MTN is a television station licensed to serve Griffith and the surrounding Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area (M.I.A.). The station is owned and operated by WIN Corporation as a Seven Network affiliate.
As WIN is the sole commercial television broadcaster in the area, they also supply the stations AMN, a Nine Network affiliate, and the supplementary station MDN, a Network 10 affiliate. This twinstick operation was permitted due to the broadcasting authorities considering Griffith and the M.I.A. too small for three television companies, but large enough for a single company running two stations. The broadcast region covers approximately 39,700 square kilometres, encompassing 20 urban centres which include Leeton, Narrandera, Hay, Hillston and Lake Cargelligo. According to 2006 Census data, it is estimated the region has a population of 64,200.
History
MTN began transmission on 15 December 1965 on channel 9. At its launch, MTN was owned by Murrumbidgee Television Limited, a publicly listed company, whose shareholders at the time included local radio station 2RG.
The costs of operating a television station in such a small market led MTN to join with CWN–6 Dubbo and CBN–8 Orange in forming the Television 6–8–9 network, in 1973. While the majority of the programming and identification came from the network, MTN did run its own news service as well as some programs of local interest and popularity, separate to the rest of the network. In March 1981, the network was rebranded as Mid State Television. Rancorp, who were the existing owners of stations RVN/AMV in Wagga Wagga and Albury, acquired Mid State Television in October 1987, and thus adding additional stations to the network. In November 1988, Mid State Television rebranded as Prime Television. During this time, regional areas were serviced by one commercial station and the ABC, and as a result, the regional commercial network hand-picked titles from the three metropolitan commercial networks to air in their region. Unfortunately, this meant that regional viewers were not able to watch all of the same shows as their metropolitan counterparts. As a result, the Hawke government introduced aggregation, whereby regional stations would be grouped together and become sole-affiliates for one metropolitan station, and additional stations would launch in regional areas so that regional viewers had access to the same amount of channels as metropolitan viewers. However, the government deemed Griffith and the M.I.A. to be too small a market for aggregation, and as a result, MTN was abandoned by Prime Television in 1989 and remained independently owned. MTN then took up an affiliation with WIN Television, who in turn was a Nine Network affiliate in southern New South Wales. While the majority of the programming was the same as WIN's, it retained its news service and aired some Seven Network programming, such as its coverage of the Australian Football League, in preference to Nine's rugby league.
In 1979, MTN was purchased from Murrumbidgee Television Limited by Henry Jones Limited. Other owners since have included , Lochfield Consultants, MTN Television, and Associated Media Investments.
The Australian Broadcasting Authority relaxed the rules regarding station ownership in solus markets in the mid-1990s. The changes allowed for one company to operate two stations without competition, provided the Authority did not have reason to believe another company would be interested. MTN applied for a Section 38A licence in 1995, and after being refused once, challenged the Authority, and was successful on appeal – ultimately being granted the second license on 18 July 1996. The second channel launched on 5 October 1997, on UHF channel 31 using the callsign AMN (a variation of Victorian station AMV). It was a direct feed of Prime Television Orange, with the exception of its local news, which AMN replaced with alternative programming. Since then, AMN has changed from being a direct feed of Prime7 to being a feed of Seven Network Sydney.
WIN Corporation brought MTN and AMN from then-owner Associated Media Investments on 6 July 1998. Following the sale of the station, minor changes occurred, including MTN changing its on-air branding from MTN Television to WIN Television, and the news service rebranded as WIN News.
In 2000, the government introduced changes to the Broadcasting Services Act 1992 which allowed for two-station markets such as the M.I.A. to be granted a third license to be broadcast in digital-only. This change in the Act became Section 38B, and saw the region allocated a third license on 14 June 2011. This third station, using the call sign MDN and broadcasting on channel 32, launched on 13 January 2012.