Network Ten is an Australian television network. Canada's CanWest Global Communications is the largest shareholder of the network's holding company, The Ten Group Pty Ltd.

It is generally ranked third in aggregate television ratings, but is generally considered the most profitable through a strategy of targeting young adult audiences. The station is broadcast on VHF channel 10 in Australian metropolitan cities.

Contents

1 History 2 Programming 3 Stations 4 Affiliate Stations

History

The network, formed in 1965, was initially dubbed the Independent Television Network but quickly adopted the name the 0-10 Network which reflected the channel 0 and 10 frequencies that it broadcast at the time. In the early 1990s TEN also referred to itself by the acronym "The Entertainment Network" in network promotions.

In 1980, the 0-10 Network became known as Network Ten to reflect ATV-0's transition to ATV-10 - although the Brisbane station continued to broadcast as TVQ-0 until 1988.

It was nearly folded into the Seven Network in the early 1990s, but due to the lobbying power of billionaire Kerry Packer, owner of the Nine Network, this was successfully resisted.

In 2005, it was revealed CanWest was in discussions with newspaper publisher John Fairfax Holdings about a possible sale of the network, after the federal government had indicated it may consider relaxing Australia's media cross-ownership laws. Currently, newspaper owners cannot own television stations in the same city. Fairfax owned the Seven Network until the mid 1980s, and has been looking for a way back into television for a long time.

Programming

Marketing itself towards a more youthful audience than the other larger stations, Ten's programming is heavily dominated by American shows. It does carry three very successful local shows: the internationally exported soap opera Neighbours, and the local versions of Big Brother and Australian Idol. The latest reality show to be shown on Australian TV on the Ten Network is an Australian version of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. Though the original US version of this series continues to be popular on the station, the Australian remake was a ratings failure and was cancelled after only a few weeks on-air.

Ten runs a staple of Fox and other American sitcoms and cartoons. Ten caught on early to the reality television craze, and currently its programme line-up features several such shows, with varying degrees of success. It runs an hour of national news on a considerably smaller budget than most of its competition. More than any other commercial network, financial pressure causes Ten to be run with ruthless efficiency. It screens few movies and makes heavy use of re-runs, particularly of The Simpsons. The network is known to place some movies into heavy rotation - for example, such movies as Billy Madison, Happy Gilmore, Backdraft and Bad Boys are repeated at regular intervals.

Stations

The following stations are wholly owned by the company:

• TEN-10 Sydney
• ATV-10 Melbourne (originally ATV-0)
• TVQ-10 Brisbane (originally TVQ-0)
• NEW-10 Perth, commencing transmission in 1988.
• ADS-10 Adelaide (originally ADS-7. Transferred frequency and network affiliation to 10 in 1987)

Affiliate Stations

Network Ten programming is also carried by the following affiliate stations:

• Southern Cross Ten in regional areas of Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia (Spencer Gulf and Broken Hill), as well as in the Australian Capital Territory.
• Southern Cross Television , a non-exclusive affiliate in Tasmania.
• WIN Ten , in regional South Australia (Mt Gambier and Riverland ).
• WIN Western Australia , a non-exclusive affiliate in regional Western Australia.
• Tasmanian Digital Television - A digital-only channel in Hobart, jointly owned by Southern Cross Broadcasting and WIN Television.
• Imparja - a non-exclusive affiliate in remote central Australia.