About Seven Regional WA

Seven Regional WA

Seven Regional WA is the Seven Network's regional station for Western Australia: the Seven affiliate broadcasting across the South West, Great Southern, Kalgoorlie-Boulder, Geraldton and the Mid West. Formerly GWN7 — the Golden West Network, part of Prime Media Group — it became a Seven owned-and-operated station when Seven West Media acquired Prime Media Group on 31 December 2021, with the GWN7 name retired on 25 July 2022. It carries the full Seven schedule, with Seven News Perth live across the network and a weeknight local news service at 5:30pm.

Overview

Seven Regional WA is the Seven affiliate for regional Western Australia: the regional home of the Seven Network's news, sport, reality, drama and entertainment. Its on-air schedule is almost identical to its metropolitan counterpart, TVW Perth — including Seven News Perth, which airs live across the network — plus a weeknight local news service, live at 5:30pm. The network serves one of the largest geographic television markets in the world — almost one-third of the continent — on Freeview channel 6 (and VAST channel 6), in 1080i high definition. It broadcasts the full Seven multichannel suite and is streamed through 7plus.

History

Seven Regional WA began as GWN7 — the Golden West Network, the Seven affiliate for regional Western Australia and part of Prime Media Group (founded by Paul Ramsay, alongside Prime7 in the east). But its roots go much deeper. The network launched on 10 March 1967 as BTW-3 in Bunbury — South West Telecasters — with just 12 staff, based at Roberts Crescent in Bunbury, going to air with five hours of programming every evening from 5pm. It grew from that single station to cover around 2.5 million square kilometres: relays followed at GSW-9 Mount Barker (23 August 1968) and GSW-10 Albany (29 August 1974), VEW-8 Kalgoorlie launched 18 June 1971 (with VEW-3 Kambalda relay from 29 November 1971), and GTW-11 Geraldton joined the network.

In 1979, Jack Bendat purchased South West Telecasters and changed the company name to Golden West Network (GWN) — GWN standing for Golden West Network. Prime Television later purchased GWN in 1996 from Kerry Stokes, and the network was rebranded GWN7 in 2011.

For three decades, GWN was the sole commercial television outlet in regional Western Australia, carrying programming from all three networks — Seven, Nine and Ten. That monopoly ended on 26 March 1999, when WIN Western Australia commenced transmissions as a Nine and Ten affiliate; GWN became a sole Seven affiliate. Even then, GWN remained the most-watched network in the region with approximately 65 per cent of the prime-time audience, and WIN WA has run second to GWN7 in every ratings survey to date (in 2005, GWN7 took 61.7 per cent of the commercial prime-time audience to WIN WA's 38.3 per cent). The network celebrated its 50th birthday on 10 March 2017 — five decades as the most-watched television network in regional Western Australia.

Prime Media Group Limited — formerly Prime Television Limited, founded as Ramcorp — was the ASX-listed company (ASX: PRT) behind the network. Founded by Paul Ramsay in 1986, headquartered in Watson, Canberra, it owned Prime7 in eastern Australia and GWN7 in regional Western Australia, plus the ishop TV datacasting channel, two joint ventures with WIN Corporation (Mildura Digital Television and West Digital Television, each 50 per cent), and a Queensland radio network from 2005 to 2013. In 2021, its final full year, the company reported revenue of $179 million under CEO Ian Audsley. On 31 December 2021 it was acquired by Seven West Media; on 3 January 2022 it was renamed PRT Company Limited.

Playout of GWN7's programming moved over the years: first to Mediahub in the Sydney suburb of Ingleburn (which also houses playout for ABC Television and WIN Television), then to a Telstra-operated facility shared with SBS Television — Prime7's national broadcast facility arrangement.

In January 2011, Prime and GWN re-launched with new names and logos reflecting their Seven Network affiliation — from 6pm on a Sunday night, PRIME7 and GWN7 rolled out new IDs and promos carrying the famous big red "7," with news services rebranded PRIME7 News and GWN7 News. But GWN7 remained, alongside Prime7, the only commercial affiliate not carrying full metro network branding on air.

Prior to Seven's ownership, GWN7 — alongside its sister Prime7 stations — was the only commercial affiliate not carrying full metro network branding on-air, in contrast to WIN (Nine branding) and Southern Cross (10 branding). On 1 November 2021, Seven West Media announced it would acquire all shares and subsidiaries of Prime Media Group — its second attempt, after a 2019 bid was thwarted by Antony Catalano and Bruce Gordon. Prime shareholders approved the deal on 23 December, and the sale was completed on 31 December 2021: the end of the Prime brand after 33 years, trading as Seven from 1 January 2022. "We now have the potential to reach more than 90% of Australia's population each month as one integrated company," said Seven West Media CEO James Warburton. On 23 May 2022, Seven announced the GWN7 brand would be unified under Seven Network branding — the historic change introduced in time for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games in July; the GWN7 name was retired on 25 July 2022.

Since the network's inception, GWN featured original regional programming: the children's program Doopa's Club with station mascot Doopa Dog, and the community service strand GWN7 InfoNet — short updates listing local community events. The network's slogan was "Gottaloveit" — and regional Western Australians did.

Programming and Content

Seven Regional WA's programming is the Seven Network schedule — 7NEWS, Sunrise, sport (AFL, cricket, the Olympics), reality, drama and entertainment — with Seven News Perth live across the network and a weeknight local news service at 5:30pm. The local news heritage — from Golden West News to GWN7 News to Seven News — remains the station's signature: the regional news service for the west.

Coverage and Audience

Seven Regional WA broadcasts across regional Western Australia: the South West and Great Southern, Kalgoorlie-Boulder, Geraldton and the Mid West — the vast regions of the west, from the coast to the goldfields. Its audience is regional WA: the viewers across the state's vast regions — the South West, the Great Southern, the goldfields, the Mid West.

Ownership

Seven Regional WA is owned and operated by the Seven Network (Seven West Media) as part of the former Prime Media Group, acquired 31 December 2021 — the acquisition that brought the Golden West Network in-house.

Digital Presence

Seven Regional WA is streamed through 7plus, with local news available on demand. For regional Western Australia, Seven is the Seven affiliate: Seven's programming with local news, free to air. From GWN7 to Seven: the Golden West Network, now in Seven colours — and regional WA's Seven, then and now. From BTW-3 Bunbury in 1967 to Seven Regional WA: almost one-third of the continent, one Seven. BTW-3, South West Telecasters, Golden West Network, GWN7, Seven Regional WA: the names of Western Australian regional television — 1967 to today. Seven Regional WA: the Golden West Network's heir — regional Western Australia's Seven, free to air and streaming. From 12 staff in Bunbury to one-third of the continent: Seven Regional WA's story — then, now, and tomorrow. Seven Regional WA: the Golden West Network, now Seven — regional Western Australia's Seven.