Network 10 (commonly known as Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Paramount Skydance's UK & Australia division and is one of the five national free-to-air networks in the country.
As of 2025, Network 10 is the fourth-rated television network and primary channel in Australia, behind the Seven Network, Nine Network and ABC TV and ahead of SBS.
History
Origins
From the introduction of TV in 1956 until 1965, there were three television networks in Australia, the National Television Network (now the Nine Network), the Australian Television Network (now the Seven Network), and the public ABC National Television Service (now ABC TV). In the early 1960s, the Australian Government began canvassing the idea of licensing a third commercial television station in each capital city. This decision was seen by some as a way for the government to defuse growing public dissatisfaction with the dominance of imported overseas programming and the paucity of local content. The first of these third licences was granted to United Telecasters (a consortium of Amalgamated Wireless, Colonial Sugar Refining Company, Email, Bank of New South Wales and the NRMA) on 4 April 1963.
Structurally, the Australian television industry was closely modelled on the two-tiered system that had been in place in Australian radio since the late 1930s. One tier consisted of a network of publicly funded television stations run by the ABC, which was funded by government budget allocation and (until 1972) by fees from television viewer licences. The second tier consisted of the commercial networks and independent stations owned by private operators, whose income came from selling advertising time.
Launch
The network was launched as ATV-0 in Melbourne opened on 1 August 1964 and was owned by the Ansett Transport Industries, which at the time owned one of Australia's two domestic airlines. TEN-10 in Sydney, which opened on 5 April 1965, was originally owned by United Telecasters, which also in July that year opened TVQ-0 in Brisbane. Also opened later that month was SAS-10, serving the city of Adelaide.
The new television network was initially dubbed the Independent Television System or ITS, but in 1970 adopted the title The 0-10 Network, which reflected the channels used by the first two stations launched in the group, ATV and TEN.
Melbourne's ATV was the first station of the network to stage colour broadcasts in 1967; the broadcast was of the horse races in Pakenham, Victoria, and was seen by network and RCA executives and invited members of the media and press. This would be the first of many test colour telecasts for the station, and in 1974, in tribute to the event, the 0-10 Network adopted the First in Colour slogan, months before the 1 March 1975 transition to colour broadcasting.
1970–1988: Expansion and original run
For its first five years, the 0-10 Network led a hand-to-mouth existence. By the beginning of the 1970s the network was in a precarious financial position and there were predictions that it would fail.
In 1971, the 0-10 Network first aired Young Talent Time, which was a huge rating success, and ran for 17 years.
However, the network's true financial reprise came about due to the fact that the controversial adult soap opera serial Number 96 premiered in March 1972 on the night that "Australian TV lost its virginity". The series broke new ground for Australian television and captured the imagination of viewers like few programs before or since. For the next three years it was consistently Australia's top-rating television program and, not surprisingly, its huge popularity attracted advertisers to Ten en masse, with the result that its revenue increased significantly from $1 million in 1971 to more than $10 million in 1972.
However, the pattern of rating dominance was already set, and for most of the next five decades from the mid-1960s, there was little deviation from the prevalent rankings, with the Nine Network typically in the first place, the Seven Network second, 0-10 third and ABC TV fourth.
The gradual evolution of Network Ten into its current form has its origins in the ongoing attempts by media mogul Rupert Murdoch to acquire a prized commercial television licence in Australia's largest capital city market, Sydney. This began when Murdoch's News Limited purchased the Wollongong station WIN-4 in the early 1960s, around the same time he bought Festival Records. In 1977, frustrated by regulatory blocks that prevented him from expanding into the Sydney market, Murdoch sold WIN and purchased a 46% share in Ten Sydney.
In 1979, Murdoch made an unsuccessful takeover bid for the Melbourne-based The Herald and Weekly Times media group, which originally owned HSV-7. Although the bid failed, he gained a 50% stake in Ansett, which thus gave him control of channel 0 in Melbourne.
In 1979, 0-10 first aired the soap opera Prisoner, which was a huge rating success.
