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After spending the previous 20 years as a government-funded radio broadcaster, the Australian Broadcasting Commission was given the job of establishing and running a national network of television stations in the early 1950s, first in Sydney and Melbourne and then into the rest of the country. |
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The PM who introduced TV into Oz, and began ABC's first broadcast - Robert Menzies |
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The Television Act of 1953, brought in under the conservative Menzies Government, laid the ground work for the system of television to be used in Australia. It would be a mixture from the UK and USA, providing a government-funded national network (like the UK's BBC), as well as two commercial licenses for every major city (similar to the USA).
The ABC, a commission created by the government in 1932 to manage the national radio network, was appointed to set up and operate the national television network, and began land acquisition and studio construction from 1954. The ABC would initially begin broadcasting from Sydney and Melbourne in 1956, so it flew in overseas tutors to conduct training in the rushed lead up to start day.
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ABV2 broadcast tower |
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That day came on November 5, 1956, as Prime Minister Robert Menzies inaugurated the ABC's first TV broadcast from Sydney. ABN, broadcasting on VHF Channel 2, came a day behind HSV-7 Melbourne as the country's third television broadcaster, and second in Sydney behind TCN-9 which had launched almost two months earlier. Down in Melbourne ABV-2 launched two weeks later on 18 November, just in time for its coverage of the 1956 Olympic Games.
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Long-serving Sydney newsreader James Dibble read the first bulletin on ABN2 in 1956 |
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Coverage expanded over the next five years, starting at Brisbane on November 2 1959, Adelaide on March 11 1960, Perth on May 7 1960, Hobart on June 4 1960 and Canberra in 1962.
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ABV-2 Melbourne |
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Australia's first teenage TV show, Six O'Clock Rock with Johnny O'Keefe, began in 1959, along with the arrival of the long-running man from the moon, Mr Squiggle. The first edition of the weekly current-affairs program Four Corners went to air in 1961, and continues in its Monday night timeslot to this day.
Direct relays between Sydney and Melbourne were possible by 1961, then Sydney to Canberra, and soon between all major centers except for Perth and Hobart. In the interim, the use of temporary microwave links allowed broadcasts to be shown across the mainland. It was not until 1972 that all state capitals were joined via cable, allowing simultaneous viewing and nationwide programming.
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 6 O'Clock Rock |
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The ABC held a staff competition to create an ABC logo in 1963, and in 1965 the ABC's Senior TV Graphics Designer Bill Kennard was awarded £25 for a three-loop wavelength design based on the patterns of an oscilloscope. This logo, after some modification over time, became one of the most recognisable logos in Australia.
Continue to the 70s-80s »
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ABN-2 Sydney |
| All audio-visual items available for download on this webpage remain copyright of the Australian Broadcasting Corportation. |
| Special thanks to Fintan O'Mahony, Winston Yang, Bruce Eade and Adam Petro for encoding videos on this page. |
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