| GWN7 | |
|---|---|
| Launched | 10 March 1967 |
| Owned by | Prime Media Group |
| Picture format | 576i (SDTV) |
| Audience share | 67.5% (2007, [1]) |
| Slogan | One Place |
| Country | Australia |
| Language | English |
| Broadcast area | Regional Western Australia |
| Formerly called | Golden West Network (1986 - 2011) |
| Website | gwn7.com.au |
| Availability | |
| Terrestrial | |
| SD Digital | Channel 6 |
| Satellite | |
| Optus C1 | Transponder 6 |
| Optus D1 | Transponder 3 |
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 Perth.[1]
GWN7 is affiliated to the Seven Network, with the network's on-air schedule closely following that of TVW-7, its Perth counterpart.
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GWN began life as a group of smaller, independent stations - BTW-3 Bunbury, launched on 10 March 1967 (with a relay in Mount Barker commencing the next year), VEW-8 Kalgoorlie, which began on 18 June 1971, and relay station GSW-9 Albany, opened on 29 August 1974. GTW-11 Geraldton was the last station to launch, on 21 January 1977. Jack Bendat purchased South West Telecasters (owner of BTW/GSW) in the early 1980s, and changed the company’s name to Golden West Network. [2]
GWN applied to broadcast an additional service on 31 October 1984, when the Australian Broadcasting Tribunal called for applications to broadcast to Christmas Island and the Cocos (Keeling) Islands via satellite as part of the Remote Commercial Television License (RCTS) scheme. GWN was granted the Remote Commercial Television License (RCTS) in June 1985[3] and the service went to air on 18 October 1986 using the call-sign WAW.
Not long after, GWN continued to expand within Western Australia, acquiring Mid-Western Television (owner of VEW-8 Kalgoorlie) in December 1985 for A$7 million,[4] and Geraldton Telecasters (owner of GTW-11) in March 1987 for an undisclosed amount.[5] The takeovers gave the network a monopoly over all commercial television services in regional Western Australia. In 1987, Bendat and Kerry Stokes merged their media interests into joint company BDC Investments.[6] Later that year, Northern Star Holdings purchased BDC for A$206 million.[7] Northern Star were forced to sell GWN to satisfy existing media regulations. GWN was sold back to Stokes in December 1988 for A$54 million,[8] who upgraded equipment throughout the network. In April 1990, stations usign the callsigns BTW and GSW were merged, to become SSW.
Kerry Stokes gained control of the Seven Network in 1995, and attempted to sell GWN to Seven in return for more shares. Seven Network shareholders agreed to the trade in April 1996 - a deal which would have seen Seven acquire GWN for A$72.8 million.[9] The arrangement was called off when the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) found that a 15 year exclusive programming deal GWN made with the Nine Network was anti competitive and opposed the acquisition. The Seven Network subsequently dropped their plans to purchase GWN.[10]
Prime Television purchased GWN in November 1996 from Stokes for A$71 million.[11] WIN Television was granted the rights to a second television licence in regional Western Australia in 1997, ending GWN's monopoly of all three Australian commercial channels. In March 1999, GWN dropped their affiliation of the Nine and Ten Network, becoming a sole Seven Network affiliation, in-line with Prime Television in the eastern states. As a result, WIN Television WA picked up both the Nine Network and Network Ten affiliations.[12]
The network's transmission operations were moved from Bunbury to Prime Television Limited's digital broadcast facility in Canberra in April 2005. Programming is delivered to regional Western Australia via a satellite feed.
