Lyndell Jobson (nee Carter) worked for Bill McKenzie and Graham Plummer in the Program Department from 1970 to 1974.

Lyndell kindly provided this story…

Boy where do you start with this wonderful experience of working with TVW7.

I started with Channel 7 in 1970 and worked in the Program Department for Bill McKenzie and Graham Plummer. I was fortunate enough to share the office with Glenys Gill. She was such a great help in assisting me with the tricks of the trade. We used to have many laughs in our office especially with Graham Plummer around.

Graham would waltz into the office throwing his hands up, nose in the air, and say well for the next two hours I will be up previewing movies with Mr. Cruthers. So just take any messages, and he would waltz right out again arms still waving around. It was almost like he floated through from one door to the next. It was so funny.

Bill McKenzie was a wonderful boss. He was always so calm, patient and made time to help you with anything you were unsure about. That was really important when first learning a job. I am sure Bill carried those qualities throughout his illustrious career.

About two weeks after I started, publicity wanted to take a photo obviously of the new recruit. I believe this was often done. I was asked to sit at my desk with my new IBM (golfball typewriter, boy I loved that typewriter) and smile. Like a mug shot.

Memories of the uniform. Not sure if it is still in place now. The summer uniform was pale blue, zip up the front, short sleeves and was to be a certain length. I can honestly say that was not obeyed. Me included. The winter uniform was a maroon pinafore dress, with a crème shirt or jumper underneath. Once again the length was variable. Black shoes for winter and white for summer. Please correct me ladies if I am wrong.

During 1971 I was asked to type the News bulletin on a Saturday. I think Brian Burke was in charge of the newsroom on those Saturdays. The newsroom boys loved a good laugh. Stuart Joynt was one of the biggest stirrers. Just about every secretary had a stint at typing the news. I can say there was never a dull moment. You usually started your shift around 3 pm – that was spent not doing a great deal, usually something involving humour, then around 4 pm the reporters would start coming back and formatting their stories, making jokes in between, – all men of course, and then 5 o’clock would come and it would be bedlam. The fingers would not stop typing for that hour. At 6 pm you would start to breathe again. It was all good fun.

The social side of Channel 7 was very good. There was always a party to go to or functions being held at work that needed assistance. For example, there were a few times the Sales Department would have client evenings and they would ask the secretaries to be hostesses. This would involve giving the guests their name tags, offering them a drink on arrival and ushering them through to the area where the evening was being held. Then there were the celebrations after the completion of another great Telethon. Most of us would work the full 24 hours. This was an occasion you did not want to leave, as there was always so much happening and so many popular faces to meet and greet. The Monday afterwards were not terribly productive. Thank goodness the bosses knew why. I really felt in those years we were just a big family.

The Miss West Coast Days were also fun. This usually consisted of two girls and a male driver in a mini moke going down to the beaches, and handing out Miss West Coast entry forms. I did this for quite a few weekends, with Peter Perron, can’t remember the other girls name (my apologies), boy was he a reckless driver or should I say would love to show off in front of the girls. He loved stirring us up. Still not sure to this day whether he had a licence. Great time, so many laughs.

Not sure of the year with this one, maybe 1971. We formed the first TVW netball team. We scouted for players and managed to get a team together. Glenys Gill, who was a great player herself, was our coach and we would have training most week days. I say most. We only won a few games unfortunately. The name of the players in the TV Week photo are Sophie Svircas (publicity), Luise Borsje (sales), Linda Smith (engineering), Sue Rayner (Ken Kemp’s secretary, she is in the jeans) and myself (programmes) shooting the goal.

Lyndell shooting a goal

The last vivid memory is the TVW Christmas Pageant – 1972. I remember when we were asked to do this. We all went scattering to find white boots. Lucky they were in fashion back then. It was a great day, and we all thoroughly enjoyed the build up, the march and watching the faces of the crowd, especially the children. I am glad this event still continues to this day.

Lyndell Carter

Left to Right: Lyndell Carter, Sally Mail, Jo Arinford, Linda Hundy and Glenys Gill

There were so many activities we were involved in. I would have to say that this job was one of the most enjoyable and memorable of all my working life.The people were just amazing and I still have some of those friends today. Thank you Channel 7 for the experience and enjoyment. Happy 50th.

