Seven Network

Seven Network

Ownership
Owner	Seven Media Group

The Seven Network is an Australian television network, owned by the Seven Media Group. Since its inception on December 2, 1956, Seven has grown to achieve the distinction of the greatest combined population coverage of any commercial television network in Australia. Seven has traditionally been the second highest rating television network in Australia, trailing the Nine Network but above Network Ten. However, the network has dominated the Australian television ratings throughout the first half of 2007.

The network's studio headquarters are in a converted warehouse at Jones Bay Wharf in Pyrmont, Sydney. Seven's news headquarters are situated at Martin Place in Sydney and its major production facility is at Epping in Sydney's northern suburbs. In 2009, Seven will move their production facilities from Epping to a purpose built site at the Australian Technology Park in Redfern. The broadcast signal for the network arises from the digital broadcast centre in the Melbourne Docklands.

History

Origins

The Seven Network began as a group of independent stations in Sydney and Melbourne, which initially collaborated with their VHF9 counterparts GTV-9 and TCN-9, an arrangement which remained until 1960, when Frank Packer, the owner of TCN-9 bought GTC, forming the country's first television network. HSV-7 was amongst the first to broadcast when television in Australia began in 1956, followed soon after by ATN-7 Sydney, and a number of other channels broadcast on the VHF7 frequency.

In the network's first decade, the schedule was comprised of various simple and relatively inexpensive programmes - shows like as Pick a Box dominated the television landscape. While the various cities' respective channels may have occupied the same frequency, each station's programming was produced entirely independently. The establishment of a coaxial cable link between Melbourne and Sydney in 1963 proved a catalyst for the ATN-7 and HSV-7 to become a network, joining together to form the Australian Television Network.

In search of viewers, the new network began to produce and screen higher-budget programming, such as Homicide, which would continue for another 12 years and become the nation's longest running drama series at 512 episodes. It was not until the 1970s that a national network began to appear, although stations continued to be independently owned and operated with localised advertising campaigns.

Colour television transmissions debuted across the Seven Network in 1975, with on-air presentation and programming following suite. In 1975, Seven introduced a new logo across the network that would stay in use for the following thirteen years. The logo, which incorporated a bright ring of various colours, demonstrated colour television and its ability to transmit a plethora of colours.

In 1977, the Seven Network produced its first live telecast, of which was the VFL Grand Final. This was the first of several live telecasts in the decades to follow.

1980s

The decade saw the launch of stereo transmissions in 1982, as well as a number of successful shows, including A Country Practice in 1981, and Sons and Daughters, which began in 1982. Neighbours was launched in 1985, but was cancelled by the end of the year due to low ratings in Sydney. This decision, Seven may have come to regret, as the show received international success on rival Network Ten. Seven began to use a number of slogans taken from successful NBC advertising campaigns, such as "Just Watch Us Now", and "Say Hello".

Cost-cutting led to the axing of a number of HSV-7 shows, replaced by programs networked from Sydney, a move that resulted in the loss of many viewers. Shares in the network were bought and sold throughout the 1980s, ending in Qintex's 1987 purchase of the company from Fairfax following the introduction of restrictive media laws. Qintex's owner, Christopher Skase, led a number of changes at the network, including the launch of Home & Away and a fresh new logo, comprising of a circular line indented at the bottom to create a "7" shape. Despite some success, Qintex fell into receivership after a failed bid, of the same year, for MGM Studios.

1990s

Real Life, a nation current-affairs program was launched in 1992, but was replaced in 1992 by the more successful Today Tonight. A Country Practice ended in 1993 after an amazing 1050 episodes.

1994 saw the introduction of Blue Heelers, however after a number of timeslot changes, the show was moved in 1998 to Wednesday in order to make room for All Saints. Both dramas rated quite highly, and along with new lifestyle shows Better Homes and Gardens and The Great Outdoors, which resulted in a stronger ratings position for the network, whilst halting rival Nine Network.

In 1995, Sunshine Television, a Seven Network affiliate broadcasting in regional Queensland, was purchased by Seven's parent company, Seven Network Limited. Sunshine Television's regional stations became Seven Network owned-and-operated stations, taking on a generic Seven Network look.

2000s

The centralised digital playout facility for Seven Network owned-and-operated stations. The Seven Broadcast Center on the Melbourne Docklands.

