Editing STW (section)

===1970s and 1980s===
Among the station's key achievements, it produced a major drama series in 1973 - ''[[The Drifter (TV series)|The Drifter]]'', starring [[Alan Cassell]]. In the run up to the launch of colour broadcasting, STW produced the first full colour TV news bulletin in November 1974.<ref>[http://televisionau.com/2015/06/nine-perth-turns-50.html Nine Perth turns 50], televisionau.com, 12 June 2015</ref> The station won its first [[Logie Award]] in 1971 for locally produced variety show ''Spotlight''.

STW remained independently owned until 1978, when it became affiliated with the [[Nine Network]], allowing direct access to its programming. In 1984, the station was bought by businessman [[Alan Bond (businessman)|Alan Bond]] for just under $50 million, becoming part of Bond Media. It became a network [[owned and operated station]] when Bond purchased the Nine Network from [[Kerry Packer]].

In April 1984, STW9 became the first station in Perth to commence 24-hour broadcasting. The station also claimed the first hour-long news program in the city, beating TVW, and mirroring Ten's in SA and eastern Australia (Ten did not have a station in the city until NEW-10 launched in 1988).

In 1989, Bond Media sold STW to [[Sunraysia Television]] for [[Australian dollar|A$]]95 million. The deal also involved Bond Media purchasing the Sunraysia owned [[STV (TV station)|STV-8]] for [[Australian dollar|A$]]18 million. Bond Media was forced to sell due to the Federal cross-media ownership laws, which restricted the level of national reach for media owners.<ref>{{cite news | author = Webb, Richard | title = Sunraysia settles STW-9 purchase | work = [[Australian Financial Review]] | date = 20 April 1989}}</ref>