owned by ten network holdings picture format 576i sdtv 16 9 1080i hdtv 16 9 audience share 17.9 % nationally 2014 ratings year 1 slogan turn on 10 country australia language english broadcast area sydney melbourne brisbane adelaide perth affiliates southern cross ten northern nsw darwin nt win television headquarters pyrmont new south wales formerly called independent television system 1965 1970 the 0 10 network 1970 1980 10 tv australia 1989 1991 sister channel s ten hd eleven one tvsn spree tv website tenplaylive.com.au availability terrestrial ten sydney dvb t 64 qam 1573 11 219.5 mhz 2 atv melbourne dvb t 64 qam 1589 11 219.5 mhz tvq brisbane gold coast dvb t 64 qam 1605 11 219.5 mhz ads adelaide dvb t 64 qam 1621 11 219.5 mhz new perth mandurah dvb t 64 qam 1669 11 219.5 mhz freeview ten owned virtual 10 freeview ten hd virtual 13 freeview win regional virtual 8 88 freeview sca regional virtual 5 satellite ten sydney dvb s qpsk 1061 12094 mhz foxtel optus d3 atv melbourne dvb s qpsk 1031 12094 mhz foxtel optus d3 tvq brisbane dvb s qpsk 1011 12094 mhz foxtel optus d3 foxtel virtual 110 vast virtual 5 or 10 cable foxtel optus virtual 110 network ten commonly known as channel ten or simply ten stylised as ten is an australian commercial broadcasting network owned by ten network holdings and is headquartered in pyrmont new south wales . it is the third australian free to air television network to make its debut after nine network in 1956 and seven network in 1956 . it first aired on august 1 1964 in melbourne . network ten is the fourth of all the five national free to air networks in australia after the abc . its owned and operated stations can be found in the capital cities of sydney melbourne brisbane adelaide and perth while affiliates extend the network to cover most of the country . the channel s name became a backronym for the entertainment network during the early 1990s . contents 1 history 1.1 origins 2 launch 2.1 1970s 2.2 1980s 2.3 1990s 2.4 2000s 2.5 2010s 3 programming 3.1 news and current affairs 3.2 sport 4 availability 4.1 ten hd 4.2 tenplay 5 controversy 6 logo and identity history 6.1 identity history 7 see also 8 references 9 external links history edit origins edit from the introduction of tv in 1956 until 1965 there were only two commercial television networks in australia the national television network now the nine network and the australian television network now the seven network as well as the public australian broadcasting corporation then commission . in the early 1960s the federal government began canvassing the idea of licensing a third commercial television station in each capital city . this decision was seen by some as a way for the government to defuse growing public dissatisfaction with the dominance of imported overseas programming and the paucity of local content . the first of these third licences was granted to united telecasters sydney was granted on 4 april 1963 . structurally the australian television industry was closely modelled on the two tiered system that had been in place in australian radio since the late 1930s . one tier consisted of a network of publicly funded television stations run by the abc which was funded by government budget allocation and until 1972 by fees from television viewer licences . the second tier consisted of the commercial networks and independent stations owned by private operators whose income came from selling advertising time . launch edit the network was launched as atv 0 in melbourne opened on 1 august 1964 and was owned by the ansett transport and media group which at the time owned one of australia s two domestic airlines . ten 10 in sydney which opened on 5 april 1965 was originally owned by united telecasters sydney ltd utsl which also citation needed in july that year opened tvq 0 in brisbane . also opened that month was sas 10 serving the city of adelaide in south australia . the new television network was initially dubbed the independent television system or its but in 1970 adopted the title the 0 10 network which reflected the names of the first two stations launched in the group . melbourne s atv was the first station of the network to stage colour broadcasts in 1967 the broadcast was that of the pakenham races which was seen by network executives and invited members of the media and press . this would the first of many test colour telecasts for the station and in tribute to this event the 0 10 network adopted the first in color slogan in 1974 within months before the 1 march 1975 transition to colour broadcasting . 1970s edit for its first five years the 0 10 network led a hand to mouth existence . by the beginning of the 1970s the network was in a precarious financial position and there were predictions that it would fail . in 1971 the 0 10 network first aired young talent time which was a huge ratings success and ran for 17 years . however the network s true financial reprise came about due to the adult soap opera serial number 96 which premiered in march 1972 on the night that australian tv lost its virginity . the series broke new ground for australian television and captured the imagination of viewers like few programs before or since . for the next three years it was consistently australia s top rating television program and not surprisingly its huge popularity attracted advertisers to ten en masse with the result that its revenue increased significantly from a 1 million in 1971 to more than a 10 million in 1972 . however the pattern of ratings dominance was already set and for most of the next four decades mid 1960s there was little deviation from the prevalent