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HSV (TV station)

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HSV
Channels
BrandingSeven
Programming
AffiliationsSeven (O&O)
Ownership
Owner
History
First air date
4 November 1956; 68 years ago (1956-11-04)
Former channel number(s)
Analog: 7 (VHF) (1956–2013)
Australian Television Network (1956–1963)
Call sign meaning
Herald
Sun
Victoria
Technical information
Licensing authority
Australian Communications & Media Authority
ERP200 kW (analog)
50 kW (digital)
HAAT555 m (both)[1]
Transmitter coordinates37°50′8″S 145°20′52″E / 37.83556°S 145.34778°E / -37.83556; 145.34778 (HSV)
Links
Website7plus.com.au/seven-news-melbourne

HSV is a television station in Melbourne, Australia. It is part of the Seven Network, one of the three main commercial television networks in Australia, its first and oldest station. It launched in time for the 1956 Summer Olympic Games in Melbourne. HSV-7 is the home of AFL coverage.

The HSV building (also known as 'Broadcast Centre Melbourne') was the network's operations hub, where the Master Control Room was located, controlling all metropolitan and regional feeds. Its headquarters is next to Etihad Stadium (now Marvel Stadium). Programming lineup, advertisement output, feed switching, time zone monitoring and national transmission output was previously delivered there. All Seven Network owned and operated studios had their live signals relayed there: for instance, ATN's output was fed to HSV and then transmitted via satellite or fibre optics to towers around metropolitan Sydney. In 2019 this function was transferred to a new centre in Sydney as part of a joint venture with Nine Network. As with other Melbourne terrestrial stations, its original transmission tower was atop Mount Dandenong.

History

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HSV-7 began test transmissions in July 1956, becoming the first 7 station in Australia and the first television station in Melbourne. It began broadcasting on 4 November,[2] soon after the Commonwealth Government started issuing television licences. In the opening ceremony, Eric Pearce declared :

"We dedicate this station to the full service of the community. To Australian life – the happy families in the homes – we promise to serve you faithfully and well".

HSV-7 and rival station GTV-9 were formed in time to broadcast the Melbourne Olympics, while Sydney stations TCN-9 and ATN-7 in Sydney relayed the Melbourne coverage. HSV-7 was originally owned by the Herald & Weekly Times, owners of The Herald and The Sun (now merged as the Herald Sun). These two newspapers gave rise to the call sign HSV (the 'V' stands for Victoria, as is the normal protocol for television call signs to have the third letter indicate the state where the station is licensed, although for publicity purposes HSV was said to stand for Herald Sun Vision just as sister station ATN became the Australian Television Network rather than New South Wales).

The station's "Melbourne's Alive" promo, which ran in 1999.

In March 1960, the station converted an old cinema in Fitzroy into the southern hemisphere's first fully remote studio, equipped with RCA TRT video tape recorders, camera cranes and AV mixing equipment. It featured a larger stage and backstage rooms, and audience capacity for up to 600. It was called the Channel 7 Teletheatre and connected to the station's main Dorcas Street studios in South Melbourne by multiple microwave links. The teletheatre opened with a major live show featuring the US entertainer Bob Crosby and his band and the British comedian Jimmy Edwards, among others. Many popular children's shows and variety programs (e.g. Sunnyside Up and The Happy Show) originated there in front of live audiences.

This station commissioned many of Australian TV's earliest and longest-running courtroom and police procedural dramatic series such as Crawford's Consider Your Verdict and Homicide.

One of the longest-serving station and general managers during the transformative years into international satellite links and color transmissions was Ron Casey. By the late 1960s, Channel 7 was demonstrating PAL color TV to crowds visiting the annual Royal Melbourne Show.

