NETWORK TEN

ATV0 Melbourne
(1964)

TEN10 Sydney
(1965-1969)

ATV0 Melbourne
(1968)

TVQ0 Brisbane
(1965)

TEN10 Sydney
(1969-1983)

SAS10 Adelaide
(c.1970-1984)

ATV0 Melbourne
(1971)

ATV0 Melbourne
(1973)

ATV0 Melbourne
(1974-1980)

ATV10 Melbourne
(1980-83)

Network TEN
(1984-88)

TVQ0 Brisbane
(1982-88)

Network TEN
(1988-1989)

TEN
(1991-)

August 2004 marks the 40th anniversary of the launch of the first station in what is now Network Ten.

By 1963, the Government had announced plans to licence an additional commercial TV channel in the capital cities Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth.  In April 1963, Reginald Ansett's Austarama Television was awarded the licence to operate Melbourne's third commercial television station.  A few months later construction began on studios in the outer Melbourne suburb of Nunawading.  Later the same year, United Telecasters Sydney Limited was awarded the licence to operate Sydney's third commercial TV station and in September announced their new channel's callsign, TEN10.

After months of test transmissions, Melbourne's ATV Channel 0 made its official debut at 6.30pm Saturday 1 August 1964 with an opening preview by newsreader Barry McQueen and children's presenter Nancy Cato. The first live production, This Is It! followed at 7.00pm hosted by Ray Taylor, who would go on to host ATV0's regular Saturday night talk show.  

News Director Brian Wright presented ATV0's first news bulletin the following evening and from Monday 3 August, McQueen presented a 45-minute news bulletin every weeknight at 6.15pm, a move designed to entice viewers away from the traditional 6.30pm news bulletins on older rivals HSV7 and GTV9.

Sydney's TEN10, arrived on  5 April 1965 with the opening night highlighted by the lavish TV special TV Spells Magic, a musical extravaganza tracing the building of a television station.

TVQ0 Brisbane followed in 1 July 1965, and SAS10 Adelaide on 26 July 1965.  Prior to their launch, the four stations formed the Independent Television Network, which was shortly changed to the 0-10 Network. (The new Perth station, STW9, stayed independent of network affiliation until joining the Nine Network in the late 1970's)

Early local productions on the new 0-10 Network included pop shows like Go!!, Happening 70 (then 71 and 72) and Kommotion (featuring a young Ian "Molly" Meldrum); variety shows featuring Jimmy Hannan, Barry Crocker and Mike Walsh and the long running talent series Showcase. Early drama productions included The Rovers with Rowena Wallace, police drama The Long Arm and the sitcom Good Morning Mr Doubleday.

The 0-10 Network mostly lagged third in the ratings, particularly in Melbourne and Brisbane where it had to encourage viewers to convert older TV sets and aerials to receive the new '0' frequency, which was at the low end of the VHF band.

The turning point came with the arrival of popular dramas Matlock Police (1971-1976), Number 96 (1972-1977) and The Box (1974-1977) leading to 0-10 taking number one spot in the mid-1970s. Other popular 0-10 programs during the seventies included The Mike Walsh Show (1973-1976), Young Talent Time (1971-1989), The Price Is Right (1973), Blankety Blanks (1977-1978) and the international cult hit Prisoner (1979-1986).

In 1975 0-10, along with the other networks, converted to full-time colour transmission, although ATV0 produced the first colour program on Australian TV as early as 1967.

During the seventies, TEN10 and ATV0 launched the network's first one-hour news services.  Popular newsreader Katrina Lee joined the TEN10 news desk in 1978.  A young reporter by the name of Jana Wendt made her TV debut on ATV0's Eyewitness News in 1979, becoming newsreader alongside David Johnston in 1980, before moving to Nine's Sixty Minutes in 1982.

0-10 also scored a coup in 1978 when it secured the rights to televise the Melbourne Cup.  The following year, media tycoon Rupert Murdoch takes control of TEN10 Sydney and ATV0 Melbourne.

Falling ratings, increased reception problems across Melbourne and management fears over the negative connotations of the channel number '0', prompted ATV0 to change frequency to ATV10 on 20 January 1980.  The 0-10 Network became Network TEN, despite the Brisbane station continuing as TVQ0.

Despite some ratings disasters in the early eighties, the decade saw Network TEN perform very strongly, particularly in the years it had the Olympic Games coverage (the opening ceremony of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, telecast live to Australia on a Saturday morning, rated 56). In 1985, TEN took a gamble and resurrected the axed Seven Network soap Neighbours. The revamped series became an instant hit in Australia and overseas and is now the longest running drama on Australian TV.

