NTD (TV station)
| Darwin, Northern Territory | |
|---|---|
| Branding | Nine |
| Channels | Digital: 31 (UHF) |
| Owner |
Nine Entertainment Co. (O&O) (Territory Television Pty Ltd) |
| First air date | 11 November 1971 |
| Call letters' meaning |
Northern Territory Darwin |
| Former channel number(s) | Analog: 8 (VHF) |
| Former affiliations |
independent (1971–1980s) Ten (secondary, 1998-2002; per program, 2002-2005) |
| Transmitter power | 40 kW (analog) 85 kW (digital) |
| Height | 80 m (analog) 147 m (digital) |
| Transmitter coordinates | 12°24′52″S 130°58′9″E / 12.41444°S 130.96917°E |
| Website | 9now.com.au |
NTD is an Australian television station, licensed to and serving Darwin, Palmerston and surrounds. The station is owned and operated by the Nine Entertainment Co., and is an owned-and-operated station of the Nine Network, under the company name Territory Television Pty. Ltd..
NTD-8 was officially launched at 8:00pm on 11 November 1971, with the opening lineup beginning at 5:30pm with Skippy the Bush Kangaroo, followed by Bandstand at 6:00 p.m. and at 7:00 p.m., An Evening with Burt Bacharach.
The station was officially inaugurated at 8:00pm by Northern Territory Administrator, Fred Chaney, followed by speeches from Sir Myles Wright, Fred Yates, John Hickman, and assistant executive John May.
The opening lineup continued with All the King's Men at 8:30 p.m. and Danger Man at 10:30 p.m., followed by a station close.
The station was completely wiped out by Cyclone Tracy in December 1974 and was off air for 10 months while it was rebuilt from the ground up. The station reopened with full colour on Monday 27 October 1975 with John Lewis as Manager, with on air operators Gavin Ashton, Steve Mariner and Ross Jamieson. Daryl Potts was Chief Engineer until he died in 1979. Robert Potts was Studio Cameraman / Film Department / Trainee location 16mm Cameraman.
NTD-8 did not run any news and current affairs programming until 18 October 1982, after the station hired Rex Clark as a news director to launch a nightly bulletin at 7:00pm entitled News at Seven, alongside a current affairs programme entitled Spectrum.
In the late 1980s, NTD-8 was purchased by Publishing and Broadcasting Limited, the owners of the Nine Network at that time. Following the purchase, NTD-8 adopted a similar on-air presentation to the Nine Network, though replacing the "9" with an "8." NTD's news service revamped and rebranded along with the station, to become Eight National News.
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