HSV (TV station)

HSV-7 began test transmissions in July 1956, becoming the first 7 station in Australia and the first television station in Melbourne. It began broadcasting on 4 November,[2] soon after the Commonwealth Government started issuing television licences. In the opening ceremony, Eric Pearce declared :

"We dedicate this station to the full service of the community. To Australian life – the happy families in the homes – we promise to serve you faithfully and well".

HSV-7 and rival station GTV-9 were formed in time to broadcast the Melbourne Olympics, while Sydney stations TCN-9 and ATN-7 in Sydney relayed the Melbourne coverage. HSV-7 was originally owned by the Herald & Weekly Times, owners of The Herald and The Sun (now merged as the Herald Sun). These two newspapers gave rise to the call sign HSV (the 'V' stands for Victoria, as is the normal protocol for television call signs to have the third letter indicate the state where the station is licensed, although for publicity purposes HSV was said to stand for Herald Sun Vision just as sister station ATN became the Australian Television Network rather than New South Wales).

The station's "Melbourne's Alive" promo, which ran in 1999.

In March 1960, the station converted an old cinema in Fitzroy into the southern hemisphere's first fully remote studio, equipped with RCA TRT video tape recorders, camera cranes and AV mixing equipment. It featured a larger stage and backstage rooms, and audience capacity for up to 600. It was called the Channel 7 Teletheatre and connected to the station's main Dorcas Street studios in South Melbourne by multiple microwave links. The teletheatre opened with a major live show featuring the US entertainer Bob Crosby and his band and the British comedian Jimmy Edwards, among others. Many popular children's shows and variety programs (e.g. Sunnyside Up and The Happy Show) originated there in front of live audiences.

This station commissioned many of Australian TV's earliest and longest-running courtroom and police procedural dramatic series such as Crawford's Consider Your Verdict and Homicide.

One of the longest-serving station and general managers during the transformative years into international satellite links and color transmissions was Ron Casey. By the late 1960s, Channel 7 was demonstrating PAL color TV to crowds visiting the annual Royal Melbourne Show.

The station began to identify as Channel Seven in the late 1960s, and in the early 1970s used the national Seven Network logos. It followed the network's on-air presentation and programming. In 1979, John Fairfax & Sons bought a substantial share of HSV-7 after many failed bids for the entire station. In December 1986, the station was purchased by News Limited. In February 1987 HSV-7 was sold back to Fairfax, along with Brisbane station BTQ-7. As a result of the payback, HSV's unique faces – World of Sport, Mal Walden and its Hello Melbourne campaign, Australia's contribution to Frank Gari's Hello News campaigns were all ended. By 1987 its rights to Australian rules football telecasts were taken by ABC's state station ABV-2. Walden later moved to Ten (ATV-10) as a result of this.

In late 1987, the government introduced cross-media ownership laws which forced Fairfax to choose between its print and broadcast operations. It chose print, and HSV-7 was sold to Christopher Skase's Qintex, which already owned Seven stations in Sydney, Adelaide and Perth. Skase pledged to revitalize the channel and its programs, and to return it to its prior success among Melbourne viewers. In 1990, Qintex was sent into damage control after Skase escaped extradition proceedings, and the Seven Network became a discrete company. Entrepreneur Kerry Stokes bought the network in 1995. On 10 December 2013, HSV-7 terminated its analogue signal as part of the switchover to digital transmission.

Broadcast Centre Melbourne, centre of programming operations for the entire Seven Network and the headquarters for HSV

HSV's production studios and headquarters were originally located at the Dorcas Street Studios in South Melbourne. HSV remained there until March 2002 when news, current affairs and sport shows were moved to new headquarters at Docklands and the Dorcas Street Studios were closed. Docklands Studios Melbourne and Global Television is home to HSV's studio facilities for the Seven Network's Melbourne-based entertainment, drama and reality programmes shows such as Dancing with the Stars (Australian TV series) and the quiz show The Chase Australia.

