7HD is an Australian television channel, owned by

Seven West Media Seven West Media Limited is an ASX-listed media company and is Australia's largest diversified media business, with an extensive presence in broadcast television, print and online publishing. Seven Group Holdings Ltd (SGH), a company contro ...

, originally launched on 15 October 2007 featuring unique breakaway programming from 10 December 2007 to 4 October 2009 and a HD simulcast of

Seven 7 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 7 or seven may also refer to: * AD 7, the seventh year of the AD era * 7 BC, the seventh year before the AD era * The month of July Music Artists * Seven (Swiss singer) (born 1978), a Swiss recording artist ...

until 25 September 2010. The channel is available to

high definition High definition or HD may refer to: Visual technologies *HD DVD, discontinued optical disc format *HD Photo, former name for the JPEG XR image file format *HDV, format for recording high-definition video onto magnetic tape * HiDef, 24 frames-pe ...

digital television Digital television (DTV) is the transmission of television signals using digital encoding, in contrast to the earlier analog television technology which used analog signals. At the time of its development it was considered an innovative advanc ...

viewers in metropolitan areas through a number of

owned-and-operated station In the broadcasting industry, an owned-and-operated station (frequently abbreviated as an O&O) usually refers to a television or radio station owned by the network with which it is associated. This distinguishes such a station from an network af ...

s. On 25 September 2010, 7HD was replaced by the new channel

7mate 7mate is an Australian free-to-air digital television multichannel, which was launched by the Seven Network on 25 September 2010. The channel contains sport and regular programs aimed primarily to a male audience, with programming drawn from a ...

. 7HD returned as a high definition simulcast on channel 70 on 10 May 2016. Initially, the Melbourne and Adelaide markets received 7HD as a HD simulcast of Seven's primary channel while the Sydney, Brisbane and Perth markets received 7HD as a HD simulcast of 7mate; this was to allow Australian Football League (AFL) matches to be broadcast in HD in those markets. Sydney, Brisbane and Perth temporarily received 7HD as a simulcast of the primary channel for the duration of the 2016 Summer Olympics, before the change was made permanent during and after the

2017 Australian Open The 2017 Australian Open was a tennis tournament that took place at Melbourne Park between 16 and 29 January 2017. It was the 105th edition of the Australian Open, and the first Grand Slam tournament of the year. The tournament consisted of eve ...

tennis. Up until 16 January 2020, breakaway programming was used to show further AFL matches and Australian cricket matches in HD.

History

Origins

In 2004, after the 2001 introduction of

digital terrestrial television Digital terrestrial television (DTTV or DTT, or DTTB with "broadcasting") is a technology for terrestrial television in which land-based (terrestrial) television stations broadcast television content by radio waves to televisions in consume ...

in Australia, the

Seven Network The Seven Network (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 Australi ...

began a part-time high definition simulcast on digital channel 70 under the name 7 HD Digital. This simulcast showcased native high definition content alongside standard definition services on Seven. During the times that native high definition content was unavailable for simulcasting, a promo loop that showcased extracts from a variety of Seven's programs was broadcast.

Breakaway era

7HD was officially announced on 15 September 2007, with

announcing their intention to start a

multichannel, that was initially expected to launch in December 2007. However, 7HD became the first

free-to-air Free-to-air (FTA) services are television (TV) and radio services broadcast in unencrypted form, allowing any person with the appropriate receiving equipment to receive the signal and view or listen to the content without requiring a subscripti ...

commercial television Commercial broadcasting (also called private broadcasting) is the broadcasting of television programs and radio programming by privately owned corporate media, as opposed to state sponsorship. It was the United States′ first model of radio ( ...

channel introduced to metropolitan areas since 1988, when it launched prior on 15 October 2007, with ''

25th Hour ''25th Hour'' is a 2002 American drama film directed by Spike Lee and starring Edward Norton. Adapted by David Benioff from his own 2001 debut novel '' The 25th Hour'', it tells the story of a man's last 24 hours of freedom as he prepares to ...

