Origins Nine Network's first broadcasting station was launched in
Sydney,
New South Wales, as
TCN-9 on 16 September 1956 by
The Daily Telegraph owner
Frank Packer. John Godson introduced the station and former advertising executive
Bruce Gyngell presented the first program,
This Is Television (so becoming the first person to appear on Australian television). Later that year,
GTV-9 in Melbourne commenced transmissions to broadcast the
1956 Summer Olympics, later forming the
National Television Network alongside
QTQ-9 in Brisbane in 1959 and
NWS-9 in Adelaide, the basis of the current Nine Network, in 1959. Before its formation, TCN-9 was then affiliated with
HSV-7 (because alongside the
Seven Network, they were both Australia's first television stations, having opened in 1956), and GTV-9's sister affiliate was
ATN-7. The network, by 1967, had begun calling itself the
National Nine Network, and became simply
Nine Network Australia in 1988.
Kerry Packer inherited the company after his father's death in 1974. Before the official conversion to color on 1 March 1975, it was the first Australian television station to regularly screen programs in color with the first program to use it premiering in 1971, the very year
NTD-8 in
Darwin commenced. The
New South Wales Rugby Football League (NSWRFL) grand final of 1967 became the first football grand final of any code to be televised live nationally. Nine Network paid $5,000 () to attain the broadcasting rights. Nine Network station
STW-9 Perth, which opened in 1965, became
owned-and-operated station when
Alan Bond purchased the network for one billion dollars in 1987, a deal that became effective after government approvals in 1988. However, in 1989, Bond Media sold the station to
Sunraysia Television for
A$95 million, due to the federal cross-media ownership laws which restricted the level of national reach for media owners. Nine, which then also included Channel 9 in Brisbane, fell back into the hands of Kerry Packer after Alan Bond's bankruptcy in 1992. On 1 March 2011, GTV 9 Melbourne moved from 22 Bendigo Street, Richmond, to 717 Bourke Street, Docklands. 22 Bendigo Street started out as the Wertheim Piano Factory, then became the Heinz Soup Factory, then GTV9. The building in Bendigo Street still stands, now as luxury apartments.
1977–2006 Nine began using the slogan "Let Us Be The One" (based on
The Carpenters' song
Let Me Be the One and modelled on the ABC campaign used at the time in the United States) in 1977 and became the number-one free-to-air network in Australia; its
National Nine News became the most-watched news service. In 1978, Nine switched its slogan to "Still the One" (modelled on the campaign used by
ABC in the United States and using the
Orleans song
Still the One), which lasted until a decline in ratings in January 2006. During the 1980s, Nine's ratings peaked. From 1999 to 2001, the network began losing ground to the Seven network in news and entertainment, but received a boost after the coverage of the
11 September attacks in 2001. By 1988, the network was re-branded to its current branding. The death of CEO
Kerry Packer in 2005 triggered more problems for the network. Digital terrestrial television was introduced on 1 January 2001.
2006–2008 Nine stayed strong throughout 2003–04, winning 77 out of 80 ratings weeks across those two years (with
Network Ten claiming the other three weeks), but was hit hard when Seven introduced a new line-up in 2005, though Nine finished ahead of Seven that year. Meanwhile,
National Nine News was overtaken by
Seven News for the first time ever, while
Today was beaten by Seven's fledgling
Sunrise program. In 2006, Nine continued on its downward trend, losing most news weeks to
Seven News and just winning the year thanks to its coverage of the
2006 Commonwealth Games. To try to revitalize the network in its 50th anniversary, Nine adopted a new, but critically received, logo that removed the nine dots, which had been part of the network's identity since 1969. In May 2007, Nine partially re-introduced the Nine dots, which resulted in the square logo changing into a three-dimensional (3-D) cube that rotates, with the dots visible on every second side of the cube. After a period of declining ratings,
David Gyngell returned to the job of CEO in October 2007, succeeding
Eddie McGuire. In 2007, despite several hits, Seven won the whole year by a significant margin. The Seven Network had won 38 weeks, whereas Nine Network only won two. The Network expanded into Northern NSW with the acquisition of
NBN Television in May 2007. However,
NBN was retained as an independent Nine affiliate following the acquisition. Deborah Wright, who had been working in various roles for the station, was promoted to CEO.
