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From 1956 to today, TCN9 have used versions of this logo.Channel Nine Sydney
TCN9 Channel NineA Commision in 1953 recommended that 1 national and 2 commertial television licences were to be issued in both Melbourne and Sydney, with the other capital cities and regional areas to be dealt with over time. The Australian Broadcasting Control Board (ABCB) granted licences, and held public hearings in 1955. There were 8 applicants for the 2 Sydney licences, one of them being Frank Packer's Television Consolidation Ltd.
Sharholders included the British owned newspaper group Assosiated Newspapers, electric company Phillips, radio station 2KY and the Church of England Property Trust. Packer made sure his company had the right technical expertise, political support and financial backing to gain a licence, and sure enough he was granted channel 9. It was later learnt that Packer bought the licence more out of fear of it competing with his publishing empire, that seeing any real future for television itself.
It was named TCN (the TC for Television Consolidation, N was standard for New South Wales stations). It commenced test trasmissions in July 1956, and officially opened at 6.30pm on September 16, 1956 (the first station in Australia to do so) with Bruce Gyngell saying 'Good Evening and Welcome to Television'.
In 1957 TCN9 formed an affiliation with HSV7 Melbourne, so they could on-sell programmes to each other to reduce costs.
Channel 9 passed expectations when it delivered a profit in 1958, and it's first dividend in 1959. The secret to it's success was to buy cheap imported shows, mainly from the US, and keep Australian content to a minimum.
A series of events in 1960 lead to 62% of GTV9 Melbourne being up for sale, which Frank Packer bought for £3.76 million. This was the first ever television network in Australia, and it was not until 1979 that another network reached that size. TCN's affiliation with HSV7 obviously stopped.
A coaxial cable from Sydney to Melbourne was established in 1963, which allowed the first effortless relay between capital cities. Nine's first telecast over the line was the November election tally, broadcasting simultaneously in Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne. The line greatly reduced production costs, as Nine was able to broadcast to two capital cities from one studio. All this in 1963 was the birth of the National Television Network, or what's now commonly known as the Nine Network Australia.
