SES/RTS

SES/RTS, part of the WIN Television network, are Australian television stations licensed to, and serving Mount Gambier, the Limestone Coast and the Riverland in South Australia.

History

It was originally two individual stations serving different regions. SES-8 commenced transmissions on 25 March 1966 serving Mount Gambier and south-east South Australia. RTS-5a began on 26 November 1976 serving Loxton, Renmark and the Riverland.

In 1999, WIN Television acquired SES and RTS and integrated them into the WIN Television network, with the branding now matching that of the Nine Network.

Prior to 2004, SES/RTS was the only commercial television station broadcasting in Mount Gambier and the south east of South Australia. The station broadcast a mixture of programs derived from the Seven Network, Nine Network and Network Ten. However, in 2004, WIN Television introduced a sole Network Ten affiliate, WIN Ten (MGS/LRS), becoming the second commercial television station in the region. Following this, SES/RTS became a sole Nine Network affiliate, only sport programs (particularly AFL matches) being acquired from the Seven Network.

SES and RTS, along with GTS/BKN, switched off its analogue signal on 15 December 2010 at 9am. SES and RTS plan on started providing the multichannels GO!, GEM, 7TWO, 7mate, One and Eleven, expanding to the south east area from 11 November 2011, with other areas completed by early 2012.

Channel Nine

WIN in South Australia, like its services in other states, was primarily an affiliate of the Nine Network. However, in September 2007, WIN Television announced plans to convert the station into a sole Seven Network affiliate, due to a disagreement with the Nine Network's owner, PBL Media, over affiliation advertising revenue.^[2] As a result of the switch, today, alongside the local news updates, WIN SA broadcasts Seven News and Today Tonight from SAS in Adelaide rather than Nine's, as well as Seven's national newscasts and Sunrise.

On 7 August 2009, WIN SA announced that a new digital only service, Channel Nine (or "WIN Nine"), would be starting on 4 October 2009.^[3] The channel is a direct feed of NWS-9 Adelaide, but with local commercials.

After SES's and RTS's analogue signal was switched off, the three services were rebranded as Seven, WIN and Ten SA.

News output

Up until February 2013, WIN News produced and broadcast a regional news bulletin for the combined SES/RTS region each weekday evening. Reporters and camera crews were based within the area at newsrooms in Mount Gambier and Loxton with the bulletin latterly broadcast from NWS-9's studios in Adelaide.

Up until October 2010, two separate bulletins were produced for the Mount Gambier and Riverland areas.^[4]

The last regional program was broadcast on Friday 15 February 2013 with the news service ceasing operations after the weekend, and ten staff at the Mount Gambier and Loxton newsrooms made redundant.

In 2014, WIN introduced short local news updates for the two areas, produced in co-operation with The Border Watch and The Murray Pioneer. The updates, presented by Britt Ditterich, air on all three WIN services during the 6pm timeslot (during Seven News and Today Tonight for Seven SA, The Project for Ten SA and Nine News for WIN SA). All 3 WIN channels also carry the SA and national editions of news programs of their respective partner networks, plus state and national updates from the latter as well as The Project (Ten SA only).

See also

• WIN Television
• Seven Network
• Nine Network

References

External links

• WIN Television
• ausTVhistory | WIN SA