is about the australian television channel . for the american television network see american broadcasting company . for other uses see abc . abc1 redirects here . for other uses see abc1 disambiguation . abc launched 5 november 1956 network abc television owned by australian broadcasting corporation picture format 576i sdtv 16 9 tba hdtv 16 9 late 2016 audience share 16.4 % nationally 2009 ratings year 1 slogan ourabc country australia language english broadcast area nationally headquarters ultimo new south wales formerly called abc national television service abc national television abc tv 5 november 1956 8 february 2008 abc1 8 february 2008 20 july 2014 sister channel s abc hd late 2016 abc2 abc me abc kids abc news 24 website abc.net.au tv channels abc.htm availability terrestrial abn sydney dvb t 545 547 673 675 12 226.5 mhz 1 abv melbourne dvb t 561 563 689 691 12 226.5 mhz abq brisbane dvb t 577 579 705 707 12 226.5 mhz abs adelaide dvb t 593 12 226.5 mhz abw perth mandurah dvb t 737 12 226.5 mhz abt hobart dvb t 625 8 191.5 mhz abd darwin dvb t 641 30 543.5 mhz freeview abc virtual 2 20 21 satellite foxtel virtual 102 vast virtual 2 cable foxtel optus virtual 102 transact virtual 2 streaming media abc iview live stream abc formerly known as abc national television or abc tv from 1956 until 2008 and as abc1 from 2008 until 2014 2 is a national public television network in australia . launched on 5 november 1956 it is the responsibility of the abc s television division and is available nationally . contents 1 history 1.1 origins 1.2 1960s to the 1990s colour television 1.3 2000s and beyond digital television 1.4 controllers 2 programming 2.1 news and current affairs 2.2 sport 3 availability 3.1 abc hd 3.2 abc iview 4 logo history 4.1 branding gallery 5 identities of the australian abc 6 see also 7 references 8 external links history edit further information history of the australian broadcasting corporation origins edit the history of abc tv can be traced back to 1953 when the federal television act was passed providing the initial regulatory framework for both abc television and abc commercial television networks under the australian broadcasting corporation . 3 4 over the next three years planning for the introduction of a national television service was put in place land for studios and transmitters in sydney and melbourne was acquired and overseas tutors were brought to australia to assist with training . 3 4 commercial station tcn 9 sydney was the first to broadcast in australia soon followed by the abc s own abn 2 sydney and later abv 2 in melbourne . 3 4 six stations three in melbourne and three in sydney were in operation in time to cover the 1956 summer olympics in melbourne . 3 4 the channel s first television broadcast was inaugurated by prime minister robert menzies on 5 november at the gore hill studios in sydney followed two weeks later by transmission in melbourne . 3 4 although radio programmes could be broadcast nationally by landline television relay facilities were not put in place until the early 1960s . 3 this meant that news bulletins had to be sent to each capital city by teleprinter to be prepared and presented separately in each city with filmed materials copied manually and sent to each state . 3 4 a purpose built television studio opened in sydney on 29 january 1958 replacing temporary sound studios used since abc tv s inception . in the same year technical equipment was also moved to permanent locations while main transmitters were introduced to melbourne and sydney in 1957 and 1958 respectively . 5 australian broadcasting corporation abc series which debuted in 1956 included tv channell and picture page . other 1950s era australian broadcasting corporation abc series included variety shows like look who s dropped in and caf continental discussion series like any questions and children s series children s tv club . starting in 1957 the two abc stations then in operation each produced one live drama presentation each month which would be kinescoped for broadcast in the other city . 1960s to the 1990s colour television edit weekly current affairs programme four corners began in 1961 6 followed in the same year by profiles of power a series of interviews with prominent australians . 6 direct relays between sydney melbourne and canberra were also established in 1961 replacing temporary microwave relays as a means of simultaneously airing programmes across multiple stations . 4 6 videotape equipment allowing the sharing of footage with much greater ease and speed was installed in each state capital by 1962 . 3 abc tv was one of the first television networks in australia to embrace the rock n roll revolution of the late 1950s most notably with six o clock rock hosted by johnny o keefe . 4 during the 1960s and early 1970s the channel continued to broadcast programmes on popular music including the pop show hitscene performance specials by groups such as tully and max merritt & the meteors as well as the magazine style programme gtk which premiered in 1969 and screened for 10 minutes four nights per week at 6 30 pm immediately prior to bellbird and the 7 00 pm news bulletin . 7 in 1967 the weeknightly television current affairs programme this day tonight was launched on abc tv . 6 teletext services were introduced to abc tv in 1983 to allow hearing impaired viewers access to closed captions . 8 nationwide successor to this day tonight was replaced in turn by a new hour long national news programme called the national . having proved unsuccessful 8 9 it reverted to a state abc news bulletin at 7 00 pm with a state based edition of the 7.30 report following afterwards . 8 lateline and media watch also launched in the 1980s . 