ABW (TV station)
| Company type | Public broadcaster |
|---|---|
| Industry | Television broadcasting |
| Founded | May 7, 1960 in Perth, Western Australia, Australia |
| Headquarters | Perth , Australia |
Area served | Western Australia |
| Products | Television broadcasting, regional programming, news bulletins |
| Website | www |
ABC Television in Western Australia provides a mix of national and regional programming through the ABC network, broadcasting on several channels using the ABC call sign. The local content originates from studios located in Perth.
The original call sign for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's Perth television station was ABW or ABW-2, with the "W" representing Western Australia.
History
The station commenced operations on 7 May 1960, broadcasting from studios situated on Adelaide Terrace, Perth, and transmitting via a facility at Bickley. Coverage extended across the state through various transmitters. During the 2000s, broadcasts were available on the free-to-view satellite platform Optus Aurora, which was superseded by Viewer Access Satellite Television (VAST) in 2010.
Digital television transmission by ABW started in January 2001 on VHF Channel 12, while analogue signals continued on VHF Channel 2. In 2005, broadcasting activities were relocated to a new digital facility in East Perth.
In February 2013, ABC Perth became the first television station in Western Australia to produce a national news bulletin airing at 5:30 pm. The analogue broadcast was officially terminated on 16 April 2013.
The Western Australian version of 7.30 was broadcast on Fridays with Andrew O'Connor as presenter until its cancellation in 2014, a result of major budget reductions at ABC. Up until 2014, the channel also aired live coverage of West Australian Football League games every Saturday afternoon during the season.
ABC Television in WA today
Across Western Australia, ABC operates a variety of transmitters delivering multiple channels.[1]
Programming
ABC News Western Australia is anchored by Pamela Medlen from Monday to Thursday, Charlotte Hamlyn on Fridays through Sundays, with Herlyn Kaur handling weeknight weather updates. Weekend local sports segments are presented by Tom Wildie, while national finance reports are delivered by Alan Kohler from Melbourne.
Due to the differences in Australia's time zones, the 5:30 pm news airs live for viewers on the east coast, alongside a distinct local edition tailored for Perth audiences. Additionally, Perth receives a localized version of ABC News at Noon, produced in Sydney and broadcast simultaneously nationwide via the ABC News channel.
Presenters
Rebecca Dollery stepped down from her role as weeknight weather presenter in April 2018 and was succeeded by Irena Ceranic, followed by Tyne Logan starting January 2021. As of March 2023, either Herlyn Kaur or Tabarak Al Jrood delivers the weeknight weather forecasts.
Tom Wildie took over weekend sports presenting duties from Trevor Jenkins in June 2018.
James McHale served as weekday news anchor until September 2020.
During Charlotte Hamlyn's maternity leave from August 2021 to June 2022, Briana Shepherd covered weekend news presentations.
Relay stations
The stations listed below serve as relay points for ABW throughout Western Australia:
ABMW Moora region Moora 60 UHF52 UHF 30 September 1974 Moora reference 120 kW
30 kW 142 m
142 m Template:Coord 30 38 7 S 116 9 35 E Quarrel Range ABNW Norseman area Norseman 7 VHF
6 VHF 14 April 1971 Norseman designation 0.08 kW
0.02 kW 69 m
70 m Template:Coord 32 8 34 S 121 43 40 E Norseman site ABPHW Port Hedland region Port Hedland 7 VHF
8 VHF 3 October 1973 Port Hedland reference 3 kW
0.75 kW 52 m
52 m Template:Coord 20 22 2 S 118 33 32 E Finucane Island ABRBW Roebourne area Roebourne 9 VHF
9A VHF 17 December 1973 Roebourne identification 2 kW
0.5 kW 71 m
73 m Template:Coord 20 46 19 S 117 8 32 E Mount Welcome ABSW Bunbury region Bunbury 5 VHF
36 UHF 10 May 1965 South West designation 300 kW
300 kW 308 m
332 m Template:Coord33 23 48 S 115 54 53 E Mount Lennard ABSBW Southern Cross/Bullfinch area Southern Cross 9 VHF
7 VHF 16 July 1973 Southern Cross/Bullfinch reference 2 kW
0.5 kW 117 m
118 m Template:Coord31 16 34 S 119 30 33 E Ghooli ABW Broome region Broome 8 VHF
9 VHF Western Australia designation 2 kW
0.5 kW 75 m
75 m Template:Coord17 53 19 S 122 15 48 E Broome site
| Call | Area Covered | Location | Channels (analog/digital) |
Launch Date | Significance of 3rd Letter | ERP (analog/digital) |
HAAT (analog/digital) |
Coordinates | Transmitter Site |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABAW | Southern Agricultural Region | Albany | 2 VHF 11 VHF |
6 June 1966 | Albany reference | 200 kW 50 kW |
321 m 375 m |
Lua error: callParserFunction: function "#coordinates" was not found. | Mount Barker |
| ABCW | Central Agricultural Region | Northam | 5A VHF 45 UHF |
28 March 1966 | Central Agricultural reference | 160 kW 300 kW |
251 m 270 m |
Lua error: callParserFunction: function "#coordinates" was not found. | Mawson Trig |
| ABCMW | Morawa area | Morawa | 8 VHF 7 VHF |
8 March 1975 | Morawa designation | 13 kW 3.2 kW |
137 m 137 m |
Lua error: callParserFunction: function "#coordinates" was not found. | Mount Campbell |
| ABCNW | Carnarvon region | Carnarvon | 7 VHF 6 VHF |
30 June 1972 | Carnarvon reference | 0.5 kW 0.125 kW |
112 m 112 m |
Lua error: callParserFunction: function "#coordinates" was not found. | Brown Range |
| ABDW | Dampier area | Dampier | 29 UHF 28 UHF |
17 December 1973 | Dampier designation | 0.08 kW 0.02 kW |
79 m 79 m |
Lua error: callParserFunction: function "#coordinates" was not found. | Kangaroo Hill |
| ABEW | Esperance region | Esperance | 10 VHF 9A VHF |
21 October 1974 | Esperance identification | 2 kW 0.5 kW |
128 m 130 m |
Lua error: callParserFunction: function "#coordinates" was not found. | Wireless Hill |
| ABGW | Geraldton area | Geraldton | 6 VHF 41 UHF |
8 December 1969 | Geraldton reference | 32 kW 150 kW |
257 m 273 m |
Lua error: callParserFunction: function "#coordinates" was not found. | Moresby Range |
| ABKW | Kalgoorlie region | Kalgoorlie | 6 VHF 9A VHF |
27 January 1970 | Kalgoorlie designation | 8 kW 4 kW |
110 m 110 m |
Lua error: callParserFunction: function "#coordinates" was not found. | Peters Hill |
| ABKAW | Karratha area | Karratha
54 UHF |
See also
- Television broadcasting in Australia
- 720 ABC Perth – radio broadcaster located within the identical premises
References
- ↑ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2123: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value). Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence.