GTS/BKN
| GTS: Port Pirie, South Australia BKN: Broken Hill, New South Wales | |
|---|---|
| Branding | Southern Cross |
| Slogan | Your favorites, Your station |
| Channels |
Digital: GTS: 44 (UHF) SGS: 40 (UHF) GDS: 42 (UHF) BKN: 9 (VHF) SCN: 6 (VHF) BDN: 7 (VHF) |
| Affiliations |
GTS/BKN: Seven GDS/BDN: Nine SGS/SCN: Ten |
| Owner |
Southern Cross Austereo (GTS: Spencer Gulf Telecasters Ltd) (BKN: Broken Hill Television Ltd) |
| First air date |
GTS: March 1, 1968 BKN: August 16, 1968 |
| Call letters' meaning |
GTS: Spencer Gulf Telecasters South Australia BKN: BroKen Hill New South Wales |
| Former channel number(s) |
Analog: GTS: 4 (VHF) BKN: 7 (VHF) SGS: 42 (UHF) SCN: 9A (VHF)[1] |
| Former affiliations | independent (1968-2006) |
| Transmitter power |
GTS:240 kW BKN:4 kW |
| Height |
GTS:627 m (digital) BKN:104 m[2] |
| Transmitter coordinates |
GTS: 33°6′14″S 138°9′51″E / 33.10389°S 138.16417°E BKN: 31°57′5″S 141°26′25″E / 31.95139°S 141.44028°E |
GTS/BKN, known on-air as Southern Cross GTS/BKN, is an Australian regional television station serving the Spencer Gulf of South Australia and the Broken Hill area of New South Wales. Based in Port Pirie, South Australia with satellite offices in Broken Hill, Port Augusta, Whyalla and Port Lincoln, and studio and playout facilities based in Canberra, the station's name originates from the original Port Pirie and Broken Hill stations' callsigns, GTS-4 Port Pirie and BKN-7 Broken Hill.
History
GTS signed on for the first time on 1 March 1968. BKN followed soon afterward, on 16 August. In 1974, the stations (and their repeaters) merged to form Spencer Gulf Telecasters and broadcast under the name Central GTS/BKN. The company was bought by Southern Cross Broadcasting (SCB) in 2000, though it retained the Central name until the end of 2005.
Due to their areas' sparse populations, after aggregation they remained among the few stations in Australia that continued to cherry-pick programming from all three networks, though from 2000 onward it began favouring Seven through its affiliation with Southern Cross Television. In 2003, Spencer Gulf Telecasters won the right to broadcast a second station in the same area, and in January 2004 started broadcasting Southern Cross Ten (callsign SGS in Port Pirie and SCN in Broken Hill). Since 31 October 2010, GTS/BKN has also operated a third station relaying Nine Network programs from Sydney and Adelaide (callsign GDS in Port Pirie and BDN in Broken Hill).
In January 2006, Central GTS/BKN was renamed Southern Cross GTS/BKN, changing its logo to the same one currently used by Southern Cross Tasmania and Southern Cross Darwin. The Southern Cross Ten logo was also updated to the current logo used by Southern Cross Ten stations elsewhere.
Programming
The main Southern Cross GTS/BKN service carries programming from the Seven Network, including the Adelaide edition of Seven News' nightly 6pm bulletin. SGS/SCN, as part of Southern Cross Ten, is the area Network Ten partner network with the national news programming from TEN-10 Sydney and the local Ten Eyewitness News broadcast from ADS-10 being aired while GDS/BDN broadcasts programs from the Nine Network and the state bulletin from NWS from Adelaide.
GTS/BKN during the late 1970s & mid 1980s produced their own local commercials and TV shows like Panel Probe, Woman's World, Cue and local documentaries.
News
Southern Cross News is GTS/BKN's half-hour regional news program, airing at 6:30pm on weeknights, following Seven News Adelaide in place of Today Tonight South Australia. The bulletin is presented by Tim Hatfield from Southern Cross Austereo's television headquarters, with reporters and video journalists based at news bureaus in Port Pirie, Broken Hill, Port Augusta, Port Lincoln and Whyalla.
The day's bulletin is later uploaded on the bulletin's website.
See also
References
- ↑ "ACMA Stations Book Electronic Edition" (PDF). Australian Communications and Media Authority. July 2008. Retrieved 4 January 2014.
- ↑ HAAT estimated from http://www.itu.int/SRTM3/ using EHAAT.