rankings with the nine network typically in first place the seven network second network ten third and abc fourth . the gradual evolution of network ten into its current form has its origins in the ongoing attempts by media mogul rupert murdoch to acquire a prized commercial television licence in australia s largest capital city market sydney . this began when murdoch s news ltd purchased the wollongong station win television in the early 1960s around the same time he bought festival records . in 1977 frustrated by regulatory blocks that prevented him from expanding into the sydney market murdoch sold win and purchased a 46 % share in ten sydney . in 1979 murdoch made an unsuccessful takeover bid for the melbourne based the herald and weekly times media group . although the bid failed he gained a 50 % stake in ansett which thus gave him control of channel 0 in melbourne . in 1979 0 10 first aired soap opera prisoner which was a huge ratings success . 1980s edit on 20 january 1980 the 0 10 network became known as network ten to reflect atv moving from channel 0 to channel 10 although the brisbane station continued to broadcast as tvq 0 until 10 september 1988 when the station changed to tvq 10 . in 1987 adelaide s network ten affiliate sas 10 and seven network affiliate ads 7 successfully negotiated to exchange affiliation rights and channel frequencies due to ownership problems . on 27 december 1987 the exchange came into effect and ads 7 owned by the same owners as the main network ten stations became ads 10 with sas 10 converting to sas 7 operated by tvw 7 in perth . when murdoch became an american citizen in 1985 so that he could expand his media empire in the united states australia s media ownership laws obliged him to dispose of the flagship television stations which were sold to the northern star an offshoot of the westfield group conglomerate controlled by property tycoon frank lowy . however westfield was badly hit by the stock market crash of 1987 and in 1989 sold network ten to a consortium led by charles curran and former television journalist steve cosser . the network became fully national in 1988 with the launch of new 10 in perth after the introduction of satellite facilities made it economical for the network to broadcast to western australia . northern star officially took hold of tvq 10 later in the year and rebranded ctc canberra under the network banner in time for aggregation . in 1989 ten s ratings were in decline so on 23 july 1989 recently recruited network boss bob shanks relaunched the network as 10 tv australia and introduced several new programs including four new prime time game shows . however by the end of 1989 the ratings had failed to improve and most of the new programs were cancelled except for its eyewitness news newscasts neighbours and e street debuting in late 1988 . 1990s edit in 1990 both network ten and the seven network filed for receivership and in 1991 the network was relaunched yet again but with its present logo . in 1992 the network s flagship stations were sold to the canadian based canwest media group which held a controlling stake in the network until 2009 . ten also has an affiliate broadcasting agreement with southern cross broadcasting which owns numerous regional stations in new south wales victoria queensland and tasmania . on 13 january 1991 ten also referred to itself by the backronym the entertainment network in network promotions and 10 tv australia renamed back to network ten . ten first broadcast baywatch in 1990 and the simpsons in 1991 . ten broadcast the 1991 winfield cup premiership s grand final live . network ten was nearly folded into the seven network in the early 1990s but due to the lobbying power of billionaire kerry packer citation needed former owner of the nine network this was successfully resisted . in 1999 network ten switched from supertext logo to the generic closed captioning logo until mid 2004 . 2000s edit in 2001 ten opened its doors to reality television with the first season of big brother australia the opening night of the show was the most watched programs of the night . in 2004 network ten enjoyed its best year since the 1970s citation needed and at one stage threatened to pass seven as runner up to long dominant nine . otherwise ratings for ten have always placed it 3rd in every ratings year since 2000 . also that year network ten switched back from the generic closed captioning logo to the then new supertext logo . they ve used the supertext logo until 13 april 2016 . in 2005 canwest was in discussions with newspaper publisher john fairfax holdings about a possible sale of the network after the federal government indicated it may consider relaxing australia s media cross ownership laws . previously newspaper owners could not own television stations in the same city . fairfax owned the seven network until 1988 and had been looking for a way back into television for a long time . on 21 august 2005 the network celebrated its 40th birthday with a two hour highlights package called ten seriously 40 hosted by bert newton and rove mcmanus . from 2006 to 2008 ten was the official broadcaster of sydney new year s eve . the rights returned to the nine network from 2009 . along with the seven network network ten paid a 780 million for the rights to the australian football league . 3 some media commentators however believe the figure may have been overpriced given the fact that both seven and ten struggled to onsell games to pay tv provider foxtel . ten eventually brokered a deal that saw foxtel gain the rights to 4 live games each round as well as replay rights for all games shown