About Seven Queensland

Seven Queensland

Seven Queensland is the Seven Network's regional station for Queensland: the Seven owned-and-operated affiliate broadcasting across Cairns, Townsville, Mackay, Rockhampton, Wide Bay, Toowoomba and the Sunshine Coast. Born as the Sunshine Television Network at Queensland's aggregation at the end of 1990, it was purchased by Seven in 1995 and has been Seven Queensland ever since — the only Seven owned-and-operated regional network, and the only regional broadcaster to carry 7flix. It produces weeknight half-hour 7NEWS bulletins in each of its seven coverage areas.

Overview

Seven Queensland is the Seven affiliate for regional Queensland: the regional home of the Seven Network's news, sport, reality, drama and entertainment, with local 7NEWS bulletins in seven distinct editions — Cairns, Townsville, Mackay, Wide Bay, Toowoomba, the Sunshine Coast and Rockhampton (Central Queensland). The bulletins air each weeknight at 6pm, followed by a shortened 30-minute Seven News Brisbane — the Brisbane bulletin presented by Max Futcher and Sarah Greenhalgh on weeknights and Samantha Heathwood on weekends, from Seven's Mount Coot-tha studios — and are repeated on a half-hour delay on 7two at 6:30pm. Seven Queensland broadcasts the full Seven multichannel suite — including 7flix, which as of 2016 it alone among regional broadcasters carried, thanks to Seven West Media's ownership — and is streamed through 7plus.

History

Seven Queensland began as two different operators: WBQ-8 Wide Bay/Maryborough, starting 10 April 1965, and MVQ-6 Mackay, starting 9 August 1968. WBQ later changed its callsign to SEQ (South East Queensland) and its on-air name to "Sunshine Television," with the slogan "Leading the Way"; MVQ became "Tropical Television." As long-time broadcasters of Seven Network programs — and of the Brisbane Seven News edition on BTQ, then under Christopher Skase's ownership — the two began preparing for aggregation in 1988–89 as the Seven affiliates for regional Queensland.

Aggregation was the Hawke government's equalisation policy: until 1989, the capital cities had three commercial channels plus the ABC and SBS, while regional viewers had only the ABC and one commercial channel. The favoured method — chosen by the government — was for existing broadcasters to align with a city network and broadcast into each other's regions. In Queensland, the alignment was: SEQ and MVQ Mackay would become Sunshine TV and take the Seven affiliation; RTQ would become WIN TV with the Nine affiliation; NQTV would become QTV (later switching to a Ten affiliation).

In 1982, MVQ-6 changed its on-air identity to Tropical Television. In 1987, both MVQ-6 and SEQ-8 were purchased by Christopher Skase's Qintex Limited — the high-flying 1980s conglomerate. Following the collapse of Qintex, ownership of the Sunshine Television Network was transferred to Gosford Communications in 1992. In July 1995, the network was purchased by Seven and became Seven Queensland, taking on the generic Seven Network look. Its schedule since has been virtually identical to its metropolitan counterpart, BTQ Brisbane. Seven Queensland won the annual audience ratings for the first time in 1998, against WIN and Southern Cross Ten — the Seven O&O beating the affiliates at their own game.

On 31 December 1990 — the day Queensland became the second aggregated market — SEQ-8 Maryborough and MVQ-6 Mackay merged into the Sunshine Television Network, a Seven Network affiliate with the official callsign STQ: Sunshine Television Queensland. On the same day, coverage expanded dramatically: Cairns and the Southern Downs on UHF-33, Darling Downs/Toowoomba on UHF-35, Rockhampton on UHF-31, and Townsville on UHF-34. The new network adopted the slogan "Love You Queensland," with a jingle based on BTQ's, and a logo like Seven's but with a map of Queensland on top.

Programming and Content

Seven Queensland's programming is the Seven Network schedule — 7NEWS, Sunrise, sport (AFL, cricket, the Olympics), reality, drama and entertainment — with weeknight half-hour 7NEWS bulletins in seven areas: Cairns, Townsville, Mackay, Central Queensland, Darling Downs, Wide Bay–Burnett and the Sunshine Coast. The bulletins are the most comprehensive regional news service in Queensland: seven editions, seven newsrooms, every weeknight.

The news operation is substantial. In Seven West Media's submission to a House of Representatives inquiry, the company reported that Channel Seven Queensland employs 178 people — 79 of them in the news department — with local offices, journalists and news production facilities in each of the seven areas. The bulletins are presented by Rob Brough, with Joanne Desmond co-anchoring the Cairns, Townsville, Rockhampton and Toowoomba editions; Nathan Spurling presents sport and Livio Regano weather for all seven subregions. The bulletins are read and distributed from a centralised hub in Maroochydore, but the news content is produced in the local markets to which it relates.

The seven-bulletin service was built over time. Prior to November 2010, Seven Queensland provided nightly local bulletins to five of the seven submarkets; on 22 November 2010, a new nightly service launched for Rockhampton/Gladstone and Central Queensland; and on 2 November 2015, a seventh nightly local news for Toowoomba and the Darling Downs was introduced — making Seven Queensland the only regional television network to provide a full-scale local news service for every local market in the regional Queensland licence area. Seven Local News consistently outperforms Seven's overall prime time schedule, which is the number-one service in the region. In the 2017 survey year, Seven News — presented by Rob Brough and Jo Desmond — won every ratings week statewide with a 60.4 per cent audience share at Aggregate Queensland, over twice SCA9's 23.0 per cent and over three times WIN's 16.6 per cent, winning every week in every market across the 38-week survey except two isolated weeks in Rockhampton.

Beyond news, Seven Queensland produces local lifestyle programming: the travel shows Creek to Coast, Queensland Weekender and The Great Day Out — which returned to air in 2020 after a viewer and sponsor backlash to cost-cutting plans, with Creek to Coast shifting to Saturdays at 5:30pm and an amalgamated Weekender. Although owned by Seven West Media, Seven Queensland operates independently from the metropolitan network, running its own profit and loss and paying the same level of affiliation fees to SWM as its other regional affiliates.

Coverage and Audience

Seven Queensland broadcasts across regional Queensland: Cairns, Townsville, Mackay, Rockhampton, Wide Bay, Toowoomba and the Sunshine Coast — seven coverage areas, seven bulletins, from the far north to the south-east. Its audience is regional Queensland: the viewers who made Seven Queensland a ratings winner since 1998 — from Cairns to the Sunshine Coast, the far north to the south-east.

Ownership

Seven Queensland is owned and operated by the Seven Network (Seven West Media) — a Seven owned-and-operated regional station since 1995, and the only Seven O&O in regional Australia.

Digital Presence

Seven Queensland is streamed through 7plus, with local 7NEWS bulletins available on demand. For regional Queensland, Seven Queensland is the Seven affiliate: Seven's programming with seven local bulletins, free to air. From Sunshine Television to Seven Queensland: "Love You Queensland," then and now — the Seven O&O for regional Queensland, the only regional broadcaster with 7flix, and the ratings winner since 1998. Seven editions, 178 people, one Queensland. From WBQ-8 and MVQ-6 to Seven Queensland: regional Queensland's Seven — then, now, and tomorrow. Seven Queensland: "Love You Queensland" — the Seven O&O, free to air across regional Queensland. Seven Queensland: seven bulletins, seven regions — the Seven affiliate for regional Queensland. From the Sunshine Television Network to Seven Queensland: "Love You Queensland" — 1990 to today.