The station began to identify as Channel Seven in the late 1960s, and in the early 1970s used the national Seven Network logos. It followed the network's on-air presentation and programming. In 1979, John Fairfax & Sons bought a substantial share of HSV-7 after many failed bids for the entire station.[citation needed] In December 1986, the station was purchased by News Limited. In February 1987 HSV-7 was sold back to Fairfax, along with Brisbane station BTQ-7. As a result of the payback, HSV's unique faces – World of Sport, Mal Walden and its Hello Melbourne campaign, Australia's contribution to Frank Gari's Hello News campaigns were all ended. By 1987 its rights to Australian rules football telecasts were taken by ABC's state station ABV-2. Walden later moved to Ten (ATV-10) as a result of this.

In late 1987, the government introduced cross-media ownership laws which forced Fairfax to choose between its print and broadcast operations. It chose print, and HSV-7 was sold to Christopher Skase's Qintex, which already owned Seven stations in Sydney, Adelaide and Perth.[citation needed] Skase pledged to revitalize the channel and its programs, and to return it to its prior success among Melbourne viewers. In 1990, Qintex was sent into damage control after Skase escaped extradition proceedings, and the Seven Network became a discrete company. Entrepreneur Kerry Stokes bought the network in 1995. On 10 December 2013, HSV-7 terminated its analogue signal as part of the switchover to digital transmission. At around 8:54am local time, HSV-7's analogue signal broke away from Sunrise to air a montage of the history of its analogue broadcasts from all the way back in the 50s and 60s. The signal was then cut off after the montage.[3]

Headquarters

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Broadcast Centre Melbourne, was the centre of programming operations for the entire Seven Network up until 2019 and currently the headquarters for HSV

HSV's production studios and headquarters were originally located at the Dorcas Street Studios in South Melbourne. HSV remained there until March 2002 when news, current affairs and sport shows were moved to new headquarters at Docklands and the Dorcas Street Studios were closed. Docklands Studios Melbourne and Global Television is home to HSV's studio facilities for the Seven Network's Melbourne-based entertainment, drama and reality programmes shows such as Dancing with the Stars (Australian TV series) and the quiz show The Chase Australia.

HSV's headquarters, known on-air as Broadcast Centre Melbourne or BCM, are located near the Docklands Stadium in Docklands. On 11 March 2002, the first Seven News Melbourne bulletin, presented by Peter Mitchell, was first broadcast from the new HSV building. The centre consists of three studios: a theatre studio, a production studio and a news studio that opens onto the newsroom. The building is used as the transmission control centre for Seven's owned-and-operated stations in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth and regional areas of Queensland. Approximately 200 full-time employees work in the building with an additional 100 part-timers. In 2005, the HSV building experienced a power failure that resulted in a blackout across the Seven Network, as well as all regional affiliates.[4]

The HSV studios produces Seven News Melbourne and was the main play-out centre for sports broadcasting. While broadcasting on air, national news programs often refer to HSV as 'News Centre', while 'Sports Central' (or 'Footy Central' for AFL broadcasts) is commonly used for sports programs.

2019 saw the Seven Network move its main play-out centre to NPC Media in Sydney.[5]

After more than two decades the Seven Network announced in 2024 that HSV7 would be moving its operations to Collins Street, Melbourne. The BCM facility at docklands is expected to close in early 2025 with Seven Melbourne staff to move into a newly built office tower located within the Melbourne Quarter development.[6]

Programming

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Locally produced programs by or with HSV-7 Melbourne:

HSV Studios

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Location

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Seven Melbourne is also the official broadcaster for these major events in Melbourne.

Past programming

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News and current affairs

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Entertainment

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Drama

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Sport

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Seven News

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A tram in Seven News Melbourne wrap livery outside Melbourne Town Hall.
Wideshot of Melbourne's news studio, with Peter Mitchell presenting.

Seven News Melbourne is directed by Chris Salter and presented by Peter Mitchell on weeknights and Mike Amor on weekends from Broadcast Centre Melbourne, located at Docklands. Sport is presented by Rebecca Maddern on weeknights and Abbey Gelmi on weekends. Weather is presented by certified meteorologist Jane Bunn on weeknights and Sonia Marinelli on weekends.

