Well, here’s a new idea I wanted to start – you know I curate things that our contributors submit (thank you BTW!), but I wanted to do these weekly posts, to give some general updates to the website, and more importantly give a spotlight to the things we get that we publish!
First off, site updates…
I’ve noticed a lot of performance issues lately which I have not been happy with, so I have spent most of the week trying to fix this, and while the site does perform better now than it did during the past week, I am still monitoring and exploring options to hopefully keep the experience as smooth as an archive like ours deserve.
What’s been submitted in this week?
We’ve had a diverse selection from multiple decades, with clips that highlight just how much TV presentation has shifted over time. From news updates to regional station idents that still either carry a nostalgic punch, or give an alternate universe vibe to people who might be used to seeing a Ten than a Capital, this week’s submissions really show the variety and depth of what the archive is building.
Capital ident (1991)
Local variant on the national Network Ten Branding – Contributed by BasTech
This Capital ident that was submitted by BasTech shows that compromise we initially saw between keeping a regional identity alive, and also conforming to a network identity. Most of the Network Ten animation was intact, and we got to see a neat variation when we saw the Capital logo form up!
WIN Television Ident v1 (1992)
WIN Television ident with the short-lived audio track. Contributed by Zampakid
WIN Television Ident v2 (1992)
WIN Television ident with the common audio track. Contributed by Zampakid
Speaking of compromise – WIN Television! Thanks to Zampakid, we’ve got multiple idents here, and what really stands out is how the music tracks kept changing. To the average viewer, it’s nothing, but to us, it shows a glimpse the wild wild west of TV identity back in the day.
NBN ident and News opener (1993)
NBN ident which segues into the Boxing Day News presented by John Church. Contributed by BraydsTwo.
Arguably, this is one of the lost arts of the older days of idents. What BraydsTwo has submitted with this dual-ident/news opener was slick for its day, and I wish more networks still did this (and idents) today. And that old NBN logo, was just the cherry on top.
NBN Still The One Promo Dec 1997
NBN Television Still The One 1:30 min promo. Recorded Dec 1997. Contributed by Airwaves AU.
Back to that compromise theme – and we see how a national campaign for the Nine Network can be easily adapted for NBN. Thanks to Airwaves AU for submitting this!
Ten Late News and Sports Tonight update (1998)
Ten Late News update followed by a Sports tonight update from 1998. Contributed by BraydsTwo.
The powerhouse that was Ten Late News and Sports Tonight. Two shows that back then, were inseparable. BraydsTwo gives us a look back to when these two shows were strong.
Channel 9 Stereovision Ident and first stereo broadcast
First stereo broadcast – start of Carols by Candlelight 1984. Contributed by Airwaves AU.
Wow. Stereo was one of those things you don’t think about in the world of 5.1 Dolby Atmos, and 4K, but it’s nice to see these revolutions in the 80’s that paved the way for a better viewing experience. Thanks to Airwaves AU for this.
ABC News WA Update
Presented by James McHale on the 23rd of July, 2014. Contributed by Michael Power.
ABC News Closer (2015)
Closer to ABC News Afternoons, presented by Nicole Chettle. Contributed by Michael Power.
And finally, two from me! Both from my favourite era of ABC News presention – when they started to take their on-air presentation seriously, in a digital-first world.