On 20 January 1980, the 0-10 Network became known as Network Ten to reflect ATV moving from channel 0 to channel 10 – although the Brisbane station continued to broadcast as TVQ-0 until 10 September 1988 when the station changed to TVQ-10. In 1987 Adelaide's Network Ten affiliate (SAS-10) and Seven Network affiliate (ADS-7) successfully negotiated to exchange affiliation rights and channel frequencies due to ownership problems. On 27 December 1987, the exchange came into effect and ADS-7, owned by the same owners as the main Network Ten stations, became ADS-10 with SAS-10 converting to SAS-7, operated by TVW-7 in Perth.
When Murdoch became an American citizen in 1985 so that he could expand his media empire in the United States with the Fox network, Australia's media ownership laws obliged him to dispose of the flagship television stations, which were sold to The Northern Star, an offshoot of the Westfield Group conglomerate controlled by property tycoon Frank Lowy. However, Westfield was badly hit by the stock market crash of 1987, and in 1989 sold Network Ten to a consortium led by Charles Curran and former television journalist Steve Cosser.
The network became fully national in 1988 with the launch of NEW-10 in Perth after the introduction of satellite facilities made it economical for the network to broadcast to Western Australia. Northern Star officially took hold of TVQ-10 later in the year because of swapping frequencies with neighbouring DDQ-0 in Toowoomba and rebranded CTC Canberra under the network banner in time for aggregation.
1989–1994: Receivership and relaunch
In 1989, Ten's ratings were in decline, so on 23 July 1989, recently recruited network boss Bob Shanks relaunched the network, re-branding it as 10 TV Australia, and introducing several new programs, including four new prime time game shows. However, by the end of 1989, the ratings failed to improve and most of the new programs were cancelled, except for its Eyewitness News bulletins, Neighbours and E Street (debuting in late 1988).
Meanwhile, Northern Star Holdings were having financial and regulatory problems. The company was subject to an inquiry by the Australian Broadcasting Tribunal in relation to media ownership rules and had run into financial difficulties following the 1987 stock market crash two years earlier. On 1 September 1989, Northern Star Holdings announced a major restructuring to pay off debts and help restore profitability. The proposals included selling off the network's three smaller stations (ADS in Adelaide, NEW in Perth and CTC in Canberra) to Charles Curran's Capital Television Group. The sale was completed on 27 October 1989, effectively splitting Northern Star's Network Ten in half.
In September 1990, Northern Star went into receivership and on 13 January 1991 at 8:30pm, the network was re-branded back to Network Ten with the first version of its famous ten watermark logo. The network was placed into liquidation by the New South Wales Rugby League in May 1991. In 1992, the network's flagship stations were sold to the Canadian-based Canwest media group, which held a controlling stake in the network until 2009. Also in 1992, the network commenced a strategy of targeting younger audiences. The Adelaide and Perth stations were re-acquired by the network in 1995.
1995–2007: Recovery and success
With the network having financially recovered, Ten Network Holdings floated on the Australian Stock Exchange in 1998. At this time, Ten had affiliate broadcasting agreements with Southern Cross Broadcasting in southern New South Wales, regional Victoria and Tasmania, and with Telecasters Australia in northern New South Wales and regional Queensland.
In 2001, Ten opened the doors to the Big Brother Australia house and, with it, reality television. The opening night of Big Brother became the most-watched program of the night. Big Brother became synonymous with the network in the 2000s, with the series lasting 8 seasons. Even after iterations on rival networks, Big Brother is set to return to 10 in 2025. The trend was then followed by the launching of the Australian version of the reality singing competition format Idols called Australian Idol in 2003. Australian Idol was a hit for several years, lasting until 2009.
In 2004, Network Ten enjoyed its best year since the 1970s, winning two rating weeks (out of 40) and finishing second nationally only behind the Nine Network and well ahead of the Seven Network. This was a departure from previous years; it has typically placed third behind Nine and Seven in most other rating years since 2000.
In 2005, Canwest was in discussions with newspaper publisher John Fairfax Holdings about a possible sale of the network, after the federal government indicated it may consider relaxing Australia's media cross-ownership laws. Previously, newspaper owners could not own television stations in the same city. Fairfax owned the Seven Network until 1988 and had been looking for a way back into television for a long time.
On 21 August 2005, the network celebrated its 40th birthday with a two-hour highlights package called Ten: Seriously 40, which was hosted by Bert Newton and Rove McManus.
