VTV (TV station)

Infobox_Broadcast
call_letters = VTV
city =
station_
station_slogan = We Heart TV
station_branding = WIN
analog = see table below
digital = see table below
other_chs =
affiliations = Nine
network = WIN
founded =
airdate = January 1, 1992
location = regional Victoria
callsign_meaning = Vic
Television
Victoria
former_callsigns =
former_channel_numbers =
owner = WIN Corporation Pty Ltd
licensee = nowrap|WIN Television Vic Pty Ltd
sister_stations =
former_affiliations =
effective_radiated_power = see table below
HAAT = see table below
class =
facility_id =
coordinates = see table below
homepage = [http://www.wintv.com.au/ www.wintv.com.au]

VTV is an Australian television station broadcasting in regional Victoria in Australia. The network was owned by ENT Ltd., before being purchased by the WIN Corporation. The executive director was Michael Faulkner.

History

Vic Television began as several stations serving the western parts of Victoria. They were:

*"GMV-6 Shepparton", beginning on 23 December 1961
*"BTV-6 Ballarat", launching on 27 April 1962, and
*"STV-8 Mildura", which started on 25 November 1965.

Vic Television was a television station operating in the regional Victoria owned by Ent Ltd. Ent Ltd had stations in Tasmania called TVT-6. Ent Ltd had taken over the stations GMV-6 and BTV-6. They purchased STV-8 in Mildura. GMV-6, BTV-6 and STV-8 took on the identity VicTV, providing a single program schedule across all 3 stations.

On January 1 1992, aggregation of regional television took place in Victoria. Vic Television extended transmission to include the areas of Bendigo, Albury and Gippsland. Vic Television had entered into a program supply agreement with the Nine Network but maintained localised news services in each of the six regional markets in which it now operated. The official callsigns GMV and BTV were consolidated into a single callsign, VTV (STV-8 being excluded from the area affected by aggregation, kept its own callsign).

In October 1994, ENT Ltd. sold Vic Television to WIN Corporation which already operated WIN Television stations in New South Wales, Canberra and Queensland. Vic Television's television stations are now part of the WIN Television network.

GMV

GMV-6, one of the first regional television stations in Australia, began transmission from Shepparton in 1961, broadcasting from a transmitter at Mt Major.It is now WIN Television.

The station was officially opened on 23 December 1961, coincidentally the same day as television station BCV-8 in nearby Bendigo. GMV was owned in conjunction with local radio station 3SR.

The callsign GMV refers to the region in which it covers, which includes the catchment areas of the Goulburn River and Murray River. The 'V' refers to Victoria as is the normal protocol for commercial TV station callsigns, where the third letter indicates the state in which the service is licensed.

Early GMV-6 personalities included David Brice and Nancy Cato.

By the late 1960s GMV-6 began operating low powered relay transmitters in the fringes of its coverage area. These included GMV-3 Eildon, GMV-8 Jerilderie NSW, GMV-10 Deniliquin NSW, GMV-10 Alexandra (later changed to GMV-11).

GMV-6 converted to full scale colour TV transmission on 1 March 1975.

By the mid-1980s, transmission hours had extended to commence at 7.00am weekdays, broadcasting until after midnight. Programming included local news and children's programmes, mixed with programs selected from the three capital city commercial networks – the Seven Network, the Nine Network and Network Ten. The evening local news bulletin was supplemented by a relay of the Seven Network news bulletin from HSV-7.

During the 1980s GMV-6 and Ballarat television station BTV-6 had become part of Associated Broadcasting Services which also owned radio station 3MP in Melbourne and a regional radio network including 3UL Warragul (now 3GG), 3YB Warrnambool and 3SR Shepparton.

By 1990, GMV-6 and BTV-6 had been bought by media operator ENT Limited which also operated TVT-6 ("TAS TV") in Tasmania. ENT had also purchased STV-8 in Mildura which had previously been affiliated with BCV-8 Bendigo and GLV-8 Gippsland.

GMV-6, BTV-6 and STV-8 therefore took on the identity VicTV, providing a single program schedule across all 3 stations.

On 1 January 1992, aggregation of regional television took place in Victoria. VicTV extended transmission to include the areas of Bendigo, Albury and Gippsland. VicTV had entered into a program supply agreement with the Nine Network but maintained localised news services in each of the six regional markets in which it now operated. The official callsigns GMV and BTV were consolidated into a single callsign, VTV (STV-8 being excluded from the area affected by aggregation, kept its own callsign).

In October 1994, ENT Limited sold VicTV and TAS TV television networks to regional network WIN Television which already operated Nine Network affiliate stations in New South Wales, Canberra and Queensland. VicTV and TAS TV both adopted the branding WIN Television.

Main Transmitters

Notes:
*1. HAAT estimated from http://www.itu.int/SRTM3/ using EHAAT.
*2. The Ballarat station was an independent station with the callsign BTV from its 1962 sign-on until aggregation in 1992.
*3. The Ballarat station was on VHF channel 6 from its 1962 sign-on until 2001, moving to its current channel in order to accommodate digital television in Melbourne.
*4. The Goulburn Valley station was an independent station with the callsign GMV from its 1961 sign-on until aggregation in 1992.
*5. The Western Victoria station was a relay of BTV Ballarat (with the BTV callsign) until aggregation in 1992.

ee also

* Television broadcasting in Australia
* Regional television in Australia

External links

* [http://www.wintv.com.au WIN Television web site]
* [http://www.aba.gov.au/newspubs/radio_TV/licensing.shtml ABA radio and TV licensing web site]