WIN Television
| File:WIN Television logo.svg Logo used since 2018 rebranding | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Broadcasting |
| Founded | March 18, 1962 in Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia |
| Founder | Local entrepreneurs (as Television Wollongong Transmission Limited) |
| Headquarters | Wollongong , Australia |
Area served | Regional Australia including Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia, Western Australia |
Key people | Bruce Gordon (head of WIN Corporation) |
| Products | Television broadcasting, WIN News, regional TV programming |
| Owner | WIN Corporation |
| Website | www |
WIN Television is an Australian TV network under the ownership of WIN Corporation, with its main office located in Wollongong, New South Wales. The network commenced operations on 18 March 1962 as a single channel dedicated to the Wollongong area. Since then, WIN has broadened its reach to serve a large portion of regional Australia. Its name originates from the original station, Wollongong's WIN-4.
WIN maintains a programming supply partnership with the metropolitan Nine Network, distributing content across Regional Queensland, Southern and Western New South Wales, Griffith, Regional Victoria, Mildura, Tasmania, Eastern South Australia, and Regional Western Australia. Additionally, WIN produces and airs local half-hour evening news bulletins on weeknights in Queensland, southern New South Wales, Victoria, and Tasmania under the brand WIN News.
Regional services
Operating through its broadcast licences, WIN retransmits metropolitan network programming into various regional Australian markets as detailed below:
| Licence area | Affiliation | Call sign |
|---|---|---|
| Southern New South Wales Australian Capital Territory |
Nine Network | WIN |
| Griffith | Seven Network | MTN |
| Nine Network | AMN | |
| Network 10 | MDN[lower-alpha 1] | |
| Regional Queensland | Nine Network | RTQ |
| Eastern South Australia | Seven Network | SES/RTS |
| Nine Network | SDS/RDS | |
| Network 10 | MGS/LRS | |
| Tasmania | Nine Network | TVT |
| Network 10 | TDT[lower-alpha 2] | |
| Mildura | Nine Network | STV |
| Network 10 | MDV (Transmission ceased on 30 June 2024.) [lower-alpha 3] | |
| Regional Victoria | Nine Network | VTV |
| Regional Western Australia | Nine Network | WOW |
| Network 10 | GDW, SDW, VDW, WDW[lower-alpha 4] |
Origins in Wollongong
Television Wollongong Transmission Limited (TWT) was established on 4 October 1955 by local entrepreneurs. Five years later, it obtained a broadcasting licence for the Illawarra and South Coast areas on VHF-4, adopting the callsign WIN, standing for "Wollongong Illawarra New South Wales."
1980–1999: growth through aggregation
Throughout this era, WIN expanded its footprint by acquiring stations across Victoria, Queensland, and New South Wales. In 1984, it pioneered stereophonic sound transmission among regional TV stations. With strong affiliations to the Nine Network, WIN secured its partnership for southern New South Wales during aggregation in March 1989, facilitating entry into Canberra, Orange, Bathurst, Dubbo, and Wagga Wagga with new studio facilities. Aggregation also introduced competition from Prime7 and Capital Television.
In 1990, just prior to aggregation in Queensland, WIN purchased Star TV stations. Although Star TV had been aligned with Network 10 previously, WIN capitalised on its Nine Network relationships to obtain the Nine affiliation in Queensland.
The acquisition of ENT Limited in 1994 brought regional Victoria and Tasmania stations Television Victoria and TasTV into WIN’s portfolio; these were subsequently rebranded as WIN Television. The network further extended into Griffith in 1998 by acquiring MTN-9 and AMN-31.
In 1999, WIN entered regional Western Australia after winning a rights tender, becoming the second commercial broadcaster following GWN7. Combining programming from both Nine and Ten networks, WIN held a prime-time commercial audience share of 34.7%, trailing behind GWN’s 65.3%.
That same year saw the acquisition of SES-8 Mount Gambier and RTS-5a Riverland stations in South Australia, collectively branded as WIN SA. Supplementary licences granted in 2002 allowed launching a WIN Ten service there; until then SES/RTS operated solely as a Nine affiliate until a supply deal with Seven began in 2007.
