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Early Austalian Television Timeline

  • Experimental Broadcasts

    Melbourne was the first city to experiment with broadcasting television inside Australia.
  • TV Begins As National Service

    ABC starting in Sydney and then gradually rolled out to other areas. Commercial stations were also introduced in areas that had enough presence to justify the licencing.
  • Royal Commission

    After being pressured by the public, Government introduced Royal Commission.
  • First Commercial Television Licences Issued

    After the ABCB conducted public health hearings into allocation of licence distribution, licences were given to Herald and Weekly Times, General Television Corporation; which were based in Melbourne. As well as Amalgamated Television Services and Television Corporation; which were in Sydney..
  • 5% of Melbourne households and 1% of Sydney households own a TV set.

  • TCN9: The First Television Station To Begin Regular Transmissions

    The Sydney based station begins regular transmissions and introduced the first program: This Is Television.
  • VFL Televised

    The Victorian Football League televised for the first time, and stations getting the rights to broadcast the final quarter of league matches live.
  • First Issue of TV Week Released

  • TV Week Awards

    Beginning of the Logie Awards.
  • ABC Launches Its Own Magazine: TV News