This article is divided into the following sections:

History Programming References

History

TWT Ltd. was incorporated on the 4th of October, 1955 by a group of local businessmen. In order to cover the costs of eventually founding a television station in the Illawarra area, TWT traded in stock and properties.

TWT was granted a licence to broadcast in the Illawarra and South Coast regions on the 9th of November, 1960, winning the licence against other competing groups - some aligned to Sydney-based channels ATN7 and TCN9. In granting the licence, the Postmaster-General Department of the Commonwealth Government (PMG) noted that while the incumbent Sydney-based stations (including ABN2) already claimed considerable viewership in the city of Wollongong, the nearby escarpment that separated Wollongong from Sydney made the reception of such services a hit-and-miss affair for many residents - also, the South Coastal towns of Nowra, Batemans Bay, Moruya, Bega and surrounding areas were mostly unserved by television services, therefore the licence was duly granted - the callsign chosen for the service was WIN, reflecting the station's immediate coverage area (Wollongong-Illawarra New South Wales).

TWT acquired land at Fort Drummond (a.k.a. Mount Saint Thomas), 2km south of Wollongong City centre, to build their studios - these facilities are still in operation today as the headquarters and broadcast centre of the WIN Television network.

TWT's future as a broadcaster was apparently jeopardised before it even started, with claims made by Federal Member of Parliament, Albert James, that channels 7 and 9 would threaten to refuse appearances by big-name, live talent on their variety programmes if they were to accept offers to appear on a TWT-channel programme, perceiving the TWT service as a threat to their own services. TWT management half-backed the claims (which would also affect the Newcastle-based station, NBN3), stating that if such claims were true, they would only likely affect them on a long-term basis.

TWT also had to deal with a few technical handicaps imposed upon them by the PMG Department. Firstly, TWT was allocated channel 4 for their service - unfortunately, many pre-1961 television sets in use in the Illawarra area were incapable of receiving an Australian channel-4 signal; to counter this, TWT embarked upon a television set-retuning programme, converting many television sets belonging to Illawarra (and South Coast) residents to receive channels 4 and 5a (which would screen the ABC television service) and encouraging residents to acquire new tuning equipment. Secondly, the PMG Department stipulated that the transmitter for the service had to be erected upon Knight's Hill - south-west of Wollongong - at the time, all television aerials in the Illawarra pointed in a northerly direction, towards the transmitters in Sydney, thereby reducing viewers' ability to receive the service. Rain also delayed the completion of the installation of the Knight's Hill transmitter by a few days and the first test programmes were not even transmitted until the station's first day of broadcasting.

Unwavered by all of these setbacks, WIN4 opened, albeit with little media fanfare in Wollongong due to the Sydney-based stations that were already available - it is also worth noting that the opening of WIN4 did not rate a mention in neither the local Illawarra Mercury nor the Sydney-based newspapers (whose parent companies also had interests in channels 7 and 9), perhaps adding fuel to the fire of MP James' claims, however speculative the claims might have been. The opening broadcast on WIN4 did not start without a hitch - viewers watching the opening programme were "treated" to silence, as the duty technician (Bill Mason) who was understandably nervous, given the significance of the occasion, had forgotten to switch the sound on - the on-air announcer (Max Ambrose) was seen but not heard by viewers.

TWT's woes did not end there - the Sydney-based stations were still refusing to sell their programmes to TWT. Funds were running dangerously low to the point where a director of the company was allegedly paying staff directly out-of-pocket just to keep the station on air. Most of TWT's film stock was tragically destroyed in a fire - much of WIN's earliest programmes no longer exist. At its worst, TWT had just 42 hours worth of programmes left to air and no money with which to purchase new programmes.

In April of 1963, TWT's fortunes changed for the better, when Rupert Murdoch's company, Media Securities, bought a controlling interest in the station and a new general manager, Bill Lean, was appointed. The attitudes of the Sydney-based stations had changed somewhat, when Murdoch ordered the purchasing of many hours of American-produced programming never before screened in Australia to be shown on WIN4 - 7 and 9 were now turning to TWT for programmes. Lean brought about a state of stability and efficiency in TWT's operations, fostering an environment where employees could learn and perfect their craft.

As part of its plan to adequately cover the South Coast, TWT set up translator stations of the WIN4 service from 1967 to 1980, including WIN3 in Eden and Narooma, WIN6 in Bega and WIN11 in Batemans Bay/Moruya.

Viewers eventually warmed to the service - by 1973, WIN4 was enjoying a 63 percent viewer share of commercial television services in the area - this considerably high rating for WIN4 was achieved through its policy of supporting the production and screening of local content - instigated by Lean - and by maintaining a high public profile through the sponsoring of numerous local business and social ventures.

WIN4 was sold in 1979 to the head of Paramount Pictures' international distribution arm, and long-time Wollongong resident, Bruce Gordon, so that Rupert Murdoch could gain control of metropolitan stations TEN10 and ATV0 (now ATV10) - to this day, Gordon's company, Oberon Broadcasters (which, in turn, owns the WIN Corporation) still owns the station.

In the early 1980s, WIN4 branded itself as "South Coast Television". Also, in 1982, WIN4 extended its hours of transmission to 24 hours a day, four days a week, screening repeats of programmes screened earlier in the day overnight - this experiment did not last long.

WIN4 commenced stereo transmissions in 1984 - one of the first regional stations to do so.

As part of WIN's plans to expand its service beyond the South Coast upon aggregation, WIN became a full affiliate of the Nine Network on March 31, 1989.

Programming

WIN4 produced and screened many hours of local programmes. Like other regional stations, these programmes were also supplemented with programmes produced by the Seven, Nine and Ten networks, as well as other major production companies from Australia and abroad.

From the first day of broadcasting, WIN4 produced its own daily news reports, covering local events - a tradition that still persists across the WIN network today. Other news and current affairs programmes included community affairs programme Roving Eye, and Sunday Review, a review of local, national and international events.

Sporting events - local, nationwide and international - were covered on WIN4's sports programmes Sportsview and Sportsworld.

The younger audience were catered for with programmes such as The Channel 4 Club, which screened in the first week of transmission, and Stopwatch (1979), a general-interest, magazine-style programme for children.

Even the immigrant community had programmes made specifically for their consumption, such as English-language educational programme You Say the Word (1971). The WIN4 programme Variety Italian Style (1972) also enjoyed some popularity.

The long-running Tonight Show (1981) was initially hosted by Malcom T. Elliott then by John Tingle.

WIN4 celebrated 21 years of broadcasting in 1983 with a 90-minute retrospective special.

WIN also co-produced (with a Canadian company) in 1986, the telemovie Last Chance.

References

"W'gong Television Station Deprived of Top Programmes", Illawarra Mercury, 9/3/1962

"Local TV on March 18", Illawarra Mercury, 1/3/1962

"WIN4 Films Register", University of Wollongong Library - Archives Department (copy available at http://www-library.uow.edu.au/archives/collections/d75.html)

MacSween, Pru "Phil [Donahue] Packs A Punch!", TV Week, 6/3/1982

"Station rises like phoenix from the ashes", Illawarra Mercury, 31/3/1989

"WIN boasts list of firsts", Illawarra Mercury, 31/3/1989