STW-9

Encyclopedia : S : ST : STW : STW-9

STW-9 is a television station broadcasting in Perth, Western Australia, wholly owned by Sunraysia Television. It is a member of the Nine Network Australia. STW-9 is one of only two independently-owned metropolitan affiliates of the Nine Network; the other is NWS-9 Adelaide, owned by Southern Cross Broadcasting. The call sign STW stands for Swan Television, Western Australia. STW-9 broadcasts from a transmitter mast located in Walliston in the Perth Hills beyond Kalamunda. Its operational base and studios are located at 9 Gay Street, Dianella, with approximately 150 staff working at the station.

STW-9 generally rates as the number 2 station in Perth, behind Seven Perth, with a limited number of ratings weeks won every year (winning two ratings weeks in 2005, one ahead of Ten Perth). It also arguably shows some of the best 1080i High Definition digital programming in Australia, hosting a 15.25 Mbit/s bandwidth compared to 12.5 Mbit/s for the PBL-owned networks, which gives the station high praise in digital TV communities.

Contents

1 History
2 News & Current Affairs
3 Programming
4 Appealathon
5 Broadcasting details
6 See also
7 References

History

STW-9 commenced broadcasting on 12 June 1965 and was the second commercial television station in Perth. It became the first station in Perth to broadcast 24 hours a day on 17 April 1984. In the late 1980s, the station came under the ownership of Bond Media, owned by infamous businessman Alan Bond, and became a Nine Network owned and operated station when Bond purchased the network.

After the collapse of Bond Media, the station was sold to Sunraysia Television for a relatively low amount which then become the parent company of Swan Television and Radio Broadcasters.

News & Current Affairs

Channel Nine Perth holds the title of the most poorly performing Nine Network news bulletin in Australia, holding 3rd or 4th place most days. This may be attributable to the popularity of Seven News Perth, which regularly attracts more than 100,000 viewers than Nine Perth's bulletin.

Perth's National Nine News bulletin remains the first and only Australian news bulletin to have two female anchors, Dixie Marshall and Sonia Vinci. These two anchors are also the faces of Nine Perth's general operations and promos. Sport is presented by the award-winning football commentator Dennis Cometti, and weather is presented by Natalia Cooper. Sharlyn Sarac presents the news and weather on the weekend bulletins, while Mark Readings handles sport. The station also broadcasts Perth-based hourly news updates from 12:30 p.m., and at 7:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. in the evening.

The station also shows some of the PBL-produced Sydney-based news content, including Today, Nine Morning News and Nightline. Also among the lineup is A Current Affair, which also loses to the local version of Seven's Today Tonight by over 100,000 viewers nightly.

Programming

Channel Nine has the largest amount of local programming of any Perth television station with a strong focus on local lifestyle, with most of it also shown on regional affiliate WIN Television WA. Programs include:

Postcards WA (Travel) - Sundays 5:30 p.m.
Gardening WA (Lifestyle - Gardening) - Saturdays 5:00 p.m. or 7:30 p.m.
Fishing Western Australia (Lifestyle - Local Fishing) - Weekend Afternoons
Just Add Water (Perth Summer Lifestyle) - Sundays 7:30 p.m. (Summer Specials Only)
The Russell Goodrick Show (WA Real Estate) - Saturday Morning/Afternoon
The Motor Show (Motoring) - Weekend Afternoons
Golfing WA (Golfing) - Sunday Afternoon

Appealathon

In its 30 years, Channel Nine Perth's Appealathon has raised in excess of $53.5 million. Since 1975, Appealathon has supported four specific charities with Appealathon funds: the Activ Foundation, Civilian Maimed & Limbless Association, Paraplegic/Quadriplegic Association and Rocky Bay. Many other organisations are helped as well on a yearly basis. The Appealathon is involved in over 50 fundraising events and projects across Perth each year.

Broadcasting details

Analogue frequency: VHF 9
Digital frequency: VHF 8

Digital Channels
LCN Service Resolution Bit rate
9 SD 720x576i 5.55mbit video, 256kbit MP2, 256kbit AC3 audio
9-0 HD 1920x1088i 15.25mbit video, 448kbit AC3 audio

**Digital Channels**
LCN	Service	Resolution	Bit rate
9	SD	720x576i	5.55mbit video, 256kbit MP2, 256kbit AC3 audio
9-0	HD	1920x1088i	15.25mbit video, 448kbit AC3 audio

References

Channel 9 Perth - http://postcardswa.com.au/channel9.htm

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.