| Griffith, New South Wales | |
|---|---|
| Branding | WIN |
| Slogan | Welcome Home |
| Channels | Analog: 9 (VHF) Digital: 6 (VHF) |
| Affiliations | Nine |
| Network | WIN |
| Owner | WIN Corporation Pty Ltd (Murrumbidgee Television Ltd) |
| First air date | December 15, 1965 |
| Call letters' meaning | Murrumbidgee Television New South Wales |
| Sister station(s) | AMN |
| Former affiliations | independent (1965-1973) Midstate Television (1973-1989) |
| Transmitter power | 200 kW (analog) 50 kW (digital) |
| Height | 413 m (analog) 418 m (digital)[1] |
| Website | www.wintv.com.au |
MTN-9 and AMN-31 are television stations that are licensed to, and serve Griffith and the surrounding Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area (MIA). MTN-9 is a primary Nine Network affiliate via WIN Television and AMN-31 is a primary Seven Network affiliate via Prime Television. Both stations are owned and operated by WIN Television.
Previously, the stations were effectively a twinstick operation, with the broadcasting authorities considering Griffith and the MIA too small for three television companies but large enough for a single company running two stations. As of 1 December 2010, Network Ten began broadcasting in the region following an agreement between WIN Television and the Federal Government to allow all digital channels to air in the MIA.
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MTN9, owned by Murrumbidgee Television Limited, began transmission on 15 December 1965.[1] At its launch, MTN9 was owned by Murrumbidgee Television Limited, a publicly listed company. Shareholders at the time included local radio station 2RG.
The costs of operating a television station in such a small market led MTN to join with CBN8/CWN6 in forming the Television 6-8-9 network, in 1973. While the majority of the programming and identification came from the network, MTN9 did run its own news service as well as some programs of local interest and popularity, separate to the rest of the network. In the early 1980s, the network was rebranded as Midstate Television 6-8-9.
MTN was delisted in 1979 when Henry Jones Investments (Henry Jones IXL) purchased the station. Other owners since have included The Linter Group, Broadcast Operations Group, Broadcast and Communications Limited, and Associated Media Investments Pty Limited (later part of DMG Radio Australia).
The network expanded further in the 1980s, when RVN2/AMV4 became a part of the newly-renamed The Prime Network. When aggregation occurred in 1989, it was determined that Griffith was too small to accommodate three television stations and thus split from the network, having always been independently owned. It took up an affiliation with WIN Television, the Nine Network affiliate at the time in southern New South Wales. While the majority of the programming was the same as WIN's, it retained its news service and aired some Seven Network programming, such as its coverage of the Australian Football League, in preference to Nine's rugby league.
The Australian Broadcasting Authority relaxed the rules regarding station ownership in solus markets in the mid 1990s. The changes allowed for one company to operate two stations without competition, provided no opposition was faced to the application for one. MTN applied for a Section 38A license in 1995, and after being refused once, challenged the Authority, and was successful on appeal.
The second channel launched on 5 October 1997, on UHF channel 31 using the callsign AMN (a variation of Victorian station AMV). It was a direct feed from Prime Television from Wollongong, with the exception of its local news. Ray Gamble, the stations' owner, sold them to WIN in 1998, staying on as a day-to-day consultant for a year before his retirement in 2002. Following the sale of the station, minor changes occurred, including the name officially changed to WIN, and the news service renamed WIN News.
Despite assurances made by the network, WIN News Griffith was axed in September, 2006 as part of a rationalisation of services in the region. It was replaced by a merged Riverina bulletin, presented from WIN's Wollongong studios[2][3] and compiled from a newsroom in Wagga Wagga, although a news bureau in Griffith has been maintained. Griffith City Council is presently lobbying Prime Television to produce a local news bulletin.
In 2010, WIN Television announced plans to broadcast a Network Ten service for the region on digital services [4] with the main networks' sister digital channels following a year later. A relay of TEN-10 from Sydney began broadcasting to the Griffith and Hay areas at 6am on 1 December 2010.[5] In mid-May, WIN Griffith announced that it would start bradcasting the full suite of commercial channels (7Two, 7Mate, GO!, Gem, ONE, and Eleven) in full digital (with 7Mate, GEM, and ONE being in High Definition) by December 2011.[6] On 5 December 2011, WIN TV announced that delays had caused the full suite of digital channels to be postponed till the third week of January 2012 at the latest, with digital channels 7TWO and 7MATE potentially launching after this date.[7]
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