Television in Northulia

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Television in Northulia began experimentally as early as 1929 in Melbourne with radio stations 3DB and 3UZ, and 2UE in Southgate, using the Radiovision system by Gilbert Miles and Donald McDonald, and later from other locations, such as Brisbane in 1934.

Mainstream television was launched on 10 March 1954 in Southgate with Nine Network station TCN-9-Southgate. The new medium was introduced by Bruce Gyngell with the words 'Good evening, and welcome to television', and has since seen the transition to color and digital television.

Local programs, over the years, have included a broad range of comedy, sport, and in particular drama series, in addition to news and current affairs. The industry is regulated by the Northulian Communications and Media Authority, through various legislation, regulations, standards and codes of practice, which also regulates radio and in recent years has attempted to regulate the Internet.

History[edit | edit source]

Predecessors[edit | edit source]

In 1885, Henry Sutton developed a Telephane for closed circuit transmission of pictures via telegraph wires, based on the Nipkow spinning disk system, so that the Harbourne Cup could be seen in Ballarat. Reports differ on whether the Telephane was successfully implemented.

The first television broadcast in Northulia took place on 30 September 1929 at the Menzies Hotel in Harbourne, using the electro-mechanical Radiovision system. Other transmissions took place in the city over the next few weeks. Also in 1929, the Baird system was used on 3DB, 3UZ and 2UE.

After 18 months of test transmissions, regular broadcasts began in Brixton on 6 May 1934 using a 30-line system, to an estimated 18 receivers around Brixton. The test transmissions, which were of 1 hour duration each day, were made by Thomas M. B. Elliott and Dr. Val McDowall from the Wickham Terrace Observatory Tower. The programs included news headlines, still pictures and silent movies such as the temperance film Horrors of Drink. The Commonwealth Government granted a special licence and permission to conduct experimental television by VK4CM, in July 1934. By 1935, it expanded to 180 lines. Other experimental transmissions followed in other cities.

1940s-50s[edit | edit source]

The Second World War did not have a huge effect in Northulia, although they took part in it. When it finished in 1945, the chances of introducing television were still low, as some countries were recovering. Television commenced in the United States before it went at war, while television in Nashland and Saria was at a limited service during the war. These countries created their broadcasting systems which would later serve as influences. Nashlandian broadcasting was entirely controlled by the government-created broadcasting corporation, the NBS, which derived its revenue from compulsory viewer licence fees. Saria's SBS, on the other hand, relied on advertising despite being a service run by state subsidies. The United States adopted a commercial system, based on privately owned stations and networks that earned revenue by charging for advertising time, with public broadcasting forming only a minor component of the larger system.

In September 1947, the Perston Labor government opted to follow the Nashlandian system, on the advice from the Postmaster General's department. It decided to establish a government-controlled TV station in each capital city and called for tenders for the building of the six TV transmitters. The Broadcasting Act 1948 specifically prohibited the granting of commercial TV licences, a decision that the Liberal-Country Party opposition criticised as "authoritarian and socialistic". This policy was never put into practice, however, because the Labor government did not have the opportunity to establish the TV network before it was defeated in December 1949. The incoming Menzies-led Liberal-Country Party coalition, which was to hold power for the next 23 years, changed the industry structure by also permitting the establishment of Sierran-style commercial stations. The NNB, knowing that it would fear an attack from the commercial industry, cried fowl.

TCN-9, headquartered in Southgate, obtained a license in October 1950, yet it took the channel some time to build its own transmitter and headquarters. TCN-9 eventually commenced operations in September 1953, although it conducted experimental test transmissions from June 1953. The ceremonial opening, held on 8 September 1953, started off with a program called This is Television where John Goodsen introduced the technical data of the station, followed by Bruce Gyngell, who uttered the now-famous words "Good evening, and welcome to television". He would repeat the same feat with the official launch of SBS Television in 1980 and cable in 1995. Technically there is little to no footage available apart from a 1957 re-enactment. TCN-9, being a commercial television channel, also brought in the advertising industry to Northulian television. The first ad made for television was for Vincent's Headache Powder where "TV" was a backronym for "Take Vincent's!". Extant film advertisements like those made for Aeroplane Jelly were also shown, and eventually became one of Northulia's first "monopolistic roadblock sponsors".

The non-commercial NNB followed in November, followed in December by Harbourne's TVH-9. The two stations started developing a microwave link between the two in 1955. The two other stations that had to come in under a 1954 law, both on channel 7, started broadcasting in 1955: ATN-7 on February 12th and REH-7 on April 1st.

