Nine Network
The Nine Network (stylised 9Network, commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of five main free-to-air television networks in Australia.[1]
This article is about the Australian television network. For other uses, see Channel 9. For the television station in St. Louis, Missouri, United States that formerly used the Nine Network name, see KETC.Type
1 Denison Street
North Sydney, New South Wales
Frank Packer (1956–1974)
Kerry Packer (Publishing and Broadcasting Limited) (1974–1987, 1990–2006)
Alan Bond (1987–1990)
PBL Media (2006–2010)
Nine Entertainment (2010–present)
16 September 1956
National Television Network (1956–1967)
National Nine Network (1967–1987)
Nine Network Australia (1987–1991)
1057 @ 8 (191.5 MHz)
1072 @ 8 (191.5 MHz)
1028 @ 8 (191.5 MHz)
1104 @ 8 (191.5 MHz)
1024 @ 8 (191.5 MHz)
90/80
From 2017 to 2021, the network's slogan was "We Are the One".[2] Since 2021, the network has changed its slogan back to the iconic Golden Era slogan "Still the One".
As of 2023, the Nine Network is the second-rated television network in Australia, behind the Seven Network, and ahead of the ABC TV, Network 10 and SBS.[3]
History[edit]
Origins[edit]
The Nine Network's first broadcasting station was launched in Sydney, New South Wales, as TCN-9 on 16 September 1956 by The Daily Telegraph owner Frank Packer.
John Godson introduced the station and former advertising executive Bruce Gyngell presented the first programme, This Is Television (so becoming the first person to appear on Australian television). Later that year, GTV-9 in Melbourne commenced transmissions to broadcast the 1956 Summer Olympics, later forming the National Television Network alongside QTQ-9 in Brisbane in 1959 and NWS-9 in Adelaide, the basis of the current Nine Network, in 1959. Before its formation, TCN-9 was then affiliated with HSV-7 (because alongside the Seven Network, they were both Australia's first television stations, having opened in 1956),[4] and GTV-9's sister affiliate was ATN-7.
The network, by 1967, had begun calling itself the National Nine Network, and became simply the Nine Network Australia in 1987. Kerry Packer inherited the company after his father's death in 1974. Before the official conversion to colour on 1 March 1975, it was the first Australian television station to regularly screen programmes in colour with the first program to use it premiering in 1971, the very year NTD-8 in Darwin commenced.
The New South Wales Rugby Football League grand final of 1967 became the first football grand final of any code to be televised live nationally. The Nine Network paid $5,000 (equivalent to $71,000 in 2022) to attain the broadcasting rights.[5]
Nine Network station STW-9 Perth, which opened in 1965, became owned-and-operated station when Alan Bond purchased the network for one billion dollars in 1987, a deal that became effective after government approvals in 1988. However, in 1989, Bond Media sold the station to Sunraysia Television for A$95 million, due to the federal cross-media ownership laws which restricted the level of national reach for media owners.[6] Nine, which then also included Channel 9 in Brisbane, fell back into the hands of Kerry Packer after Alan Bond's bankruptcy in 1992.
In 2011, GTV 9 Melbourne moved from 22 Bendigo Street, Richmond, to 717 Bourke Street, Docklands. 22 Bendigo Street started out as the Wertheim Piano Factory, then became the Heinz Soup Factory, then GTV9. The building in Bendigo Street still stands, now as luxury apartments.
The "Golden Era" (1977–2006)[edit]
Nine began using the slogan "Let Us Be The One" (based on The Carpenters' song Let Me Be the One and modelled on the ABC campaign used at the time in the United States) in 1977 and became the number-one free-to-air network in Australia; its National Nine News became the most-watched news service. In 1978, Nine switched its slogan to "Still the One" (modelled on the campaign used by ABC in the United States and using the Orleans song Still the One), which lasted until a decline in ratings in January 2006. During the 1980s, Nine's ratings peaked. From 1999 to 2001, the network began losing ground to the Seven network in news and entertainment, but received a boost after the coverage of the 11 September attacks in 2001. By 1991, the network was re-branded to its current branding. The death of CEO Kerry Packer in 2005 triggered more problems for the network. Digital terrestrial television was introduced on 1 January 2001.
Nine loses to Seven (2006–2008)[edit]
Nine stayed strong throughout 2003–04, winning 77 out of 80 ratings weeks across those two years (with Network Ten claiming the other three weeks),[7] but was hit hard when Seven introduced a new line-up in 2005, though Nine finished ahead of Seven that year. Meanwhile, National Nine News was overtaken by Seven News for the first time ever, while Today was beaten by Seven's fledgling Sunrise program.[8] In 2006, Nine continued on its downward trend, losing most news weeks to Seven News and just winning the year thanks to its coverage of the 2006 Commonwealth Games. To try to revitalise the network in its 50th anniversary, Nine adopted a new, but critically received, logo that removed the nine dots, which had been part of the network's identity since 1969. In May 2007, Nine partially re-introduced the Nine dots, which resulted in the square logo changing into a three-dimensional (3-D) cube that rotates, with the dots visible on every second side of the cube.
