical drama All Saints. Both dramas rated quite highly, and along with new lifestyle shows Better Homes and Gardens and The Great Outdoors, resulted in a stronger ratings position for the network.[11]
In 1995, Sunshine Television, a Seven Network affiliate in regional Queensland, was purchased by the network's parent company, Seven Network Limited. Sunshine Television's regional stations effectively became a part of the Seven Network, identical in appearance and programming to the rest of the business' stations.[12]
A successful $1.3 billion bid for United Artists was made in conjunction with Kirk Kerkorian in 1996, however the network sold its stake two years later, for $US389 million. Seven took control of Australia Television, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's Asian satellite channel, in 1997. The ABC still maintained a share in the network, and continued to produce news and current affairs programming for it.[13]
2000s
The year 2000 saw the launch of a new logo in time for the network's coverage of the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. The opening ceremony was one of the highest-ever rating television programmes in the country, with 6.5 million viewers, contributing to the network winning the ratings year for the first time in twenty-two years.[14]
Digital television was introduced to most of the network's coverage area on 1 January 2001. This was soon followed by the gradual introduction of widescreen and high definition programming.[15]
Always Greener, launched in 2001, received two million viewers in its Sunday timeslot, however, it was axed after its second season.[16]
In the same year, former Nine executive David Leckie was appointed head of television operations, re-launching the network with an updated logo, new advertising campaign and a new slogan.
In 2004, Seven launched the international game show Deal or No Deal to the 5.30pm timeslot, and later in the year Dancing with the Stars, based on the BBC's Strictly Come Dancing. The following year, a number of new programs were launched, from the United States network ABC, including Desperate Housewives and Lost. At the same time, Seven's news and current affairs ratings began to increase in viewers, with Today Tonight beginning to challenge rival A Current Affair, while the new format of Sunrise led to increased competition with the Nine Network's Today. Seven's evening Seven News bulletin also started to take the lead with successes in most cities.[17]
2006 saw the 50th anniversary of Seven. To celebrate, Seven aired a number of anniversary specials and reused some of their old promos.
In January 2006, the Seven Network, Pacific Magazines and online portal Yahoo! Australia and New Zealand combined in a joint venture to form Yahoo!7, representing all three companies online assets.[18]
The network launched a number of new shows in 2006, including Prison Break, Dancing with the Stars spin-off It Takes Two, How I Met Your Mother, and My Name Is Earl. The ongoing success of these programmes resulted in a narrow loss to the Nine Network for the year, primarily due to its coverage of the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne.[19]
In 2007, Seven Network's launched Morning TV with the Sunrise-spin off The Morning Show hosted by ex-Wheel of Fortune host Larry Emdur & ex-Sportsworld presenter Kylie Gillies to major change Australian Morning television for the long term. That year, launch a ‘7 in 07’ campaign, promoting new shows Brothers & Sisters, Heroes, and The Rich List. The year also saw the launch of the Beautiful Sunday lineup consisting of Australia's Got Talent, Ugly Betty, Grey's Anatomy and What About Brian.
Seven HD was officially announced on 15 September 2007, with the Seven Media Group announcing their intention to start a high definition multichannel, that was initially expected to launch in December 2007.[20] However, Seven HD became the first free to air commercial television channel introduced to metropolitan areas since 1988, when it launched prior on 15 October 2007, with 25th Hour being the first program broadcast at 10:30pm.[21]
On 14 February 2008, the Seven Media Group and Foxtel officially signed an agreement allowing Seven's digital signal to be transmitted via Foxtel’s cable and satellite services. Seven will be available on Foxtel in Early 2009.[22] Prior to this, Seven was only transmitted via cable on Foxtel in an analogue format, however Seven is available on Austar's satellite services now via the Mystar PVR.
Programming
- Further information: List of programs broadcast by the Seven Network
New programmes introduced in 2005 led to a ratings increase, following a relatively poor 2004.[23] A number of programmes introduced in 2006 continued on in 2007, in addition to many new entries - the bulk of which imported from US television networks.
Australian programming shown on the network includes medical drama All Saints , police drama City Homicide, lifestyle program Better Homes and Gardens, soap operas Home and Away, comedy Kath & Kim, new comedy drama Packed to the Rafters, Deal or No Deal, Gladiators, Dancing with the Stars, Medical Emergency, Hot Property, Australia's Got Talent, travel show The Great Outdoors, Australia's Best Backyards, The Outdoor Room, It Takes Two, The Zoo, RSPCA Animal Rescue, Find My Family, The Real Seachange, The Force, Crash Investigation Unit, Border Security, SCU: Serious Crash Unit, Surf Patrol, Bush Doctors and Most Shocking. Children's programming includes It's Academic, The Wiggles speicals, Go Go Stop, Playhouse Disney and Saturday Disney, Toon Disney, Jetix.