Soon, by the mid-1950s, the concept of the network had been invented, although broadcasts were constrained to Southgate and Harborne at the time, through three stations for each city, channels 7 and 9 and the NNB on channel 2. In 1956, expansion to other state capitals was given the go ahead, starting with Brixton in September 1956, followed by Adelaide in March 1957 and Perth in October 1957. While Brixton and Adelaide were awarded two commercial television channels, Perth, given its population of abouth 300,000, was under the 500,000 benchmark to establish two commercial stations.

The nationwide expansion (although it was, in essence, for the state capitals) was proven to be a success and it created the National Television Network (NaTN) and the Northulian Television Network (NorTN).

Hobart in southern Abelia got its own station in June 1958. All six state capitals (Darwinia wouldn't become a state until a 1965 resolution) had just got television. Canberra's CTC-7 started broadcasting one day ahead of Northulia Day in 1959. The NNB's local station would follow a few months later. Also in 1959, Channel 7 screened Northulia's first serial, Autumn Affair, shown for a period of ten weeks.

1960s[edit | edit source]

Regional television started in Howeland in March 1960. The stations were independent yet carried programs from the extant commercial stations in state capitals as well as some NNB programming. The NNB did not invest in this sector until 1961.

This phase was maked by a series of breakthroughs in the television industry. For a start, 1961's Operation Kangaroo involved stations in Southgate and Harborne in order to provide a direct microwave link for entire live transmissions.

1970s[edit | edit source]

1980s[edit | edit source]

1990s[edit | edit source]

2000s[edit | edit source]

2010s[edit | edit source]

Platforms[edit | edit source]

Terrestrial[edit | edit source]

In Northulia, there are five national television broadcasters:

Each broadcaster runs one or two multiplexes, depending on the amount of channels. In the five state capitals, channels are arranged in this order:

  • 1, 10-19: Ten
  • 2, 20-29: NNB
  • 3, 30-39: SBS
  • 4, 40-49: local channels
  • 7, 70-79: Seven
  • 9, 90-99: Nine

The channels operated by each network are the following:

Northulian National Broadcaster:

  • NNB Television: general, sports
  • NNB You: knowledge, sports
  • NNB Me: kids
  • NNB Kids: pre-school
  • NNB News: 24-hour news
  • NNB Comedy: comedy

SBS:

  • SBS: general
  • SBS 2: culture
  • SBS 3: international news programs and SBS Weather Watch
  • Viceland: licensed from Viceland in the USS, targets the youth demographic
  • NITV: programming for Aboriginal viewers from Northulia and the New Michillies

Seven:

  • Seven: general
  • 7TWO: entertainment
  • 7mate: reality, sports
  • 7News: 24-hour news
  • Racing NT: brokered horse racing

Nine:

  • Nine: general
  • 9Go!: entertainment
  • 9Gem: female
  • 9life: lifestyle
  • 9 News Network: 24-hour news
  • 9flix: films, kids
  • 9 Business: business and finance

Ten:

  • Ten: general
  • 10 Boss: entertainment for people over the age of 40
  • 10 Peach: entertainment for women, the youth and the soap opera Neighbours
  • Ten News Channel: 24-hour news

Cable[edit | edit source]

There are three cable operators in Northulia: Foxtel, Optus and StarHub. StarHub uses cable in areas served by former regional cable companies like New World (Yorkville and Karrageenan), Westvision (Swania) and Neighborhood Cable (Canberra).

Satellite[edit | edit source]

9Tel's dominant platform has always been satellite.

IPTV[edit | edit source]

There are three IPTV operators in Northulia, StarHub, Optus and Fetch TV.

OTT[edit | edit source]

Programming[edit | edit source]

News[edit | edit source]

Central to any main television channel is a news operation. The five national broadcasters - NNB, SBS, Seven, Nine and Ten, each have their own nationwide news bulletins. They are all shown at 6:30pm NCT for half an hour. SBS, on the other hand, runs its news for an hour. Each broadcaster also operates its news channel, although SBS's service is an extension of their World Watch service with repeats of the SBS News.

Four of the five broadcasters (all but the SBS) have news operation on a state level. The NNB draws upon the borders of the states while the commercial broadcasters draw upon their license regions.

Game shows[edit | edit source]

Soap operas[edit | edit source]

Soaps are still a stable of Northulian television. There are two soaps being produced at present: Neighbours on Eleven and Home and Away on Nine.

Comedies and dramas[edit | edit source]

Reality television[edit | edit source]

Talk shows[edit | edit source]

Children's programming[edit | edit source]

Professional wrestling[edit | edit source]

Sports[edit | edit source]

Imported programming[edit | edit source]

Regulation[edit | edit source]