The year 2000 was one of the network's most successful years, with the launch of a new logo and the ratings-winning Sydney Olympics telecast. The Olympics were a major success for the network, resulting in the highest ever ratings for a television program in Australia. Popular programs such as All Saints and Blue Heelers, continued their success, while shows from the new reality genre such as Popstars and The Mole were highly successful. These all contributed to the network winning the ratings for the year against Nine Network for the first time in 30 years.

Following these successes, new series such as Temptation Island, Greeks On The Roof and Marshall Law were met with limited success. While existing programs such Popstars and The Weakest Link suffered a decline in ratings against its resurgent Nine Network and Ten rivals.

On January 1, 2001, the Seven Network began digital trasmissions across its metropolitan stations. This was later followed by the introduction of widescreen and high definition programming.

In late 2001 Always Greener, a new drama, was launched achieving strong ratings as high as 2.0 million in its Sunday timeslot, however despite a warm response from critics it was axed after its third season. Former Nine executive David Leckie was appointed head of television operations, launching the network with an updated logo, new advertising campaign and a new slogan.

In late 2004, Seven launched Dancing With The Stars, based on the BBC's Strictly Come Dancing. The year saw launch of a number of new programs from the American Broadcasting Company in the United States which included Desperate Housewives and Lost.

In addition, Seven's news and current affairs programs began to increase in viewers, with Today Tonight beginning to challenge rival A Current Affair, while the new format of the Sunrise program led to increased competition with the Today Show. Seven's evening Seven News bulletin also started to take the lead with successes in most cities, except Sydney.

New shows such as Prison Break, Dancing With the Stars spin-off It Takes Two, as well as How I Met Your Mother and My Name Is Earl, led Seven to continued success in 2006, prevented from winning the year by the Nine Network's coverage of the 2006 Commonwealth Games.

2007 saw Seven launch its ‘7 in 07’ campaign, with a number of new series including Brothers & Sisters, Heroes, and The Rich List. The year also saw the launch of ‘Beautiful Sunday’, which includes Australia's Got Talent, Ugly Betty, Grey's Anatomy and What About Brian. Thus far, Seven is ahead in the national ratings figures.

Programming

Further information: [[:List of programs broadcast by the Seven Network]]

In 2005, Seven had a ratings resurgence after a disastrous 2004 with assistance from several American programs. For the 2007 season, Seven renewed many of the same shows from 2006, but also brought in some new ones. The bulk of programming on Seven consists of American television shows that originally air on various US broadcasters. Seven is affiliated to CNN, NBC, BBC, Reuters, ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corporation, and Associated Press Television News.

Seven's current Australian programming lineup consists of television shows including; All Saints, Better Homes and Gardens, Home and Away, Dancing with the Stars, Deal or No Deal, Medical Emergency, Last Chance Learners, The Great Outdoors, Australia's Got Talent and It Takes Two.

Seven has programming output deals with a number of American production studios, including NBC Universal, Disney (including ABC Studios) and 20th Century Fox (concluding mid-2007). American programming on Seven includes; 24, The Amazing Race, Desperate Housewives, Grey's Anatomy, Lost, Prison Break, How I Met Your Mother, My Name Is Earl, Bones, What About Brian, Ugly Betty, Brothers and Sisters, Boston Legal, Scrubs, Family Guy and Heroes.

New US programs still to debut in Seven's 2007 lineup include; 30 Rock, October Road, Shark and Dirt.

New US programs due to debut on Seven in 2008 include; Grey's Anatomy spin-off Private Practice, Heroes: Origins, Dirty Sexy Money, Sam I Am, Reaper & Eli Stone, with more to be announced soon.

News and Current Affairs

File:Snm.jpg

Seven News Melbourne with Peter Mitchell.

Further information: [[:Seven News]]

The Seven Network's news service is called Seven News. After trailing for many years, to National Nine News, Seven rebounded in 2005, and claimed to be number one in news and current affairs. Seven News produces several news bulletins and programs including; Sunrise, Weekend Sunrise, The Morning Show, Seven Morning News, Seven 4.30 News, Seven News, Seven's Late News Updates, and Today Tonight.

During the early hours of 4am to 6am, Seven rebroadcasts some of American television network NBC's news and current affairs programming, including Today and Dateline NBC.

In recent years under the guidance of former longtime National Nine News chief, Peter Meakin, Seven's news and current affairs have produced more locally-focussed content, which has been lifting ratings for key markets such as Sydney and Melbourne.