2008–2014 In 2008, as part of a major relaunch, the network dropped the blue box, and reinstated its nine dots in its logo, with a CGI look. After losing viewers to
Seven News, Nine relaunched its news service as
Nine News, which managed to win more weeks over Seven in the first half of 2008. Nine also launched a break-out hit,
Underbelly, which attracted over 2.5 million viewers in its first season. Nine tried to attract younger demographics, so while Seven went on to win the ratings year in total people, Nine was rated the number one network in the key 18–49 and 25–54 demographics. In March 2008, Nine Network launched and debuted a high-definition channel called
Nine HD on channel 90 until 2010. In 2009, Nine started relatively strongly due to the top-rating Australian drama
Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities and the Twenty20 Cricket series until Nine lost the rights in 2018 but could not hold its audience after
Network Ten's
MasterChef Australia became a hit. Nine became inconsistent with scheduling and removal of programmes. Nine also launched a number of reality shows, including
Ladette to Lady,
Wipeout Australia,
HomeMADE, ''
Australia's Perfect Couple, and The Apprentice Australia, in the hope of achieving the same success other networks had with the genre. All the new formats underperformed in the ratings and did not help the network establish any stable local content. Nine also expanded its news strand with the reintroduction of a late-night bulletin (for its owned-and-operated stations), an extended morning bulletin and weekend editions of Today. The flagship 6:00 pm state bulletins continued to fall in the ratings, though its Melbourne bulletin remained competitive, being the only market to win any weeks against Seven News''. In August 2009, Nine launched and debuted its own digital multi-channel called
GO! (now 9Go!) on Channel 99, primarily aimed at a younger demographic. The shares from 9Go! contributed to Nine's weekly shares and allowed it to enjoy several weeks of weekly ratings wins. In September, the network took on a new slogan, "Welcome Home", and revamped its graphic package. With the resurgence of
Nine News, growth of
Today, stabilisation of
60 Minutes and a new programme line-up consisting of ''
Hey Hey It's Saturday, Underbelly
and Sea Patrol'', Nine enjoyed more ratings success. In 2010, Nine obtained the rights to exclusive coverage of the Sydney New Year's Eve fireworks. 9Go! won the year in digital shares only. On 26 September 2010, Nine launched and debuted their third digital channel
GEM (now 9Gem) (an acronym of General Entertainment and Movies) on Channel 90. In 2011, Nine Network announced a new "Home of Comedy" line-up with comedy shows such as
Two and a Half Men,
The Big Bang Theory, and other American sitcoms, along with the launch of a live comedy show
Ben Elton Live From Planet Earth, which was cancelled after only three episodes due to low ratings. Nine also brought back
This Is Your Life with Eddie McGuire as host, although the series was cancelled after airing four episodes. Nine Network had success in the ratings in the second half of 2011 with
The Block,
Underbelly: Razor, and
The Celebrity Apprentice Australia. The highly anticipated return of a revamped ninth season of
Two and a Half Men proved a huge success for the network, generating 2.3 million viewers and dominating the week as top program. The return of new episodes of the popular sitcom
The Big Bang Theory was also a huge success for the network, scoring high figures consistently week after week and dominating the evening as top program. Despite this, Nine Network finished in second place in the ratings again in 2011 on 19.6%, behind the Seven Network (23.1%) and ahead of the
Network Ten (15.9%),
ABC TV (12.2%) and
SBS (4.6%). On 24 November 2011, Nine Network announced the line-up for 2012, with a focus on reality programs, including an Australian version of
The Voice, the return of
Big Brother,
Excess Baggage, and
The Celebrity Apprentice Australia. Nine Network also aired coverage of the
2012 Summer Olympics in London. A new morning show,
Mornings, replaced the departure of
Kerri-Anne Kennerley's self-titled show, after nine years on air. Its timeshift channel, Extra 2, launched on 28 March 2013 on channel 95 and channel 85 in NBN areas as a five-hour
timeshift. As a result, the quality of sister channel
9Gem was cut. On 15 April 2012, Nine Network new rebrand visual identity for Channel Nine logo with the enhanced colour palette, which uses lighter shades of blue and more white gradients, including colour from the brand identity, this was part identity since 2002 Nine Network logo. It was reported on 31 May 2012 that the Australian telecommunications company
Telstra and
WIN Television Network CEO, Bruce Gordon, are considering making a takeover bid for Nine Entertainment. The network currently is trying to fight off administration as it deals with a debt exceeding A$3.3 billion. It was reported on 3 June 2013 that Nine Network would immediately purchase Adelaide affiliate NWS-9 from the
WIN Corporation as part of a deal to secure international cricket television rights. On 3 July 2013, it was reported that Nine would exercise an option to also buy STW-9 from WIN Corporation. Both purchases have resulted in these stations being, once again, O&O stations of the network for the first time since the 1980s. On 8 November 2013, FIXPlay was merged into Jump-in, later renamed to
9Jumpin in May 2014, integrating catch-up TV with interactive social media. As of 10 December 2013, Nine no longer broadcasts on analogue TV and is now only available through digital TV or digital set-top box. On 27 January 2014, Nine Network have stopped using the Supertext logo and have switched to their own Closed Captioning logo.