On 27 October 2005, Network Ten announced that its long-running morning talk-variety program Good Morning Australia would be cancelled at the end of the year after a fourteen-year run. This ended host Bert Newton's 14-year association with Network Ten; although he was offered ongoing employment with the network, he announced that he would be returning to the Nine Network. 9am with David & Kim replaced GMA as Ten's national morning program from 2006 to 2009.
From 2006 to 2008, Ten was the official broadcaster of Sydney New Year's Eve. The rights returned to the Nine Network from 2009.
On 7 August 2007, Network Ten and Foxtel signed a new agreement allowing Ten's digital signal to be transmitted via Foxtel's cable and satellite services. Prior to this, Ten was only transmitted via cable on Foxtel in an analogue format and Austar in standard definition digital via Mystar. Similarly in October 2007, Network Ten and Optus announced that Ten's digital signal would be available on its cable network from 1 December 2007.
On 16 December 2007, Ten HD was officially launched as a breakaway channel, becoming the first new commercial television channel in metropolitan areas of Australia since 1988. Ten HD ceased broadcasting on 25 March 2009 when it was replaced by what was a sports-only high-definition channel, One HD.
2009–2015: Canwest sale, multichannels launch
On 24 September 2009, Canwest announced that it was selling its 50.1% stake in Ten Network Holdings for $680 million, to pay down its significant debt. In late 2009, Canwest filed for creditor bankruptcy protection, due to CA$4 billion mounting debt across radio, television broadcasting and publishing assets in several countries.
On 20 October 2010, four years after he sold his shares in PBL Media to private equity firm CVC Asia Pacific, James Packer purchased 16 per cent of Ten.
Network Ten launched a new digital channel, Eleven, on 11 January 2011. The channel is aimed at a "distinctly youthful" audience between the ages of 13 and 29. Neighbours and The Simpsons were high-profile programs migrating from Ten to the new channel. The channel was a joint venture with CBS Studios International, which owned a 33% stake.
On 8 May 2011, Ten relaunched its sports-based channel One, with general entertainment programming aimed at males taking over the schedule. It is aimed at a similar audience to 7mate.
In 2012, Ten unsuccessfully launched many new programs. This led to Ten's ratings dropping to fourth place behind ABC TV for over thirty straight nights. The poor performance resulted in Chief Programming Officer David Mott's resignation.
In September 2012, Ten made a partnership with TVSN, which meant the TVSN channel became available on Ten's free-to-air multiplex to metropolitan viewers as a datacast service on LCN 14, on 24 September 2012.
In late 2012, Ten reported a loss of $12.9m as it battled poor advertising markets and failed to hold larger audience numbers. They made positions at the station redundant and said that production may become centralised.
Ten launched Spree TV, an Australian free-to-air datacasting television channel mainly carrying paid programming and home shopping, on 17 September 2013, on LCN 15, with Brand Developers.
Analogue broadcasts ceased in the regions on 10 December 2013.
On 1 August 2014, the network celebrated its 50th anniversary. A television special related to the anniversary called 50 Years Young aired on 3 August 2014, after being rescheduled from 8 August by the network.
On 15 June 2015, Foxtel (co-owned by News Corp) bought 15% shares in Ten Network Holdings, pending approval from the ACCC. Prior to the acquisition, Discovery backed out from a bidding partnership with Foxtel. In July 2015, Paul Anderson was announced as the new chief executive officer.
2016–2017: New affiliation and financial troubles
A high-definition simulcast of 10 was revived on 2 March 2016. As a result, One, now known as 10 Bold, began broadcasting in standard definition only.
On 29 April 2016, the Nine Network pulled its regional affiliation with WIN Television over a lawsuit involving its catch-up service 9Now, and announced a new affiliation agreement with Southern Cross Austereo, Ten's then-primary regional affiliate. Ten subsequently negotiated a five-year affiliation deal with WIN; the new affiliations took effect on 1 July, with WIN becoming the carrier of Network Ten programming in regional Queensland, Northern NSW, Southern NSW, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia, Western Australia, the Australian Capital Territory and the Gold Coast. WIN owner and Ten's largest shareholder Bruce Gordon positioned himself to increase his ownership stake in Ten, subject to changes to media ownership laws being passed.
