| Perth, Western Australia | |
|---|---|
| Branding | Seven |
| Slogan | OnePlace |
| Channels | Analog: 7 (VHF) Digital: 6 (VHF) |
| Affiliations | Seven (O&O) |
| Network | Seven |
| Owner | Seven West Media Limited (Channel Seven Perth Pty Ltd) |
| First air date | 16 October 1959 |
| Call letters' meaning | TeleVision Western Australia |
| Former affiliations | none |
| Transmitter power | 200 kW (analog) 50 kW (digital) |
| Height | 282 m (analogue) 280 m (digital)[1] |
| Website | www.7perth.com.au |
TVW is a television station broadcasting in Perth, Western Australia, wholly owned by the Seven Network. It was the first television station in Western Australia, commencing service on 16 October 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.
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On 13 October 1958, the first commercial television license in Perth was granted by the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs to TVW Limited, and they commenced broadcasting a little over a year later. The then Governor of Western Australia, Sir Charles Gairdner opened the station at 7.30pm on 16 October 1959. Some of the first programs included 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 was West Australian Newspapers (WAN), which publishes the Perth daily newspaper, The West Australian. Coincidentally, the Seven Network bought a 15% share in WAN in 2006.
TVW-7 did not have a rival commercial 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 fulfilled their viewing needs, and it would be a matter of indifference to them if the new station were to cease transmissions" www.mcc.murdoch.edu.au. 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 for nearly two decades until the mid 00's, generally won 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 two separate entities, which would bid on shows and subsequently raise prices. This partnership was disliked by Eastern States stations who could not increase 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 as well as half of the new programs.
In 1971 TVW Enterprises purchased the Adelaide station, SAS-10, now SAS-7. 1982 saw TVW (and SAS) purchased by Perth based businessman Robert Holmes à Court’s Bell Group. In 1988 a 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 affiliation, 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 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 and the rest of the network. By then it was all unstoppable. TVW's success as Perth's Number One TV station would be in recent years translate into the Seven Network's nationwide successes from 2008 onward.
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 GWN7 include:
Locally produced programs, which can also be seen around Australia through the Seven Network and affiliates include:
Studio 1
Current
Past
Studio 2 (Past)
Studio 3: News
Seven News Perth is broadcast live every night at 6pm, presented on weeknights by Rick Ardon and Susannah Carr with sport presented by Basil Zempilas. Ardon and Carr have anchored the 6pm bulletin since 1985, making them the longest serving TV news presenting team in Australia.
Weekend editions are presented regularly by Emmy Kubainski or Sally Bowrey with sport by former West Coast Eagles player Adrian Barich. Chris Mainwaring was the weekend sport presenter until his unexpected death in October 2007.
Former political reporter Reece Whitby frequently filled in as weekend news presenter before running for the Labor Party in the 2008 state election. After failing to win the seat of Morley, he returned to TVW as a behind-the-scenes producer. Seven News stalwart Geof Parry is the current state political reporter. TVW's current news director is Howard Gretton. Seven News Perth has had the highest ratings on average for almost two decades, it attracts almost double the ratings of rival Nine News Perth.
Long standing weather presenter Jeff Newman retired from his role on Monday 10 August 2009 and has been replaced by former Nine News weather presenter Natalia Cooper, who began her new role in September. Sally Bowrey is the fill-in weather presenter.
Other news programming produced by the network includes the morning news program Sunrise, Seven Morning News, Seven 4.30 News, Weekend Sunrise and Sunday Night. Late news updates are also provided from the Sydney newsroom.
The nightly news is followed by a locally produced edition of current 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 Perth, the program is very successful ratings wise, consistently beating its rival A Current Affair. Mario D'Orazio is the programme's producer.
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, along with GWN's Doopa Dog, are the last WA television mascots to survive. Longtime 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 now mainly used for things to do with Telethon; Fat Cat dolls are sold through Friendlies Chemists for $19.95 to raise money for Telethon.
Seven also has a cartoon-like TV character as a popular mascot.
TVW also produces an annual Telethon for the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children, the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research and the Telethon Speech and Hearing Centre. Since 1968 it has raised over $100 million (as of 2010 total). Although the fundraising takes place 365 days a year through the community, it culminates in a 26 hour live broadcast from Perth Convention Exhibition Centre in the heart of Perth over a weekend late in the year. Seven network personalities fly into Perth for the weekend to help raise money, as do a lot of Aussie artists. Many international stars have also been part of Telethon over the years, including Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Celine Dion and Harry Connick Jnr. The show is simulcasted around the state on Network affiliate GWN7.
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.
Analogue frequency: VHF 7
Digital frequency: VHF 6
| LCN | Name | Service | Resolution | Bit rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 07 | 7 | SD | 720x576i | 6.5mbit video, 256kbit MP2 audio |
| 72 | 7 Two | SD | 720x576i | 6.5mbit video, 256kbit MP2 audio |
| 73 | 7 Mate | HD | 1440x1080i | 10.77mbit video, 256kbit MP2, 384kbit AC3 audio |
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