GTS/BKN
| GTS: Spencer Gulf BKN: Broken Hill, New South Wales | |
|---|---|
| Branding | Southern Cross |
| Slogan | Your favorites, Your station |
| Channels |
Digital: GTS: 44 (UHF) GDS: 42 (UHF) BKN: 9 (VHF) BDN: 7 (VHF) |
| Affiliations |
GTS/BKN: Seven GDS/BDN: Nine |
| Owner |
Southern Cross Austereo (GTS: Spencer Gulf Telecasters Pty Ltd) (BKN: Broken Hill Television Pty Ltd) |
| First air date |
GTS: March 1, 1968 BKN: August 16, 1968 |
| Call letters' meaning |
GTS: Spencer Gulf Telecasters South Australia BKN: BroKen Hill New South Wales |
| Sister station(s) | SGS/SCN |
| Former channel number(s) |
Analog: GTS: 4 (VHF) BKN: 7 (VHF)[1] |
| Former affiliations | independent (1968-2006) |
| Transmitter power |
GTS:240 kW BKN:4 kW |
| Height |
GTS:627 m (digital) BKN:104 m[2] |
| Transmitter coordinates |
GTS: 33°6′14″S 138°9′51″E / 33.10389°S 138.16417°E BKN: 31°57′5″S 141°26′25″E / 31.95139°S 141.44028°E |
GTS/BKN, known on-air as Southern Cross GTS/BKN, 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 satellite offices in Broken Hill, Port Augusta, Whyalla and Port Lincoln, 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 SGS/SCN as a Ten affiliate. 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 star logo used by TNT Tasmania and TND Darwin.
Programming
The main Southern Cross GTS/BKN service carries programming from the Seven Network, including the Adelaide edition of Seven News' nightly 6pm bulletin. GDS/BDN broadcasts programs from the Nine Network and the state bulletin from NWS from Adelaide.
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.
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 Austereo's television headquarters in Canberra, with reporters and video journalists based at news bureaus in Port Pirie, Broken Hill, Port Augusta, Port Lincoln and Whyalla.
The day's bulletin is later uploaded on the bulletin's website.
See also
References
- ↑ "ACMA Stations Book Electronic Edition" (PDF). Australian Communications and Media Authority. July 2008. Archived from the original on 31 May 2008. Retrieved 4 January 2014.
- ↑ HAAT estimated from http://www.itu.int/SRTM3/ using EHAAT.