GTS/BKN

GTS/BKN studios in Broken Hill

GTS/BKN, known on-air as Southern Cross Television, is an Australian regional television station serving the Spencer Gulf of South Australia and the Broken Hill area of New South Wales. Based in Port Pirie, South Australia with a satellite office in Broken Hill and studio and playout facilities based in Canberra, the station's name originates from the original Port Pirie and Broken Hill stations' callsigns, GTS-4 Port Pirie and BKN-7 Broken Hill.

History

GTS signed on for the first time on 1 March 1968. BKN followed soon afterward, on 16 August. In 1974, the stations (and their repeaters) merged to form Spencer Gulf Telecasters and broadcast under the name Central GTS/BKN. The company was bought by Southern Cross Broadcasting (SCB) in 2000, though it retained the Central name until the end of 2005.

Due to their areas' sparse populations, after aggregation they remained among the few stations in Australia that continued to cherry-pick programming from all three networks, though from 2000 onward it began favouring Seven through its affiliation with Southern Cross Television. In 2003, Spencer Gulf Telecasters won the right to broadcast a second station in the same area, and in January 2004 started broadcasting Southern Cross Ten (callsign SGS in Port Pirie and SCN in Broken Hill). Since 31 October 2010, GTS/BKN has also operated a third station relaying Nine Network programs from Sydney and Adelaide (callsign GDS in Port Pirie and BDN in Broken Hill).

In January 2006, Central GTS/BKN was renamed Southern Cross GTS/BKN, changing its logo to the same one currently used by Southern Cross Tasmania and Southern Cross Darwin. The Southern Cross Ten logo was also updated to the current logo used by Southern Cross Ten stations elsewhere.

Programming

The main Southern Cross GTS/BKN service carries programming from the Seven Network, including the Adelaide edition of Seven News' nightly 6pm bulletin. SGS/SCN, as part of Southern Cross Ten, is the area Network Ten partner network with the national news programming from TEN-10 Sydney and the local Ten Eyewitness News broadcast from ADS-10 being aired while GDS/BDN broadcasts programs from the Nine Network but the state bulletin from TCN from Sydney (despite Southern Cross' broadcast area is located along the Adelaide time zone), as well as all Nine news programs produced there, are telecast in this service.

News

Southern Cross News is GTS/BKN's half-hour regional news program, airing at 6:30pm on weeknights, following Seven News Adelaide in place of Today Tonight South Australia. The bulletin is presented by Tim Hatfield from Southern Cross's Canberra headquarters, with reporters and video journalists based at news bureaus in Port Pirie, Broken Hill, Port Augusta, Port Lincoln and Whyalla.

GTS/BKN during the late 1970s & mid 1980s produced their own local commercials and tv shows like "Panel Probe, Woman's World, Cue and local documentaries".

See also

• Southern Cross Television

References

External links

• Official site