Nine Gold Coast News: 25 years since television news service began in January 1996
It was 25 years ago this week that Rob Readings welcomed viewers to what became the Gold Coast’s longest-running television news. This is the story of how it happened.
History
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TELLING the story of the Gold Coast has been a job for more than 135 years.
The Gold Coast Bulletin was the region’s first news outlet, opening its doors on March 23, 1885, more than seven decades before the city would get its present name.
Over the years, many newspapers have come and gone, including the Surfers Paradise Mirror and even the Bulletin’s own sister paper, the Gold Coast Sun.
The same is true of television news with many networks that have taken a crack at breaking into the Gold Coast market
Television came to Australia in 1957 but it wasn’t until the early 1990s when the Gold Coast became a major market with its own news.
Prime Television announced in late 1991 it was launching its own nightly news in May 1992 in a move which cost more than $4.5 million.
Fronted by newsreader Neil McLean and general manager Gary Daly, it was created as a result of the Keating Government’s policy of aggregation allowing the nation’s three regional television networks -NRTV (Northern Rivers Television), Prime and NBN (Newcastle) – to compete in one region, even though they were aligned to metropolitan networks.
In early 1996 Channel 9 announced it would launch its own bid for television supremacy and launch its own nightly news on January 22 that year.
In what was promoted as an Australian television first, Nine offered two separate news services in the one viewing area.
At 5.30pm on weekdays, it split its signal so Brisbane viewers received the Extra program while viewers in the Gold Coast region got the local news, followed by the national news at 6pm.
The area which was to receive the Gold Coast bulletin stretched from Banora Point in the south to the Coomera River in the north.
But it didn’t come cheap. Nine spent more than $1 million expanding the bureau and increasing the number of reporters from two to seven and hiring new cameramen and editors.
Based out of Surfers Paradise’s 50 Cavill Ave, its founding staff included newsreaders Rob Readings, Leila McKinnon, bureau chief Michael Augustus, executive producer Paul Reed and cameraman Brian Russell.
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Mr Readings told the Bulletin at the time he was “nervous as hell” before taking the anchor’s chair.
“I love (the Gold Coast). I’ve always been an outdoor sort of person,” he said.
“Although I’ve got a hectic sort of job, it’s always nice to know you can stop off afterwards at the beach or pool.
“I always pictured myself ending up here eventually. It just happened sooner than expected.”
By 1998 Channel 7 launched its own Gold Coast news but Nine had the upper hand and both it and Prime’s news folded between late 1999 and late 2000.
Seven tried again in the early 2000s with Local Edition but it too failed to fire.
Nine Gold Coast hit tough times in 2006 when nationwide cuts to the network saw Mr Readings exit, though he returned for another multi-year stint between 2009 and 2011.
Bruce Paige, a legend of the television news industry took over as newsreader the same year and remains in the post today.
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