I would like to acknowledge some of the girls I worked with. Glenys Gill, Anne Pick, Sharon Barron-Sullivan, Sophie Svircas, Linda Brownrigg, Linda Hundy, Maureen Burgwyn, Jeannette Ashley, Linda Smith, Lesley-Anne Lingham, Glenys Wheeler, Jo Rainsford, Jenny Rimmer, Yvonne Hale, Beryl Keaughran, Sandy Palmer (school friend) Jill Korbosky, Yvonne Garbellini. I am sure there are more but the memory is struggling a bit. There was also a lady in the reception area called Trish (not sure of her last name). Thank you and I hope I see you at the re-union.

Regards Lyndell Jobson (nee Carter)

My days at 7 were some of the happiest.

2009: Jeannette Smith (nee Ashley)

Company Secretary – Kingsrose Mining Limited

Having only recently arrived from Africa the year before joining TVW, it was all rather exciting as a 21 year old to be given an opportunity to work at a television station!

Ernie Taylor interviewed me and I recall at that time being informed how strict the organization was regarding accuracy and presentation of documents. How true!

I remember the first couple of weeks so well: I would arrive home each day with loads of paper stashed in my handbag (and anywhere else I could hide it) not wanting anyone to see how many mistakes I had made, or my numerous visits to the loo to dispose of excess paper! I’m sure some of the staff must have thought I had a serious health problem. Each day I kept thinking, today I will get fired if anyone sees this! However, as time went by and my confidence improved – like all the other secretaries – I became very proficient and my masterpiece was a document of 120 pages for Max Bostock and only two small errors – which I subsequently corrected of course!

I worked primarily in Sales and Production and periodically in the News Room at weekends. I also assisted with make-up when required. As with all jobs, some duties were routine and others exciting but the memories I hold today prove that it was far more exciting than routine.

I loved the live production side of my job, especially accompanying the (still) handsome Jeff Newman on the beach recruiting entrants for “Miss West Coast”; helping with Telethon; meeting Johnny Farnham and Kamahl, to name a few, and being part of the inaugural Channel 7 Christmas Pageant.

Of all the wonderful people I worked with, the one who will always hold fond memories for me is Frank Moss. He was always so warm and kind and had such an infectious smile. When he asked a question – pretending to be serious – he would then burst out laughing, but it was always done in a fun-loving way.

Our uniforms! – well, that’s another story. The hem had to be a certain length, no exceptions, and certainly nothing added to try and make it look more interesting (apart from the TVW emblem).

I recall making a bow out of a thin black shoelace and pinning it to the top of my dress just to be different. Frank Moss saw it – “hmm Jeannette, that doesn’t look like Company uniform to me!” Needless to say I only wore it once! I grew up with an Army Major father who said ‘jump’ and I said ‘how high’. No wonder I felt at home at TVW – just joking Mr Moss! 

… and what did the men wear – free dress, of course! As much as I hated wearing the uniform it made the decision of what to wear each morning very easy!

Why did I leave 7 if I loved it so much? – because I was becoming married to my job and despite working with a wonderful bunch of people and meeting so many interesting celebrities, I realized that I had to leave and meet some ‘ordinary’ people, especially as I was a new arrival to Australia.

I am certainly looking forward to the reunion, and thank you to all who are working so hard to put it together, but 37 years on, with skin now too big for our bodies, children, wear and tear, I just hope we all recognize each other!

Jeannette Ashley, Rick Rogers, Fat Cat, Sandy Palmer and Percy Penguin

Bill Bowen was the STW Executive Station Manager (TV & Radio) and Founder Appealathon 1970-1985

June Holmes notes that staff who worked at STW9 in the late 1960s will be sad to learn that PETER CONROY passed away on Thursday. Peter was Station Manager and Sales Manager in those days and worked with Milton Francis (also recently deceased).

Peter will be buried in Tasmania – which is where he and Noelle have lived for the past few years.

“I have attached the only old photo (I have) which includes Peter Conroy (on the right) with Bob Mercer (who was STWs first General Manager) at a Sales Seminar in 1969. (Marie Breckinridge was taking notes of the meeting).

Peter was Sales Manager 1964-68 and then Station Manager 1968-69.

His wife’s name is Noelle and they have been living in Tasmania since 2003.

Peter was held in high esteem by his co-workers and he loved his early years at Channel 9. I always admired him.”

June Holmes – STW Publicity & Programs 1965-70 & 1972-92

Kevin Campbell reports that Peter died at 6.45 pm on Thursday evening.

“From speaking with both his daughter Jane and Noelle, he was not in any pain leading-up to the time. Sad that another departs us. He of course took that big kick in life when his top gun son Cameron, who was flying an FA18 disappeared some years ago never to be found although some bits of the fuselage were found in the Gulf of Carpentaria.