In addition to its flagship weeknight WIN News bulletin, the network produced local current affairs shows such as Roving Eye and Sunday Review, along with regional sports programming including mid-1990s rugby league panels and coverage of North Queensland Cowboys matches during their inaugural ARL season in 1995.
2000–2016: Affiliation with Nine
Shortly after its metropolitan debut in January 2001, WIN Television rolled out digital television services. In compliance with Section 38A of the Broadcasting Services Act, WIN collaborated with other broadcasters to establish digital-only affiliates for Network Ten. This included launching Tasmania's Tasmanian Digital Television (TDT) in 2003 alongside Southern Cross Broadcasting, and Mildura's Mildura Digital Television (MDV) in 2006 in partnership with Prime Television.
On 30 May 2007, WIN completed the acquisition of NWS from Southern Cross Broadcasting for A$105 million, followed by the purchase of Perth’s STW from Sunraysia Television on 8 June 2007 for A$163.1 million. Although owning Nine Perth, WIN Western Australia continued airing news from Ten Perth until August 2007 when Ten West commenced operations.
In mid-2007, tensions emerged between WIN Corporation, headed by Bruce Gordon, and PBL Media, Nine Network’s parent company, over the division of advertising revenue. PBL demanded a 40% share, but WIN insisted on paying only 29%, consistent with arrangements held by competitors such as Prime7 and Southern Cross Ten. Negotiations broke down, prompting Gordon to threaten terminating the Nine affiliation and programming independently based on his experience at Paramount Pictures. Consequently, on 16 August 2007, WIN ceased broadcasting key Nine daytime programs including Mornings with Kerri-Anne and National Nine News: Morning Edition.
Following this dispute, WIN secured a new content agreement with Nine’s rival, the Seven Network, for its regional South Australian station starting October 2007. To compensate for the loss of significant Nine programming, WIN introduced locally produced shows like Alive and Cooking and Susie, alongside syndicated content such as The Ellen DeGeneres Show and Fishing Australia. Two years later, regional South Australia regained access to Nine programming through a supplementary channel relaying Adelaide’s NWS.
On 9 August 2009, WIN launched the digital channel GO! on channel 88 across Southern New South Wales, Regional Victoria, Tasmania, and Regional Queensland; expansion reached Mildura in 2010 and regional South Australia in 2011.
In June 2010, WIN transitioned its playout operations from Wollongong to a newly established Media Hub in Ingleburn, co-owned with ABC Television. Subsequently, on 26 September 2010, it began transmitting the HD channel GEM on channel 80 in major regions.
WIN introduced the standard definition infomercial channel Gold on channel 84 on 1 May 2012; a time-shifted variant named Gold2 was added on 13 July 2013.
Following Nine’s launch of 9HD and 9Life in November 2015, WIN commenced test transmissions in February 2016 and officially launched these channels on 1 March. The channel lineup was realigned to mirror Nine’s metropolitan schedule: 9Gem moved to channel 82, 9Go! to channel 83, 9Life to channel 84, Extra to channel 85, and Gold to channel 86.
Throughout its affiliation with Nine, WIN sustained its local news service, WIN News, across most regions despite financial strains caused by Nine’s revenue demands. By 2016, the network was producing twelve distinct news bulletins.
2016–2021: Affiliation with Network 10
Following the launch of Nine's online catch-up and live streaming platform 9Now in January 2016, WIN initiated legal action against Nine, claiming that streaming live content to regional areas violated their exclusive affiliation contract. However, in April 2016, the NSW Supreme Court dismissed the lawsuit, determining that the agreement did not encompass internet streaming, thereby allowing Nine to continue its service.
Shortly thereafter, Nine secured a substantial $500 million programming supply contract spanning five years with Southern Cross Austereo. This agreement shifted Southern Cross stations in Southern NSW, the ACT, as well as regional Victoria and Queensland to Nine affiliation starting 1 July 2016, effectively ending WIN's 27-year association with Nine. In response, WIN negotiated a new affiliation deal with Network 10, finalized in May 2016, to broadcast Ten content across regional Queensland, Southern NSW, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia, and Western Australia from July 2016. Additional agreements covering South Australia, Griffith, and Tasmania were completed just before the launch, with Western Australia's arrangement finalized shortly afterward.