The network has established output deals with a number of American production studios, including NBC Universal, The Walt Disney Company and ABC Studios. Programming imported from the US currently includes 24, The Amazing Race, Desperate Housewives, Grey's Anatomy, Lost, Prison Break, How I Met Your Mother, Lipstick Jungle, Private Practice, American Dad!, My Name Is Earl, Bones, Ugly Betty, Brothers & Sisters, Boston Legal, Scrubs, Family Guy, Heroes, 30 Rock, Dirty Sexy Money, Eli Stone and Samantha Who?. Seven is still to air in 2008 Reaper, and October Road.
News and current affairs
- Further information: Seven News
The Seven Network's news service is called Seven News. After trailing for many years, to National Nine News, Seven rebounded effective from February 2005 to the future, and claimed to be Australia's number one in news and current affairs.[17] Seven News produces several news bulletins and news programs including; Sunrise, The Morning Show, Weekend Sunrise, Seven Morning News, Seven 4.30 News, Seven News, Seven's Late News Updates, and Today Tonight. During the early hours of 4am to 6am, Seven rebroadcasts some of American television network NBC's news and current affairs programming, including Today, Weekend Today, Dateline NBC and Meet the Press.
In recent years under the guidance of former longtime National Nine News chief, Peter Meakin, Seven's news and current affairs have produced more locally-focussed content, which has been lifting ratings for key markets such as Sydney and Melbourne.[17] Since February 2005, the ratings of Deal or No Deal, Seven News and Today Tonight have gradually increased. Seven News was the highest-rating news service nationally in both the 2005 and 2006 ratings seasons.[23][19] A key aspect of Seven's recent ratings dominance in news and current affairs has been attributed to Deal or No Deal's top rating audience, which provides Seven News with a large lead-in audience.[24] In 2007 and 2008 Seven News completed a clean sweep across the five capital cities in terms of being the most watched 6pm news bulletin. On 5 July, 2008, Seven News finally launched a '7' watermark located on the Bottom Left. This will be shown on The Morning Show, Seven News & Today Tonight only. The watermark was not allowed to be broadcast on Sunrise or neither Weekend Sunrise because of live coverages.
Sport
- Further information: Seven Sport
Seven is a major player in Australian sports broadcasting. The 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney resulted in huge ratings for the network, with over 6.5 million Australians viewing the telecast of opening and closing ceremonies. The broadcast also ran on the short-lived C7 Sport subscription channel.
After the 2001 season Seven ended its famous 45-year run as AFL football broadcaster when the Nine Network and Network Ten, along with pay TV provider Foxtel, jointly won the television rights. On 5 January 2006 the Australian Football League accepted a bid from Seven and Ten to broadcast AFL games from 2007 - 2011 at a cost of AU$780 million.
Seven's most popular recurring sporting events include the Olympic Games, AFL Premiership Season, the Australian Open Golf, the Australian Open Tennis, Bledisloe Cup Rugby, Melbourne Cup Carnival, Mt Buller World Aerials, the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race, the Tri-Nations Rugby, V8 Supercars and the Champ Car World Series.
Seven had exclusive Australian free-to-air, pay television, online and mobile telephony broadcast rights to the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. The live telecast of the XXIX Olympiad was shared by both the Seven Network and SBS Television. Seven broadcast the opening and closing ceremonies and mainstream sport's including swimming, athletics, rowing, cycling and gymnastics. In stark contrast, SBS TV provided complementary coverage focused on long-form events such as football, road cycling, volleyball, and table tennis.[25]
Seven's coverage of the 2008 Summer Olympics was widely critised by viewers, with many angry at the networks contractual obligation to show AFL football over the Olympics. Viewers also complained that many team sports were delayed, with the absence of Roy and HG and the continual amount of advertisements during live events further angering viewers.[26]
On 13 October 2007, the International Olympic Committee announced that the Nine Network, in joint partnership with subscription television provider Foxtel, has secured broadcasting rights for the 2010 Winter Olympics and the 2012 Summer Olympics.[27]
Availability
Seven is simulcast in analogue, standard definition and 1080i high definition. On 18 March 2007, test simulcasts for 1080i commenced in the Sydney and Melbourne markets, Adelaide and Perth followed on 24 June 2007, with Brisbane following on 25 June 2007, and regional Queensland on 26 June 2007. Prior to this, the Seven Network provided a 576p enhanced-definition service.
Seven is broadcast in metropolitan areas and regional Queensland through a number of owned-and-operated stations including ATN Sydney, HSV Melbourne, BTQ Brisbane, SAS Adelaide, TVW Perth as well as STQ Queensland. Seven Network programming is also carried into other areas of regional Australia by locally-branded affiliate networks Southern Cross Television, Prime Television, the Golden West Network, and WIN Television in South Australia.
On 1 April 2008, Seven (ATN-7) Sydney began broadcasting digital signal to Foxtel (in Sydney) and Austar's satellite and cable subscribers.