'' being the first program broadcast at 10:30 pm. The channel replaced Seven's existing

service 7 HD Digital, a part-time

simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of simultaneous broadcast) is the broadcasting of programmes/programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simult ...

of its

standard definition Standard-definition television (SDTV, SD, often shortened to standard definition) is a television system which uses a resolution that is not considered to be either high or enhanced definition. "Standard" refers to it being the prevailing sp ...

and analogue services. Due to an amendment of the

Broadcasting Services Act 1992 The ''Broadcasting Services Act 1992'' (Cth) is an Act of the Parliament of Australia, which broadly covers issues relating to content regulation and media ownership in Australia. The law stipulates what is political advertising and the sp ...

in 2006 – the Broadcasting Legislation Amendment (

Digital television Digital television (DTV) is the transmission of television signals using digital encoding, in contrast to the earlier analog television technology which used analog signals. At the time of its development it was considered an innovative advanc ...

) Act 2006 – television networks were permitted to launch digital multichannels, provided that they are broadcast exclusively in

. The channel expanded its broadcast schedule on 10 December 2007 to include daytime programming which had previously been a full simulcast of the main channel. 7HD breakaway programming ceased transmission on Sunday 4 October 2009 in preparation for the launch of 7TWO a few weeks later on 1 November. 7HD then returned to being a full high definition simulcast of Seven, before finally being replaced by

on 25 September 2010.

2016 revival

On 10 May 2016, 7HD returned as a high definition simulcast on channel 70. However, Melbourne and Adelaide were the only cities that received 7HD as a simulcast of Seven's primary channel on that date; Sydney, Brisbane and Perth received 7HD as a simulcast of 7mate. This is so that upcoming AFL matches can be shown in HD in all markets. In order to allow the 2016 Summer Olympics to be broadcast in high definition in all capital cities, 7HD was temporarily changed to a simulcast of Seven's primary channel in Sydney, Brisbane and Perth on 5 August 2016. However, it was reverted to a 7mate simulcast in those markets on 22 August 2016, following the conclusion of the Olympics. On 16 December 2016, 7HD switched from simulcasting 7mate to simulcasting Seven's primary channel in Sydney, Brisbane and Perth to allow the

tennis to be simulcast in high definition in all metropolitan markets. This change was not reverted and 7HD remained a simulcast of Seven in all capital cities. However, in order to broadcast AFL matches featured on 7mate in HD, Seven would use breakaway programming to show AFL matches in HD while keeping 7HD as a simulcast of Seven. In early 2020, following the relaunch of 7mate HD on Channel 74, 7HD continued broadcasting as a HD simulcast of the main

channel in all metropolitan markets.

Programming

During its time of breakaway broadcasting, 7HD broadcast a range of programming, with exclusive transmissions on weekday and weekend afternoons as well as late on weeknights, and for some time there was breakaway programming in prime-time on Saturdays and Sundays. Up to seven hours of exclusive programming was broadcast daily. Weekday afternoon programming included repeats of locally produced lifestyle programming, such as '' The Great Outdoors'', ''New Idea TV'', as well as movies and Disney cartoons such as ''

Kim Possible ''Kim Possible'' is an American animated action comedy-adventure television series created by Bob Schooley and Mark McCorkle for Disney Channel. The title character is a teenage girl tasked with fighting crime on a regular basis while copi ...

'', '' American Dragon: Jake Long'', and ''

My Friends Tigger & Pooh ''My Friends Tigger & Pooh'' is an American computer-animated children's television series on Disney Channel as part of the Playhouse Disney block. It was inspired by A. A. Milne's '' Winnie-the-Pooh''. The series was developed by Walt Disn ...

''. In the late evenings a mixture of exclusive series, movies and encore screenings of series were broadcast. Late-night series broadcast included '' This is Your Laugh'', '' Lost'', '' Scrubs'', ''

That '70s Show ''That '70s Show'' is an American television Period piece, period teen sitcom that aired on Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox from August 23, 1998, to May 18, 2006. The series focuses on the lives of a group of six teenage friends living in the ficti ...

'', ''

The Grid The Grid is an English electronic dance group, consisting of David Ball (formerly of Soft Cell) and Richard Norris, with guest contributions from other musicians. They are best known for the hits "Swamp Thing", "Texas Cowboys", "Crystal Cle ...

'', ''

Urban Legends An urban legend (sometimes contemporary legend, modern legend, urban myth, or urban tale) is a genre of folklore comprising stories or fallacious claims circulated as true, especially as having happened to a "friend of a friend" or a family m ...

