TEN (TV station)
| Sydney, New South Wales | |
|---|---|
| Branding | Ten |
| Slogan | Turn On 10 |
| Channels |
Digital: 11 (VHF) Virtual: 10 |
| Translators | 5 |
| Affiliations | Ten (O&O) |
| Owner |
Ten Network Holdings Ltd (Network TEN (Sydney) Pty Ltd) |
| First air date | 5 April 1965 |
| Call letters' meaning | TEn New South Wales |
| Sister station(s) | ATV, TVQ, ADS, NEW |
| Former channel number(s) | 10 (VHF) (analog) |
| Transmitter power | 200 kW (analog) 50 kW (digital) |
| Height | 249 m (analog) 251 m (digital) |
| Transmitter coordinates | 33°48′20″S 151°10′51″E / 33.80556°S 151.18083°E |
| Website | www.tenplay.com.au |
TEN is Network Ten's Sydney station. It was originally owned and operated by United Telecasters Sydney Limited (UTSL), and began transmission on 5 April 1965 with the highlight of the opening night being the variety special TV Spells Magic.
TEN often lagged in the ratings behind the more established commercial channels TCN (Nine) and ATN (Seven) who had dominated viewing habits in Sydney for eight years. The turning point came in 1972 with the premiere of the raunchy soap opera series Number 96 which immediately lifted TEN's overall profile and helped raise the ailing network to No. 1 position by 1973.
TEN launched Australia's first metropolitan nightly one-hour news bulletin in 1975, while NBN-3 in Newcastle was first to air a one-hour news service in Australia in 1972. In 1978, Katrina Lee became only the third female TV newsreader on Australian TV – the first being Melody Illiffe on QTQ-9. The current anchor for the 5pm Sydney news on weeknights is Sandra Sully.
TEN performed strongly in the 1980s, highlighted by the broadcast of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games, top rated game show Perfect Match, Eyewitness News and early high ratings for acquired serial Neighbours starting in 1986. However a decline set in from 1987, when the station, along with ATV-10 in Melbourne, was bought by Frank Lowy's Westfield Group. In 1989, falling ratings and revenue prompted a major relaunch by American TV executive Bob Shanks. The station (and entire network) were rebranded as 10 TV Australia in 1989, however this did little to help Ten's fortunes with the network soon going into receivership. The network began to be turned around in 1991 under the control of Gary Rice, and was relaunced with a new logo and brand, The Entertainment Network. This logo continues to this day. In 1992, Westpac Bank bought Ten out of receivership and later sold the network to a consortium headed by Canadian group CanWest. In 1994, The network was managed in receivership and it was in this period that it sold its North Ryde studios and moved to the city in at a warehouse in Ultimo. TEN-10 began a slow and steady recovery, to the point where now, as the flagship station in the network, TEN-10 is the most profitable of the three Sydney commercial stations.
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