HSV (TV station)


HSV is a television station in Melbourne, Australia. It is part of the Seven Network, one of the three main commercial television networks in Australia, its first and oldest station. It launched in time for the 1956 Summer Olympic Games in Melbourne. HSV-7 is the home of AFL coverage.
The HSV building was the network's operations hub, where the Master Control Room was located, controlling all metropolitan and regional feeds. Its headquarters was next to Etihad Stadium they now have. Programming lineup, advertisement output, feed switching, time zone monitoring and national transmission output was previously delivered there. All Seven Network owned and operated studios had their live signals relayed there: for instance, ATN's output was fed to HSV and then transmitted via satellite or fibre optics to towers around metropolitan Sydney. In 2019 this function was transferred to a new centre in Sydney as part of a joint venture with Nine Network. As with other Melbourne terrestrial stations, its original transmission tower was atop Mount Dandenong. In 2025, HSV moved all their operations to Melbourne Quarter Tower in Collins Street.

History

HSV-7 began test transmissions in July 1956, becoming the first 7 station in Australia and the first television station in Melbourne. It began broadcasting on 4 November, soon after the Commonwealth Government started issuing television licences. In the opening ceremony, Eric Pearce declared :
HSV-7 and rival station GTV-9 were formed in time to broadcast the Melbourne Olympics, while Sydney stations TCN-9 and ATN-7 in Sydney relayed the Melbourne coverage. HSV-7 was originally owned by the Herald & Weekly Times, owners of The Herald and The Sun. These two newspapers gave rise to the call sign HSV.
In March 1960, the station converted an old cinema in Fitzroy into the Southern Hemisphere's first fully remote studio, equipped with RCA TRT video tape recorders, camera cranes and AV mixing equipment. It featured a larger stage and backstage rooms, and audience capacity for up to 600. It was called the Channel 7 Teletheatre and connected to the station's main Dorcas Street studios in South Melbourne by multiple microwave links. The teletheatre opened with a major live show featuring the US entertainer Bob Crosby and his band and the British comedian Jimmy Edwards, among others. Many popular children's shows and variety programs originated there in front of live audiences.
This station commissioned many of Australian TV's earliest and longest-running courtroom and police procedural dramatic series such as Crawford's Consider Your Verdict and Homicide.
One of the longest-serving station and general managers during the transformative years into international satellite links and color transmissions was Ron Casey. By the late 1960s, Channel 7 was demonstrating PAL color TV to crowds visiting the annual Royal Melbourne Show.
The station began to identify as Channel Seven in the late 1960s, and in the early 1970s used the national Seven Network logos. It followed the network's on-air presentation and programming. In 1979, John Fairfax & Sons bought a substantial share of HSV-7 after many failed bids for the entire station. In December 1986, the station was purchased by News Limited. In February 1987 HSV-7 was sold back to Fairfax, along with Brisbane station BTQ-7. As a result of the payback, HSV's unique faces – World of Sport, Mal Walden and its Hello Melbourne campaign, Australia's contribution to Frank Gari's Hello News campaigns were all ended. By 1987 its rights to Australian rules football telecasts were taken by ABC's state station ABV-2. Walden later moved to Ten as a result of this.
In 1987, the government introduced cross-media ownership laws which forced Fairfax to choose between its print and broadcast operations. It chose print, and HSV-7 was sold to Christopher Skase's Qintex, which already owned Seven stations in Sydney, Adelaide and Perth. Skase pledged to revitalize the channel and its programs, and to return it to its prior success among Melbourne viewers. In 1990, Qintex was sent into damage control after Skase escaped extradition proceedings, and the Seven Network became a discrete company. Entrepreneur Kerry Stokes bought the network in 1995. On 10 December 2013, HSV-7 terminated its analogue signal as part of the switchover to digital transmission. At around 8:54am local time, HSV-7's analogue signal broke away from Sunrise to air a montage of the history of its analogue broadcasts from all the way back in the 50s and 60s. The signal was then cut off after the montage.

Headquarters

HSV production studios and headquarters were originally located at the Dorcas Street Studios in South Melbourne. HSV remained there until 10 March 2002 when news, current affairs and sport shows were moved to new headquarters at Docklands and the Dorcas Street Studios were closed. Docklands Studios Melbourne and Global Television is home to HSV's studio facilities for the Seven Network's Melbourne-based entertainment, drama and reality programmes shows such as Dancing with the Stars and the quiz show The Chase Australia.
HSV's headquarters, known on-air as Broadcast Centre Melbourne or BCM, are located near the Docklands Stadium in Docklands. On 11 March 2002, the first Seven News Melbourne bulletin, presented by Peter Mitchell, was first broadcast from the new HSV building. The centre consists of three studios: a theatre studio, a production studio and a news studio that opens onto the newsroom. The building is used as the transmission control centre for Seven's owned-and-operated stations in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth and regional areas of Queensland. Approximately 200 full-time employees work in the building with an additional 100 part-timers. In 2005, the HSV building experienced a power failure that resulted in a blackout across the Seven Network, as well as all regional affiliates.
The HSV studios produces Seven News Melbourne and was the main play-out centre for sports broadcasting. While broadcasting on air, national news programs often refer to HSV as 'News Centre', while 'Sports Central' is commonly used for sports programs.
2019 saw the Seven Network move its main play-out centre to NPC Media in Sydney.
After more than two decades at Docklands, HSV moved its headquarters and operations to Collins Street, Melbourne. The HSV building at Docklands closed on 11 May 2025 with HSV's staff to move into a newly constructed office tower located within the "Melbourne Quarter" development.
After 24 years, the Seven News Melbourne bulletin concluded broadcast from the Broadcast Centre Melbourne on 11 May 2025 before moving to the Melbourne Quarter Tower, located on Collins Street starting from 12 May 2025.

