About WIN Television

WIN Television

WIN Television is Australia's largest regional commercial television network: a group of stations owned and operated by Wollongong-based WIN Corporation, carrying the Nine Network across regional Queensland, northern and southern New South Wales, the ACT, Griffith, regional Victoria, Mildura, Tasmania, eastern South Australia, regional Western Australia and Darwin. The name comes from its first station, Wollongong's WIN-4, which began transmitting on 18 March 1962. Owned by Bruce Gordon's WIN Corporation, it is Australia's only 100 per cent Australian-owned commercial television network — the regional giant.
WIN: Wollongong Illawarra New South Wales — the call sign that became a network, and the network that became a giant. From WIN-4's audio-less first night to the largest regional network in Australian television: WIN's story is regional Australia's story.

Overview

WIN Television is the regional Nine affiliate: the network that brings Nine Network programming — news, sport, reality and drama — to regional Australia, alongside weeknight half-hour WIN News bulletins produced in its own newsrooms. Its stations hold Nine affiliations across Darwin, regional Queensland, the Gold Coast, northern, southern and western New South Wales, Griffith, regional Victoria, Mildura, Tasmania, eastern South Australia and regional Western Australia, with Seven Network and Network 10 affiliations in selected smaller markets (Griffith, Mildura, eastern South Australia and regional Western Australia). The network broadcasts in 1080i high definition (WIN HD on channel 80) and standard definition (channels 8 and 88), with multichannels 9Gem, 9Go!, 9Life and GOLD. Its website is wintv.com.au.

History

WIN began as WIN-4 Wollongong. Test transmissions from Knight's Hill were delayed by rain, but WIN-4 commenced at 5:15pm on 18 March 1962 — a single station owned by Television Wollongong Transmission Limited (TWT), a group of local businessmen: the Illawarra's own television station. The first night was met with technical issues, most notably the complete loss of audio — the inauspicious start of what would become Australia's largest regional network. Worse, Sydney's TCN-9 and ATN-7 refused to sell programming to the station, leaving it at its peak with only 42 hours of programming and an unstable financial situation.

In April 1963, Media Securities — owned by Rupert Murdoch — acquired a controlling interest (his second television station after NWS-9 Adelaide) and appointed Bill Lean as general manager. Murdoch's contractual arrangements saw TCN-9 and ATN-7 begin purchasing hours of first-run American programming from WIN-4 — the programming lifeline that saved the station. The station expanded its repeaters to Moruya, Batemans Bay, Narooma, Bega and Eden, and local programming plus its near-monopoly meant that by 1973 viewership occupied 63 per cent of the audience — the regional station that owned its market.

In June 1979, to buy capital-city stations TEN-10 Sydney and ATV-0 Melbourne, Murdoch sold his 76 per cent stake to Oberon Broadcasters — a private investment group including Bruce Gordon, head of Paramount Pictures' international distribution arm: the Hollywood executive who would build the regional empire. (Under the Broadcasting and Television Act, a company could not own more than 5 per cent in more than one television station in the same state.) Gordon — who had been selling programs to WIN-4 for four years — took control. In 1985, TWT was listed on the Sydney Stock Exchange as TWT Holdings Limited (Gordon retaining 70 per cent); in 1992 Gordon privatised the business as WIN Corporation — the private company that has owned the network ever since.

The 1980s and 1990s brought expansive growth. Government-imposed aggregation delivered metropolitan programming to regional centres and forced the change from VHF to UHF frequencies — a massive gamble that paid off. The WIN network grew across the country into Australia's largest terrestrial television network. For its 30th anniversary in 1992, WIN Corporation threw a black-tie dinner in Wollongong attended by 300 guests including Lachlan Murdoch and David Gyngell: 28 stations broadcasting to more than 42 per cent of Australia's 8.5 million viewers across six states — the largest geographical reach in the world. A second, more private dinner for some 60 invitees was held in Sydney.

Affiliation history: WIN-4 was independent from 1962 to 31 March 1989, then a Nine Network affiliate until 30 June 2016, a Network 10 affiliate from 1 July 2016 to 30 June 2021, and a Nine affiliate again from 1 July 2021 — the affiliation switches that reshaped regional Australian television, and the reason WIN is the Nine affiliate across most of regional Australia today.

Programming and Content

WIN's programming is the Nine Network schedule — news, current affairs, sport, reality, drama and entertainment — plus WIN News: weeknight half-hour local bulletins across its Queensland, ACT, southern New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania markets, produced from the network's regional newsrooms: the most comprehensive regional news service in Australia. Since inception, WIN has produced notable local programs: Sportsview and Sportsworld (international, national and local sport), the children's series The Channel 4 Club (from the first week of transmissions), Stopwatch (from 1979) and the educational programme You Say the Word — the local production tradition that built the network.

Coverage and Audience

WIN Television broadcasts across regional Queensland, northern NSW and the Gold Coast, southern NSW and the ACT, Griffith, regional Victoria, Mildura, Tasmania, eastern South Australia, regional Western Australia and Darwin — the largest regional footprint in Australian television, spanning the largest geographical area in the world. Its audience is regional Australia: the viewers outside the five mainland capitals who rely on WIN for Nine Network programming and local news — more than 42 per cent of the nation's television viewers, across six states.

Ownership

WIN Television is owned by WIN Corporation Pty Ltd — a private Australian media company based in Wollongong, owned by Birketu Pty Ltd (the Gordon family), with Bruce Gordon as deputy chairman/owner and Andrew Gordon as executive chairman. The company's assets include the WIN Television network, Crawford Productions (the legendary Australian production house) and local radio stations. WIN has also expanded into synergistic businesses: the satellite pay-TV operator Selectv, and telecommunications and transmission providers Digital Distributions Australia and Broadcast Transmission. Its national play-out centre is at Ingleburn, Sydney.

Digital Presence

WIN's digital home is wintv.com.au, alongside streaming of Nine Network content. For regional Australia, WIN is the Nine affiliate: Nine's programming with WIN News, free to air across the regions. From a single Wollongong station in 1962 to Australia's largest regional network: WIN — the only 100 per cent Australian-owned commercial television network, and the regional giant.
From 1962 to today: WIN Television — Australia's largest regional network, the only 100 per cent Australian-owned commercial television network. WIN: the regional giant — 1962 to today. WIN-4, WIN News, WIN Corporation: the names of regional Australian television. From Knight's Hill to the nation: WIN's 64-year journey — the regional giant, then and now. WIN Television: the Wollongong station that became Australia's largest regional network — 1962 to today. The only 100 per cent Australian-owned commercial television network: WIN — regional Australia's broadcaster. From 18 March 1962 to today: WIN Television — the regional giant, the Australian-owned network, the Nine affiliate. WIN: the name from Wollongong's WIN-4 — now the largest regional television network in Australia. Wollongong Illawarra New South Wales: the call sign, the network, the giant — WIN. From the audio-less first night to the regional giant: WIN Television's story — 1962 to today, and tomorrow. WIN Television: Australia's largest regional network — the only 100 per cent Australian-owned commercial television network.