HSV's headquarters, known on-air as Broadcast Centre Melbourne or BCM, are located near the Docklands Stadium in Docklands. On 11 March 2002, the first Seven News Melbourne bulletin, presented by Peter Mitchell, was first broadcast from the new HSV building. The centre consists of three studios: a theatre studio, a production studio and a news studio that opens onto the newsroom. The building is used as the transmission control centre for Seven's owned-and-operated stations in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth and regional areas of Queensland. Approximately 200 full-time employees work in the building with an additional 100 part-timers. In 2005, the HSV building experienced a power failure that resulted in a blackout across the Seven Network, as well as all regional affiliates.[3]

The HSV studios produces Seven News Melbourne and are becoming the network's main play-out centre for sports broadcasting. While broadcasting on air, national news programs often refer to HSV as 'News Centre', while 'Sports Central' (or 'Footy Central' for AFL broadcasts) is commonly used for sports programs.

Locally produced programs by or with HSV-7 Melbourne:

A tram in Seven News Melbourne wrap livery outside Melbourne Town Hall.

Wideshot of Melbourne's news studio, with Peter Mitchell presenting.

7NEWS Melbourne is directed by Shaun Menegola and presented by Peter Mitchell on weeknights and Mike Amor and Rebecca Maddern on weekends from Broadcast Centre Melbourne. Sport is presented by Tim Watson on weeknights and Abbey Gelmi on weekends. Weather is presented by Jane Bunn on weeknights and Sonia Marinelli on weekends.

Peter Mitchell previously held the role of weekend presenter for then-titled Seven Nightly News between 1987 and 2000 when he replaced the short-lived presenting duo of David Johnston and Anne Fulwood. Jennifer Keyte was appointed as main weeknight presenter in 1990, becoming Australia's first solo female primetime commercial news presenter. In a network reshuffle in 1996, Keyte terminated her employment after the Seven Network attempted to pair her with David Johnston, who went on to present solo for three years. She returned in 2003, assuming the role as weekend presenter, succeeding Jennifer Adams.

In May 2018, Network Ten announced that Keyte would leave Seven Network to present Ten Eyewitness News Melbourne replacing Stephen Quartermain.[5] In August 2018, it was announced that Mike Amor would move back to Australia after 17 years as United States Bureau Chief to replace Keyte as weekend presenter.

Following decades of trailing Nine News Melbourne, 10 News First Melbourne (previously Ten Eyewitness News, Ten News at Five, Ten Evening News and Ten News: First at Five) and ABC News Victoria in the ratings, Seven News Melbourne won the ratings battle from February 2005. As of 2007, Seven News held the number one position.[6] This was followed by a series of advertisements and promos which touted Seven News Melbourne as Melbourne's New #1 and Nine altering their promotions to simply say Melbourne's Best News – a throwback to the 1980s when National Nine News Melbourne was beaten in the ratings by ATV-10's Ten Eyewitness News. But, it was replaced in 2009 when Nine News returned to win the Melbourne news ratings battle.

In January 2022, it was announced that Rebecca Maddern would return to the Seven Network to present 7NEWS Melbourne on weekends with Mike Amor.

Until 2022, during the AFL season, Peter Mitchell and the weeknight team would present from Sunday to Thursday and Mike Amor, Rebecca Maddern and the weekend team would present on Friday and Saturday nights.

Afternoon news updates for Melbourne are presented by Amor or Maddern, while Mitchell presents weeknight updates. Amor presents weekend news updates. Blake Johnson and Jayde Vincent is a fill-in news presenter with Tom Browne, Andrew McCormack and Laura Spurway as the fill-in sport presenters and Estelle Griepink as fill-in weather presenters.

In August 2015, Seven News Melbourne began producing a local Seven Afternoon News bulletin replacing the national bulletin. Amor and Maddern present the bulletin on alternate days. In 2020, owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, that bulletin temporary included news items from South Australia following the cancellation of the statewide afternoon bulletin from SAS-7 in Adelaide before the network reinstated it due to viewer opposition and the threat faced by the local Nine News team on Seven's news dominance.

• Television broadcasting in Australia

• Official website