Rewind: A Hunter Region NBN Television Retrospective Exhibition

Special Collections

2 years ago

Rewind Exhibition 2024 – “A Hunter Region NBN Television Retrospective”

REWIND : Hunter Region NBN Television Retrospective

Early concept design for the NBN Channel 3 Studios at Mosbri Cresent, Newcastle, 1961. (Courtesy NBN Archives)

Step back in time with the “Rewind” exhibition! Explore a collection of photographs from the NBN television archive and the fascinating history of ‘Channel 3’, the iconic broadcaster that brought television to the Hunter Region in 1962.

NBN Transmission Tower, Mount Sugarloaf, 1962. (Courtesy of the NBN Archive)

View from the top of the NBN Transmission Tower, Mount Sugarloaf, 1962. (Courtesy of the NBN Archive)

Transmissions from the Mount Sugarloaf Tower

Witness the magic as transmissions first beamed from Mount Sugarloaf, bringing local news, weather, sports, and a variety of programs straight to your living room. Remarkably, many of these shows were produced right here in Newcastle, at the Mosbri Crescent studio!

Opening News Broadcast with Murray Finlay, 1962 (Courtesy NBN Archive)

Talking Point with Bill Dorset and Pat, Ann, Pauline and Frances. Note the future star of Number 96! (Courtesy of the NBN Archive)

Television Pioneers

Behind the scenes, both men and women played a vital role. They were the film handlers and later, the video operators, mastering the technical complexities of analogue technology. Unlike today’s digital world, these pioneers worked with 16mm and 35mm film, magnetic tape formats, and vast suites of equipment.

Jackpot Quiz filmed in Studio A, NBN Television, 1968 (Courtesy NBN Archive)

Miss Anne on Romper Room, 1967 (Courtesy NBN Archive)

The Easybeats on NBN Channel 3 TV, circa 1966 (Courtesy NBN Archive)

The Bee Gees on NBN Channel 3 TV, circa 1966 (Courtesy NBN Archive)

A Thing About Machines

Discover the machines and technologies that made these early broadcasts possible. See the graphic designs used to advertise these groundbreaking shows. Through these historical photographs, “Rewind” offers a fast-paced trip through time, highlighting the dramatic evolution of the media landscape.

VTR Operator, 1963 (Courtesy NBN Archive)

Pat Davey, First Female News Television Camera Operator in Australia (Courtesy NBN Archive)

This exhibition is a unique chance to peek into the region’s past, showcasing the TV station that documented the rich social and cultural tapestry of the Hunter Region.

Jan Welsman with NBN camera (Courtesy NBN Archive)

Andrew Mercado, TV Historian

“The Rewind Exhibition is a fascinating look back at how influential and important local TV station NBN3 was to Newcastle and the Hunter Valley.

For a regional network, NBN achieved an incredible amount of TV firsts. They were the first Australian network to air news in a one hour bulletin, and they were the first to show Lawn Bowls on TV.

The Rewind Exhibition adds to this rich history by focusing on women who worked at NBN, like Pat Davey (pictured above) who became the first full-time woman camera operator in Australian television.

Today, we have hundreds and hundreds of streaming options and digital channels but none have a focus on Newcastle the way that NBN3 used to have.

This exhibition reveals just a handful of local shows that were made including local variety, women’s panel shows and pre-school entertainment.

It is a joy to discover.”

– Andrew Mercado, TV Historian

Phillip Lloyd, NBN Channel 3, 1960s (Courtesy NBN Archive)

NBN History Across Six Decades

NBN television has been documenting the history of Newcastle and the Hunter region on film and video for over sixty years.

The production team of “Beating Around the Bush” 1979 (L to R) Art Ryan (with possum), Warren Cantello, Phil Lomas, Charlie Dunkley, Barry Nancarrow (with cockatoo), Greg Boswell, Joe Palmer, Ian “Beat” Hill (with serpent) and Peter Scanlon. (Courtesy NBN Archive)

Des Hart, one of the first professional meteorologists to be employed to present the weather on the News Broadcasts, photographed in NBN Studio B in 1977 (Courtesy NBN Archive)

Beginning in March 1962 NBN news presented the life and events of this region to the people who live here. Every night for over 60 years viewers watched themselves, their neighbours and the “people, places and events” of the region though the eyes of the NBN news team.

