At 7pm on 5 November 1956, the Australian Broadcasting Commission's television service ABN Channel 2 began transmission. Television was just months old in Australia with TCN-9, HSV-7 and GTV-9 having started in September. ABC television's opening ceremony was produced from an outside broadcast van parked on Kellett Street in Kings Cross, Sydney and relayed from a stumpy mast across the Harbour Bridge at Gore Hill, known affectionately as 'Little Toot'. Official speakers at the ceremony included Prime Minister Robert Menzies and the Leader of the Opposition, Dr Herbert Evatt. The show went on in spite of many 'first night' mishaps, including a silent violinist, a broken newsreel and the camera catching the host unawares during his smoko. Only Sydney audiences saw the opening of the 'national television service' which was national in name only. It was Melbourne's turn two weeks later when ABV Channel 2 began transmission on the eve of the Olympic Games.

In this excerpt from ABC television's first broadcast, host Michael Charlton, perhaps unaccustomed to being visible to his broadcast audience, seems unsure of what to do with his hands. He crosses over to Brian McLennan who explains the trajectory of the signal from Kings Cross to Gore Hill. The camera pans across Sydney, capturing the city at a time when the AWA and 2UW radio towers were the tallest structures of the skyline and William Street was a quiet boulevard.

Image Source: ABC TV cameraman, ABC Archives