The article is divided into the following sections:

History Beginnings Construction of facilities The best laid plans... Opening After 'Tracy' Takeover by PBL Competition Programming References

History

Beginnings

In March 1968, the Postmaster-General Department announced that it would be considering the allocation of a commercial television licence for the Darwin area to a company that would commence broadcasting sometime during 1970 (which, ultimately, would never eventuate). Shortly after this announcement, TTPL was formed, with then-Mayor of Darwin, Bill Richardson as chairman and a number of other Darwin-based business proprietors as key shareholders and directors of the company, most notably including wholesaler John Hickman and Rod Lever of the Northern Territory News (which had a 5 percent interest in TTPL).

In March 1970, the Australian Broadcasting Control Board commenced the public hearings process for the consideration of Darwin-area licence applications. Two applications were considered - TTPL's and the Electronics Industries-backed Territory Telecasters Pty. Ltd. On the 1st of October 1970, TTPL was granted the licence by Postmaster-General Sir Alan Hulme - the callsign (NTD) and the channel (8) were allocated soon after.

Construction of facilities

TTPL commenced negotiations with the PMG Department for a studio and adminstration site near the proposed transmitter mast to be shared with the ABC's television service (which was expected to commence in mid-1971) - ultimately, a site on Blake Street, near Garden's Hill was chosen. The transmitter, which would end up on a 76m (250ft.) mast atop Garden's Hill was designed so that the eventual introduction of colour television services would be a straightforward affair and that - on an ideal day - it would emit a signal that could be received upto 240km (150mi.) away (the aim - on a regular day - was for a 160km (100mi.) radius), reaching out to remote communities within the Arnhem Land region and on Bathurst and Melville Islands. The mast was constructed by Electric Power Transmission at a cost of $60 000 and work was carried out between November 1970 and February 1971. The transmitters were prefabricated by Amalgamated Wireless in Sydney and were installed in June 1971.

The studio's construction - which was carried out by Bell and Prechelt Contractors Pty. Ltd. - took just over two weeks to build and about a further six weeks to install the studio equipment. As Darwin is located in the tropics, the installation of an effective air conditioning system was of considerable importance. The studio was fitted out with a master control panel manufactured in Melbourne and a Plumicon camera. Construction took place shortly after the transmitter's installation.

The best laid plans...

Due to various mayoral commitments, Bill Richardson stepped down as TTPL chairman in December 1970 and John Hickman was appointed chairman in his place.

Originally, TTPL planned to launch their service sometime during June 1971 - two months ahead of ABD6 - however, the launch date was pushed back at least three times, largely due to both the PMG and ABCB's red tape.

TTPL had stated that if studio facilities were not ready by June 1971, they would commence broadcasting out of a makeshift caravan - the PMG Department, however, did not agree with TTPL that such an arrangement would be adequate enough to launch a service with, therefore they moved the start date back to August of that year.

However, there were even more holdups that pushed the starting date back even further. Although studio and transmitter space had been acquired and construction was well on the way, the ABCB was holding up progress through the requesting and processing of various legal documents. At the insistence of TTPL's newly appointed Chief Executive, Fred Yates, the documents were expediently processed and a definite launch date was agreed upon - the 11th of November, 1971.

With the studio completed and a launch date looming, film crews began producing commercials to air on NTD8. The first test transmissions consisting of a test pattern and a documentary film went to air two days before launch day.

Opening

Although NTD8 was officially launched at 8pm on the 11th of November, the first programme to air was Skippy the Bush Kangaroo at 5:30pm - this was followed by Brian Henderson's popular music programme Bandstand at 6pm, then An Evening with Burt Bacharach at 7pm.

Opening speeches were made by Northern Territory Adminstrator, Fred Chaney, ABCB Chairman, Sir Myles Wright, John Hickman, Fred Yates and assistant executive John May. An official launch party was held at the Hotel Darwin later that evening.

The first night's programme lineup was rounded off with the film "All The King's Men" at 8:30pm and the British espionage series Danger Man at 10:30pm. Transmission concluded at 11pm.

The succesful first night's transmission was tinged with sadness, as but a week prior to launch date, Bill Richardson, who guided TTPL's development for its first three years of existence, passed away and as a result, never witnessed the culmination of his efforts.

After 'Tracy'

On the 25th of December 1974, Cyclone Tracy devastated much of Darwin, affecting the lives and businesses of many residents - NTD8 was no exception. In the immediate aftermath of the cyclone, finding temporary accommodation for citizens that had remained behind to help assist with the major cleanup task ahead of them had priority over putting the local commercial television station back on air, nevertheless, management at TTPL were determined to have their station return to the airwaves, no matter how long it took.

