ABN (TV station)

This article is about the Australian TV station. For other TV stations and networks of this name, see ABN.

ABN

Sydney, New South Wales
Channels	Digital: 12 (VHF)
Affiliations	ABC Television
Owner	Australian Broadcasting Corporation
First air date	5 November 1956
Call letters' meaning	ABC New South Wales
Former channel number(s)	2 (VHF) (analog)
Transmitter power	200 kW (analog) 50 kW (digital)
Height	168 m (analog) 205 m (digital)
Transmitter coordinates
Website	www.abc.net.au/tv

ABN is the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's television station in Sydney. The station began broadcasting on 5 November 1956. Its original studios were located in Gore Hill, New South Wales and were in use up until March 2004, when they were co-located with ABC Radio, Radio Australia and Australia Network at the Corporation's headquarters in the inter-city suburb of Ultimo, New South Wales. Its main transmitter, however, remains at Gore Hill. The station can be received throughout the state through a number of relay transmitters, as well as satellite transmission on the Optus Aurora platform.

History

ABN-2 Sydney opened on 5 November 1956 with full-time colour broadcasting introduced in March 1975.

For more than 40 years, Gore Hill was best known as the location of the ABC's Sydney television studios, which were fully opened in 1958 and which operated until 2002, when the site was closed and sold off. Later, the ABC moved its television operations to its broadcasting centre in Ultimo.

ABN Sydney shares its digital broadcast centre facilities with Sydney's community television station TVS. The station has also previously carried a number of programs originally produced at other Channel 31 stations in other states (programs such as Aurora Community Channel & National Indigenous Television).

ABN commenced digital television transmission in January 2001, broadcasting on VHF Channel 12 while maintaining analogue transmission on VHF Channel 2.

The analogue signal for ABN was shut off at 9.00am AEDST, Tuesday, 3 December 2013.

Programming

Local programming

ABN's schedule is similar to the national ABC schedule, with the exception of some news, current affairs, sport and occasionally, election programming.

ABC News New South Wales is presented by Juanita Phillips (Sunday - Thursday) and Jeremy Fernandez (Friday & Saturday). The weeknight bulletins also incorporate NSW weather forecasts presented by Graham Creed as well as a national finance segment presented by Alan Kohler in Melbourne.

Networked programming

• ABC News 24 Newsroom (includes ABC News 24 Bulletin, plus programs Afternoon Live, Business Today, One Plus One, Newsline and The Quarters)
• Beached Az
• Message Stick
• The Gruen Transfer
• Gruen Planet
• At the Movies
• 7.30
• Media Watch
• The Hamster Wheel
• First Tuesday Book Club
• Q&A
• Lateline
• Lateline Business
• Compass

• Good Game (via ABC2)
• Rage
• Giggle and Hoot
• Play School
• Bananas In Pyjamas
• Good Game: Spawn Point (via ABC3)
• ABC for Kids
• ABC TV Education
• ABC Arts
• Catalyst
• Compass
• Foreign Correspondent
• Four Corners
• The Drum
• The Trophy Room
• What Do You Know? (via ABC3)
• Hungry Beast
• Stay Tuned
• The Checkout

Past programming

• The 7:30 Report
• Stateline
• The New Inventors
• Strictly Dancing
• Mixy
• The Ferals
• Creature Features
• Enough Rope
• CNNNN
• The Chaser Decides
• The Chaser's War on Everything
• Yes We Canberra

• Alvin Purple
• Vulture
• The Einstein Factor
• Review with Myles Barlow

Digital multiplex

LCN	Service	SD/HD
2 & 21	ABC1	SD
22	ABC2	SD
23	ABC3	SD
24	ABC News 24	HD

Relay stations

The following stations relay ABN throughout New South Wales:

Call	Region served	City	Channels (Analog/ digital)	First air date	3rd letter's meaning	ERP (Analog/ digital)	HAAT (Analog/ digital)1	Transmitter coordinates	Transmitter location
ABCN	Central Tablelands	Orange	1 (VHF)7 36 (UHF)	31 March 1964	Central Tablelands	160 kW 570 kW	655 m 677 m		Mount Canobolas
ABDN	Grafton/Kempsey	Coffs Harbour	2 (VHF)8 36 (UHF)	28 June 1965		160 kW 250 kW	661 m 730 m		Mount Moombil
ABGN	Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area	Griffith	7 (VHF)7 11 (VHF)	25 July 1966	Griffith	200 kW 50 kW	416 m 412 m		Mount Bingar
ABHN	Newcastle/Hunter River	Newcastle	5A (VHF)2 8 37 (UHF)	5 June 1963	Hunter River	200 kW 250 kW	405 m 440 m	(analog) (digital)	Mount Sugarloaf
ABLN	Broken Hill	Broken Hill	2 (VHF)6 10 (VHF)	14 December 1965		5 kW 4 kW	95 m 104 m		Rocky Hill
ABMN	South Western Slopes and Eastern Riverina	Wagga Wagga	0 (VHF)7 46 (UHF)	30 April 1965		200 kW 600 kW	466 m 543 m		Mount Ulandra
ABMIN	Mungindi	Mungindi	10 (VHF) NA	1 January 1974	MungindI	0.1 kW	59 m		Mungindi
ABQN	Central Western Slopes	Dubbo	11 (VHF)3 7 12 (VHF)	12 September 1966		400 kW 100 kW	638 m 638 m		Mount Cenn Cruaich
ABRN	Richmond and Tweed	Lismore	6 (VHF)8 29 (UHF)	20 April 1964	Richmond and Tweed	200 kW 200 kW	621 m 645 m		Mount Nardi
ABSN	Bega/Cooma	Bega	8 (VHF)7 NA	29 June 1966	South East	200 kW	428 m		Brown Mountain
ABTN	Manning River	Taree	6 (VHF)4 8 7 (VHF)	29 April 1966	Taree	315 kW 80 kW	599 m 599 m		Middle Brother
ABUN	Upper Namoi	Tamworth	7 (VHF)8 8 (VHF)	27 September 1965	Upper Namoi	72 kW 22.5 kW	859 m 849 m		Mount Dowe
ABWN	Illawarra	Wollongong	56 (UHF)5 7 51 (UHF)	28 October 1963	Wollongong	960 kW 250 kW	618 m 618 m	(analog) (digital)	Knights Hill

Notes:

• 1. HAAT estimated from http://www.itu.int/SRTM3/ using EHAAT.
• 2. ABHN also broadcasts on analog UHF channel 48 with 1200 kW ERP at 441 m HAAT. ABHN was on VHF channel 5 from its 1963 sign-on until the late 1970s, moving to its current channel in order to accommodate FM radio.
• 3. ABQN was on VHF channel 5 from its 1966 sign-on until 1988, moving to its current channel in order to accommodate FM radio.
• 4. ABTN was on VHF channel 1 from its 1966 sign-on until 1990.
• 5. ABWN was on VHF channel 5A from its 1963 sign-on until 1988.
• 6. Analogue transmission ceased as of 15 December 2010 as part of the national shutdown of analogue television.
• 7. Analogue transmission ceased as of 5 June 2012 as part of the national shutdown of analogue television.
• 8. Analogue transmission ceased as of 27 November 2012 as part of the national shutdown of analogue television.