A proposal for a third television station - a joint venture between GWN's parent company Prime Media Group and WIN Corporation - was submitted to the Australian Communications and Media Authority in 2006. Similar to Mildura Digital Television or Tasmanian Digital Television, the new channel will operate under a Section 38B license,[13] as a Network Ten affiliate named Ten West. GWN began Standard Definition broadcast in Karratha, Kalgoorlie and Mingenew on 10 June 2010.[14]
On 15 January 2011, Prime Media Group reported that GWN and PRIME were to rebrand to GWN7 and PRIME7 respectively. The news bulletins will be renamed as GWN7 News and PRIME7 News. GWN and PRIME relaunched on 16 January 2011 at 5:57pm.[15]
Digital transmissions of GWN7, 7Two and 7mate will be launched in the Bunbury area on 28 July 2011.[16]
GWN7 is affiliated to the Seven Network, with the network's on-air schedule being almost identical to TVW-7, its Perth counterpart. Seven News and Today Tonight are aired live across the network direct from Perth. GWN7 also produces a weeknightly local news service, Golden West News, shown live at 5:30pm. Since the network's inception it has featured a broad range of original regional programming, currently including the children's program The Saturday Club with Doopa Dog; as well as community service strand GWN7 InfoNet, a series of short updates listing local community events.
GWN7 News is the network's local news service. Its main 30-minute bulletin, shown at 5:30 p.m. before Seven News Perth, deals primarily with local news and issues and was in direct competition with WIN News Western Australia until WIN moved its news to a later time at 6.30. Until August 2007 Golden West News competed with Ten News Perth, with an audience share of up to 86%.[17]
GWN7 News is produced and broadcast from GWN7's main studios in Bunbury with reporters also based at newsrooms in Perth, Albany, Kalgoorlie-Boulder, Karratha, Geraldton and Broome, Western Australia.
GWN7 News is currently presented by Noel Brunning and weather presented by either Chris Mills or Shauna Willis. Noel Brunning was the main presenter until 2007, when he took long service leave to run for an independent seat in the Forrest electorate. After failing to win the seat, he resumed his role as news presenter. Shauna Willis presented during this time and continues to stand in for Brunning. Alex Cullen previously presented the sport segment for Golden West News, however he is now with Seven News Sydney.
GWN7 News updates are aired in conjunction with Seven News updates on weekdays until 8:30pm, after which time only Seven News updates are aired. GWN7 also show a repeat of their 5:30 p.m. news at 12:30am each weekday morning.
News anchor
Noel Brunning
Weather presenters
Chris Mills
Shauna Willis (also stand-in for Noel Brunning)
Bunbury reporters
Sharna Craig
Daniel Donnelly
Kate Smithers
Perth reporter
Rebecca Munro
Kalgoorlie-Boulder reporter
Emma Sheridan
Geraldton reporter
Damian Smith
Albany reporter
Liz Gwynn
Broome reporter
Emma Anderson
Karratha reporter
Simon Nichols
GWN7 is available statewide in both analog and digital format. It is also available via satellite in remote and blackspot areas.
Analog terrestrial transmissions are available in nearly all populated cities, towns and farming areas of regional Western Australia. The current analog network is an amalgamation of the GTW Geraldton, VEW Kalgoorlie, SSW South West/Great Southern and WAW broadcast licence areas.
Digital terrestrial transmissions are progressively being installed. Currently, Greater Bunbury, Kalgoorlie, Karratha and Margaret River have access to GWN7, 7TWO and 7mate. A standalone GWN7 is available in Mawson Trig and Mingenew.
The Viewer Access Satellite Television service, or VAST, is a satellite television platform, providing digital television and radio services to remote and black spot areas. GWN7, 7TWO and 7mate are available on this platform.
Optus Aurora is also a direct-to-home satellite platform offering GWN7 in an analog resolution. This service is being superseeded by VAST.
The Golden West Network became a network in 1986, with a shared logo produced and used across the regional stations, featuring the letters GWN inside an outlined oval surrounded by an orbiting ring.[18] This logo was used across the network until 1995, when a new logo was introduced with the removal of outlined oval surrounding the letters GWN.[18] Following this, 2001 saw the launch of a new simplified yellow logo, with the removal of the orbiting ring. This logo was launched concurrently with a similarly design logo on Prime Television.[18] Following the 2011 relaunch, a new logo was introduced which features the Seven Network logo.
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