TTPL had quite a challenge ahead of them: not only would they have to rebuild their station, they would also need to upgrade their equipment in order to broadcast in colour - and all with a diminished source of funds, due to the decrease in Darwin's population (pre-Tracy: 36 000 - post-Tracy: 10 000, stabilising to 25 000 by mid-1975).

While the ABC had their local television station up and running on the 4th of January 1975 (due to the fact that they are Government-funded) it would not be until the 27th of October 1975 at 7:00pm - 10 months after the cyclone - that NTD8 would be back on-air with a limited 3-hour nightly schedule (original plans for a June 1975 re-launch never eventuated). Initial broadcasts were perceived as amateurish, with a lack of programme continuity and sometimes lack of sound.

Over time, however, the service would improve while Darwin would recover and ultimately prosper (largely due to the burgeoning tourism and shipping industries), allowing TTPL to invest in a $A2,000,000 studio upgrade in the early 1980s, which included studio space, newsroom and equipment upgrades - these were completed by 1982. By this stage, NTD8 were broadcasting at most 12 hours a day (on Wednesdays) and were once again ready to present a nightly news report in competition with the ABC's bulletin.

Up until this point, only the ABC had access to the microwave bearer to the major stations that would permit the timely and practical reporting of national and international news. Upon rectification of the ABC's monopolistic arrangement, NTD established a partnership with the Seven Network's news department. The first edition of News at Seven went to air on the 18th of October 1982.

By the mid-1980s, a 12-hour a day broadcast schedule became standard practice for NTD.

Takeover by PBL

NTD8 was taken over by Kerry Packer's Publishing and Broadcasting Limited (PBL) - owners of the Nine Network - in the late 1980s when NTD was in the midst of legal action appealing against the allocation of the remote commercial television service licence to CAAMA's Imparja Television. PBL, after failing to negotiate a settlement with CAAMA, then withdrew NTD's appeal.

Under PBL ownership, NTD8 adopted the Nine Network's station IDs and promos but instead including their own "8" logo (see above). The News At Seven was also moved to the earlier 6.30pm timeslot and re-titled Eight National News.

Competition

NTD8 continued as the sole commercial TV outlet in Darwin until Telecasters Australia launched Seven Darwin in 1998.

Prior to Seven Darwin's arrival, NTD8 had attempted to gain access to Seven Network programmes, to supplement their complete schedule of Nine Network programming, as a means of dominating over their new rival which would have little choice but to align to the third-ranked Network Ten. NTD8 was deemed to be acting in a anti-competitive manner and had to surrender its proposed ties to Seven. NTD then entered into a programme supply agreement with Ten to supplement their Nine schedule of programmes.

On January 1 2003, NTD8 became known as Channel Nine, although it still broadcasts on VHF channel 8. After this date, it dumped virtually all Ten programming, apart from Australian Football League (AFL) games and some other top-rating programmes, much to the disappointment of some viewers. Eight National News was also moved to the 6pm timeslot and re-named National Nine News, in line with Nine Network news services in other cities. This was considered to be a risky move as the later timeslot was deemed more suitable for Darwin's tropical lifestyle. This change by NTD has consequently been a bonus for the ABC, which continues to provide a nightly 7pm news service based in Darwin.

In 2005, PBL announced that National Rugby League games would take precedence over AFL games on the station - which could have been interpreted as a possible indication that Nine was set to give up the rights to AFL coverage to a Seven/Ten consortium, which it did, after PBL's record $A780 million bid was matched by the consortium in 2006.

Aggregation of the Darwin area and the adjacent remote-central licence area was proposed, thereby allowing Imparja and NTD to transmit services in both regions, providing five free-to-air channels in total. Under this arrangement, Imparja most likely would have become a sole Network Ten affiliate. However, TND34 adopted a dual Seven/Ten affiliation in early-2005 and an invitation by the Australian Communications and Media Authority was made for the allocation of a 'Section 38B' licence for the Darwin area in December 2005, thereby eliminating the possibility of aggregation.

Programming

References

"Commercial Licence To Local Group", Northern Territory News, 2/10/1970

"Commercial TV may be ready to screen here first", Northern Territory News

"No television here before mid-August", Northern Territory News, 20/5/1971

"Hurry up plea by NTD8", Northern Territory News

"NTD8 Open Soon", Northern Territory News

"NTD8....Ready to take off", Northern Territory News, 10/11/1971

"Tonight's the night", Northern Territory News, 11/11/1971

"Local Control The Key", Northern Territory News, 11/11/1971

"NTD color in 4 months", Northern Territory News, 28/2/1975

Russell, Lyn "TV station has problems", Letter to the editor, Northern Territory News, 24/12/1975

"NTD8 Darwin Market Guide", Territory Television Pty. Ltd., 1984

Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association (CAAMA), "A report into the activities of the Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association (Aboriginal Corporation)", CAAMA, Alice Springs NT, June 1987.