Programming

Locally produced programs by or with HSV-7 Melbourne:

HSV Studios

  • Seven News Melbourne
  • Seven Afternoon News Melbourne
  • Seven News With Alex Cullen
  • Sunday Footy Feast
  • The Wash Up
  • ''NFL Coverage''

    Location

  • The Agenda Setters
  • Healthy, Wealthy and Wise
  • House of Wellness
  • The Front Bar
  • Better Homes and Gardens
  • Melbourne Weekender
  • Highway Patrol
  • Border Security
  • Good Friday Appeal
Seven Melbourne is also the official broadcaster for these major events in Melbourne.
  • Saturday Afternoon Horse Racing
  • Austrlain Test Cricket
  • Women's Big Bash League
  • Big Bash League
  • Australian Football League excluding 1987
  • ''Victorian Football League''

    Past programming

News and current affairs

  • Today Tonight
  • Seven 4.30 News production moved to ATN-7
  • Seven Afternoon News production moved to ATN-7
  • Seven News at Five
  • Hinch
  • Newsworld Local Late night news bulletin
  • Meet The Press
  • ''Sunrise Weather''

    Entertainment

  • Moomba Street Parade
  • Melbourne New Year's Eve Fireworks
  • The Great Weekend
  • Kinne
  • A Moveable Feast
  • Behave Yourself! – ABC Studios Elsternwick
  • The Big Music Quiz
  • Powerball
  • Oz Lotto
  • Dancing with the Stars
  • Million Dollar Minute
  • Slide Show
  • Pictures of You
  • Spit It Out
  • Iron Chef Australia
  • Medical Emergency
  • Double Take
  • Beat the Star
  • Thank God You're Here
  • The Rich List
  • Battle of the Choirs
  • Kath & Kim
  • Australia's Got Talent
  • It Takes Two
  • Where Are They Now?
  • Great Comedy Classics
  • The Master
  • The Support Unit 2005
  • Made in Melbourne Specials
  • Let Loose Live
  • Coxy's Big Break
  • Hamish and Andy
  • Deal or No Deal
  • Big Bite
  • Greeks on the Roof
  • The Weakest Link
  • The Mole
  • Something Stupid
  • Eric
  • Big Girl's Blouse
  • Man O Man
  • Jimeoin
  • Full Frontal
  • Bligh
  • Tonight Live With Steve Vizard
  • Fast Forward
  • Acropolis Now
  • The D-Generation
  • The Eleventh Hour
  • The New Price Is Right
  • Shirl's Neighbourhood
  • Two on the Aisle with Ivan Hutchinson and Jim Murphy
  • The Penthouse Club
  • It's Academic
  • TV Ringside
  • SSB Club
  • Video Village with Danny Webb and Liz Harris
  • Fighting Words
  • Review with Geoff Raymond
  • Romper Room
  • Time For Terry
  • Variety 7
  • Auditions
  • Buy Word
  • Make a Wish
  • Make Mine Music
  • What's the Meaning?
  • Hold Everything
  • Merry-Go-Round
  • Lady for a Day
  • The Happy Show with Happy Hammond
  • Saturday Showcase
  • Tea for Two
  • Western Holiday
  • Pick a Pint
  • Bandwagon
  • Brenda's Time
  • Club Seven
  • Don't Argue
  • Let's Make Clothes
  • What's On
  • At Your Request
  • Brian and the Juniors with Brian Naylor
  • Cool Cats Show
  • Movie Guide
  • Personal Column
  • Tuesday Home Show
  • Be My Guest
  • Blues, Studio One
  • Zig & Zag
  • Handyman
  • Beauty is My Business
  • Let's Dance
  • Oxford Show
  • Peters Fun Fair
  • Sunnyside Up
  • Swallows Parade
  • Take That
  • Teenage Mailbag with Ernie Sigley
  • Tivoli Party Time
  • The Late Show with Noel Ferrier and Bert Newton
  • Fun with Charades
  • I've Got a Secret
  • The Isador Goodman Show
  • The Judy Jack Show
  • Guest of the Week
  • Sports Talk
  • Stairway to the Stars
  • ''Eric and Mary''