To accommodate this new partnership, WIN reorganized its channel numbering: One was assigned to LCNs 81/86; Eleven placed on LCN 82; TVSN on LCN 84; Gold on LCN 85; while WIN and WIN HD retained LCNs 8/80.
In early 2017, discussions for WIN to acquire Northern NSW station NRN through a swap involving its Wollongong radio station i98FM with Southern Cross Austereo did not succeed. Nonetheless, WIN purchased NRN outright for $55 million in March 2017; the transaction was completed by May. NRN was rebranded as WIN in September 2017 and its transmissions were integrated into WIN’s network.
On 28 May 2018, WIN announced a content supply partnership with the Australian News Channel to introduce a free-to-air channel featuring Sky News Australia programming—named Sky News on WIN—which launched in September 2018. This channel combined Sky News and Fox Sports News content alongside WIN’s regional news coverage.
Ahead of the Sky News launch, WIN transitioned TVSN to MPEG-4 SD format in August 2018. In October of the same year, coinciding with Network Ten’s rebranding, WIN refreshed its logo and renamed its multi-channels: One became WIN Boss (later known as WIN Bold) and Eleven was rebranded as WIN Peach.
In March 2021, WIN trialed upgrading its Illawarra broadcast channel to MPEG-4 HD but reverted to MPEG-2 SD by May due to viewer feedback citing reception difficulties.
2021–present: Resumption of Nine Affiliation
On 12 March 2021, Nine secured a renewed seven-year program supply contract with its original affiliate, WIN Network, covering regional Australia from 1 July 2021. This agreement replaced Southern Cross Austereo’s affiliation with Nine content as it reverted to broadcasting Network Ten programming. Under this deal, WIN agreed to remit approximately half of its broadcast advertising revenue to Nine Entertainment Co., along with providing advertising slots for Nine's properties across WIN's television and radio platforms. Additionally, WIN took over advertising sales for Nine’s owned regional stations NBN and NTD. Nine CEO Hugh Marks emphasized that extending the reach of Nine’s premium content and collaborating on both national and local news were primary motivations behind this renewed partnership. For the first time under this arrangement, WIN broadcasts Nine programming using Nine branding; multi-channel lineups were adjusted accordingly: 9Gem assigned to channel 81, 9Go! to channel 82, and 9Life on channel 83; meanwhile TVSN and Gold remained on channels 84 and 85 respectively. Despite this return to Nine content, the iconic "nine dots" logo was not reinstated. Notably, Network Ten programming continues to be aired on WIN’s northern New South Wales station.
On 18 March 2022, WIN Television celebrated six decades of broadcasting service in Wollongong and the Illawarra region.
On 16 June 2022, through its Tasmanian station TVT, WIN transitioned Nine’s multichannels 9Gem and 9Go! to MPEG-4 SD format in Tasmania.
On 22 March 2023, WIN revealed intentions to convert all remaining MPEG-2 channels to MPEG-4 later that year. By May and June of 2023, most regions under WIN had upgraded 9Gem and 9Go! to MPEG-4 SD except for Tasmania, Western Australia, and Northern NSW. On 27 July 2023, an upgrade brought 9Gem to MPEG-4 HD in most areas excluding Northern NSW and Western Australia. In November 2023, Northern NSW saw an upgrade of channels formerly known as 10 Bold and 10 Peach from MPEG-2 to MPEG-4. Subsequently on 6 December 2023, most WIN areas converted 9Go! to MPEG-4 HD except for Western Australia and Northern NSW.
On 13 February 2025, Network Ten announced plans to acquire the NRN station serving Northern NSW and the Gold Coast from WIN Television following its purchase of Southern Cross Austereo’s Ten-affiliated stations. This transaction was finalized on 1 May 2025.
Programming
WIN Television broadcasts content from all three principal Australian commercial networks. It serves as the exclusive Nine Network affiliate in the majority of its transmission regions, while also maintaining affiliations with the Seven Network in Griffith, New South Wales, and eastern South Australia, as well as with Network 10 in Griffith, eastern South Australia, Mildura (operating as a joint venture), and regional Western Australia. Alongside network programming, WIN enriches its schedule with regional productions, most notably its signature local news service, WIN News.