Since 2004, the ratings of Seven News and Today Tonight have gradually increased. Seven News was the top rating news service nationally in both the 2005 and 2006 ratings seasons. A key aspect of Seven's recent ratings dominance in news and current affairs has been attributed to television game show Deal or No Deal, which provides Seven News with a large lead-in audience.

Sport

Further information: [[:Seven Sport]]

Seven is a major player in Australian sports broadcasting. After the 2001 season Seven ended its famous 45-year run as AFL football broadcaster when the Nine Network and Network Ten, along with pay TV provider Foxtel, jointly won the television rights. On January 5 2006 the Australian Football League accepted a bid from Seven and Ten to broadcast AFL games from 2007 - 2011 at a cost of AU$780 million.

Seven's most popular recurring sporting events include the Olympic Games, AFL Premiership Season, the Australian Open Golf, the Australian Open Tennis, Bledisloe Cup Rugby, Melbourne Cup Carnival, Mt Buller World Aerials, the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race, the Tri-Nations Rugby, and the V8 Supercars.

Seven has exclusive Australian free-to-air, pay television, online and mobile telephony broadcast rights to the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. The live telecast of the XXIX Olympiad with be shared by both the Seven Network and SBS Television. Seven will broadcast the opening and closing ceremonies and mainstream sport's including swimming, athletics, rowing, cycling and gymnastics. In stark contrast, SBS TV will provide complementary coverage focused on long-form events such as football, road cycling, volleyball, and table tennis.

Current schedule

	6:00 PM	6:30 PM	7:00 PM	7:30 PM	8:00 PM	8:30 PM	9:00 PM	9:30 PM	10:00 PM
SUN	Seven News	Where Are They Now		Ugly Betty		Grey's Anatomy		What About Brian
MON		Today Tonight	Home and Away	The Rich List		Desperate Housewives		Brothers & Sisters
TUE				It Takes Two			All Saints		Crossing Jordan
WED				Last Chance Learners	Police Files Unlocked	Heroes†		Prison Break
THU				How I Met Your Mother	That 70s Show	Lost†		The Amazing Race: All Stars†
FRI				Better Homes and Gardens		Friday Night Football (AFL)*
SAT		The Great Outdoors		Great Comedy Classics			Saturday Night Movies

Note: News and Current Affairs are in Grey; Drama is in Blue; Sitcoms, Animation and Comedy are in Purple; Lifestyle programs are in Green; Factual programs and Documentaries are Yellow; Reality, Game shows and Talk shows are in Red; Sport is in Orange; Movies are in Pink. The above represents Seven's usual primetime schedule. It does not reflect one-off events, and program starting times may vary from those shown. For up-to-date information, see the Seven Network's online television guide. (link). * This applies to Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia only. In other areas, a movie airs in this timeslot. †In New South Wales and Queensland, Air Crash Investigations screens 8:30 Wednesday, Heroes at 8:30 Thursday and Lost at 9:30 Thursday.

Availability

Seven is simulcast in analogue, standard definition and 1080i high definition. On March 18, 2007, test simulcasts for 1080i commenced in the Sydney and Melbourne markets, Adelaide and Perth followed on June 24, 2007, with Brisbane following on June 25, 2007, and regional Queensland on June 26, 2007. Prior to this, the Seven Network provided a 576p enhanced definition service.

Seven is broadcast in metropolitan areas and regional Queensland via Seven Network owned-and-operated stations, these include ATN-7, HSV-7, BTQ-7, SAS-7, TVW-7, and Seven Queensland. Seven Network programming is also carried into other areas of regional Australia by affiliate networks (which are locally branded), these include Southern Cross Television, Prime Television, GWN, and WIN Television.

Logos

The Seven Network has used many logos throughout its history.

Used from 1970 to 1975	Used from 1975 to 1988	Used from 1989 to 1999	Used from 2000 to 2003	Used from 2003 to the present
1970 - 1975	1975 - 1988	1989 - 1999	2000 - 2003	2003 - present

Pre-network logos can be found at the following articles; ATN-7, HSV-7, BTQ-7, SAS-7.

References

^ - "National" refers to the main five metropolitan markets. Shares represents free to air audience share from 6:00pm to 12:00am. Data gathered and published by OzTAM. OZTam

See also

• Seven Guide
• Seven Media Group
• List of Seven Network Slogans

External links

• Official Site
• Corporate Site