I went to Hobart to be with Peter for the day a few weeks ago. I took him to lunch at the Wrest Point which he enjoyed immensely. He was a great guy, friend and colleague.”

Kevin Campbell was TVW Operations Manager, General Manager and Executive Chairman between 1964 & 1999

Darcy Farrell reports that he is, “Very sorry to hear it. I don’t think Peter ever overcame the death of his son, a Top Gun pilot in the RAAF who died when he drifted into unconsciousness in an F18 or something similar over the Gulf of Carpentaria about ten years (or more) ago.

With Brian Treasure, Peter played a very important role in acquiring the first Test Cricket match ever to be played at the WACA. The duo produced the submission that went to what was then the Board of Control. It was a successful pitch which placed Perth permanently on the Test Cricket program.

Peter was also on the boards of numerous charities including WA Week (now Celebrate WA) in its infancy. I think he remained a strong WACA committee man and I’m pretty sure he was on the committee at Lake Karrinyup Country Club.

Peter and Ian Parkes were the principals of Parkes Cleminger Advertising. Both were highly regarded and considered men of principle in the days when agencies were comparatively conservative.”

Darcy Farrell was TVW’s first News Editor who introduced TV news bulletins to WA in 1959

Spot on Darc and thanks for supplying the refresher. I had forgotten about his involvement with the cricket “pitch”. He was also very much at the forefront with the introduction of our WAIS. Apart from that he played cards with Treas a lot and “two bobs against the wall” didn’t he. I’m pretty sure that Greg Byrne was also a very close mate.

Anyway, yep, he was a great guy. I gave the speech at Lake Karrinyup when he was locating to Tassie and he asked me to bring into my words, mention of son, Top Gun Cameron. I had a tear and a lump in my throat, as did the majority of the 500 people at his “Roast” lead by the late Wally Forman.

Cheers to a mate

Kev Campbell

PS, fortunately for Pete, the RAAF had set-up a memorial recognition for Cameron, something of course his now late father PJC was very proud.

“I saw this too and guessed it was Peter?

It made me sad and sorry. Thank you for confirming.

I liked him very much and worked with him in Traffic and at STW as an early Floor Manager.

I send my condolences to his Wife and Family and will pray for them at this time.”

Keith Bales – Former TVW and STW now TVW Reunion Committee

Any messages/condolences may be sent to enquiries@grahamfamilyfunerals.com.au and these will be passed onto Noelle and Family.

Danni Harford was a dancer and choreographer with TVW between 1964 and 1968, then appeared in many specials and lavish stage productions.

Danni danced regularly with Kevan Johnston, during his time as TVW choreographer, then took on that role herself. Later returning to appear in a number of the key productions where Brian Smith was the choreographer.

In this video, Danni relates the Channel Seven Ballet period, where young pretty dancers supported Seven’s popular variety show In Perth Tonight and the high rating Club 7 Teen. Danni also provides insight of the early dance scene, when good rehearsal venues were in short supply. A time when other blokes thought that dancing was not the accepted male thing to do.

Lindsay Smith was a audio operator who worked for TVW from January 1961 to January 1968.

In December 1964, Lindsay took a break from his audio duties to join the TVW crew of Michael Gale (journalist) and Matt Williams (cine cameraman) on a trip to Lake Dumbleyung, a 13 kilometres long and 6.5 kilometres wide salt lake in Western Australia, to cover the world water speed record attempt by famed British car and motorboat racer Donald Campbell. Dumbleyung being a small wheatbelt town located 275 km south east of Perth.

Campbell broke eight world speed records in the 1950s and 60s. He remains the only person to set both land and water speed records in the same year. Campbell broke the land speed record in July 1964, on the Lake Eyre salt flat in central Australia, with a speed of 403.1 mph (648.72 km/h). Then on 31 December 1964 at Lake Dumbleyung, he reached the average speed of 276.33 mph (444.71 km/h) in his jet-propelled hydroplane named Bluebird K7. The feat shattered his previous world record of 260.35mph (418.99km/h) at Lake Coniston, Cumbria, in 1959.

Sadly Donald Campbell died attempting to break his own water speed record a little over two years later.

A year later, Lindsay himself became the story…

The Perth afternoon newspaper, the Daily News, reported on December 23rd, 1965, that TVW audio operator Lindsay Smith and Rottnest Ferry deckhand Trevor Kitcher were thrown overboard when a king wave hit the 42 foot ferry Temeraire, on the return trip from Rottnest to Fremantle, following the recording of an episode of In Perth Tonight on the holiday island. During the same incident, cameraman Russell Sage suffered cuts, and the three were taken to Fremantle Hospital for treatment.

