About Nine Regional WA

Nine Regional WA

Nine Regional WA is WIN Television's Nine Network station for regional Western Australia: the Nine affiliate broadcasting across the South West, Great Southern, Kalgoorlie, Geraldton and the Mid West — from the coast to the goldfields, the forests to the wheatbelt. Known as WOW — WIN Western Australia — it commenced transmissions on 26 March 1999 as the second commercial regional broadcaster in Western Australia, ending the Golden West Network's monopoly. It carries the Nine Network schedule with WIN News, free to air across regional WA.

Overview

Nine Regional WA is the Nine affiliate for regional Western Australia: the regional home of the Nine Network's news, sport, reality, drama and entertainment, with WIN's regional news — the Nine experience for the west. The station broadcasts in high definition and standard definition on the WIN multiplex, with multichannels 9Gem, 9Go!, 9Life and GOLD, and is streamed through Nine's platforms. Its website is wintv.com.au, as part of the WIN Network.

History

Prior to WIN Television's expansion into Western Australia, the Golden West Network was the sole commercial network operating in regional areas, carrying programming from all three networks — Seven, Nine and Ten. On 26 March 1999, WIN Western Australia officially commenced transmissions as an affiliate of Nine and Ten — the second commercial regional broadcaster in the state, alongside the former monopoly. This left GWN to become a sole Seven affiliate.

WIN struggled for ratings success in regional Western Australia, in part due to GWN/GWN7's 30-year run as the sole commercial television outlet: WIN WA ran second to GWN7 in every ratings survey to date — in the second 2005 survey, WIN WA managed only a 38.3 per cent commercial audience share in prime time, compared to GWN7's 61.7 per cent. The monopoly's long shadow: three decades as the only commercial choice had built a loyalty that the newcomer could not quickly overcome.

A proposal for a third television station — a joint venture between WIN Corporation and Prime Media Group, owner of GWN7 — was submitted to the ACMA in 2006. Similar to Mildura Digital Television, the new channel would operate under a Section 38B licence as a Network Ten affiliate named Ten West — the third commercial service for the west, and the forerunner of West Digital Television.

The new decade saw the introduction of digital television: the Central Wheatbelt, Kalgoorlie, Karratha and Mingenew digital transmitters launched on 10 June 2010 — the broadcasters sharing a single digital transmitter for GWN7, WIN WA and the new Ten West in standard definition at each location. Digital transmitter upgrades continued on 28 July 2011, with Bunbury and surrounds introduced to the full suite of digital channels for the first time, including GO! and GEM. On 30 July 2011, the regional networks began broadcasting on the Viewer Access Satellite Television (VAST) platform; analogue transmissions ceased statewide on 25 June 2013. On 10 March 2016, WIN HD and 9Life launched on both terrestrial and satellite platforms — GOLD ceasing transmission the same day. WIN Television is available statewide in digital terrestrial and digital satellite format, with the full suite of digital services available in all areas with digital transmissions. WOW: WIN Western Australia — the station that ended the monopoly, then, now, and tomorrow. Nine Regional WA: WIN's Nine affiliate for regional Western Australia — free to air, statewide. WIN Western Australia originally sourced programming from both the Nine Network and Network Ten; the introduction of Ten West and the increase in digital television penetration in 2012 turned WIN WA into a sole Nine Network affiliate, with almost identical programming to STW-9 Perth. Former affiliations: Nine Network (primary) from 26 March 1999 to 30 June 2016 and from 1 July 2021 to the present; Network Ten from 26 March 1999 to 2 March 2012 and from 1 July 2016 to 30 June 2021. On 29 April 2016, Nine pulled its regional affiliation with WIN over the 9Now lawsuit and announced a new deal with Southern Cross; Ten negotiated a five-year affiliation deal with WIN, effective 1 July 2016 — making WIN WA a Ten affiliate, with West Digital Television picking up the Nine affiliation on 2 July 2016. The swap was reversed on 1 July 2021: Nine returned to WIN under a seven-year deal, with WIN paying around 50 per cent of its regional advertising revenue in affiliation fees and providing airtime for Nine's promotions; West Digital Television picked up the Network 10 affiliation the same day. WIN WA returned to Nine.

Programming and Content

Nine Regional WA's programming is the Nine Network schedule — Nine News Perth, A Current Affair, national news bulletins, reality, drama, sport and entertainment — with WIN's regional news. The station carries the Perth feeds of 9Gem, 9Go! and 9Life, on logical channels 8 (Nine), 80 (9HD), 81 (9Gem), 82 (9Go!) and 85 (9Life).

News has been the station's most turbulent story. WIN Western Australia was initially created with no local news service; the then-owners of STW-9 Perth, Sunraysia Television, were not prepared to simulcast news programming with WIN, so WIN formed a deal with Network Ten affiliate NEW-10 to carry a delayed broadcast of the 10 News First 5pm program each night. WIN began its own regional news service, WIN News Western Australia, on 13 November 2006 — initially presented from WIN's Wollongong headquarters by Kerryn Johnston (and latterly Amy Taylor), with studio presentation moving to Perth a year later following the sale of STW-9 to WIN Corporation. Presenters of the regional bulletin included Nine News weather presenter Natalia Cooper, former ABC News journalist Deborah Kennedy and Matt Tinney; reporters and video journalists were based at district newsrooms in Albany, Broome, Bunbury, Geraldton, Kalgoorlie and STW-9's Perth studios.

In March 2012, WIN axed its weeknight Western Australia bulletin, with regional news coverage incorporated into a localised edition of Nine Afternoon News at 4:30pm on weekday afternoons, produced and presented from Perth. News bureaus in Geraldton, Albany and Broome were closed, with only Bunbury and Kalgoorlie retained. The last edition of WIN News Western Australia aired on 9 March 2012. The localised Nine Afternoon News edition was axed on 1 July 2013 but reintroduced on 7 October 2013. On 1 July 2016, WIN's switch to a Ten affiliation saw the return of 10 News First live from the NEW-10 Perth studios; on 1 July 2021, the return to Nine saw the return of Nine News live from the STW-9 Perth studios.

Coverage and Audience

Nine Regional WA broadcasts across regional Western Australia: the South West and Great Southern, Kalgoorlie-Boulder, Geraldton and the Mid West — available statewide in digital terrestrial and digital satellite format, in all areas with digital transmissions. Its audience is regional WA: the viewers who chose between GWN's monopoly and WIN's arrival in 1999.

Ownership

Nine Regional WA is owned and operated by the WIN Corporation (WIN Television) as the Nine affiliate for regional Western Australia — part of Australia's largest regional network, and the only 100 per cent Australian-owned commercial television network.

Digital Presence

Nine Regional WA's digital home is wintv.com.au, as part of the WIN Network. For regional Western Australia, WIN is the Nine affiliate: Nine's programming with WIN News, free to air. From 1999 to today: WIN WA — the station that ended the monopoly, and the Nine affiliate for the west.