STW

STW is an Australian television station owned by the Nine Network that is based in Perth, Western Australia. STW broadcasts from a shared facility transmitter mast located in Carmel. The station callsign, STW, is an acronym of Swan Television, Western Australia.

This article is about the Australian television station. For other uses, see STW (disambiguation).

STW
Perth, Western Australia
ChannelsDigital: 8 (VHF)
Virtual: 9
BrandingNine
Programming
AffiliationsNine (O&O)
Ownership
OwnerNine Entertainment Co.
(Swan Television & Radio Broadcasters Pty Ltd)
History
First air date12 June 1965 (1965-06-12)
Former channel number(s)Analog: 9 (VHF) (1965-2013)
Former affiliationsIndependent (1965-1978)
Call sign meaningSwan
Television
Western Australia
Technical information
ERP50 kW (digital)
HAAT317 m (digital)[1]
Transmitter coordinates32°0′45″S 116°3′42″E
Links
Website9now.com.au

History

Origins

In February 1964, Swan Television was awarded a licence to operate Perth's second commercial television station.[2] The company's shareholders at the time included Ansett Transport Industries, which was also preparing to launch ATV-0, the third commercial station in Melbourne, in October that year.

STW-9 began broadcasting at 5.30pm on Saturday 12 June 1965.[3] Broadcasting from a purpose-built studio complex in the Perth suburb of Dianella, the station employed around a hundred staff.

The station was officially opened by the Premier of Western Australia, David Brand, following a documentary film entitled Montage of Perth. Its first night programming included the film Guys and Dolls, an MGM-produced tribute to Cecil B. DeMille called The World's Greatest Showman and a replay of TV Spells Magic, a variety show produced for the opening of TEN-10 in Sydney the preceding April.[4]

Upon launch, both STW and rival station TVW-7 launched a joint company entitled TV Facilities to allow the two commercial channels in Perth to share access to networked programs from the east coast.

1970s and 1980s

Among the station's key achievements, it produced a major drama series in 1973 - The Drifter, starring Alan Cassell. In the run up to the launch of colour broadcasting, STW produced the first full colour TV news bulletin in November 1974.[5] The station won its first Logie Award in 1971 for locally produced variety show Spotlight.

STW remained independently owned until 1978, when it became affiliated with the Nine Network, allowing direct access to its programming. In 1984, the station was bought by businessman Alan Bond, and became an owned and operated station for just under $50 million and came under the ownership of Bond Media. It would become an owned and operated station again when Bond purchased the Nine Network.

During the 1980s, STW9 became the first station in Perth to commence 24-hour broadcasting in April 1984. The station also claimed the first hour-long news program in the city.

In 1989, Bond Media sold STW to Sunraysia Television for A$95 million. The deal also involved Bond Media purchasing the Sunraysia owned STV-8 for A$18 million. Bond Media was forced to sell due to the Federal cross-media ownership laws, which restricted the level of national reach for media owners.[6]

2000s

In January 2007, Sunraysia Television posted a profit warning, from an expected 12% drop in revenue over the previous six months, citing a weak local advertising market and low ratings, despite a strong state economy.[7] The profit warning led to speculation of a potential takeover of STW-9, with PBL and regional network WIN Television indicated as potential bidders.[8] PBL Media announced in February 2007 that it would purchase STW-9 for A$136.4 million, with the deal to be completed in late March or early April subject to shareholder approval.[9] After PBL Media bid for the station, 45% shareholder WIN Corporation wanted to buy out the station itself. WIN lodged two bids. In June 2007, shareholders approved the revised WIN bid.

2010s

In 2013, Nine Entertainment Co. purchased STW from WIN and gained control of the station from 30 September. This returned STW to being a Nine owned-and-operated station for the first time since 1989, with the network now owning all five of its flagship metropolitan stations.

On 19 September 2016, STW began broadcasting from new studios located at 253-267 St Georges Terrace in Perth's CBD, after 51 years at its original location in Dianella.[10]

Programming

News and current affairs

Nine News national services broadcast on STW include Today, Weekend Today, Nine's Early Morning News, Nine's Morning News, Nine News: First at 5, A Current Affair and 60 Minutes.

Since May 2020, Nine News Late has been broadcast from STW on Mondays–Thursdays, presented by Michael Thomson.[11]

Nine News Perth
The set of Nine News.

Nine News Perth is produced and broadcast live from STW's studios in Perth. Nine Live Perth at 4 pm is presented by Louise Momber and Michael Genovese and the flagship newscast every night at 6pm by Michael Thomson on weeknights and Louise Momber on weekends, with sport presenters Matthew Pavlich (Monday – Wednesday) and Paddy Sweeney (Thursday – Sunday) and weather presenters Scherri-Lee Biggs on weeknights from across Perth and regional Western Australia.