Earlier in the day, the cast and crew of In Perth Tonight had mounted a full production of the popular variety show from the island. The same outside broadcast van, which was used for the 1962 Commonwealth and Empire Games at Perry Lakes, was shipped over to Rottnest on a barge. This included a portable power generator, and small truck containing a 2 inch quadraplex videotape machine. The facilities were required to enable the OB unit to move around the island, and record various dance and vocal segments, for assembling into the completed program. The show was produced and directed by Brian Williams

Joy Campbell (nee Heweston) worked firstly as a Secretary for George Howell in the music department for the Perth Talent Service and from there to Frank Moss, Brian Treasure and Jim Cruthers, working for TVW from 1963 to 1967.

In the early days of TVW under Frank Moss, all the secretaries had to be trained in the Accounts department first before they were assigned to a department and then for a period of about 12 months. We all did time in most departments so that if any one was away any one of us could step in and help out. I worked for George Howell in the music department for Perth Talent Service – employing talent from In Perth Tonight to various Hotels and clubs and from there to Frank Moss, Brian Treasure and Jim Cruthers.

The Heweston Twins with Frank Moss. Joy Campbell and Margie Nayler

However, in those very early days in the Accounts Department, Margie and I were always “swapping” over, and she would often jump into my typing chair and visa versa, until it drove Frank mad because he could never tell who he had given work to – in the end he said “The only way I can deal with you, is to put one of you upstairs and the other downstairs, and then I will know who and where you are”. And that’s the way it was – the film department was upstairs for Margie and Production downstairs for me.

Unfortunately, no one thought of taking many personal photos in those days and I don’t have many although I do have photos of our time when we set up Seven Ex and did lots of fund raising for Telethon. Frank Moss always kept a few photos of the girls at various functions.

Seven Ex

Front row: Janet Gill, Lloyd Lawson, Peter Dean, Phil Salinger and Maureen Demasi (nee Scorer)

Behind: Ivy Sucich (nee Fryzop), Linda Page (nee Brownrigg), Joan Dye (nee Cohen), Joyce Nisbet (nee Shepherd), Frank Moss, Margie Nayler (nee Heweston), Joy Campbell (nee Heweston), Audrey Long (nee Barnaby) and Dorothy Lee (nee Whitely)

Seven Ex

Lizzie Kirkham (nee Sorley), Frank Moss, Sue Scutton (nee Ammon) and Joy Campbell (nee Heweston)

It’s sad to think of Frank now being so frail – I spoke to him the other day as his brother Clem died and he rang to say thanks for a condolence letter I had sent. He is the most wonderful gentleman and he and I have stayed close after all these years. All the girls could tell some stories of Frank’s caring ways!

I do have some funny stories of how at night I would go home with my bag full of carefully ripped paper so that no one could see how many typing mistakes I had made and how much paper I had wasted! I also remember taking my shorthand book home and getting my Mum to help me read back some of the dictation which Jim Cruthers had dictated to me! In those days, I was too scared to tell him “You are dictating too fast for me!” Sometimes Jim and Frank would actually watch your shorthand lines and tell you if you had made the wrong stroke! They were so strict with their typing standards.

There was also a policy in place that no one could work at Channel 7 if you were married! However, on many occasions they actually found you employment at some other place – namely my sister Margie – they found her a job at 6PM when she left to be married. I think I was the first girl they kept on after Kevin and I married but I had to cash in my super and they employed me as a casual! I didn’t last too long because I became pregnant and of course a pregnant lady was a big no no!

Joy married Kevin Campbell, who began with Seven in 1964 as a technician and retired in 1999 as the chairman and managing director.

Following a number of complaints about this web site not covering all Western Australian television stations at this time, we consider a few words of explanation are in order.

It seems the site’s activities have also caused confusions regarding its relationship with the Australian Museum of Motion Picture Technology (AMMPT), which is conducting a “50 Years of TV in WA” exhibition at the Fremantle Arts Centre from Monday 5th October, 2009 -to- Friday 4th December, 2009.

AMMPT is a separate body of cinema and television collectors, who are devoted to restoring and preserving heritage equipment used by both industries.

The WA TV History web site is about heralding the activities of all who worked in the local television industry, but has made a pledge to AMMPT to only cover the TVW history until their 2009 exhibition is over.

