SYDNEY, NSW. — The inaugural ABC television station was ABN2 Sydney. The Prime Minister of Australia, Sir Robert Menzies, opened it, and the first broadcast aired at 7pm on November 5, 1956, beginning with the ABC logo and presenter Michael Charlton, whose father, Conrad, introduced Australians to ABC radio in 1932.
Charlton announced: “Hello there, and good evening, ladies and gentlemen, and children. This emblem that you’ve just seen is tonight the symbol of a historic occasion – the opening of the national television service, which, of course, is your television service. And we hope that tonight, and in the weeks and years to come, that you’re going to see and enjoy a lot more of it on ABN2 – ABN Channel 2. My name is Michael Charlton, and I’m your host here tonight.”
Shortly afterwards, Charlton invited Prime Minister Robert Menzies to launch ABC Television. The first news bulletin was then read by ABC radio newsreader James Dibble, who became the senior ABC television newsreader.
Two weeks later, the ABC followed with a transmission in Melbourne.
John Logie Baird first demonstrated the television in 1926. Although the United States introduced television broadcasts in 1928, and the UK in 1936, it was another decade before steps were made to bring the medium to Australia.
In 1950, Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies announced a gradual introduction of television in Australia, commencing with the launch of an Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC) station, as the Broadcasting Act 1948 prohibited the granting of commercial television licences.
Three years later, his government amended the Broadcasting Act to allow for commercial television licences. Test transmissions commenced in Sydney and Melbourne in July 1956, and at 7:00pm on September 16, 1956, Australia’s first commercial TV broadcast was made by TCN Channel 9 in Sydney.