Following Ten Network Holdings reporting a $232 million half year loss, shareholders Lachlan Murdoch, Bruce Gordon and James Packer withdrew support for $250 million guaranteed loan that would help keep Ten out of receivership. This loan was intended to replace an existing guaranteed $200 million loan that was due to expire in December. On 13 June, Ten asked the Australian Securities Exchange that their stock be placed in a 48-hour trading halt while it assessed its options concerning receivership. It went into voluntary administration the following day.
On 28 August 2017, Ten's administrators announced that the U.S. media company CBS Corporation (which had a 33% share in the multichannel Eleven and was Ten's largest creditor) had entered into a binding agreement to purchase the company for $123 million. CBS refinanced Ten's existing debt including guarantor fees to shareholders Packer, Murdoch and Gordon, and existing loans from the Commonwealth Bank. Shareholders in Ten Network Holdings lost their investment.
Gordon and Murdoch had also placed their own joint bid for the company, which was not endorsed by the administrators. At a meeting held on 12 September, Ten's creditors overwhelmingly voted in support of CBS' bid, citing concerns over Murdoch's previous management of Ten and talk of mass job cuts in the news department under Murdoch/Gordon ownership.
The CBS acquisition was completed on 16 November 2017, when the shares of Ten Network Holdings were transferred to CBS Network Ten BV, a company registered in the Netherlands.
2017–2024: CBS, later Paramount ownership
Following the CBS acquisition, the network became a division of CBS Studios International. Ten moved to commission more Australian content. The additional programs were financed by the savings from the dissolution of Ten's output agreement with 21st Century Fox. CBS also moved to re-establish an in-house advertising sales department for 2019, bringing to an end Ten's four-year period with the Foxtel-affiliated Multi Channel Network (MCN). One reason CBS acquired Ten was to assist the company to launch its CBS All Access streaming service in the Australian market. The service launched in December 2018 and was branded 10 All Access in the local market.
On 31 October 2018, the network unveiled a new logo, replacing the "ten" wordmark used since 1991 with a stylised circle 10, and the network is now referred to in the text as Network 10. The new brand is used across all of Network 10's platforms and services, and was intended to reflect the broadcaster's positioning as an "adventurous alternative" with a "sense of fun". 10 also relaunched its multi channels Eleven and One as 10 Peach and 10 Boss, with Boss focusing on dramatic programming and targeting an older adult audience, and Peach continuing to be targeted towards young adults. 10 Boss was forced to change its name to 10 Bold on 10 December 2018 due to trademark conflicts with Fairfax Media.
On 4 December 2019, CBS Corporation completed a re-merger with fellow media conglomerate Viacom as ViacomCBS; the two companies had previously separated in 2005. ViacomCBS subsequently began to integrate the companies' operations in Australia; in a reorganisation of the ViacomCBS Networks International division, Network 10 would join its new sister network in the United Kingdom, Channel 5 (which was owned by Viacom) as part of ViacomCBS Networks UK & Australia (now Paramount Networks UK & Australia) division in January 2020. The following month, it was announced that the former Viacom channels in Australia would be brought under the Network 10 sales department, moving away from Foxtel Media (formerly MCN) in April. Network 10 also began to co-commission new programmes with Channel 5, including the drama miniseries Lie With Me and documentary series The Royals Revealed.
On 13 July 2020, it was announced that Network 10 would launch a third digital channel, 10 Shake, on 27 September and on channel 13. The network carries children's programmes in the daytime hours (drawing primarily television from Nickelodeon), while evening and primetime hours will feature "edgy" series and films targeting young adults, including television programmes from Comedy Central and MTV, and CBS late-night talk show The Late Late Show with James Corden.
On 16 September 2020, in 10's metropolitan areas, various Network 10 channels moved channel places due to the launch of Network 10's third digital channel 10 Shake. The channels that moved places include TVSN, which moved to channel 16 from channel 14, 10 HD, which moved to channels 1 and 15 from channel 13 and Spree TV, which moved to channel 17 from channel 15. As a result, 10 Bold is now solely on channel 12. A placeholder for 10 Shake appeared on the same day.