Peter Mitchell previously held the role of weekend presenter for then-titled Seven Nightly News between 1987 and 2000 when he replaced the short-lived presenting duo of David Johnston and Anne Fulwood. Jennifer Keyte was appointed as main weeknight presenter in 1990, becoming Australia's first solo female primetime commercial news presenter.[citation needed] In a network reshuffle in 1996, Keyte terminated her employment after the Seven Network attempted to pair her with David Johnston, who went on to present solo for three years.[citation needed] She returned in 2003, assuming the role as weekend presenter, succeeding Jennifer Adams.

In May 2018, Network Ten announced that Keyte would leave Seven Network to present Ten Eyewitness News Melbourne replacing Stephen Quartermain.[7] In August 2018, it was announced that Mike Amor would move back to Australia after 17 years as United States Bureau Chief to replace Keyte as weekend presenter.

Following decades of trailing Nine News Melbourne, 10 News First Melbourne (previously Ten Eyewitness News, Ten News at Five, Ten Evening News and Ten News: First at Five) and ABC News Victoria in the ratings, Seven News Melbourne won the ratings battle from February 2005. As of 2007, Seven News held the number one position.[8] This was followed by a series of advertisements and promos which touted Seven News Melbourne as Melbourne's New #1 and Nine altering their promotions to simply say Melbourne's Best News – a throwback to the 1980s when National Nine News Melbourne was beaten in the ratings by ATV-10's Ten Eyewitness News. But, it was replaced in 2009 when Nine News returned to win the Melbourne news ratings battle.

In January 2022, it was announced that Rebecca Maddern would return to the Seven Network to present 7NEWS Melbourne on weekends with Mike Amor.

Until 2022, during the AFL season, Peter Mitchell and the weeknight team would present from Sunday to Thursday and Mike Amor and the weekend team would present on Friday and Saturday nights.

In November 2024, Tim Watson announced that he would be retiring after 30 years with the network from December.[9] It was announced that Rebecca Maddern will step into an expanded role with Seven News Melbourne starting January 2025, as Chief Sports Presenter.[10][11]

Afternoon news updates for Melbourne are presented by Amor or Carvalho, while Mitchell presents weeknight updates. Amor presents weekend news updates. Karina Carvalho and Blake Johnson is a fill-in news presenter with Laura Spurway and Theo Doropoulos as the fill-in sport presenters and Melina Sarris, Tyra Stowers and Estelle Griepink as fill-in weather presenters.

In August 2015, Seven News Melbourne began producing a local Seven Afternoon News bulletin replacing the national bulletin. Amor and Maddern present the bulletin on alternate days. In 2020, owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, that bulletin temporary included news items from South Australia following the cancellation of the statewide afternoon bulletin from SAS-7 in Adelaide before the network reinstated it due to viewer opposition and the threat faced by the local Nine News team on Seven's news dominance.

Presenters

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Current presenters
Role Bulletins
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday
News Peter Mitchell (2000–present) Mike Amor (2018–present)
Sport Rebecca Maddern (2025–present) Abbey Gelmi (2022–present)
Weather Jane Bunn (2014–present) Sonia Marinelli (2022–present)

Reporters

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  • Karina Carvalho (Senior Reporter/Fill-in News Presenter)
  • Blake Johnson (Senior Reporter/Fill-in News Presenter)
  • Nick McCallum (Senior Reporter)
  • Paul Dowsley (Senior Reporter)
  • Jackie Quist (Senior Reporter)
  • Christie Cooper (Senior Reporter)
  • Kristy Mayr (Senior Reporter)
  • Hope Wilson (Senior Reporter)
  • Rochelle Brown (Senior Reporter)
  • Kathleen O’Connor (Senior Reporter)
  • Melina Sarris (Senior Reporter and Weather Presenter)
  • Estelle Griepink (Senior Reporter)
  • Sonia Marinelli (Senior Reporter and Weather Presenter)
  • Jordy Wright (Senior Reporter)
  • Sara Jones (Senior Reporter)
  • Bethan Yeoman (Senior Reporter)
  • Ainsley Koch (Senior Reporter)
  • Tyra Stowers (Senior Reporter)

