ABT (TV station)
| Company type | Public broadcaster |
|---|---|
| Industry | Television broadcasting |
| Founded | June 4, 1960 |
| Headquarters | Hobart , Australia |
Area served | Southern Tasmania |
| Products | Television broadcasting |
| Owner | Australian Broadcasting Corporation |
ABT serves as the designated call sign for a television broadcaster managed by the publicly funded Australian Broadcasting Corporation, catering to the southern region of Tasmania. The station commenced transmissions on VHF channel 2 on 4 June 1960, operating from studios located in central Hobart and utilizing a transmitter positioned atop Mount Wellington. The prefix "AB" signifies "Australian Broadcasting," while the suffix "T" indicates Tasmania.
Programming from ABT is distributed to regional relay stations: ABNT covers northern Tasmania with its transmitter on Mt Barrow, and ABKT serves King Island via a transmitter on Gentle Annie Hill. Despite their individual call signs implying independent stations, these outlets operate exclusively as retransmitters for ABT.
To improve coverage in areas where Tasmania's rugged landscape and scattered population hinder signal quality, an extensive array of translator stations rebroadcast the Mount Wellington transmission on different channels to prevent interference. This includes locations within the Hobart metropolitan vicinity, such as Taroona.
History
As Tasmania’s inaugural television station, ABT began operations when viewers along the northern coast had previously received broadcasts from Melbourne’s Mount Dandenong under favorable atmospheric conditions since 1956.
Initially functioning autonomously until microwave links connected Melbourne and Hobart, ABT progressively incorporated more content from the national ABC television network. Nonetheless, certain local productions like Collectors, which was produced in Hobart between 2005 and 2011, remained part of its lineup.
In 1997, due to recurring signal disruptions caused by icing, the original Mount Wellington transmitter and tower were replaced. The updated transmitter is enclosed within a large cylindrical radome that permits radio waves to pass through while protecting the equipment.
The analogue broadcast on channel 2 was terminated on 9 April 2013, marking ABT’s full transition to digital UHF broadcasting.
Relay stations
ABT’s coverage is extended through several relay transmitters:
| Call | Service Area | Location | Channels (Analog/Digital) |
Launch Date | Third Letter Significance |
ERP (Analog/Digital) |
HAAT (Analog/Digital)1 |
Coordinates | Transmitter Site |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABKT | King Island | King Island | 11 (VHF)3 57 (UHF) |
14 January 1972 | King Island | 2.6 kW 6.5 kW |
190 m 198 m |
Lua error: callParserFunction: function "#coordinates" was not found. | Gentle Annie |
| ABNT | North Eastern Tasmania | Launceston | 32 (UHF)23 41 (UHF) |
29 July 1963 | North Eastern | 2000 kW 1250 kW |
847 m 847 m |
Lua error: callParserFunction: function "#coordinates" was not found. | Mount Barrow |
Notes:
- 1. HAAT figures are approximated using EHAAT data from http://www.itu.int/SRTM3/.
- 2. In 2002, ABNT transitioned from VHF channel 3 to UHF to accommodate FM radio services.
- 3. Analogue transmissions ceased nationally on 9 April 2013 during Australia’s digital switchover.
By 2021, multiple transmitters were delivering various ABC channels throughout Tasmania.
Local content
The weeknight edition of ABC News Tasmania is broadcast at 7pm and is anchored by Guy Stayner, while weekend editions feature various presenters. This 30-minute news program is produced in Hobart and incorporates a national finance report delivered by Alan Kohler from Melbourne.