Ten HD was an Australian free-to-air television channel that launched on 16 December 2007. The channel was available to high definition digital television viewers through owned-and-operated stations in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, and Perth. The multichannel broadcast live sport, entertainment, films, documentaries, science fiction and news.[1]
The channel ceased broadcasting on 25 March 2009, and the following day relaunched as One.
The beginning
Ten HD was officially announced on 14 September 2007, to replace Network Ten's existing high definition service, a simulcast of its standard definition and analogue services, through the use of an amendment to the Broadcasting Services Act 1992 in 2006. The Broadcasting Legislation Amendment (Digital Television) Act 2006 permitted television networks to launch digital multichannels, provided that they are broadcast exclusively in high definition.
Although originally expected to be the first free-to-air commercial television channel introduced to metropolitan areas since 1988,[3] the surprise launch of Seven Media Group's HD offering, Seven HD, on 15 October 2007, two months before transmissions were scheduled to begin,[4] meant that Ten HD was launched as the second high-definition multichannel in Australia. PBL Media announced the creation of a similar multichannel, Nine HD, on 27 September,[5] which was launched on 17 March 2008.
Ten's parent company, and shareholder in metropolitan ratings system OzTAM, Ten Network Holdings Limited, began discussions with the ratings system operator to have digital multichannels, such as Ten HD and ABC2, included in television ratings for the first time on 17 September 2007.[6] As well as this, on the same day, it was announced that the national weekend editions of Ten News would be timeshifted from Network Ten onto Ten HD, an hour delayed at 6 pm, in order to directly compete with Seven News and National Nine News. This would have seen Ten News formally broadcast at 6 pm for the first time since 1992,[7] however, the timeslot was later amended to 5.30 pm.
In preparation for the launch of Ten HD, Ten's digital terrestrial channel lineup was updated on 19 November 2007, with changes consisting of LCN1 redirecting Network Ten's current high-definition simulcast.[8] Following this, on 21 November 2007, Ten Network Holdings Limited announced that it would launch the channel on 16 December 2007 at 5.00 pm, with the first program, Totally Wild.[9]
Opening night
Ten HD officially commenced transmission on 16 December 2007 from the network's five metropolitan owned-and-operated stations in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, and Perth.[3] Prior to the official launch, at 5.00 pm the first program, Totally Wild, was broadcast. Following this, for the first time since 1992,[7] Ten News and Sports Tonight were broadcast in direct competition with Seven News and National Nine News, timeshifted by thirty minutes to 5.30 pm and 6.00 pm respectively.[10]
The first official program on launch night began at 8.30 pm, the 2001 movie Black Hawk Down.[10] This was followed by Bon Jovi's Lost Highway Tour at 11.30 pm and Video Hits Presents: The Music of Supernatural at 12.25 am. Video Hits Up-Late marked the end of the first night of transmission for Ten HD at 12.50 am.[11]
In the lead-up to the opening night, the channel promised up to eleven hours of time-shifted programming from Network Ten in addition to fifty hours of exclusive programming, which included live sport, entertainment, films, documentaries, science fiction and news.[1][3] This consisted of six movies per week, in addition to National Geographic documentaries in the afternoon, from 3pm to 5pm, music-oriented programming following the Sunday Night Movie, along with a primetime breakaway schedule on Thursdays and from 10.30 pm to 11.30 pm Monday to Wednesday.[11]
One and shut down
From 2009, commercial networks in Australia were allowed to broadcast a standard definition subchannel. Rather than introduce a new digital service, Channel Ten decided to relaunch Ten HD as a sports only channel, to be named One, and use its alternate standard definition service to broadcast a standard definition version of ONE.[12] Before ONE's official launch, most breakaway programming shown on Ten HD ceased from 1 January 2009, and only showed a high-definition broadcast of the existing Channel Ten digital service, along with a few sports-based breakaway programs. Ten HD officially shut down on 25 March 2009, with ONE launching the following day.
Sport
Further information: Ten Sport
Ten Sport broadcast live or near live exclusive and simulcast sporting events on Ten HD. These included Nascar Sprint Cup Series, Nascar Nationwide Series, Formula One, MotoGP, the NFL, the Indian Premier League,[14] the World Golf Championships, the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, the Mission Hills World Cup and the New Zealand PGA Championship.[15]
In addition to this, the Australian Football League was simulcast on the channel, with all of Ten's games filmed in high definition.[16]
Formula One Grand Prix and MotoGP races were televised on Ten HD, usually on tape delay.
Most of Ten HD's sports content was kept after it was relaunched as ONE.
