Editing Network 10 (section)

===Origins===
From the introduction of TV in 1956 until 1965, there were three television networks in Australia, the [[Nine Network|National Television Network (now the Nine Network)]], the [[Seven Network|Australian Television Network (now the Seven Network)]], and the public [[Australian Broadcasting Corporation|ABC National Television Service]] (now [[ABC TV (Australian TV network)|ABC TV]]). In the early 1960s, the [[Government of Australia|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 [[AWA Technology Services|Amalgamated Wireless]], [[CSR Limited|Colonial Sugar Refining Company]], [[Email Limited|Email]], [[Bank of New South Wales]] and the [[NRMA]]) on 4 April 1963.<ref>AWA Group gets TV licence ''[[Daily Mirror, Sydney|Daily Mirror]]'' 5 April 1963 page 1</ref>

Structurally, the Australian television industry was closely modelled on the two-tiered system that had been in place in [[List of radio stations in Australia|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.