After a period of declining ratings, David Gyngell returned to the job of chief executive officer in October 2007, succeeding Eddie McGuire.
In 2007, despite several hits, Seven won the whole year by a significant margin. The Seven Network had won 38 weeks, whereas the Nine Network only won two.
The Network expanded into Northern NSW with the acquisition on NBN Television in May 2007. However, NBN was retained as an independent Nine affiliate following the acquisition. Deborah Wright who had been doing various roles for the station was promoted to CEO.
Expanding digital services (2008–2014)[edit]
In 2008, as part of a major relaunch, the network dropped the blue box, and reinstated its nine dots in its logo, with a CGI look. After losing viewers to Seven News, Nine relaunched its news service as Nine News, which managed to win more weeks over Seven in the first half of 2008. Nine also launched a break-out hit, Underbelly, which attracted over 2.5 million viewers in its first season. Nine tried to attract younger demographics, so while Seven went on to win the ratings year in total people, Nine was rated the number one network in the key 18–49 and 25–54 demographics.
In March 2008, the Nine Network launched and debuted a high-definition channel called Nine HD on channel 90 until 2010.
In 2009, Nine started relatively strongly due to the top-rating Australian drama Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities and the Twenty20 Cricket series until Nine lost the rights in 2018 but could not hold its audience after Network Ten's MasterChef Australia became a hit. Nine became inconsistent with scheduling and removal of programmes. Nine also launched a number of reality shows, including Ladette to Lady, Wipeout Australia, HomeMADE, Australia's Perfect Couple, and The Apprentice Australia, in the hope of achieving the same success other networks had with the genre. All the new formats underperformed in the ratings and did not help the network establish any stable local content. Nine also expanded its news strand with the reintroduction of a late-night bulletin (for its owned-and-operated stations), an extended morning bulletin and weekend editions of Today. The flagship 6:00 pm state bulletins continued to fall in the ratings, though its Melbourne bulletin remained competitive, being the only market to win any weeks against Seven News.[9]
In August 2009, Nine launched and debuted its own digital multi-channel called GO! on Channel 99, primarily aimed at a younger demographic. The shares from GO! contributed to Nine's weekly shares and allowed it to enjoy several weeks of weekly ratings wins. In September, the network took on a new slogan, "Welcome Home", and revamped its graphic package. With the resurgence of Nine News, growth of Today, stabilisation of 60 Minutes and a new programme line-up consisting of Hey Hey It's Saturday, Underbelly and Sea Patrol, Nine enjoyed more ratings success.
In 2010, Nine obtained the rights to exclusive coverage of the Sydney New Year's Eve fireworks. GO! won the year in digital shares only. On 26 September 2010, Nine launched and debuted their third digital channel GEM (an acronym of General Entertainment and Movies) on Channel 90. In 2011, the Nine Network announced a new "Home of Comedy" line-up with comedy shows such as Two and a Half Men, The Big Bang Theory, and other American sitcoms, along with the launch of a live comedy show Ben Elton Live From Planet Earth, which was cancelled after only three episodes due to low ratings. Nine also brought back This Is Your Life with Eddie McGuire as host, although the series was cancelled after airing four episodes. The Nine Network had success in the ratings in the second half of 2011 with The Block, Underbelly: Razor, and The Celebrity Apprentice Australia. The highly anticipated return of a revamped ninth season of Two and a Half Men proved a huge success for the network, generating 2.3 million viewers and dominating the week as top program.[10] The return of new episodes of the popular sitcom The Big Bang Theory was also a huge success for the network, scoring high figures consistently week after week and dominating the evening as top program. Despite this, the Nine Network finished in second place in the ratings again in 2011 on 19.6%, behind the Seven Network (23.1%) and ahead of the Network Ten (15.9%), ABC TV (12.2%) and SBS (4.6%).[11]
On 24 November 2011, the Nine Network announced the line-up for 2012, with a focus on reality programs, including an Australian version of The Voice, the return of Big Brother, Excess Baggage, and The Celebrity Apprentice Australia.[12] The Nine Network also aired coverage of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. A new morning show, Mornings, replaced the departure of Kerri-Anne Kennerley's self-titled show, after nine years on air.[12] The program, now called Today Extra, is hosted by Sylvia Jeffreys and David Campbell.
On 26 March 2012, the Nine Network launched and debuted Extra, a new channel aimed at delivering home shopping, brand funded, religious, community, educational and multi-cultural programming content created by advertisers.[13][14][15] Its timeshift channel, Extra 2, launched on 28 March 2013 on channel 95 and channel 85 in NBN areas as a five-hour timeshift.[16] As a result, the quality of sister channel 9Gem was cut.[17]
On 15 April 2012, the Nine Network new rebrand visual identity for Channel Nine logo with the enhanced colour palette, which uses lighter shades of blue and more white gradients, including color from the brand identity, this was part identity since 2001 Nine Network logo.
