ATN-7
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ATN-7 is the Sydney flagship television station of the Seven Network in Australia. The license, issued to a company named Amalgamated Television Services, a subsidiary of Fairfax, was one of the first four licenses (two in Sydney, two in Melbourne) to be issued for commercial television stations in Australia. It began broadcasting on 2 December 1956.
The station formed an affiliation with GTV-9 Melbourne in 1957, in order to share content. In 1963, Frank Packer ended up owning both GTV-9 and TCN-9, so as a result the stations switched their previous affiliations. ATN-7 and HSV-7 joined to create the Australian Television Network, which later became the Seven Network.
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[edit] The Studios and Transmission Tower
The station opened in 1956 with principal offices and studios located at Mobbs Lane, Epping (a suburb about 12 kilometers NW of Sydney). The initial black and white cameras and other equipment was supplied by the Marconi Company of England. Conversion to PAL colour occurred in 1974/75. Digital DVB-T commenced on January 1, 2001.
The initial transmission tower in 1956 was located near the ABC tower at Gore Hill, Sydney. This was eventually demolished after ATN was invited to share a new site at Artarmon which was built by a new 3rd, commercial broadcaster TEN-10.
[edit] Digital and Analog Broadcasts
ATN's Sydney transmissions - both DVB-T terrestrial digital and analog PAL - are on VHF RF Channels 6 and 7 respectively and are broadcast from masts operated by Transmitters Australia (TXA) at Artarmon and/or Willoughby. Retransmission translators to UHF channels service Sydney viewers from Kings Cross and North Head at Manly and north of Sydney at Bouddi, Gosford and Forrester's Beach (see the Digital Broadcast Australia (DBA) web site.
The on-air programs are sent by digital link from the Seven Network's national program play-out centre at Docklands in Melbourne.
[edit] Epping Site Satellite Links
In 1983, one of the first full-time commercial TV satellite links was established between Los Angeles and Sydney using the mid-pacific Intelsat satellite. This was unique for what was known as a half transponder link, as it carried 2 NTSC TV programs each with stereo sound and data. (Comsat pretested this at their Clarksberg MA center). The video was multiplexed using Thomson "Vidiplex" and the audio and data equipment was from Wegener. The various news and other programs were fed out of Seven's News Bureau at Century City in Los Angeles and then north to a Comsat satellite earth station at Santa Paula.
Because in 1983 the satellite power was very limited, a receive satellite dish (TVRO) for east-coast Australia needed to be in the order of 18 metres diameter. An alternative of two 12 metre dishes ("C-band" with Gregorian feed-horn from Andrews), were installed at the Epping site. The signals received from the two dishes were electronically combined so that the signal was equivalent to an 18 metre dish's reception. Later when replacement satellites with higher powers were placed in orbit, the two dishes were used independently on different satellites. Other innovations such as analogue video noise reduction were also used to improve the signal.
One of the TV programs carried was CNN. This was the first international transmission of CNN outside North America. In 1984 TV Asahi in Tokyo contracted to also receive CNN via the Iberaki earth station operated by Japan's KDD Corporation (Kokusai Denshin Denwa - now (KDDI). After ATN's engineering staff assisted KDD and TV Asahi with the special receiving adaptors, CNN was distributed on Japan Cable TV which mainly served the Roppongi district of Tokyo, including many foreign consolates and embassies. This first international distribution of CNN was formally opened by Ted Turner, CNN's then owner.
Subsequently, in 1986, a 13 metre Vertex "Ku-band" dish was added for Australian Television Network program distribution via the new Aussat satellite.
[edit] Program Production
The Epping facilities were expanded to provide 5 operational studios and the centre became the largest producer of Australian produced TV content including, Wheel of Fortune, Sons and Daughters, A Country Practice and Home and Away.
News programs are filmed and broadcast from the Martin Place studios. Nationwide program promos for the network are produced from their Jones Bay facility at Pyrmont .
[edit] RaceCam
ATN's engineering staff received 2 Emmy Awards - making ATN the first Australian company to receive such an award - for the technology, invention and further development of RaceCam, live mobile point-of-view TV cameras which were initially developed in the late 1970s and early 1980s for the station's coverage of touring car races at Mount Panorama in Bathurst, New South Wales. Visiting commentators from the United States organised for ATN staff to supply the camera and transmission systems for CBS' coverage of NASCAR races.
A variant of RaceCam was also developed for yachts in the America's Cup off the coast of Fremantle, Western Australia in 1985. Later in the mid 1980s, the American Broadcasting Company asked ATN staff to develop aerofoil-designed cameras suitable for Formula 1 cars, and these were subsequently used at the Indianapolis 500.
[edit] Relocation
In 2004 the station was included with the shift of the Seven Network corporate offices and sales department into new premises in a "heritage" building at Pirrama Road, Pyrmont close to the Sydney CBD, while the News department shifted into a street level location in Sydney's Martin Place. In June 2006, the network announced that the Epping studio site will close and facilities will be relocated to purpose built studios at the Australian Technology Park in Redfern by 2009.
[edit] Programming
Some of the highest rating programs in Australia are produced at Seven Sydney, including:
Martin Place produces
- Sunrise
- Weekend Sunrise
- Seven Morning News
- Seven's 4:30 News
- Brisbane Weekend Bulletin (News Anchor Only)
- Seven News Sydney
- Seven Late News Updates"
Epping produces
[edit] Former shows
- A Country Practice (1981-1993 - production moved to Network Ten in 1994 for its last series)
- headLand (filmed in Sydney by independent producers)
- My Restaurant Rules
- Sons and Daughters (1981-1987)
- Wheel of Fortune (Australian game show) (1981-2005)
- Larry Emdur & Laura Csortan's Wheel of Fortune (January 30-July 28,2006)
[edit] Logo Guide
- ATN Channel 7: 1956-59.
- 'Spearhead' Logo: 1960-68.
- ATN7: 1969-70.
- 'Revoultion' Logo: 1970-75.
- Seven Color Television: March 1-August 31, 1975.
- 'Rainbow' Logo: Sept 1, 1975-88.
- 'Split' Logo: 1989-99.
- 'Ribbon' Logo: 2000-03.
- 'Red 7' Logo: 2003-?
[edit] Station Slogans
- 1956: "This is ATN Channel 7, Sydney"
- 1968: "Seven is..."
- 1975: "Welcome to the Bright New World of Seven" (Taken from the similarly named ABC (US) slogan)
- 1979: "Seven's Reaching for the Stars"
- 1980: "Channel 7's Proud in Sydney" (borrowed elements from NBC's "Proud as a Peacock")
- 1982: "Our Pride is Showing" (based on NBC's similarly named promo slogan)
- 1983: "Just Watch Us Now" (based on NBC's "We're NBC, Just Watch Us Now")
- 1985: "The World on Seven - Let's All Be There" (based on NBC's "On NBC, Let's All Be There")
- 1985-87: "Let's All Be There" (borrowed from NBC slogan, even though NBC changed slogans in '86)
- 1986: "Sydney CBD" (used alongside "Let's All Be There")
- 1986 (Nov.): "Thirty Years Together - Channel 7 and You"
- Summer 1986/87: "Summer is the Time, Seven is the Place" (based on ABC (US)'s "Now is the Time, ABC is the Place")
- 1987: "You're Invited on a Journey"
| Broadcast television in the Sydney, New South Wales market | |||
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ABN-2 (ABC) | ATN-7 (Seven) | TCN-9 (Nine) | TEN-10 (Ten) | SBS-28 (SBS) | TSN-31 (TVS) | Digital Forty Four |
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