Logos
The Seven Network became a nationalised network in 1970, with a shared logo produced and used across the metropolitan stations, featuring the numeral seven inside a ring. Colour television was introduced across the network in 1975, along with a new logo incorporating a bright ring of the colours of the visual light spectrum. This logo was used nationally until 1989, when a new red logo was introduced along with evening soap Home and Away and a relaunched Seven Nightly News (later to become Seven News).[9]
Following a decade in use, New Years Day 2000 saw the launch of a new ribbon logo in conjunction with the launch of the Sydney 2000 Summer Olympics. The ribbon logo was used in conjunction with five other variants of differing colours, these included red, orange, yellow, green and blue, to symbolise passion, involving, fun, life and energy respectively.[28] In 2003, the logo was updated losing its gradient and shadows, becoming solid red. In addition to this, the use of differing colours for the logo ceased.[28]
| Jan. 1, 1970 - Feb. 28, 1975 | March 1, 1975 - Dec. 31, 1988 | Jan. 1, 1989 - Dec. 31, 1999 | Jan. 1, 2000 - Sept. 13, 2003 | Sept. 14, 2003 - present |
|---|
References
- ↑ (pdf)‘Driving Digital’ A Review of the Duration of the Analogue/Digital Television Simulcast Period, Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, November 2005, p. 31, http://www.dbcde.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0012/34401/Broadcast_Australia.pdf, retrieved on 2008-10-26
- ↑ "Broadcasting Services Act 1992 Section 30 Schedule". Australian Communications and Media Authority. Retrieved on 2007-06-06.
- ↑ Enker, Debi (2007-12-13). "The stars of 2007". The Age Online.
- ↑ Australian Technology Park. "Australian Technology Park: Looking Forward". Press release. Retrieved on 2007-09-08.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 Brooklyn Ross-Hulands. "Seven Network 1950s". AusTVHistory. Retrieved on 2007-06-27.
- ↑ 6.00 6.01 6.02 6.03 6.04 6.05 6.06 6.07 6.08 6.09 6.10 6.11 Bruce Arnold. "Seven: landmarks". Caslon Analytics. Retrieved on 2007-08-07.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Brooklyn Ross-Hulands. "Seven Network 1960s". AusTVHistory. Retrieved on 2007-06-27.
- ↑ Brooklyn Ross-Hulands. "Seven Network 1970s". AusTVHistory. Retrieved on 2007-06-27.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 9.6 9.7 Brooklyn Ross-Hulands. "Seven Network 1980s". AusTVHistory. Retrieved on 2007-06-27.
- ↑ Brooklyn Ross-Hulands. "Seven Network 1990s". AusTVHistory. Retrieved on 2007-06-27.
- ↑ Mark Woods (December 1998). "Nine toplines 1998 network ratings". Variety. Retrieved on 2007-06-27.
- ↑ Brooklyn Ross-Hulands. "Sunshine Television History". AusTVHistory. Retrieved on 2007-06-27.
- ↑ Australian Broadcasting Corporation (1997-07-10). "ABC agreement with Seven Network". Press release. Retrieved on 2007-09-03.
- ↑ "Seven Net scores with Olympics". Hollywood Reporter (2000-09-19). Retrieved on 2007-06-27.
- ↑ "Digital TV to commence on 1 January 2001". Australian Broadcasting Authority. Retrieved on 2007-08-19.
- ↑ "Always Greener out to grass in Seven backflip". The Age (2003-09-02). Retrieved on 2007-09-08.
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 "How Seven trumped Nine". The Age (2007-06-14). Retrieved on 2007-06-27.
- ↑ "Yahoo!7 Redefines Australian Media Landscape", Seven Media Group (2006-01-30). Retrieved on 2008-02-21.
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 "A 2006 Ratings Reflection". eBroadcast (2006-12-04). Retrieved on 2007-06-27.
- ↑ "Seven, Ten to offer HD-TV", The Australian (2007-09-15). Retrieved on 2007-09-15.
- ↑ "Seven's new multi-channellling is on-air", Seven Media Group (2007-10-16). Retrieved on 2007-10-16.
- ↑ "Foxtel & Seven sign digital retransmission deal", Seven Media Group (2008-02-14). Retrieved on 2008-02-21.
- ↑ 23.0 23.1 Seven Network (2005-11-28). "Year in review". Press release. Retrieved on 2007-07-01.
- ↑ Brown, Rachel; Huntington, Patty (2004-07-04). "Bulletproof Waley wouldn't dare to quit", Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved on 2007-07-01.
- ↑ "Seven & SBS to Broadcast Beijing Olympics". SportBusiness (2007-04-04). Retrieved on 2007-06-28.
- ↑ "Channel 7 stumbles on Beijing Olympic Games coverage". The Daily Telegraph (2008-08-12). Retrieved on 2007-08-17.
- ↑ "Nine, Foxtel to broadcast Olympics". Herald Sun (2007-10-13). Retrieved on 2007-10-13.
- ↑ 28.0 28.1 Brooklyn Ross-Hulands. "Seven Network 2000s". AusTVHistory. Retrieved on 2008-03-09.
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