'', ''

Final 24 ''Final 24'' is a Canadian documentary series which airs on the Discovery Channel, Global Television Network, and OWN. Released in Canada in 2006, the series chronicles the last 24 hours of the lives of famous celebrities of the late 20th cen ...

'', ''

Dateline NBC ''Dateline NBC'' is a weekly American television news magazine/reality legal show that is broadcast on NBC. It was previously the network's flagship general interest news magazine, but now focuses mainly on true crime stories with only occasio ...

'', ''

5ive Days to Midnight Five (stylised as 5ive) are a British boy band from London consisting of members Sean Conlon, Ritchie Neville, and Scott Robinson. They were formed in 1997 by the same team that managed the Spice Girls before they launched their career. The g ...

'', ''

A Country Practice ''A Country Practice'' is an Australian television soap opera which broadcast on the Seven Network from 18 November 1981 until 5 November 1993, airing at 7:30 pm on Monday and Tuesday evenings. Altogether, 14 seasons and 1,058 episodes were p ...

'', and classic episodes of ''

Deal or No Deal ''Deal or No Deal'' is the name of several closely related television game shows, the first of which (launching the format) was the Dutch ''Miljoenenjacht'' (''Hunt/Chase for Millions''). The centerpiece of this format is the final round (a.k. ...

'' as well as late movies and encores of other series shown on Channel Seven. The only two series exclusively made for 7HD were '' The NightCap'' and '' This is Your Laugh''. '' The NightCap'' was broadcast exclusively on 7HD on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 10.30pm until its axing during the Easter non-ratings break of 2008.

Availability

Original channel

In its former inception, 7HD was available on

s, ATN Sydney, HSV

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a me ...

BTQ BTQ is the Brisbane television station of the Seven Network in Australia. BTQ was the second television station to launch in Brisbane, going to air on 1 November 1959, after QTQ (station of the Nine Network) launched three months earlier. Along ...

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

, SAS

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater A ...

TVW TVW is a television station broadcasting in Perth, Western Australia, wholly owned by Seven West Media. It was the first television station in Western Australia, commencing broadcasting on 16 October 1959. It broadcasts a modulated 64-QAM signa ...

Perth Perth is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the Australian states and territories of Australia, state of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth most populous city in Aust ...

and STQ

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

. Regional affiliate

Prime Television Prime7, formerly Prime Television and other names, was an Australian television network. Prime Television launched on 17 March 1962 as ''CBN-8'' in Orange, and later expanded to cover regional New South Wales, Victoria and the Australian Capi ...

also carried their own HD simulcast, ''

Prime HD Prime7, formerly Prime Television and other names, was an Australian television network. Prime Television launched on 17 March 1962 as ''CBN-8'' in Orange, and later expanded to cover regional New South Wales, Victoria and the Australian Cap ...

'', on its

s, AMV Victoria, NEN Northern

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

and CBN Southern

Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (commonly abbreviated as ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) until 1938, is a landlocked federal territory of Australia containing the national capital Canberra and some surrounding townships. ...

Southern Cross Television Seven Regional is an Australian television network owned by Southern Cross Austereo that is available in Tasmania, Darwin, Spencer Gulf, Broken Hill and Remote Australia (Eastern and Central). The network is the primary affiliate of the Seven ...

's Seven-affiliated stations carried their own HD simulcast, '' Southern Cross HD'', on

TNT Trinitrotoluene (), more commonly known as TNT, more specifically 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, and by its preferred IUPAC name 2-methyl-1,3,5-trinitrobenzene, is a chemical compound with the formula C6H2(NO2)3CH3. TNT is occasionally used as a reage ...

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

and

TND TND may refer to: * TND (TV station), in Darwin, Australia * Tertium non datur, the law of excluded middle, a law in logic * ''The National Desk'', an American television news program * The Needle Drop, a YouTube channel by music critic Anthony Fa ...

Darwin Darwin may refer to: Common meanings * Charles Darwin (1809–1882), English naturalist and writer, best known as the originator of the theory of biological evolution by natural selection * Darwin, Northern Territory, a territorial capital city i ...

. Southern Cross' other stations

GTS/BKN GTS/BKN are Australian regional television stations serving the Spencer Gulf of South Australia and the Broken Hill area of New South Wales. Based in Port Pirie with satellite offices in Broken Hill, Port Augusta, Whyalla and Port Lincoln, and ...

