owned by seven west media picture format 576i sdtv 16 9 1080i hdtv 16 9 melbourne and adelaide only audience share melbourne 30.6 % brisbane 30.4 % sydney 29.3 % adelaide 33.7 % perth 34.1 % 5 cap cities 31.0 % november 2011 1 slogan gottaloveit country australia language english broadcast area sydney melbourne brisbane adelaide perth regional qld affiliates prime7 nsw vic qld gwn7 wa southern cross darwin tas mscm southern cross central western qld nt headquarters pyrmont new south wales formerly called australian television network 1982 1995 sister channel s 7hd 7two 7mate 7flix racing.com website yahoo7.com.au availability terrestrial atn sydney dvb t 64 qam 1312 6 177.5 mhz 2 hsv melbourne dvb t 64 qam 1328 6 177.5 mhz btq brisbane gold coast dvb t 64 qam 1344 6 177.5 mhz sas adelaide dvb t 64 qam 1360 6 177.5 mhz tvw perth mandurah dvb t 64 qam 1376 6 177.5 mhz freeview seven owned virtual 7 71 freeview 7hd virtual 70 freeview seven affiliate virtual 6 60 61 satellite atn sydney dvb s qpsk 1091 12094 mhz foxtel optus d3 hsv melbourne dvb s qpsk 1081 12094 mhz foxtel optus d3 btq brisbane dvb s qpsk 1071 12094 mhz foxtel optus d3 foxtel virtual 107 vast virtual 7 70 71 cable foxtel optus virtual 107 streaming media plus7 live the seven network commonly known as channel seven or simply seven is the highest rating australian commercial free to air television network owned by seven west media limited . 3 it dates back to 4 november 1956 when the first station on the vhf7 frequency was established in melbourne . the seven network is one of five main free to air commercial networks in australia . since the late 1980s to the mid 1990s and again from 2005 the seven network has been the highest rated television network and primary channel in australia ahead of the nine network abc and sbs and the troubled network ten . the seven network is the indefinite long term home of in house and most watched franchises including the afl the summer olympics the melbourne cup sunrise my kitchen rules the x factor the chase australia house rules deal or no deal home and away better homes & gardens and seven news . 4 in 2011 the seven network won all 40 out of 40 weeks of the ratings season for total viewers . 5 seven is the first to do this since the introduction of the oztam ratings system in 2001 . 6 as of 2014 it is the second largest network in the country in terms of population reach . 7 contents 1 headquarters 2 history 2.1 origins 2.2 1980s 2.3 1990s 2.4 2000s 2.5 2010s 2.6 additional programs 3 programming 3.1 local programs 3.2 foreign programs 3.3 news and current affairs 3.4 sport 4 availability 4.1 7hd 4.2 plus7 5 logo and identity history 5.1 identity history 6 see also 7 references and notes 8 external links headquarters edit seven s administration headquarters are based in a converted warehouse at jones bay wharf in pyrmont sydney completed in 2003 . 8 the network s main playout centre is located in docklands melbourne . national news and current affairs programming are based between flagship station atn in sydney and hsv in melbourne . in 2009 seven moved its sydney based production operations from epping to a purpose built high definition television production facility at the australian technology park in eveleigh . 9 history edit origins edit the seven network began as a group of independent stations in sydney melbourne brisbane adelaide and perth . 10 hsv 7 melbourne licensed to the herald and weekly times ltd owners of two local papers at the time the herald and the sun was the first station in the country to use the vhf7 frequency . 10 it launched on 4 november 1956 soon joined on 2 december by atn 7 in sydney owned by fairfax subsidiary amalgamated television services . 10 11 the two stations did not immediately begin sharing resources and instead formed content sharing partnerships with their vhf9 counterparts by 1957 atn partnered with melbourne s gtv 9 while hsv paired up with sydney s tcn 9 . 10 11 hsv s relationship with the victorian football league now the australian football league began in april 1957 when the station broadcast the first ever live australian rules football match . tvw 7 perth began broadcasting almost two years later on 16 october 1959 as the city s first commercial station . it was licensed to tvw limited a subsidiary of west australian newspapers publisher of the west australian . 10 btq 7 followed on 1 november signing on as brisbane s second commercial television station . 10 11 throughout this time the stations operated independently of each other with schedules made up of various simple and relatively inexpensive programs such as pick a box and spinoffs of popular radio shows . 10 in the early 1960s coaxial cable links formed initially between sydney and melbourne allowed the sharing of programmes and simultaneous broadcasts of live shows . 11 ads 7 in adelaide launched on 24 oct 1959 as the final capital city vhf7 station . 12 the station later swapped frequencies with sas 10 however with the latter becoming sas 7 12 in 1960 frank packer the owner of sydney s tcn 9 bought a controlling share of melbourne s gtv 9 in the process creating the country s first television network 11 and dissolving the atn 7 gtv 9 and hsv 7 tcn 9 partnerships . left without their original partners atn and hsv joined together to form the australian television network in 1963 . 12 the new grouping was soon joined by all of the capital city channel 7 stations except tvw . the newly formed network began to produce and screen higher budget programming to attract greater numbers of viewers most notably homicide a series which would continue for another 12 years to become the nation s longest running drama series . 