Michael Genovese is the main fill-in presenter for Michael Thomson on weeknights. Simone Luker and Paddy Sweeney are the main fill-in sport presenters for Matthew Pavlich. Elizabeth Creasy and Jerrie Demasi are main fill-in weather presenters for Scherri-Lee Biggs

Despite the national dominance of Nine News for many years,[12] the Perth bulletin has failed to match the ratings success seen in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, and remains the lowest-rating news program in its market, often trailing rival Seven News Perth by over 100,000 viewers.[13] This is reflected in the frequent position changes that have taken place at STW over the past thirty years since it last won the local ratings in 1990.[14][15][16]

Presenters

Weeknights

  • Michael Thomson (News) (2018–present)
  • Matthew Pavlich (Sport) (Monday to Wednesday, 2018–present)
  • Paddy Sweeney (Sport) (Thursday to Sunday)
  • Scherri-Lee Biggs (Weather)

Weekends

Nine Live Perth

  • Louise Momber (2020–present)

Reporters

Source

Notable former reporters

Local programming
  • Destination WA
  • Nine Live Perth

Past local programming

In recent years, STW-9 has also produced and broadcast local news, current affairs & feature programming including a Western Australia edition of A Current Affair, a localised 4.30pm afternoon news bulletin, gardening series Garden Gurus (which continues to air on Nine Network stations), lifestyle series Just Add Water and travel series Postcards WA.

Appealathon

In its 30 years, Channel Nine Perth's Appealathon has raised in excess of $53.5 million. Since 1975, Appealathon has supported four specific charities with Appealathon funds: the Activ Foundation, Civilian Maimed & Limbless Association, Paraplegic/Quadriplegic Association and Rocky Bay. Many other organisations are helped as well on a yearly basis. The Appealathon is involved in over 50 fundraising events and projects across Perth each year.

Broadcasting details
Locations of transmitters broadcasting STW

Analogue main channel frequency (to 25 June 2013): VHF-9 @ 196.25 MHz (bandwidth: 7 MHz PAL)
Digital transport stream frequency (as of 25 June 2013): VHF-8 @ 191.5 MHz (bandwidth: 7 MHz 64-QAM

Digital channels
LCN Service Image quality Compression quality
9 9 720x576i16:9 SD H.262 video @ 5550 kbit/s
Dolby Digital audio @ 256 kbit/s
MPEG-1 Audio Layer II @ 256 kbit/s
90 9HD 1440x1080i HD Lite H.262 video @ 15250 kbit/s video
Dolby Digital audio @ 448kbit
92 9Gem 720x576i16:9 SD H.262 video @ 5550 kbit/s
Dolby Digital audio @ 256 kbit/s
MPEG-1 Audio Layer II @ 256 kbit/s
93/99 9Go! 720x576i 16:9 SD H.262 video
MPEG-1 Audio Layer II @ 256 kbit/s
94 9Life 720x576i 16:9 SD H.262 video
MPEG-1 Audio Layer II @ 256 kbit/s
95 extra 720x576i 16:9 SD H.262 video
MPEG-1 Audio Layer II @ 256 kbit/s
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References
  1. HAAT estimated from http://www.itu.int/SRTM3/ using EHAAT.
  2. Nine Perth turns 50, televisionau.com, 12 June 2015
  3. Nine Perth turns 50, televisionau.com, 12 June 2015
  4. Classic TV Guides: Saturday 12 June 1965 - Perth, televisionau.com
  5. Nine Perth turns 50, televisionau.com, 12 June 2015
  6. Webb, Richard (20 April 1989). "Sunraysia settles STW-9 purchase". Australian Financial Review.
  7. Canning, Simon (1 October 2007). "STW profits hit by ad drop". The Australian. Archived from the original on 15 December 2012. Retrieved 1 October 2007.
  8. Murray, Lisa (10 January 2007). "WIN, Packer seen as rival bidders for Perth Channel 9". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 10 January 2007.
  9. "PBL Media buys Channel Nine Perth". The Age. 21 February 2007. Retrieved 21 February 2007.
  10. Claire Abraham (19 September 2016). "9NEWS Perth paves the way with Australia's most modern news studio". Nine News. Retrieved 19 September 2016.
  11. Knox, David (22 May 2020). "Today Show drops local Perth news inserts". TV Tonight. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
  12. Bodey, Michael (20 July 2015). "TV ratings: Nine's the one again when it comes to news". The Australian. Retrieved 7 June 2017.
  13. McHugh, Jillian (9 December 2012). "Tim McMillan replaces Greg Pearce at Nine". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
  14. Barnes, Candice (24 February 2015). "Libby out, Emmy in on Nine's Perth news desk". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
  15. "Nine Perth turns 50". TelevisionAU. 12 June 2015. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
  16. Knox, David (16 December 2017). "Nine News dumps Perth anchors". TV Tonight. Retrieved 17 December 2017.
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