With Neighbours and other successes like Perfect Match, Return To Eden, Prisoner, The Comedy Company, Good Morning Australia, Eyewitness News, the major blockbuster movies of the time and the big-budget Kennedy-Miller mini-series such as The Dismissal, Bodyline, Vietnam and Bangkok Hilton, TEN became a strong force against the top-rating Nine Network.

In 1987, all three commercial networks changed ownership with ATV10 and TEN10 under the ownership of Frank Lowy's Westfield Corporation.  TVQ0 Brisbane was sold to regional TV operator Darling Downs TV.  Perth businessman Kerry Stokes took control of NEW10 Perth, Capital Television (the Ten affiliate in Canberra), and the Seven Network station in Adelaide, ADS7.  To bring all three stations under the Ten Network, in a unique swap, ADS7 swapped frequencies with SAS10 and changed affiliation from Seven to Ten.

On 10 September 1988, TVQ0 Brisbane changed frequency to TVQ10.

By 1989 things were not looking so good with declining ratings and new shows like Roseanne, thirtysomething and E Street not rating as well as hoped.  American TV executive Bob Shanks was brought in to turn the network around.  His attempt to relaunch TEN as 10 TV Australia in July 1989 did little to help Ten's fortunes with the network soon going into receivership.

Former Nine Network chief Gary Rice then took charge of Network TEN and started reviving the network that was losing $2 million a week.  Rice relaunched Ten with a new logo and a new name, The Entertainment Network, in 1991.  The name later reverted back to TEN.

In 1992, Westpac Bank bought Ten out of receivership and later sold the network to a consortium headed by Canadian group CanWest.

During the nineties, TEN fought back with a programming strategy aimed towards the 16-39 age group and providing alternatives such as the 5pm Ten News.  The network soon became an extremely profitable operation with strong shares of the desired 16-39 demographic.

Popular shows of the decade have included imported shows like The Simpsons, The X Files, The Nanny, Seinfeld, Beverly Hills 90210 and Melrose Place.  Also featured during the decade were local shows Good Morning Australia, Healthy Wealthy and Wise, Heartbreak High, Jeopardy, State Coroner, The Panel, Sex/Life, Medivac, Big Sky and the popular 1998 mini-series Day Of The Roses. High ratings were also achieved with the 1994 Commonwealth Games and the Melbourne Cup telecasts (which continued to 2002).

After a failed ten-week stint hosting a late night show on Nine, Rove McManus moved across to TEN in 2000.  His prime-time program Rove Live became a success on Tuesdays with McManus winning three TV Week Gold Logies.

Digital Television began test transmissions on TEN in January 2000 and TEN Digital officially launched on 1 January 2001 providing benefits such as widescreen and high definition programming, and the potential for multi-view broadcast of sporting events.

In 2002, TEN  in association with Nine and Foxtel entered into a five year arrangement to televise the Australian Football League.  TEN has also lifted the profile for motor sports with major local events including the Bathurst 1000 and the Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix.

Other productions for TEN since 2000 have included Big Brother, Australian Idol, The Secret Life Of Us, Greed, White Collar Blue,  Skithouse, TTN, Thank God You're Here, the Australian version of The Biggest Loser, and imported shows like The Guardian, Everybody Loves Raymond, Charmed, the Law And Order franchise, House and Queer Eye For The Straight Guy.  Local drama has included telemovies Go Big, Blackjack, Small Claims, The Society Murders and the mini series Jessica. 

Long running programs such as Neighbours, Video Hits, Totally Wild and Sports Tonight continue well into the 2000s.  Good Morning Australia concluded at the end of 2005 and replaced in 2006 with 9AM With David And Kim.

However, TEN's longest running program is the Sunday morning Mass For You At Home, which began production at ATV0 in 1971 and continues in production today.

Related Links:
Network Ten
aus.tv.history - Network TEN

original text © TelevisionAU
26 July 2004
Revised 29 July 2006

Older TV sets had to be re-tuned to receive the new channel 0 frequency
(Picture: TV Times, 1964)

The infamous apartment block Number 96
(Picture: TV Week, 1973)

Ralphe Neill presented ATV0's Eyewitness News  in 1973
(Picture: TV Guide, 1973)

Cameron Daddo and Kerrie Friend in Perfect Match (Picture: TV WEEK, 1987)

10 TV Australia (1989-1991)

ATV10 newsreader David Johnston makes front page news as Ten announces radical budget cuts.
(Picture: The Herald Sun, 1990)

Anne Fulwood, Ten sports reporter, and later Ten's national late night newsreader up until 1995.

The cast of Neighbours - early 1990s

1950s