NBN (TV station)

NBN is an Australian television station based in Newcastle, Australia. The station was inaugurated on 4 March 1962 as the first regional commercial television station in New South Wales, and has since expanded to 39 transmitters throughout Northern New South Wales including Lismore, Tweed Heads, Tamworth, Coffs Harbour, Newcastle and the Central Coast as well as the Gold Coast, Queensland. It is owned and operated by the Nine Network, with regional sales and newsroom located at 28 Honeysuckle Drive.

The station's call sign, NBN, is an acronym for Newcastle Broadcasting New South Wales. NBN is the only regional station in mainland Australia to produce a one-hour news bulletin seven days a week. Since 2007, it has been owned by Nine's parent company Nine Entertainment making it a sister station to its metropolitan counterparts. However, following the PBL acquisition, NBN at the time continued to operate as an independent regional affiliate of the main network under the name NBN Television. On 1 July 2016, when Nine switched regional affiliations outside Northern NSW and the Gold Coast, NBN was finally folded into the Nine Network adopting the primary logo with the NBN name retired on air.

In January 2026, Nine Entertainment announced its intention to sell NBN to the WIN Corporation.

NBN's original owner, the Newcastle Broadcasting and Television Corporation (NBTC) was founded in May 1958 to begin preparations for the upcoming television licence allocations. The main shareholders in NBTC were United Broadcasting Company (owned by the Lamb family, owners of radio station 2KO), Airsales Broadcasting Company (owners of local radio station 2HD), and the Newcastle Morning Herald & Miners Advocate (to be bought out by John Fairfax & Sons). In accordance with the Australian Broadcasting Control Board regulations, at least 50% of the company had to be locally owned. Approximately 2,000 people bought shares.

The Australian Broadcasting Control Board awarded the commercial television licence for the Newcastle and Hunter Valley area to the NBTC on 1 August 1961. NBN-3 would transmit on VHF channel 3, from a transmitter atop Mount Sugarloaf near Newcastle. Council approval for the transmitter was issued on 17 July that year.

The call-letters, NBN, were derived from the company's name, Newcastle Broadcasting and Television Corporation, with the second N representing New South Wales, as required by law. Unofficially, it stood for "Newcastle Broadcasting Network".

Construction began in November 1961, supervised by engineers from RCA in the United States. It was a step backwards for RCA, building a new station transmitting in black and white while colour television was fast becoming the norm in the United States. Ninety per cent of the original equipment was imported from the United States, and held in bond until they were due to be installed. Equipment was purchased with colour production and transmission in mind, so that only 20% modification would be required when colour came to NBN. Studios were to be built on a 3-acre (1.2 ha) block at Mosbri Crescent, near the city centre.

Work on the 142 m (466 ft) transmitter was delayed by a combination of weather, the conditions for the road leading to Mount Sugarloaf, and excited sightseers blocking work trucks during the weekends. During that time, the technical team stayed at the top of the mountain. The construction took eight months at a cost of $1.5 million, and required staff to work seven days a week (except on Christmas Day) to make the deadline.