1996 in Australian television

Events

• Jessica Rowe joins Ten News Sydney in January to co-anchor with Ron Wilson for the next nine years.
• January 1 - To celebrate the start of the new year, ABC-TV debuts a series of new idents featuring people doing various activities using inspiration and fun. As they do so, they draw the ABC's famous worm logo. The logo then fades before the video fades to black and the words "it's your abc" appear.
• April - Constable Wayne Patterson, portrayed by Grant Bowler, is killed in a car crash on the Blue Heelers episode An Act of Random Violence. Bowler departed the series.
• June - Liz Hayes quits the Today Show after 11 years and joins the 60 Minutes team, Tracy Grimshaw replaces Hayes on Today to co-host for the next nine years before leading up to A Current Affair from 2006 onwards.
• Australian television celebrates its 40th birthday with celebrations lasting throughout the year. The actual birthday was on 16 September.
• July 15 - Wheel Of Fortune John Burgess is sacked as host. Former Sale of the Century quizmaster, Tony Barber begins hosting for an ill-fated run which lasts for the remainder of the year. WOF relocates from Adelaide to Sydney during this time.
• August - After a stand-off over who would air the show first with Seven owning the rights to the first season and Nine the subsequent seasons,^[1] the first season of Friends screens on the Seven Network, almost two years after it premiered in the United States. Season two begins on the Nine Network in December. A decade later it was picked up in Syndication by Network Ten.

New channels

• 8 June – Disney Channel^[2]
• 14 June – ARC Music TV^[3]
• 30 June – The Comedy Channel^[4]
• 2 August – Nightmoves^[5]

Debuts

Domestic

• 12 February – Water Rats (Nine Network) (1996–2001)
• 16 February – Stateline (ABC TV) (1996–2011)
• 3 June – The Genie From Down Under (ABC TV) (1996–1998)

International

Program	Channel	Debut date
Tots TV	ABC TV	8 May
The Secret Life of Toys	ABC	22 July
Insektors	ABC	22 July
Friends[1]	Seven Network	1996-08-04 !4 August
Fudge	Network Ten	1996
Mot	ABC	5 August
William's Wish Wellingtons	ABC	11 November
Bump in the Night	ABC	10 December
Aaahh!!! Real Monsters	ABC	16 December

Changes to network affiliation

This is a list of programs which made their premiere on an Australian television network that had previously premiered on another Australian television network. The networks involved in the switch of allegiances are predominantly both free-to-air networks or both subscription television networks. Programs that have their free-to-air/subscription television premiere, after previously premiering on the opposite platform (free-to air to subscription/subscription to free-to air) are not included. In some cases, programs may still air on the original television network. This occurs predominantly with programs shared between subscription television networks.

International

Program	New network(s)	Previous network(s)	Date
Sailor Moon	Seven Network	ABC TV	June
Friends [6]	Nine Network	Seven Network	1996-12-09 !9 December

Subscription premieres

This is a list of programs which made their premiere on Australian subscription television that had previously premiered on Australian free-to-air television. Programs may still air on the original free-to-air television network.

International

Program	Subscription network	Free-to-air network	Date
Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous[7]	TV1		1996-11-04 !4 November

ABC TV

• Four Corners (1961–present)
• Rage (1987-beyond)
• G.P. (1989–1996)
• Foreign Correspondent (1992–present)
• Frontline (1994–1997)

Seven Network

• Wheel of Fortune (1981–1996, 1996–2003, 2004-beyond)
• A Country Practice (1981–1994)
• Home and Away (1988–present)
• Family Feud (1988–1996)
• The Great Outdoors (1993–2006, 2007)
• Full Frontal (1993–present)
• Blue Heelers (1994–2006)

Nine Network

• Sunday (1981 – 2008)
• Today (1982 – present)
• Sale of the Century (1980–2001)
• A Current Affair (1971–1978, 1988–2005, 2006–present)
• Hey Hey It's Saturday (1971–1999)
• The Midday Show (1973–1998)
• 60 Minutes (1979–present)
• The Flying Doctors (1986–1991)
• Australia's Funniest Home Video Show (1990–2000, 2000–2004, 2005–present)
• Hey Hey It's Saturday (1971 – 1999)
• Getaway (1992–present)
• Our House (1993–2001)
• Money (1993–2000)

Network Ten

• Neighbours (1985 – present)
• E Street (1989–1993)
• Good Morning Australia with Bert Newton (1991–2005)
• Sports Tonight (1993–present)

Ending this year

References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Browne, Rachel (3 August 1996). "Friends for life". The Sun-Herald (Sydney, Australia: Fairfax Media). p. 9. Retrieved 17 January 2010. 
2. ↑ Elder, Bruce (2 June 1996). "Disney to the rescue". Sydney Morning Herald (Fairfax Media). p. 1. Retrieved 21 December 2009. The Disney Channel, which kicks off with the TV premiere of Aladdin at 6.30 pm on Saturday, June 8 
3. ↑ Eliezer, Christie (25 May 1996). "Oz to get 2nd music TV channel.". Billboard 108 (21): p64. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved 21 December 2009. Australia's second 24-hour music TV channel is set to roll out June 14. 
4. ↑ Freeman, Jane; Andrew Conway (30 June 1996). "The Joke Stops Here". Sydney Morning Herald (Fairfax Media). p. 2. Retrieved 1 January 2010. 
5. ↑ Browne, Rachel (4 August 1996). "Sex On TV". The Sun-Herald. p. 4. Retrieved 10 July 2010. 
6. ↑ Mitchell, Lisa (28 November 1996). "Summer in the sitting room". The Age (Melbourne, Australia: Fairfax Media). p. 5. Retrieved 17 January 2010. 
7. ↑ BROWNE, RACHEL (12 October 1996). "In a bit of a stew". The Sun-Herald (Sydney, Australia: Fairfax Media). p. 100. Retrieved 27 December 2009.