2014–2019 Nine relaunched
9HD, in November 2015, an HD simulcast of their primary channel, on channel 90 and launched new lifestyle channel
9Life on channel 94. In addition to the relaunch of 9HD, GEM (renamed
9Gem) was reduced to standard definition and moved to channel 92 and GO! (renamed
9Go!) was moved to channel 93. On 16 December 2015, Nine also changed its on-air theme for a continuous design across all of its channels with the
Nine News/9news.com.au branding to remain unchanged. This included a new look for program listings, program advertisements and promos. Additionally in November 2015, Hugh Marks replaced
David Gyngell as CEO. On 27 January 2016, Nine's online catch-up video on-demand service 9Jumpin was retired and replaced by
9Now. 9Now offers a range of content larger than 9Jumpin and also offers a live streaming service for Nine's multicast channels. Live streaming for Nine was launched on the same day, with streaming for
9Gem,
9Go! and
9Life launched on 19 May 2016. Following the launch of 9Now, the
WIN Corporation, owner of Nine affiliate
WIN Television, filed a lawsuit against Nine Entertainment Co., claiming that live streaming into regional areas breaches their affiliation agreement. The case was later dismissed on 28 April 2016 with Justice
Hammerschlag of the NSW Supreme Court stating that, "I have concluded that live streaming is not broadcasting within the meaning of the PSA (program supply agreement), and that Nine is under no express or implied obligation not to do it." Following their victory in the 9Now court case, Nine Entertainment Co. announced on 29 April 2016 that it had signed a $500 million five year affiliation deal with
Southern Cross Austereo, the then-primary regional affiliate of
Network 10. On 1 July 2016,
WIN Television lost its Nine affiliate status to Southern Cross, which had Nine's metropolitan branding introduced across its now
Nine-branded television assets. Nine later secured an affiliate deal with
Mildura Digital Television, a joint venture between WIN and Prime Media Group, on 28 June 2016 to supply Nine content to the Mildura and Sunraysia area due to WIN switching affiliation to Network Ten. Nine finalized supply deals with WIN for South Australia and Griffith on 29 June 2016 after long negotiations, with a deal for Tasmanian joint venture
TDT secured the following day after long negotiations. but a deal was later finalized on 2 July 2016 with programming resuming that night. Also after 10 years as an independent affiliate,
NBN was finally folded in to the Nine Network with the NBN logo being retired on air after 54 years. However, despite being a Nine O&O station, NBN News remains as an independent news bulletin, despite adopting the full Nine News on air look. Starting in 2017, Nine Network standard ident was phased out, as part of a move towards using only
holidays-themed or special events idents rather than a single regular, continuous station identification In June 2018, it was announced that Nine would enter into a joint venture with
Australian News Channel (ANC) to create
Your Money, a
business news channel that replaced the
Sky News Business Channel on
Foxtel channel 601 and also available free-to-air through Nine on channel 95, replacing
Extra. However, it closed on 17 May 2019 due to lack of advertising and poor ratings.
2019–present After 12 years, Nine Network won the 2019 ratings year for the first time since 2006. The
Seven Network had won every ratings year between 2007 and 2018 inclusive, however, due to lower than expected ratings, and a launch of new programs not performing as hoped, this allowed Nine to regain lost ground during the most competitive times of the ratings period (most notably, Nine's
Married At First Sight performed above expectations, and consistently beat
My Kitchen Rules which saw its lowest figures on record) which resulted in Nine's first win in the first quarter since 2009. Nine's yearly share for 2019 concluded at 29.4%, a 2.1% increase from 2018 (27.3%) compared to Seven's 29.0%, a 1.7% decline from 2018 (30.7%) In 2020, despite drastic and last minute changes to most network's programming schedules in light of the
COVID-19 pandemic Nine Network has managed to retain the number one lead by a considerable margin. On 5 April 2020, Nine launched
9Rush as a joint venture with
Discovery Inc., which features action and adventure-themed reality series targeting a young adult male audience. On 1 October 2020, Nine Network re-launched
Extra, after 2 years being discontinued, thanks to
Your Money. , the Nine Network's current headquarters in
North Sydney On 21 November 2020, Nine moved its Sydney studios from Willoughby to North Sydney. This comes after real estate developer Mirvac bought the Willoughby studios in February 2020, and plans to transform the studios into 460 new homes. In March 2021, it was reported that the network had suffered a suspected
ransomware attack using Medusa-Locker during live broadcast. The hack disrupted its programming in Sydney and Darwin. Australia's parliament and
Taylors Wines was also subject to a cyberattack around the same time, although it is unclear if the incidents are connected. On 12 March 2021, Nine announced that it would return to
WIN Television as its regional affiliate in most markets beginning on 1 July 2021, in a deal that will last at least seven years. SCA subsequently announced that it would return to Network 10, effectively reversing their 2016 realignment. Under the agreement, WIN will pay half of its regional advertising revenue to Nine Entertainment Co., and provide advertising time for Nine's properties on its radio and television outlets. WIN will also provide advertising sales services for Nine's O&O stations NBN and NTD (with the former succeeding a similar agreement it had with SCA). Nine CEO Hugh Marks explained that "while our relationship with Southern Cross has been strong over the last five years, the opportunities presented by the WIN Network to both extend the reach of Nine's premium content into more regional markets under one agreement, and to work cooperatively with them on a national and local news operation, mean this is the right time for us to return to WIN." On 4 September 2024, the 2012 Nine Network 3D logo has been disappeared from the Today Show in favor of the original 2008 Nine Network 2D logo. ==Nine Network programming==