In its history, WIN has developed prominent shows such as Sportsview and Sportsworld, which focused on sports coverage, along with children’s programs like The Channel 4 Club and Stopwatch. It also provided educational series including You Say the Word, aimed at assisting immigrants learning English. Entertainment offerings featured titles like Variety Italian Style and a special commemorating WIN’s 21st anniversary, underscoring its production heritage. The network co-produced the telemovie Last Chance in 1986 and was responsible for the children’s series Goodsports, which aired from 1991 through 2000.
Among current locally produced Australian content are shows such as Fishing Australia and Alive and Cooking. The midday program Susie was introduced in 2007 before shifting to a morning timeslot until its conclusion in 2009. Additionally, WIN broadcasts exclusive international and domestic programs including The Ellen DeGeneres Show. Since 2021, WIN has transmitted a direct feed from Nine, omitting its own news segments.
By 2023, local programming has been streamlined to half-hour editions of WIN News for Nine-affiliated stations serving Regional Queensland, Southern New South Wales, Griffith, Regional Victoria, and Tasmania.
News and current affairs
WIN News represents WIN’s regional news service, delivering fourteen distinct bulletins produced at the Wollongong studios with support from reporters and crews stationed throughout district offices. It competes against regional offerings such as Seven News and Nightly News.
Since its inception in 1962 with independent bulletins for the Wollongong station, WIN has maintained a commitment to regional news. Previous current affairs programs included community-focused Roving Eye and the weekly summary Sunday Review. The network also broadcasted WIN's All Australian News, a weekday morning and late-night roundup of regional stories until it was discontinued in June 2021 following a new affiliation agreement with Nine.
Sport
For WIN’s Nine-affiliated stations located in Southern NSW, Griffith, Regional Queensland, Regional Victoria, Mildura, Tasmania, Eastern South Australia, and Regional Western Australia, sports coverage is sourced from Nine's Wide World of Sports. On stations affiliated with Network 10 in Griffith, Mildura, Regional Western Australia, and Eastern South Australia, programming includes 10 Sport. Meanwhile, Seven-affiliated stations in Griffith, Mount Gambier, and the Riverland broadcast Seven Sport content.
Availability
WIN Television is accessible through free-to-air terrestrial transmitters situated in key regional hubs as well as via free-to-view satellite services across regional and remote areas of Western Australia using the Viewer Access Satellite Television platform. To reach remote Central and Eastern Australian regions along with terrestrial blackspots requiring local news access, WIN News bulletins are provided through VAST.
Subscription cable services are delivered by TransACT within the Australian Capital Territory and by Neighbourhood Cable in Ballarat and Mildura.
The network’s footprint extends over vast sections of regional and remote Australia through owned-and-operated stations including RTQ Queensland; WIN Southern New South Wales & ACT; VTV Victoria; TVT Tasmania; MTN Griffith; STV Mildura; SES Mount Gambier; RTS Riverland; and WOW Western Australia.
WIN HD
WIN HD made its debut on 17 March 2008 as a companion channel to Nine Network's 9HD. It broadcasted in 1080i high definition across WIN's regional outlets—RTQ Queensland, WIN Southern New South Wales & ACT, VTV Victoria, and TVT Tasmania. Initially, the channel featured separate programming until 3 August 2009, when it transitioned into a direct HD simulcast. The service was discontinued on 26 September 2010 with the introduction of the HD multi-channel GEM (currently known as 9Gem).
On 10 February 2016, WIN declared plans to revive its own HD simulcast following Nine Network’s reintroduction of 9HD. WIN HD resumed broadcasting on 1 March 2016, although technical difficulties delayed launches in Griffith, Mildura, Eastern South Australia, and Regional Western Australia until early March. After establishing a new programming supply agreement on 1 July 2016, WIN HD’s content schedule was synchronized with WIN’s overall programming.
The channel was discontinued again on 30 June 2021 after WIN entered into a fresh programming deal with Nine; since then, WIN retransmits 9HD across its Nine-affiliated stations.
External links
Cite error: <ref> tags exist for a group named "lower-alpha", but no corresponding <references group="lower-alpha"/> tag was found