Copyright (c) 2000 Seven West Media Limited
The Seven Network, also commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven, is a major Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by Seven West Media Limited, and is one of five main free-to-air television networks in Australia. Channel Seven's head office is in Sydney.
The present Seven Network began as a group of independent stations in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth. HSV-7 Melbourne, licensed to The Herald and Weekly Times Ltd (owners of two local papers at the time, The Herald and The Sun), was launched on 4 November 1956, the first station in the country to use the VHF7 frequency. ATN-7 Sydney, licensed to Amalgamated Television Services, a subsidiary of Fairfax, was launched on 2 December 1956.
During the late 1990s and early 2000s, a state-of-the-art high definition national broadcast facility was constructed in Docklands, Melbourne, replacing the previous facility in Epping, Sydney. This new facility would also house HSV-7's Melbourne offices and studios. Onto the third millennium, former Nine executive David Leckie appointed as head of television operations, and a new advertising campaign in time for the network's coverage of the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. The opening ceremony was one of the highest-ever rating television programmes in the country, with 6.5 million viewers, contributing to the network winning the ratings year for the first time in twenty-two years.
The year 2000 also saw Seven Network's relaunching with an updated logo. Seven removed its ring and the ribbon logo was launched to coincide with the new millennium celebrations and the 2000 Olympics held in Sydney. The ribbon logo was used in five colour variants: red, orange, yellow, green and blue, to symbolise passion, involving, fun, life and energy respectively.