It was reported on 31 May 2012 that the Australian telecommunications company Telstra and WIN Television Network CEO, Bruce Gordon, are considering making a takeover bid for Nine Entertainment.[18][19] The network currently is trying to fight off administration as it deals with a debt exceeding A$3.3 billion.
It was reported on 3 June 2013 that the Nine Network would immediately purchase Adelaide affiliate NWS-9 from the WIN Corporation as part of a deal to secure international cricket television rights.[20] On 3 July 2013, it was reported that Nine would exercise an option to also buy STW-9 from WIN Corporation.[21] Both purchases have resulted in these stations being, once again, O&O stations of the network for the first time since the 1980s.
On 8 November 2013, FIXPlay was merged into Jump-in, later renamed to 9Jumpin in May 2014, integrating catch-up TV with interactive social media.[22]
As of 10 December 2013, Nine no longer broadcasts on analogue TV and is now only available through digital TV or digital set-top box.
On 27 January 2014, the Nine Network have stopped using the Supertext logo and have switched to their own Closed Captioning logo.
Availability[edit]
The Nine Network is simulcast in standard and high-definition digital. Nine's core programming is fibre-fed out of GTV Melbourne to its sister stations and affiliates, with TCN Sydney providing national news and current affairs programming. The current affairs programming was originally done at GTV before moving to TCN in 2012. The receiving stations and affiliates then insert their own localised news and advertising which is then broadcast in metropolitan areas and Northern NSW via owned-and-operated stations, including TCN Sydney, GTV Melbourne, QTQ Brisbane, NWS Adelaide, STW Perth, NTD Darwin and NBN Northern New South Wales. Nine Network programming is also carried into the rest of regional Australia by affiliate networks: WIN Television, Southern Cross Television and Imparja Television. Nine is also broadcast via satellite and cable on Foxtel.
In 2013, the Nine Network switched their captioning provider from Red Bee Media to Ai-Media.[61][62]
9 July 1969 – 29 January 2006
1 January 2001 – 29 January 2006
30 January 2006 – 13 January 2008
14 January 2008 – present
15 April 2012 – present
The Nine Network logo, which consists of a numeral "9" beside nine dots arranged in a 3x3 grid, is one of the most recognisable logos in Australia.[63]
In 1997, the dots were changed to spheres. The spheres returned to dots as a new on-air identity package was created by Velvet mediendesign in 2001.[64]
This logo was redesigned by Velvet Mediendesign on 1 January 2001, with the introduction of digital TV in Australia and new graphics.[64]
On 1 September 2002, the dots were changed back to spheres from the 1997 logo as well as the numeral becoming 3D for their "7 colours for 7 days" presentation package.
On 30 January 2006, the network and its affiliates relaunched their logos to coincide with Nine's 50th anniversary.
A numeral nine was reworked with a few rounded corners eliminated in process. This logo would use a blue square featuring the numeral altered, which saw the removal of the nine dots again. The graphics package used during that time was designed by Bruce Dunlop Associates.[63]
Later on 15 January 2007, the blue square became solid, and in May they partially relaunched the nine dots, which are visible on every second surface of the box. This logo continued to be used in Perth and Adelaide stations until March 2010, when they reinstated the nine-dots logo.[65]
On 14 January 2008, Nine completely reinstated the nine dots logo, but with a different design. The slogan used with this logo was "we♥TV", which had also been used in December 2007 with the previous logo. This time, the dots are now a bit bigger, like the 1969 logo and the numeral 9 from the previous 2006 logo would continue.
This logo would first be used in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Darwin markets but the logo would not be used in both Perth and Adelaide markets, until March 2010, due to being owned by WIN Corporation at the same time.
As a part of a major relaunch, the entire logo became 3D on the same day as part of a short-lived rebrand. The nine dots are represented by translucent 3D discs during that year. The music used throughout the network's ID's and promotions was "Smile"' by The Supernaturals, released in 1997. This logo would only be used in 4 metropolitan markets.
On 1 February 2009, the dots are once again 2D as part of a short-lived rebrand, which lasted until 26 September.
On 27 September, the dots are changed to spheres from the 1997 logo yet again when the network's original slogan "Welcome Home" was launched. It also began to re-use the iconic "Still The One" theme tune from 1992 in one of the ID's. The dots is smaller, like the previous 2001 logo and in March 2010, the dots were reinstated in both Perth and Adelaide markets.[63]
Incidents[edit]
In March 2021, Thomas Sewell, leader of a neo-Nazi group, and an associate who filmed the incident, went to the Channel 9 Melbourne studios and asked to speak to news staff, before attacking a security guard who was trying to escort him out. Sewell was charged with affray, recklessly causing injury and assault.[66]