ABC TV (Australian TV channel)

In 1953 the Television Act was passed, providing the initial regulatory framework for both ABC Television and commercial television networks under the ABC.[2][3] The ABC's 1956 Annual Report stated that it aimed to create a “television service as truly national in character as its resources will permit”.[4]

The first ABC station was launched in Sydney, ABN-2, followed by Melbourne's ABV-2 in Melbourne, in time to cover the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, with the first television broadcast was inaugurated by prime minister Robert Menzies on 5 November 1956 at the Gore Hill studios in Sydney, followed two weeks later by transmission in Melbourne.[2][3] A purpose-built television studio opened in Sydney on 29 January 1958, replacing the temporary sound studios used the service's inception. In the same year, technical equipment was also moved to permanent locations, while main transmitters were introduced to Melbourne and Sydney in 1957 and 1958 respectively.[5] Services had expanded to all of the other states by the end of June 1960.[2]

Direct television relays between Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra were established in 1961, and in 1963, using microwave transmission as a temporary measure, television programs from Adelaide were viewed simultaneously across the four eastern capitals.[3][6] Videotape equipment, allowing the sharing of footage with much greater ease and speed, was installed in each state capital by 1962.[2]

Teletext services were introduced to the television service in 1983 to allow hearing impaired viewers access to closed captions.[7] Nationwide, successor to This Day Tonight, was replaced in turn by a new, hour-long, national news program called The National. Having proved unsuccessful,[7][8] it reverted to a state ABC News bulletin at 7:00pm, with a state-based edition of The 7.30 Report following afterwards. Lateline and Media Watch also launched in the 1980s.[7][9]

In 2001 a new logo was launched, featuring a modification to a three-dimensional metallic design, to celebrate the introduction of digital terrestrial television in Australia, when digital television was introduced to most of the network's coverage area on 1 January 2001, soon followed by the gradual introduction of widescreen and high definition programming.[10] On 1 August 2001 on channel 21, ABC Kids was launched, becoming the first digital multi-channel service,[11] with Fly TV following soon afterwards, but both had limited availability, and were closed in a round of funding cuts in 2003.[12]

On 7 March 2005 a new digital channel called ABC2 (now ABC TV Plus) was launched, according to then Director of ABC New Media and Digital Services Lynley Marshall, "like the 'younger sibling' of ABC main channel", running on a very low budget. A large amount of its schedule was dedicated to regional issues, with programs such as Australia Wide, Landline and Stateline.[13]

At midday on 8 February 2008 ABC TV was re-branded as ABC1, with the standard-definition redirect channel moved from LCN22 to LCN2.[14] Further cementing the change in identity was the change from the slogan There's more to television to It begins with 1. After concerns in some sections of the media that the 43-year-old Lissajous curve brand was to disappear completely, ABC management reaffirmed that it would remain in use by the corporation.[15][16][17]

In 2011, ABC1 launched its new branding via idents featuring a range of channel personalities, including the face of the channel Adam Hills, with the new tagline "ThinkEntertainment". The network's famous Lissajous curve logo was modified by adding a "1". In 2014, ABC1 reverted to just "ABC" and introduced new idents featuring the 1975 Lissajous curve logo being drawn by itself of videos of people doing activities (taken from ABC Open's video library). Then, the words "It's (Insert Words Here)'s ABC" (the words change depending on the ident) fade in on the left side of the logo. The words then change to "#OurABC", which is the network's new slogan. In 2018, these idents were updated. The "#OurABC" slogan at the end of each ident was changed to "Yours".[18] The 1975 logo was reinstated in 2019.

ABC stopped broadcasting on analogue TV in 2013, it is now only available through digital TV or digital set-top box.

ABC News, broadcast on ABC, is a national news service produced by the News, Analysis & Investigations division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.[19]

A number of bulletins and updates are shown throughout the day, which include the flagship state-based evening bulletins of ABC News at 7.00pm, focused on local, national and international news relevant to their entire respective state or territory. In addition, News Breakfast is broadcast each morning and it is also shown on the ABC News channel, ABC News at Noon, a national edition of ABC News, is broadcast at noon live from the ABC's studios in Ultimo, Sydney. News updates are presented nationally only on both the ABC News channel and ABC throughout the day; however evening updates are shown in most states by their respective presenters.

Other flagship programs, which include the weeknightly 7.30 and the weekly Four Corners, Australian Story and Foreign Correspondent, are broadcast in prime-time. Landline, Insiders, Offsiders, Media Watch cover rural, political and business, sport and media affairs respectively.

ABC Television, Radio, News and Online cover many sports.[20]

ABC TV was the first broadcaster of the W-League (football), a partnership that remained from 2008 to 2017. From October 2019 for the first time, ABC Television was the official free-to-air partner of the A-League, as well as returning to the W-League, in a deal which included the Socceroos and Matildas and lasted for two years. ABC TV broadcast one A-League game a weekend live, and has had the right to broadcast delayed coverage of some finals matches and the Grand Final. The deal included 14 rounds of the W-League's 2019/20 Season and the whole W-League 2020 Finals Series, and many games played by the Socceroos and Matildas.[21] However, from August 2021, both the A-League and W-League begin a five-year deal with ViacomCBS giving broadcast rights to Network 10.[22]

ABC HD logo

The ABC HD multi-channel was launched on 1 January 2008. The service provided a 720p simulcast of ABN Sydney nationwide. The channel was closed on 22 July 2010 and its HD channel space was re-purposed for the ABC News channel. ABC HD was relaunched on 6 December 2016 as a simulcast of ABC, localised to each state, reducing the news channel to SD.

Most ABC TV programs are also available on demand via ABC iview, a video-on-demand and catch-up TV service which became available on 24 July 2008.

• On 3 February 2008, when the channel was renamed as ABC1, with its logo was updated using a blue colour theme, while the new channel, ABC2, used a yellow theme.[14][28] In addition to this, the slogan There's more to Television was rebadged to It begins with 1.[28] After concerns in some sections of the media that the 43-year-old Lissajous curve logo was to disappear completely, ABC management reaffirmed that it would remain in use by the corporation.[15][16]
• On 14 February 2011, the channel was rebranded with new idents and a new on-air logo, with a new slogan "Think Entertainment".
• On 20 July 2014, ABC1 was renamed ABC, with a new on-air presentation, restoring the 1975 Lissajous curve logo with a new slogan "#ourABC", and with different gradient colours.
• On 4 February 2019, ABC was re-branded with a new on-air presentation, which included the Lissajous curve.

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  5 November 1956 – 1 May 1964
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  1 May 1964 – 18 October 1974
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  19 October 1974 – 31 December 2001; 16 February 2019 – 31 December 2020
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  1 January – 31 December 2001
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  1 January 2002 – 18 December 2005
• 
  19 December 2005 – 20 July 2014
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  20 July 2014 – 16 February 2019
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  1 January 2021 – present