The NBN Colour Outside Broadcast Unit in all the colours of the Rainbow. (Courtesy of the NBN Archive)

Barry Nancarrow on Camera filming NBN Reporter in Flood Waters (Courtesy of the NBN Archive)

1972 Romper Room Miss Lyn with the children, with musicians Joe Palmer and Tom Jewell (Courtesy of the NBN Archive)

Their perspective was further enlarged by programs like the Roving Eye, documentaries, telethons, sporting, women’s shows and other local programmes. NBN television became an integral part of life for everyone in the region.

The 1983 NBN Telethon (Courtesy ofthe NBN Archive)

Olivia Newton-John on NBN Channel 3 Television’s “Here Tonight” in the 1970s (Courtesy of the NBN Archive)

Chips Rafferty, famous Australian actor and producer, with host Neville Roberts on NBN TV’s “Here Tonight” 1970, one year before he passed away. (Courtesy of the NBN Archive)

Chips Rafferty, famous Australian actor and producer, in performance on NBN TV’s “Here Tonight” 1970. (Courtesy of the NBN Archive)

The Unique Role of NBN Television in the Hunter Region

The unique role NBN has played, and continues to play, in this region is profoundly important and the visual history of Newcastle and the surrounding region that NBN recorded over such a long period is a resource of great historical significance.

Ray Dineen and Murray Findlay (Courtesy of the NBN Archive)

This includes the history and story of NBN itself because the company has been such an important corporate citizen of the region throughout that whole period.

The NBN Channel 3 University of Newcastle Environmental measurement Unit (Courtesy of the NBN Archive)

The Historic Archive of NBN Television

The valuable historic archive of NBN news stories and NBN program material should be preserved for future use by NBN but also ideally made accessible for both research and insight of the people that live in the region. This includes not only the 60 years of visual material but also the paper filing records, associated story scripts and databases. Without the latter, locating and identifying the visual material may well become almost impossible, particularly with the passing of time and individuals with the knowledge to do so.

With the NBN studios relocation the future of this important material has now fallen on the shoulders of four key Cultural Institutions; The Newcastle Public Library; the Newcastle Museum; the University of Newcastle’s Archives Special Collections and the National Sound and Film Archives in Canberra.

The Role of the University of Newcastle’s Cultural Collections, Archives & GLAMx Lab

Three volunteers Messrs Steve Legge, Phillip Lloyd and Gary Magnay in the GLAMx AV Lab Auchmuty Library.

Mr Phillip Lloyd, who has been working closely with NBN television since 2012, digitising the treasures which he could not see being lost to the community and world.

In 2015 he approached the University Library Archivist to backup the digital content. Everyone involved understood the urgent need to digitize these ‘at risk’ formats in line with the National Film and Sound Archive’s Deadline 2025.

Barry Nancarrow, Michael Sherrif and Phillip Lloyd in GLAMx Lab digitising NBN Archive

The University established the GLAMx Lab in 2016-2017 under the supervision of Dr Ann Hardy. Phillip and his team of AV technical expert volunteers moved in digitizing AV material. The dream through the GLAMx Lab was to support WIL students, teaching and learning and providing a next generation of young digitisers to carry on the work.

Good archival practice is about ensuring longevity of ‘at risk’ material, following best practice, legal compliance and procedures. There is 60+ yrs of different film magnetic tape and machine electronic formats requiring specialized equipment and skill.

Super digitisers save four decades of Hunter regional news television from oblivion

The Rewind 2024 Team

The REWIND Hunter Region NBN Television Retrospective has been researched and prepared by a Auchmuty Library Special Collections GLAMx consisting of Dr Ann Hardy, Dr Kathrine Sentas, Davina Pellatt, Rhys Burke (2024 Vera Deacon Intern), Shellie Cleaver and Danylo Motyka.