They are Perth’s television celebrities. Names like John Burgess, Jo Beth Taylor, Tod Johnston, Jenny Seaton, Jenny Dunston, Terry Willesee and Peter Harries.
They’ve all played a part in Channel 9 Perth’s success over the years and they will also play a part in the station’s 60th anniversary.
Nine’s head of marketing, communications and TV programming in Perth, Peter Brennan, said while these TV stars will be seen on air in a television special to mark the anniversary, television history of a more technical nature will be part of a collaboration with the WA Museum.
The exhibition which runs from June for several months will feature some key vintage pieces of equipment.
“It’s almost like a trip down memory lane, over the decades,” Peter said.
“There’ll be a few older television sets with some vintage vision. We have one of the first big tv cameras on display, we’ve got some of the different arrays of cameras that have been used and the tapes and cassettes and all that sort of stuff as well.
“It follows the evolution of Channel 9 Perth over the years, so there’s lots of colour, lots of photos and everyone who comes through gets a free souvenir booklet as well, which outlines a bit of the history of Nine Perth with a few photos to look back on.
“We’ve also got a colouring-in competition that we’re offering the kids which they can pick up from our exhibition space and send back to Nine to win family tours of the modern Nine Perth. It’s also a bit of fun engaging the younger audience with Channel 9.
The exhibition is on the Beaufort Link on level one, right next to the Big Terracotta Warriors Museum, so it’s a nice walk-through where people can spend half an hour, on their way into the gallery.
“We’re very excited to be showcasing history at the state’s big museum space. Apparently we’re the first TV network to do an exhibition of this kind and it’s just great for families.”
Peter was working at Nine when the station celebrated its 50th anniversary.
“It’s hard to believe another decade’s passed and we’re now celebrating 60 years.
“And, of course, the business is very different to what it was even 10 years ago. It used to be just a TV broadcast business and now we’ve got WAToday and 6PR on board, so it’s a big business.”
Nine will show off some of its history in a TV special, 60 Years of Channel 9 Perth, to air on Thursday, June 12, the actual anniversary date, at 7.30pm on Channel 9 and 9Now.
“The 90-minute special, is a big trip down memory lane, big interviews with some key players from the past, a lot of vision that will no doubt touch the hearts and souls of a lot of West Aussies. It’s a nice celebration of Nine Perth and our support for the community over six decades.”
Peter says among the highlights are the memories of Nine’s charity telecast Appealathon and some of the big names who appeared when the charity was active.
“Nine Perth was the first in colour in our market, and so there’s a bit of talk about that with the first news bulletin going in colour. There’s a nice reference to the Nine News team. In fact, people forget that Channel 9 News also had Dixie Marshall and Sonia Vinci as the first female duo weeknight news reading team in Australia.”
The first show to go to air on Nine was a montage of Perth. It was a 25-minute special on Saturday, June 12, 1969 at 5.30pm which showed West Australians at work and play.
“Then, at 5.55pm, they had an official opening by the Premier of WA at the time, Sir David Brand. After that it went on to show a few international movies. And then, interestingly, news and weather was only 10 minutes at 9.30pm.
“So that was day one.”
“Across the month of June Nine will be airing little vignettes every hour so viewers can take a little nostalgic look back.
“We’ve got some of the iconic jingles that have been played in the past, like Still the One.”
On June 12 many of Perth’s landmarks will turn blue for the occasion.
To mark the celebration Nine has also teamed up with the Perth Symphony Orchestra who have compiled an anniversary medley featuring some of Channel 9’s iconic themes, played in an orchestral tone.
“Part of that will be featured in our TV special and we’ll also be featuring it in different ways throughout the month of June.”