8 10 2000s and beyond digital television edit the year 2001 saw the launch of a new logo to celebrate the introduction of digital terrestrial television in australia . the logo was modified to a three dimensional metallic design . coinciding with this digital television was introduced to most of the network s coverage area on 1 january 2001 this was soon followed by the gradual introduction of widescreen and high definition programming . 11 in 2002 to celebrate seventy years of the australian broadcasting corporation abc tv s logo reverted to the over and under design seen in the previous decades however it retained the three dimensional metallic design . the channel s idents featured elements fire leaf and ice and the slogan was updated to everyone s abc . the idents also featured the silver ring that morphs into the abc logo . 12 13 this however did not last as later in 2003 the channel s idents were modified to feature everyday australians . in 2005 the abc have switched from the supertext logo to their own closed captioning logo . on 19 december that year the channel s idents were revamped featuring a modified abc logo transforming to a television . these idents were also carried onto abc2 which launched in the same year . at midday on 8 february 2008 abc tv was rebranded as abc1 with the standard definition redirect channel moved from lcn22 to lcn21 complementing the existing abc2 digital only channel launched on 7 march 2005 . 14 further cementing the change in identity was the change from the slogan there s more to television to it begins with 1 . after concerns in some sections of the media that the 43 year old lissajous curve brand was to disappear completely abc management reaffirmed that it would remain in use by the corporation . 15 16 17 june 2010 saw abc1 s high definition digital transmission terminated to be replaced with a fourth channel abc news 24 . as of 10 december 2013 abc no longer broadcasts on analog tv and is now only available through digital tv or digital set top box . on 6 february 2011 abc1 launched its new branding via idents featuring a range of channel personalities including the face of the channel adam hills with the new tagline thinkentertainment . a new watermark is also aired with a single 1 above the network s famous lissajous curve logo . on 20 july 2014 abc1 changed its name back to just abc and at the same time they introduced new idents featuring the 1975 lissajous curve logo being drawn by itself of videos of people doing activities taken from abc open s video library . then the words it s insert words here s abc the words change depending on the ident fade in on the left side of the logo . the words then change to ourabc which is the network s new slogan . 18 the new 2014 idents look very similar to the 1996 1998 1998 2000 2003 2005 and 2008 2011 abc station idents . controllers edit in 2010 as part of a revamp of the entire abc television network abc1 hired its very first television controller brendan dahill from bbc worldwide . 2010 present brendan dahill programming edit further information list of programs broadcast by abc television abc is required by charter to meet certain programming obligations . although it has a strong focus on news and current affairs it also presents documentaries and educational programmes drama light entertainment comedy and variety and sports . news and current affairs edit further information abc news and current affairs abc news abc news broadcast on abc is a national news service produced by the news and current affairs division of the australian broadcasting corporation . a number of bulletins and updates are shown throughout the day which include the flagship state based evening bulletins of abc news at 7.00 pm focused on local national and international news relevant to their entire respective state or territory . 19 in addition abc news breakfast is broadcast each weekday morning and it is also shown on abc news 24 the midday report a national weekday edition of abc news is broadcast at noon live from the australian broadcasting corporation s studios in ultimo sydney . news updates are presented nationally only on both abc news 24 and abc throughout the day however evening updates are shown in most states by their respective presenters . other flagship programmes which include four corners australian story foreign correspondent lateline and 7.30 are broadcast in primetime and are widely respected for their agenda setting journalism . 19 in addition landline insiders media watch cover rural political and business and media affairs respectively . sport edit further information abc sport abc sport currently holds the broadcast rights to a range of sports which are broadcast on abc these include the women s australian open w league women s national basketball league afc women s asian cup as well as state football league competitions which include australian rules football and rugby league . 19 in addition to this the abc also holds the rights to the paralympic games and the australian rugby championship . abc sport currently broadcasts grandstand which includes the state football leagues such as new south wales rugby union queensland rugby league victorian football league tasmanian football league south australian football league west australian football league and northern territory football league . in addition to tiwi islands football league and australian rugby championship . availability edit further information abc television abc varies depending on state and territory in terms of what 7 00 pm news bulletin state edition of 7.30 and some promotions are shown . national programming is often interrupted to show state election coverage . each state and territory s individual station is based on that of its capital city meaning that in the state of victoria all programmes originate