12 however it was not until 1970 that a national network logo appeared albeit still with independently owned and operated stations with localised advertising campaigns . 13 colour television was introduced across the network in 1975 along with a new logo incorporating a bright ring of the colours of the visual light spectrum . rupert murdoch made an unsuccessful bid for the herald and weekly times owners of hsv 7 in 1979 later going on to gain control of rival atv 10 . fairfax however successfully bought a 14.9 % share of the company later in the same year . 11 1980s edit this decade saw the introduction of stereo sound as well as a number of successful shows most notably a country practice in 1981 and sons and daughters which began in 1982 . 14 wheel of fortune began its twenty five year run in july 1981 produced from ads 7 s studios in adelaide . the 1980 summer olympics in moscow were shown live on the network the year before . 14 neighbours began on seven in 1985 but low ratings in sydney led to the cancellation of the new series at the end of the year which later moved to network ten and went on to achieve international success . 14 family ties began on seven in 1982 to mid 1983 and later family ties was transferred to the nine network in late 1983 . perth based businessman robert holmes court through his business the bell group bought tvw 7 from its original owners west australian newspapers in 1982 . 11 the herald and weekly times owner of hsv 7 and ads 7 was sold to rupert murdoch in december 1986 for an estimated 1.8 billion . 11 murdoch s company news limited sold off hsv to fairfax soon afterwards for 320 million . 11 fairfax went on to axe a number of locally produced shows in favour of networked content from its sydney counterpart atn 7 also owned by fairfax at the time . 14 cross media ownership laws introduced in 1987 forced fairfax to choose between its print and television operations it chose the former and later sold off its stations to qintex ltd. owned by businessman christopher skase . 14 qintex had previously bought and subsequently sold off stations in brisbane and regional queensland before taking control of the network . 11 the next year another new logo was introduced along with evening soap home and away and a relaunched seven nightly news now known as seven news . the network became truly national in 1988 when skase bought tvw for 130 million . 14 in 1989 the network changed its name to simply the seven network though it had been unofficially using that name for some time before then . despite the network s successes a failed 1.5 billion bid for mgm studios in the same year sent qintex into receivership . 11 christopher skase fled australia in 1990 to escape extradition . 14 the business assets were bundled together by receivers and made into a new company the seven network limited in 1991 . 11 1990s edit real life a national current affairs programme hosted by stan grant similar in format to the nine network s a current affair was launched in 1992 but was later replaced by the more successful today tonight . 15 the network was listed on the stock exchange in 1993 soon after the entry of subscription television provider australis . one of seven s most popular series a country practice ended in 1993 after 1058 episodes . 1994 saw the introduction of blue heelers which after a number of timeslot changes was moved in 1998 to wednesdays . this was to make room for a new series medical drama all saints . both dramas rated quite highly and along with new lifestyle shows better homes and gardens and the great outdoors resulted in a stronger ratings position for the network . 16 in 1995 sunshine television a seven network affiliate in regional queensland was purchased by the network s parent company seven network limited . sunshine television s regional stations effectively became a part of the seven network identical in appearance and programming to the rest of the business stations . seven queensland won the annual audience ratings for the first time in 1998 . 17 a successful 1.3 billion bid for united artists was made in conjunction with kirk kerkorian in 1996 ; the network sold its stake two years later for us389 million . seven took control of australia television the australian broadcasting corporation s asian satellite channel in 1997 . the abc still maintained a share in the network and continued to produce news and current affairs programming for it . 18 2000s edit the network s centralised digital playout facility broadcast centre melbourne located in the city s docklands precinct . seven s news studios at martin place sydney the year 2000 saw former nine executive david leckie appointed as head of television operations re launching the network with an updated logo new advertising campaign in time for the network s coverage of the 2000 summer olympics in sydney . the opening ceremony was one of the highest ever rating television programmes in the country with 6.5 million viewers contributing to the network winning the ratings year for the first time in twenty two years . 19 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 wide screen and high definition programming . 20 in january 2006 the seven network pacific magazines and online portal yahoo australia and new zealand combined in a joint venture to form yahoo 7 representing all three companies online assets . 21 7hd was officially announced on 15 september 2007 with the seven media group announcing