Origins and license history AMV-4 commenced broadcasting on 7 September 1964. It broadcast programming from the three commercial stations in Sydney (
ATN-7,
TCN-9 and
TEN-10) alongside local programming including coverage of the Albury Gold Cup, the Ovens and Murray Football League Grand Final and the 1988 Miss Australia pageant. The station has continuously produced a half-hour regional news program on weeknights, currently known as
Prime7 News, with local news and sports reports produced in
Albury but aired in bulletins put together at Prime7's
Canberra headquarters. The company to operate the station,
Albury-Upper Murray TV Limited, was awarded its broadcasting licence on 4 October 1962. Principal shareholders in the company included
Amalgamated Wireless Australasia,
Hoyts,
The Border Morning Mail newspaper and other local businesses — complying with the requirement that at least 50 per cent of the company's shareholding must be locally based.
RVN's origins prior to going on air When the commercial television license for the
Riverina area was being determined, a number of local groups submitted proposals.
Young-based radio station
2LF, along with local councils and businesses in the Young-
Cootamundra area,
Wagga Wagga newspaper
The Daily Advertiser and radio station
2WG, together with local Wagga Wagga businessmen, as well as a group of smaller newspapers and some licensed clubs. 2LF's proposal later joined forces with
the Advertiser–2WG bid — 2LF would get 10 per cent of the shares, 2WG got 20 per cent and
The Advertiser got 15 per cent, with the remaining shares to be offered to local people. After issues at the
Australian Broadcasting Control Board enquiry for the license, the 2LF–2WG–
Advertiser group (trading as Riverina Television) won the license. The initial board was made up representatives from 2WG, 2LF,
The Daily Advertiser, and two local councils. A few days after the license was announced, the chairman and station manager had a disagreement, resulting in the resignation of both. They were replaced by Wal Hucker, who ran a film animation and sound company in
Sydney and was also the former chairman's brother-in-law. The former chairman's wife also joined the board, as the Control Board made it clear that 2WG had to remain involved in the station. Bill Marsden, of 2LF, became the station manager. The studios were completed in early 1964, after construction started on 31 July 1963.
Early broadcasting RVN opened transmission on 19 June 1964, at 7pm, to much anticipation by the people of the Riverina and South-West Slopes. Prior to the opening of RVN-2, many in the Riverina needed marketing advice of purchasing their television sets and installing their aerials in advance to a any last minute demands, while others who did not own television sets were invited to view them from shopfronts. The opening night's programming of RVN included an announcement from the area's then local Federal Member, footage of the station's construction, a five minute news bulletin with newsreader Paul Griffiths, the feature film,
The Dambusters at 9:05pm and
The Jack Benny Program. AMV-4 Albury opened transmission for the first time at 4:55pm on 7 September 1964, with
Cohns Cobbers’ Teleclub. Before the official opening at 7:16pm titled
Were You There — with AMV, the other programmes were
Captain Gallant at 6pm,
Calvin and the Colonel at 6:30pm,
On Target with Ross Sellars at 6:55pm and
ABC News from
ABV-2 at 7pm. After the opening, the programs were
Bonanza at 8:30pm, the 1954 movie
Lucky Me at 9:30pm and
Mike Hammer at 11:15pm. The station closed down for the night at 11:35pm. As with most stations at the time, news was done by announcing over slides, or read to the camera, combined with the previous night's news film from
ATN-7 Sydney. Local programming, including commercials, was broadcast live. RVN was the only station to have made a profit, albeit a small one, in its first year of operation.
RVN-AMV By the early 1970s, many regional stations faced financial difficulties, and as a result RVN and AMV planned to merge to form the Riverina and North East Victoria Television Service Pty Ltd, in 1971. The stations were known on-air as
RVN-AMV. Both stations were programmed separately, until 1976 when transmission for both stations was centralised in Wagga Wagga. In 1983, the stations faced a unique situation when New South Wales and Victoria ended
daylight saving periods at different times. For three weeks, RVN's output was shown on AMV on a one-hour delay. It was also unusual in that it served audiences in two states, and had to program accordingly.
New South Wales viewers in the Riverina received Sydney news and sports, primarily
rugby league, while viewers in North East
Victoria were shown
Melbourne news and sports (mainly
Australian Football League [AFL; previously VFL]). By the mid-1980s, 80 people were employed at Wagga, and a further 40 in Albury.
Prime/Ramcorp RVN-AMV was purchased by
Paul Ramsay's Ramcorp Ltd. in 1987, and merged with the
MidState Television network, forming
Prime Television. RVN and AMV split up in 1989, when Southern
New South Wales was aggregated - RVN joined with
CBN, as the
Seven Network affiliate in the area in competition with
Ten Capital and
WIN Television. AMV, meanwhile expanded into the rest of Victoria as the state's
Seven Network affiliate, in competition with
Vic TV and
Southern Cross. RVN's callsign ceased to exist in 1991, when the Wagga Wagga and
Orange licenses were merged to become only CBN. At the same time, AMV moved from
VHF channel 4 to VHF channel 11, in order to allow
FM stations to be established without interference from existing television stations (using VHF channels 3, 4, 5 and 5A). In preparation for aggregation of the Victorian market - (excluding
Mildura) - in early 1992, a studio facility and playout centre was constructed in the Ballarat suburb of Mitchell Park. At that time this facility was the playout centre for the Western Victoria, Central Victoria, and
Gippsland regions. Playout for the Albury and
Shepparton regions was maintained at Prime's Albury studios. The
Ballarat centre was and continues to be operated under the AMV licence. The station celebrated its 50th anniversary in September 2014, at its now former Union Road studios. The station moved to studios in Dean Street,
Albury in April 2015. == Seven News ==