STW

STW
Perth, Western Australia
Branding Nine
Channels Digital: 8 (VHF)
Virtual: 9
Affiliations Nine (O&O)
Owner Nine Entertainment Co.
(Swan Television & Radio Broadcasters Pty Ltd)
First air date 12 June 1965
Call letters' meaning Swan
Television
Western Australia
Former channel number(s) Analog: 9 (VHF) (1965-2013)
Former affiliations independent (1965–79)
0-Ten Network (Late 1960s-early 1970s)
Transmitter power 50 kW (digital)
Height 327 m (digital) [1]
Transmitter coordinates 31°59′53″S 116°4′20″E / 31.99806°S 116.07222°E / -31.99806; 116.07222
Website 9now.com.au

STW is an Australian television station owned by the Nine Network that is based in Perth, Australia. STW broadcasts with a transmitter mast located in Walliston. The station callsign, STW, is an acronym of Swan Television, Western Australia.

History

Origins

STW-9 commenced broadcasting on 12 June 1965 and was the second commercial television station in Perth. It and TVW-7 were two independently owned stations until 1977, when STW affiliated itself with the Nine Network. (TVW remained independently owned until 1988.) It became the first station in Perth to broadcast 24 hours a day on 17 April 1984. In 1983, the station came under the ownership of Bond Media, owned by businessman Alan Bond, and became a Nine Network owned and operated station when Bond purchased the network. In 1989, Bond Media sold the station to Sunraysia Television for A$95 million. The deal also involved Bond Media purchasing the Sunraysia owned STV-8 for A$18 million. Bond Media was forced to sell due to the Federal cross-media ownership laws, which restricted the level of national reach for media owners.[2]

2000s

In January 2007, Sunraysia Television posted a profit warning, from an expected 12% drop in revenue over the previous six months, citing a weak local advertising market and low ratings, despite a strong state economy.[3] The profit warning lead to speculation of a potential takeover of STW-9, with PBL and regional network WIN Television indicated as potential bidders.[4] PBL Media announced in February 2007 that it would purchase STW-9 for A$136.4 million, with the deal to be completed in late March or early April subject to shareholder approval.[5] After PBL Media bid for the station, 45% shareholder WIN Corporation wanted to buy out the station itself. WIN lodged two bids. In June 2007, shareholders approved the revised WIN bid. In 2013 Nine Entertainment Co. purchased STW from WIN Corporation and gained control of the station from 30 September 2013. This returned STW to being a Nine owned-and-operated station for the first time since 1989, with Nine now owning all five Nine-branded metropolitan stations.

2010s

On 19 September 2016, Channel Nine Perth began the move to new studios located at 253-267 St Georges Terrace, Perth, after 51 years at its original location in Dianella. [6]

Programming

News & Current Affairs

Nine News national services broadcast on STW include Today, Weekend Today, Nine's Early Morning News, Nine's Morning News, Nine News: First at 5, Nine News Now (live simulcast from TCN-9; AEST/AEDT dependent), A Current Affair and 60 Minutes.

Nine News Perth

Nine News Perth is produced and broadcast live from STW's studios in Perth Western Australia every night at 6pm across Perth and regional Western Australia. This news service, in August 1974, was the first in Australia to be converted to using colour broadcasts, beating other cities in the process.

Despite the national dominance of Nine News for many years until the mid-2000s, as well as recently between 2013 and 2015,[7] the Perth bulletin has failed to match the ratings success seen in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, and remains the worst-performing bulletin in its market, often trailing rival Seven News Perth by over 100,000 viewers.[8] This is reflected in the frequent position changes that have taken place at STW over the past twenty years.[9][10]

Presenters

Weeknights

Weekends

Reporters

Local programming

Past local programming

In recent years, STW-9 has also produced and broadcast local news, current affairs & feature programming including a Western Australia edition of A Current Affair, a localised 4.30pm afternoon news bulletin, gardening series Garden Gurus (which continues to air on Nine Network stations), lifestyle series Just Add Water and travel series Postcards WA.

Appealathon

In its 30 years, Channel Nine Perth's Appealathon has raised in excess of $53.5 million. Since 1975, Appealathon has supported four specific charities with Appealathon funds: the Activ Foundation, Civilian Maimed & Limbless Association, Paraplegic/Quadriplegic Association and Rocky Bay. Many other organisations are helped as well on a yearly basis. The Appealathon is involved in over 50 fundraising events and projects across Perth each year.

Broadcasting details

Locations of transmitters broadcasting STW

Analogue main channel frequency (to 25 June 2013): VHF-9 @ 196.25 MHz (Bandwidth: 7 MHz PAL)
Digital transport stream frequency (as of 25 June 2013): VHF-8 @ 191.5 MHz (Bandwidth: 7 MHz 64-QAM

Digital Channels
LCN Service Image Quality Compression Quality
9 9 720x576i16:9 SD H.262 video @ 5550 kbit/s
Dolby Digital audio @ 256 kbit/s
MPEG-1 Audio Layer II @ 256 kbit/s
90 9HD 1440x1080i HD Lite H.262 video @ 15250 kbit/s video
Dolby Digital audio @ 448kbit
92 9Gem 720x576i16:9 SD H.262 video @ 5550 kbit/s
Dolby Digital audio @ 256 kbit/s
MPEG-1 Audio Layer II @ 256 kbit/s
93/99 9Go! 720x576i 16:9 SD H.262 video
MPEG-1 Audio Layer II @ 256 kbit/s
94 9Life 720x576i 16:9 SD H.262 video
MPEG-1 Audio Layer II @ 256 kbit/s
95 extra 720x576i 16:9 SD H.262 video
MPEG-1 Audio Layer II @ 256 kbit/s

References

  1. ↑ HAAT estimated from http://www.itu.int/SRTM3/ using EHAAT.
  2. ↑ Webb, Richard (20 April 1989). "Sunraysia settles STW-9 purchase". Australian Financial Review.
  3. ↑ Canning, Simon (1 October 2007). "STW profits hit by ad drop". The Australian. Retrieved 1 October 2007.
  4. ↑ Murray, Lisa (10 January 2007). "WIN, Packer seen as rival bidders for Perth Channel 9". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 10 January 2007.
  5. ↑ "PBL Media buys Channel Nine Perth". The Age. 21 February 2007. Retrieved 21 February 2007.
  6. ↑ Claire Abraham (19 September 2016). "9NEWS Perth paves the way with Australia's most modern news studio". Nine News. Retrieved 19 September 2016.
  7. ↑ Bodey, Michael (20 July 2015). "TV ratings: Nine’s the one again when it comes to news". The Australian. Retrieved 7 June 2017.
  8. ↑ McHugh, Jillian (9 December 2012). "Tim McMillan replaces Greg Pearce at Nine". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
  9. ↑ Barnes, Candice (24 February 2015). "Libby out, Emmy in on Nine's Perth news desk". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
  10. ↑ "Nine Perth turns 50". TelevisionAU. 12 June 2015. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
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