West Digital Television

West Digital Television is an Australian digital television network jointly owned by Prime Media Group and WIN Corporation. It broadcasts free-to-air on a number of digital terrestrial transmitters in regional and remote areas of Western Australia, as well as free-to-view on the Viewer Access Satellite Television service. The network is an affiliate of Nine Network, broadcasting a direct feed of STW-9 Perth. It was an affiliate of Network Ten until 1 July 2016.[1]

West Digital Television

Country	Australia
Broadcast area	Bunbury, Geraldton, Kalgoorlie, Regional and Remote Western Australia, Cocos/Keeling Is., Christmas Is.
Affiliates	Nine Network
Headquarters	Bunbury, Western Australia
Programming
Language(s)	English
Picture format	576i (SDTV)
Ownership
Owner	Prime Media Group WIN Corporation (West Digital Television Pty Ltd)
History
Launched	10 June 2010
Availability
Terrestrial
SDW Bunbury (DVB-T)	2613 @ 37 (592.5 MHz)
GDW Geraldton (DVB-T)	2613 @ 45 (648.5 MHz)
VDW Kalgoorlie (DVB-T)	2613 @ 9 (198.625 MHz)
Other areas (DVB-T)	Various
Freeview (virtual)	5
Satellite
VAST (virtual)	5

The network is similar to other joint ventures already available in Tasmania, Mildura, Darwin and Central and Eastern Australia. As GWN7 consists of three different stations licensed in Albany/Bunbury, Kalgoorlie and Geraldton, and a fourth licensed to the rest of the state as part of the Remote Commercial Television Licence scheme, West Digital Television's network is made up of four separate stations. Each of the four stations trade as West Digital Television Pty Ltd.[2]

History

On 18 June 2009, the Australian Communications and Media Authority allocated new "Section 38B" television broadcasting licences to a joint venture company owned by Prime Media and WIN Television.[3] The company, named West Digital Television, launched Ten West on Thursday 10 June 2010 as part of the initial introduction of digital commercial television in Kalgoorlie, Karratha, Mawson Trig and Mingenew.[4]

West Digital Television launched on the Viewer Access Satellite Television platform in April 2011.

Multi-channels One and Eleven were launched to Regional WA viewers on Thursday 28 July 2011, the same day digital commercial television commenced in Bunbury.[5]

Switch to Nine

On 1 July 2016, WIN's Nine Network-affiliated stations switched to Network Ten, displacing WDT's affiliation and requiring the station to negotiate a switch to Nine Network. WDT failed to reach an affiliation deal with Nine in time for the switchover, with the co-owners stating that Nine had been actively rejecting offers. At this time, the channel temporarily suspended transmission, with programming replaced by a loop of scenic footage with the scrolling message "Programming on this channel in Regional Western Australia is currently unavailable."[6][7] On the evening of 2 July 2016 at around 7:30 p.m. WST, WDT began to carry Nine programming, joining its federal election coverage already in progress.[8]

Programming

The network rebroadcast a direct feed of STW-9 Perth, including programming and events produced in Perth. The network previously rebroadcast a direct feed of NEW-10 Perth. West Digital Television does not produce any programming.

News

West Digital Television simulcasts the Perth edition of Nine News from STW-9. It previously simulcast the Perth edition of Ten Eyewitness News from NEW-10, alongside the 5pm weekend news from TEN-10 in Sydney.

Availability

West Digital Television station broadcast areas: SDW (green), VDW (blue), GDW (fuchsia), WDW (yellow)

The network's channels are available statewide in digital terrestrial and digital satellite format. Below is a table showing the Logical Channel Numbers (LCN) for the full suite of digital services.

LCN	Service
5	Nine
50	9GEM
55	9GO!

Terrestrial

West Digital Television operates four television stations in regional and remote areas of Western Australia - SDW in the South West, VDW in the Goldfields, GDW in the Mid West and WDW for the remaining areas of the state. The stations are based on GWN7's separate licence areas and all broadcast free-to-air digital television channels Nine, 9Gem and 9Go!. Terrestrial transmissions are available in many regional cities and towns, including Albany, Broome, Bunbury, Carnarvon, Geraldton, Kalgoorlie, Karratha, Merredin, as well as others.[2]

Satellite

The network is also broadcasts the same channels free-to-view on the Viewer Access Satellite Television service. The satellite service can be accessed by eligible viewers in the Western Australia TV3 licence area,[9] which includes the entire state of WA, Christmas Island and Cocos/Keeling Islands.[10]

References

1. "Ten West ready for take off". Television.AU. 10 June 2010. Retrieved 11 July 2013.
2. "Variation to Digital Channel Plan - Explanatory Paper" (PDF). Australian Communications and Media Authority. June 2009. Retrieved 5 April 2013.
3. "New commercial TV channel for regional WA". MediaSpy. 18 June 2009. Retrieved 11 July 2013.
4. Knox, David (20 May 2010). "TEN West launch for regional WA". TV Tonight. Retrieved 11 July 2013.
5. "South West WA ready to go digital". Television.AU. 7 July 2011. Retrieved 11 July 2013.
6. Diss, Kathryn (1 July 2016). "Channel 9 goes off air in regional WA after a programming stoush on the eve of election day". ABC News. Retrieved 1 July 2016.
7. Knox, David (1 July 2016). "Tassie on the air, but no deal for WA". TV Tonight. Retrieved 1 July 2016.
8. Knox, David. "Nine reaches regional WA agreement with WIN / Prime". TV Tonight. Retrieved 2 July 2016.
9. "Consultation Paper: Start Date for WA TV3 Licence Area" (PDF). Australian Communications and Media Authority. December 2011. p. 5. Retrieved 29 November 2013.
10. "Digital TV Switch Over: Areas of Regional and Remote WA". Australian Communications and Media Authority. December 2011. p. 5. Retrieved 29 November 2013.