ABD (TV station)
ABD is the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's television station in Darwin, Northern Territory. The station was the first to go to air in Darwin, on 13 August 1971. Its studios are located in the inner city of Darwin, with (now defunct) analog transmitter owned by the Nine Network on Blake Street in The Gardens and digital transmitter on Deloraine Road. The station is received throughout the territory through a number of relay transmitters, as well as by satellite on the Optus Aurora platform.
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| Darwin, Northern Territory | |
|---|---|
| City | Darwin, Northern Territory |
| Channels | Digital: 30 (UHF) Virtual: 2 |
| Slogan | Yours. |
| Programming | |
| Affiliations | ABC Television |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Australian Broadcasting Corporation |
| Sister stations | ABC Comedy, ABC Me, ABC Kids, ABC News |
| History | |
| First air date | August 13, 1971 |
| Former channel number(s) | Analog: 6 (VHF)(1971-2013) |
| Call sign meaning | ABC Darwin |
| Technical information | |
| ERP | 80 kW (analog) 85 kW (digital) |
| HAAT | 80 m (analog) 147 m (digital)[1] |
| Transmitter coordinates | 12°26′55″S 130°50′12″E (analog) 12°24′52″S 130°58′9″E (digital) |
| Links | |
| Website | www.abc.net.au/tv |
Local programming
ABD follows a schedule similar to the ABC's statewide stations, opting out regularly for local news, current affairs, and sports programming.
The local ABC News NT bulletin is presented by Eleni Roussos and Amy Culpitt nightly. The weeknight bulletins also incorporate a national finance segment presented by Alan Kohler in Melbourne and a local segment b
ABC Darwin also produced its own 7:30 segment until December 2014, when Quentin Dempster announced the final episode of the state editions would be the following week (Friday 5 December 2014), corresponding with his departure from the public broadcaster.
ABD previously did live coverage of Northern Territory Football League matches every Saturday afternoon during the season, however, ABC lost rights to SBS, which now broadcasts it on NITV in the Northern Territory.
The analog signal for ABD was shut off at 9.00 am CST, Tuesday, 30 July 2013, along with NTD (TV station) and other stations.
ABC News NT Bulletin
ABC Darwin produces a local news bulletin nightly out of TV Studio 81 at Cavanagh Street in Darwin City. The bulletin has a duration of 30 minutes on Monday to Saturday, and 40 minutes on Sunday. The bulletin contains coverage of local stories, national, international, and a Friday segment featuring ABC Radio Darwin's country hour host Matt Brann - covering local events in the NT farming and cattle industry.
ABC News NT is the only program produced locally by the network, however, they are known to contribute heavily to the daytime program of Landline (TV series). The network previously produced programs Stateline and 7:30 on weeknights, however, ABC axed the local production of these programs Australia wide and re-introduced it as a National edition.
The station also broadcasts local ANZAC Day services such as the local Dawn Service and march, as well as the Bombing of Darwin commemorations and NT General Election specials.
- Amy Culpitt (Fri-Sun)
- Eleni Roussos (Mon-Thurs)
Reporting Team (Darwin and Alice Springs)
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ABC News NT is currently number #1 in ratings across the Northern Territory with Channel 9's Nine News Darwin service coming in 2nd. The station received a boost of ratings in 2017 due to the recent axings of local coverage at TV station NTD.
Relay stations
The following stations relay ABD throughout the Northern Territory:
| Call | Region served | City | Channels (Analog/ digital) |
First air date | 3rd letter's meaning |
ERP (Analog/ digital) |
HAAT (Analog/ digital)1 |
Transmitter coordinates | Transmitter location |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABAD | Alice Springs | Alice Springs | 7 (VHF) 8 (VHF) |
16 December 1972 | Alice Springs | 0.5 kW 0.125 kW |
205 m 205 m |
23°43′20″S 133°51′24″E | West Gap |
| ABKD | Katherine | Katherine | 7 (VHF) 8 (VHF) |
21 December 1974 | Katherine | 1.2 kW 0.3 kW |
32 m 32 m |
14°28′20″S 132°16′45″E | Katherine |
| ABTD | Tennant Creek | Tennant Creek | 9 (VHF) 9A (VHF) |
21 December 1974 | Tennant Creek | 2 kW 0.5 kW |
110 m 114 m |
19°38′3″S 134°13′25″E | Tennant Creek |
Notes:
- 1. HAAT estimated from http://www.itu.int/SRTM3/ using EHAAT.