Spencer Gulf The Spencer Gulf is the westernmost and larger of two large inlets (the other being Gulf St Vincent) on the southern coast of Australia, in the state of South Australia, facing the Great Australian Bight. It spans from the Cape Catastrophe ...

Broken Hill Broken Hill is an inland mining city in the far west of outback New South Wales, Australia. It is near the border with South Australia on the crossing of the Barrier Highway (A32) and the Silver City Highway (B79), in the Barrier Range. I ...

and

QQQ QQQ is an Australian television station broadcasting in remote central and eastern areas of Australia, owned by Southern Cross Austereo. The station is available via satellite and terrestrial platforms – mostly through community retransmissio ...

Eastern & Central Australia, as well as Golden West Network (owned by Prime) did not carry a HD simulcast.

Revival channel

Upon its revival on 10 May 2016, 7HD returned to 1080i

, but was broadcast in

MPEG-4 MPEG-4 is a group of international standards for the compression of digital audio and visual data, multimedia systems, and file storage formats. It was originally introduced in late 1998 as a group of audio and video coding formats and related ...

format as opposed to the standard

MPEG-2 MPEG-2 (a.k.a. H.222/H.262 as was defined by the ITU) is a standard for "the generic coding of moving pictures and associated audio information". It describes a combination of lossy video compression and lossy audio data compression methods, w ...

format. Seven-owned stations and affiliates downgrade 7mate from HD to standard definition upon the launch of their respective main channel's HD simulcast. 7HD initially launched as a simulcast of Seven's primary channel in Melbourne and Adelaide only, with Sydney, Brisbane and Perth receiving a HD simulcast of 7mate. 7HD later became a simulcast of Seven's primary channel in Sydney, Brisbane and Perth with breakaway programming used to broadcast 7mate's AFL matches in HD. The Seven-owned STQ Queensland transmitters did not carry 7HD in any form until 26 November 2018, where it is currently available in MPEG-2 format. Southern Cross Seven announced in March 2017 that its Seven affiliated station

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

would have a high definition simulcast, Southern Cross HD, launched in time for the first match of the

2017 AFL season The 2017 AFL season was the 121st season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest level senior men's Australian rules football competition in Australia, which was known as the Victorian Football League until 1989. The season featu ...

later that month. Although it began on 22 March of the same year, it only began broadcasting Channel 7 programming in native high definition from 19 June 2018.

Prime7 Prime7, formerly Prime Television and other names, was an Australian television network. Prime Television launched on 17 March 1962 as ''CBN-8'' in Orange, and later expanded to cover regional New South Wales, Victoria and the Australian Capi ...

later re-launched its own high definition simulcast on its owned-and-operated stations branded Prime7 HD in Northern NSW, Southern NSW/ACT,

regional Victoria Regional Australia is a socio-geographical definition used in Australia to describe populated regions outside of the major metropolitan areas (typically the capital city) in each state or territory, designed for censusing and promoting urbaniz ...

and

Mildura Mildura is a regional city in north-west Victoria, Australia. Located on the Victorian side of the Murray River, Mildura had a population of 34,565 in 2021. When nearby Wentworth, Irymple, Nichols Point and Merbein are included, the area h ...

on 15 January 2018. Prime Media Group and it’s subsidiaries including Prime7 was acquired by Seven West Media on 31 December 2021. Since then, Prime7 HD began using a 7HD feed and eventually was rebranded 7HD on 8 June 2022.

Logo history

File:Seven HD logo 2007.svg, 15 October 2007 – 25 September 2010 File:7HD 2016 Logo.svg, 10 May 2016 – present (for HD primary channel simulcast) File:7mate HD logo.png, Logo used from 10 May 2016 – 9 July 2020 for HD

simulcast.

Slogans

*2007–09: ''The Difference is Clear'' *2016–19: ''Gottaloveit'' *2019–20: ''Only on 7'' *2020-present: ''Better Together''

References

External links

7 HD Digital Promo Loop 2004
{{DEFAULTSORT:7HD Seven Network Digital terrestrial television in Australia English-language television stations in Australia Television channels and stations established in 2007 Television channels and stations disestablished in 2010 Television channels and stations established in 2016 High-definition television

History

Origins

Breakaway era

2016 revival

Programming

Availability

Original channel

Revival channel

Logo history

Slogans

See also

References

External links