Sport Reporters

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  • Mitch Cleary (Chief AFL Reporter)
  • Theo Doropoulos (Senior AFL Reporter)
  • Laura Spurway (Sport Reporter)
  • Xander McGuire (Sport Reporter)

Sunrise & The Morning Show Correspondent

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  • Teegan Dolling (Sunrise Correspondent)
  • Andrew McCormack (Sunrise Correspondent)

Canberra Bureau

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  • Mark Riley (Canberra Political Bureau Chief)
  • Rob Scott (Canberra Political Reporter)

Overseas Bureaus

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  • Tim Lester (Los Angeles Correspondent)
  • Mylee Hogan (Los Angeles Correspondent)
  • Hugh Whitfeld (Europe Bureau Chief)
  • Ashlee Mullany (Europe Correspondent)

Past Presenters

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Past Reporters

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  • Greg Shackleton (mid 1970s)
  • Dean Felton
  • Heath O'Loughlin (2000–2006)
  • Dylan Howard (2005–2008)
  • Leith Mulligan (2008–2012)
  • Amy Parks (2009–2013)
  • Michael Felgate (2004–2012; 2014–2019)
  • Brendan Donohoe (1990–2020)
  • Jade Robran
  • Karen O'Sullivan (2004–2018)
  • Michael Scanlan (2012–2018)
  • Peter Beaton (1987–1995)
  • Laurel Irving (2008–2021)
  • Nathan Templeton (2012–2022)
  • Mark Stevens (2013–2021)
  • Alan Murrell
  • Tom Browne
  • Cameron Baud (2010–2024)
  • Sharnelle Vella (2017–2024)

See also

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References

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  1. ^ HAAT estimated from http://www.itu.int/SRTM3/ using EHAAT.
  2. ^ Communications – Television – Radio and telecommunications – The transmitting tower of Herald-Sun Television Pty Limited at Mount Dandenong, Victoria – Shown at the base of the tower are parabolic discs that pick up the signal transmitted by the studios in the city[permanent dead link‍] National Archives of Australia 1956 Retrieved 18 December 2008
  3. ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVRcLGQevwU Analogue-only closedown and montage
  4. ^ "Blackout leaves Heelers fans hanging". Sydney Morning Herald. 14 April 2005. Retrieved 26 April 2015.
  5. ^ "SEVEN streamlines operations with move of Playout Facility from Melbourne to Sydney". 21 August 2019.
  6. ^ "7 Melbourne moving to a new home". 7 February 2024.
  7. ^ "Jennifer Keyte Joins Network Ten As Presenter – ten daily". tendaily.com.au. Retrieved 30 May 2018.
  8. ^ "How Seven trumped Nine". The Age. Melbourne. 14 June 2007. Archived from the original on 17 June 2007. Retrieved 27 June 2007.
  9. ^ "Tim Watson confirms retirement from Seven News | TV Tonight". tvtonight.com.au. 11 November 2024. Retrieved 16 November 2024.
  10. ^ "More moves at Seven as much-loved presenter takes on 'dream job'". 7NEWS. 16 November 2024. Retrieved 16 November 2024.
  11. ^ "Rebecca Maddern to succeed Tim Watson at Seven News Melbourne | TV Tonight". tvtonight.com.au. 17 November 2024. Retrieved 16 November 2024.
  12. ^ The Age, 1 November 1956 – TelevisionAU
  13. ^ Mary Parker dies - ABC.net.au
  14. ^ Mary Parker dies - ABC.net.au
  15. ^ TV Week, 28 December 1968 – TelevisionAU
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