STW-9

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Nine Perth (Channel Nine)

Type	Broadcast television station
Country	Australia
Founded	1965
Slogan	Still Local, Still the one and Still the one
Market share	24.4% (2006)
Licence Area	Perth (map)
Owner	Sunraysia Television
Launch date	June 12, 1965
Digital channel	VHF 8
Analogue channel	VHF 9
Callsign	STW-9
Affiliation	Nine Network
Website	www.9perth.com.au

STW-9 is a television station broadcasting in Perth, Western Australia, wholly owned by Sunraysia Television. It is a member of the Nine Network Australia. STW-9 is one of only two independently-owned metropolitan affiliates of the Nine Network; the other is NWS-9 Adelaide, owned by Southern Cross Broadcasting. The call sign STW stands for Swan Television, Western Australia. STW-9 broadcasts from a transmitter mast located in Walliston in the Perth Hills beyond Kalamunda. Its operational base and studios are located at 9 Gay Street, Dianella, across the road from Seven's studios with approximately 150 staff working at the station.

STW-9 generally rates as the number 2 station in Perth, behind Seven Perth, with a limited number of ratings weeks won every year (winning two ratings weeks in 2005, one ahead of Ten Perth). It also arguably shows some of the best 1080i High Definition digital programming in Australia, hosting a 15.25 Mbit/s bandwidth compared to 12.5 Mbit/s for the PBL-owned networks, which gives the station high praise in digital TV communities.

1 History
2 News & Current Affairs
3 Programming
4 Appealathon
5 Broadcasting details
6 Pre-Network Logos
7 See also
8 References
9 External links

[edit] History

STW-9 commenced broadcasting on 12 June 1965 and was the second commercial television station in Perth. It became the first station in Perth to broadcast 24 hours a day on 17 April 1984. In the late 1980s, the station came under the ownership of Bond Media, owned by infamous businessman Alan Bond, and became a Nine Network owned and operated station when Bond purchased the network. In 1989 Bond Media sold the station to Sunraysia Television for AU$95 million. The deal also involved Bond Media purchasing the Sunraysia owned STV-8 for AU$18 million. Bond Media was forced to sell due to the Federal cross-media ownership laws, which restricted the level of national reach for media owners.^[1]

In January 2007, Sunraysia Television posted a profit warning, with an expected 12% drop in revenue over the past six months. The company cited a weak local advertising market and low ratings for the reduced revenue, despite a strong WA economy.^[2] The profit warning lead to speculation of a potential takeover of STW-9, with PBL and regional network WIN Television indicated as potential bidders.^[3] PBL Media announced in February 2007 that it would purchase STW-9 for AU$136.4 million, with the deal to be completed in late March or early April subject to shareholder approval.^[4] After PBL Media bid for the station, 45% shareholder WIN Corporation wanted to buy out the station itself. PBL Media and WIN Corporation are now in a bidding war for the station.

[edit] News & Current Affairs

Channel Nine Perth holds the title of the most poorly performing Nine Network news bulletin in Australia, holding 3rd or 4th place most days. This may be attributable to the popularity of Seven News Perth, which regularly attracts over 100,000 viewers more than Nine Perth's bulletin.

Perth's National Nine News bulletin remains the first and only Australian news bulletin to have two female anchors, Dixie Marshall and Sonia Vinci. These two anchors are also the faces of Nine Perth's general operations and promos. Sport is presented by Michael Thomson, and weather is presented by Natalia Cooper. Sharlyn Sarac presents the news and weather on the weekend bulletins, while Mark Readings handles sport. The station also broadcasts Perth-based hourly news updates from 12:30 p.m., and at 7:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. in the evening.

The station also shows all of the PBL-produced Sydney-based news content, including Today, Nine Morning News, Nine's Afternoon News and Nightline. Also among the lineup is A Current Affair, which also loses to the local version of Seven's Today Tonight by over 100,000 viewers nightly.

[edit] Programming

Fishing Western Australia

Nine Perth's local productions [1] have a strong focus on WA-centric lifestyle, with most of it also shown on regional affiliate WIN Television WA. Programs include:

The Final Siren (AFL highlights program) - Sunday afternoon
Fishing Western Australia (Lifestyle - Local fishing) - Weekend afternoons
Garden Gurus (Lifestyle - Gardening) - Saturdays 5:00 p.m. or 7:30 p.m.
Golfing WA (Golfing) - Sunday afternoon
Just Add Water (Perth summer lifestyle) - Sundays 7:30 p.m. (Summer specials only)
Postcards WA (Travel) - Sundays 5:30 p.m.
The Real Estate, Lifestyle and Investments Program (Real estate) - Saturday morning/afternoon

[edit] Appealathon

In its 30 years, Channel Nine Perth's Appealathon has raised in excess of $53.5 million. Since 1975, Appealathon has supported four specific charities with Appealathon funds: the Activ Foundation, Civilian Maimed & Limbless Association, Paraplegic/Quadriplegic Association and Rocky Bay. Many other organisations are helped as well on a yearly basis. The Appealathon is involved in over 50 fundraising events and projects across Perth each year.