Television

Television networks

There are three commercial free-to-air television networks broadcasting to Melbourne and Geelong - Seven Network, Nine Network and Network Ten.

Outside of Melbourne and Geelong, the commercial broadcasters are Seven Network and two independently-owned networks - WIN (affiliate of Nine Network) and Southern Cross Austereo (affiliate of Network Ten). These regional networks mainly broadcast the content of their Melbourne stations or affiliates, but also include some individual content, typically in the form of local news bulletins and advertisements which are targeted to their specific broadcast area.

There are two public broadcasters owned by the government that transmit throughout Victoria - the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) and the multicultural and multilingual SBS (Special Broadcasting Service).

C31, a non-profit community television service, broadcasts to Melbourne and Geelong.

Television stations

This week's TV guide»

TV broadcasts are either in standard definition (SD) or high definition (HD).

TV stations throughout Victoria

ABC	ABC SD: channel 2, 21 HD: channel 20	ABC Family / ABC Kids SD: channel 22	ABC Entertains SD: channel 23	ABC News 24 SD: channel 24
SBS	SBS SD: channel 3 HD: channel 30	SBS Viceland HD: channel 31	SBS World Movies HD: channel 32	SBS Food SD: channel 33
	NITV HD: channel 34 SD: channel 36	SBS WorldWatch SD: channel 35

Additional TV stations in Melbourne and Geelong

Seven Network	Seven SD: channel 7, 71 HD: channel 70	7 Two SD: channel 72	7 Mate HD: channel 74	7 Bravo HD: channel 75
	7 Flix SD: channel 76	TVSN SD: channel 77	Racing.com SD: channel 78
Nine Network	Nine SD: channel 9, 91 HD: channel 90	9 Gem SD: channel 92 HD: channel 95	9 Go! SD: channel 93 HD channel: 99	9 Life SD: channel 94
	9 Rush SD: channel 96	Extra SD: channel 97
Network Ten	Ten SD: channel 10 HD: channel 1, 15	10 Peach Comedy SD: channel 11	10 Bold Drama HD: channel 12	Nickelodeon SD: channel 13
	you.tv SD: channel 16	Gecko SD: channel 17
C31	C31 SD: channel 44

Additional TV stations in regional Victoria

Seven Network Regional	Seven SD: channel 6, 61 HD: channel 60	7 Two SD: channel 62	7 Mate HD: channel 64	7 Bravo HD: channel 65
	7 Flix SD: channel 66	TVSN SD: channel 67	Racing.com SD: channel 68
WIN Television	Nine SD: channel 8 HD: channel 80	9 Gem HD: channel 81	9 Go! HD: channel 82	9 Life SD: channel 83
	TVSN SD: channel 84	Gold SD: channel 85
Southern Cross	Ten SD: channel 5, 51 HD: channel 50	10 Peach Comedy SD: channel 52	10 Bold Drama SD: channel 53	Nickelodeon SD: channel 54
	SBN SD: channel 55	Sky News Regional SD: channel 56	Gecko SD: channel 57	you.tv SD: channel 58

Mildura television stations

In the regional area around Mildura, Southern Cross stations are not available.

History of television

Official mainstream analogue television broadcasts began in Australia during 1956, spurred on by the Olympic Games being held in Melbourne later that year. By the time the Olympic Games opened in November, three television stations in Melbourne were operational and broadcasting.

Television broadcasts began to regional areas of Victoria in 1961.

TV broadcasts were originally in black and white, switching to colour in 1975.

Digital TV transmissions commenced in 2001, offering superior video and audio quality compared to analogue. Between 2010 and 2013, analogue TV transmissions were progressively phased out across Australia.

Subscription television services

Also known as "pay TV", subscription television services are delivered over the internet or through a satellite dish, offering a much wider range of content than free-to-air services, but at a cost. Internet television services typically offer on-demand streaming access to TV content and movies.