TVW

1990 TVW Behind the Scenes

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• published: 01 Feb 2013
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TVW Channel Seven in Perth, Western Australia, had been under the control of Robert Holmes à Court since 1981 when Sir James Cruthers retired as Chairman and Managing Director of TVW Enterprises.  TVW (and SAS) were no longer a public company. Shortly after the Holmes à Court takeover most of the senior executives of TVW started leaving: Howard Shephard (1981), Joseph Sweeney (1981), Max Bostock (1982), Bill McKenzie (1982), Russel Perry (1983), J Barrey Williams (1983), Alf Binks (1983), Ken Kemp (1983), Marion Leyer (1985), Bob Page (1985). In October 1987, the stock market crashed. The financial pressure placed on Holmes à Court's Bell group eventually led to a takeover of the Bell group by Bond Corporation Holdings Ltd. The takeover was completed around the end of 1988. In 1988, Christopher Skase and his Qintex group bought TVW7 (Perth) and SAS (Adelaide) from Robert Holmes à Court, but Quintex then collapsed after an unsuccessful takeover of the Hollywood film studio MGM/UA, that was repeatedly bought and sold by Kirk Kerkorian. This left TVW in the hands of the receivers by 1989. In 1990, Robert Holmes à Court succumbed to a heart attack and died intestate, under WA law his estate was divided equally among his wife Janet and children. In 1991, Qintex's television interests, including TVW and SAS, were consolidated within a separate company, and floated on the stock exchange as the Seven Network. During the 1990s, Kevin Campbell was a key executive... ▪ 1985-1989 General Manager of TVW Enterprises Ltd (Channel Seven Perth) ▪ 1989-1991 Managing Director of the Seven Television Network ▪ 1991-1999 Chairman and Managing Director of TVW Enterprises Ltd (Channel Seven Perth) Long time TVW executive Greg Byrne - (1960-1992) had established the Western Mail Advertising Department (1982-1983) for Holmes à Court before returning to TVW as General Sales Manager (1983-1987), Perth Sales Director (1987-1988), and Managing Director of TVW Enterprises (1988-1992) Tim O'Dea also played key roles... ▪ 1976-2000 Engineering Director (1976-1986), Station Manager (1986-2000) Rudi Gracias was... ▪ 1973-2009 Commercial Manager & General Manager Telethon Trust David Mott, who started with TVW in 1978, played a key role in programming, rising from... ▪ Film Vault assistant -to- Assistant Program Manager -to- Program Director, before leaving in 1994, to become a key TEN programming executive. TVW productions were influenced by... Jeff Newman ▪ 1967-2009 - Production Manager (1968-1979) Marion Leyer ▪ Producer/Director (1963-1979), Production Manager (1979-1989) John Crilly ▪ a veteran from GTV9 in Melbourne and STW9 in Perth, who guided TVW in program making for many years up to the present time. ** 1990s Programs and Events ** 1990 Steve Vizard's Tonight Live begins on Seven. 1991 Qintex's broadcasting assets were buddled together by its receivers and turned into the discrete company, the Seven Network, in 1991. The Gulf War sparks saturation television coverage. 1992 Barcelona Summer Olympics. Stan Grant fronts Seven's new nightly current affairs program Real Life. 1994 Seven premieres its new rural police drama Blue Heelers. TVW won the internationally renowned 1994 Carl Bertelsmann Prize: Social responsibility in television. There were joint winners that year: Channel 4, Great Britain and TVW7 Perth, Australia. Since its founding in 1959, the West Australian broadcaster TVW7 in Perth has used social responsibility as a guideline for its programming. The self-described family broadcaster maintains a close connection with its audience with its many self-produced entertainment offerings, extensive documentaries and talk shows. 1995 the local editions of Today Tonight began in 1995. Kerry Stokes, who had previously owned television stations in Western Australia and Canberra, acquired many shares in the Seven Network in March 1995, and became chairman of the company after reaching 20% ownership in May, to later increased his stake to over 40% through purchases and buy-backs. 1996 the Atlanta Summer Olympics. (Seven also covered the 2000 Sydney and 2004 Athens Summer Olympics -and- the Winter Olympics in 1998 at Nagano, 2002 Salt Lake City and 2006 Turin, before being outbid by Nine and Fox Sports.) 1997 The funeral of Princess Diana is televised live on all ABC and commercial free-to-air television stations. 1998 Seven's hospital drama All Saints begins. 1999 'The One To Watch' was the successful catch-cry Seven introduced in 1999 and continued to use for the next 5 years. Seven became the first free-to-air network to broadcast a constant watermark over its programs in 1999. Seven's tribute to the Millennium is a remake of the 1979 series This Fabulous Century.  We wish to thank Alvan Treweek for not only preserving this footage, but also the now obsolete facilities necessary for reproducing this material.