QQQ
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Television broadcasting |
| Predecessor | ITQ (est. 1971) |
| Founded | 1988 |
| Headquarters | Australia |
Area served | Remote central and eastern Australia |
| Owner | Seven West Media |
| Parent | Seven West Media |
QQQ is an Australian television broadcaster catering to remote areas in central and eastern Australia, and it is owned by Seven West Media. Its signal is delivered through both satellite and terrestrial means, mainly via community retransmission facilities, including the Mount Isa region in Queensland, where it operates under the call sign ITQ.
History
The station known as ITQ Channel 8 commenced transmissions in Mount Isa on 11 September 1971 and transitioned to colour broadcasts by May 1975. The QQQ service was introduced in remote parts of Queensland and New South Wales in 1988. In 1990, ITQ was purchased by North Queensland Television, which also owned QQQ, resulting in ITQ becoming a relay station for QQQ.
By December 1998, ITQ and QQQ—then operating under the name Queensland Satellite Television (QSTV) and owned by Telecasters Australia Limited—were consolidated with Imparja Television within a single Remote Central and Eastern Australia licence area. This consolidation extended coverage into additional remote locations across New South Wales, Victoria, and Tasmania that had limited access to terrestrial television.
On 1 February 1999, QSTV changed its network affiliation from Network 10 to the Seven Network and rebranded as Seven Central. This change followed the establishment of Seven Darwin (TND) in 1998.
In July 2001, Southern Cross Broadcasting (SCB) acquired Telecasters Australia, subsequently renaming the service Southern Cross Central. Unlike other stations owned by Southern Cross, QQQ/ITQ preserved its Seven Network branding but adopted a minimal "SCTV" watermark to signify its heritage. Earlier watermarks featured "TAL," "SCB," and briefly "MSCM" following acquisition by Macquarie.
On 19 May 2010, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) granted a licence for Central Digital Television, a third digital-only channel jointly owned by Imparja Television and Southern Cross Austereo. This service launched on 30 June 2010 via the Viewer Access Satellite Television (VAST) platform. Concurrently, Southern Cross Central began transmitting SCTV Central, SCTV Central HD, and 7Two Central to assist viewers impacted by the shutdown of analogue transmitters.
The VAST platform officially commenced on 10 December 2010, delivering digital television access via satellite across Northern Territory, Queensland, and South Australia. Terrestrial digital broadcasts started in Alice Springs and Mount Isa on 2 May 2011, with further regional expansions continuing through 2013. The previous satellite system, Optus Aurora, was discontinued on 10 December 2013.
The acquisition of Southern Cross Austereo’s Seven-affiliated stations by Seven West Media was finalised in July 2025.
News updates
During earlier ownership periods, a local Seven News bulletin serving Darwin and Central Australia aired until the year 2000. From 2005 onward, separate news updates tailored for remote Australia were introduced and later combined with Darwin bulletins in 2013. These concise three-minute news segments are broadcast multiple times daily on ITQ/QQQ (covering remote regions) as well as TND (Darwin), with production based out of studios in Launceston.
Terrestrial
Seven Central provides free-to-air digital channels—namely Seven Central, 7mate Central, and 7two Central—through terrestrial transmission across various regional towns and cities. The network holds licences for the Remote Central and Eastern Australia TV2 area as well as Mount Isa TV1, encompassing locations such as Alice Springs, Bourke, Ceduna, Charleville, Coober Pedy, Cooktown, Katherine, Longreach, Mount Isa, Roma, and Weipa.
Satellite
Seven Central's channels can be accessed free-to-air through the VAST satellite platform throughout Australia, excluding Western Australia. The channel 7mate Central is broadcast as a single nationwide service, whereas Seven Central and 7two Central are distributed as two distinct feeds. The versions Seven Central North and 7two Central North follow Australian Eastern Standard Time, catering to audiences in the Northern Territory and Queensland under the Northern Australia TV3 licence. Conversely, Seven Central South and 7two Central South operate on Australian Eastern Daylight Time, serving viewers in New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania, and Norfolk Island under the South Eastern Australia TV3 licence.
High-definition broadcasts are provided for both Seven Central North and Seven Central South.
Furthermore, Seven Central is accessible in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea through Digicel Pacific, where it is identified as 7 Central.