Both groups have a common passion for preserving the history in it’s many forms, so its hoped that each can compliment the other in achieving this.

2009 is a special year for TVW Channel 7 in Perth, for on October 16th of this year we celebrate 50 years of television in Western Australia.

This web site wishes to commemorate the occasion and give recognition to the many people, past and present, who have contributed to our local television history. The information provided here is courtesy of TVW and the many staff who made it all happen.

It is a collaborate site where all the content comes from past TV employees in one form or another. The very people who made decisions, sold advertising or made and presented the programs, built and maintained the facilities, or provided support in many other ways.

Coordinating all this is Richard Ashton, Gordon McColl and Ken McKay.

Richard Ashton and Gordon McColl were the first two TV studio cameramen in Western Australia, providing the live pictures on the opening night of TVW on Friday October 16th, 1959.

Both gentlemen performed with distinction, rapidly rising to the role of program producers and directors.

Gordon was the director of Club 7 Teen during the period Johnny Young was the host, whilst Richard directed many programs, including a stint with In Perth Tonight. He was one of Max Bostock’s Special Events team, who planned or were involved with everything from the Christmas Pageant origins, to spectaculars at the Perth Entertainment Centre.

Gordon was, and still is, an avid photographer. In the early years he captured many behind the scene images that give a unique perspective of life at Seven in those days.

Richard has the distinction of probably being the longest serving employee in the WA commercial television industry. From 1959 to 1999, 40 years rising from cameraman to that of Manager of Group Color. He still volunteers his time as a cameraman for the yearly Telethon presentations, and has been involved with that charity event since it’s inception in 1968.

Though Richard is now retired, he assists TVW7 with their film library, early film projection and historical television equipment collection on a voluntary basis. He is also the official researcher and librarian of the Australian Museum of Motion Picture Technology (Western Region).

This year Richard will be undertaking a Research Fellowship with the National Film and Sound Archive in Canberra, which sadly means he will miss out on TVW’s 50th anniversary celebrations.

Ken McKay was one of the pioneering videotape operators, dating back to TVW’s introduction of this recording media in 1962. He was also part of the 1962 Commonwealth and Empire Games crew at Perry Lakes, and prior to that was involved in audio as a boom operator and panel operator. Most of his time was devoted to videotape operations, as part of the team recording everything from early specials such as Invitation to the Dance and the Good Oil to the full range of program record and playback activities during the first decade of this mediums use. Videotape cut editing was his specialty, before the advent of electronic and computer editing. Ken worked in the broadcasting industry for 31 years before venturing into online activities and internet provision.

We now busy ourselves video recording and editing, photo scanning, photo copying and documenting the recollections of the many veterans. At all times leaving the original content with the people who supplied it. We are also making DVD’s of the people we video record, giving them a copy as a memento.

Ken is also assisting the TVW reunion committee with their web site and helping process the many registrations by maintaining the list of reunion attendees and the Roll-Call of all known TVW staff.

Prominent people who have been most helpful, or contributed content, include virtually all the major TVW executives from the early days. This includes managing directors, general managers, chief executive officers, news editors and the many rank and file. TVW in the early days was like a family, and that culture is still fondly remembered today.

A great byproduct of all this activity is that it has enabled many old colleagues and friends to renew lost contacts, resulting in a variety of get togethers.

The idea for the WA TV History web site came from Ken’s early efforts to set up a similar site for the Australian Museum of Motion Picture Technology (AMMPT).

Sadly they asked that it be dismantled when there were fears that it would pre-empt their exhibition from October to December of 2009.

That would have been the end of it if it wasn’t for Jill Glass the TVW Promotions manager saying how useful the station Roll-Call was, considering 2009 is TVW’s 50th anniversary year.

Ken then agreed to mount a separate TVW theme web site to commemorate this special occasion. whilst making a pledge to AMMPT to not incorporate ABW2, STW9, NEW10 and BTW/GSW material until after the AMMPT exhibition is over… so as not to duplicate anything they were doing on the other stations.

From 2010, we hope to feature all stations equally, particularly as that year is the 50th anniversary of ABW Channel 2 in Perth.

One benefit a web site has over an exhibition, is that it enables people world wide to view the content. This has been most useful establishing contacts with TVW veterans who are now spread far and wide. Many now will be travelling from overseas and interstate to attend the TVW reunion on Sunday October 18th, 2009.

A television museum is something this state desperately needs. A permanent means of displaying the vintage equipment contained in the many private collections, and the considerable memorabilia that is surfacing as a result of this special occasion.

This web site’s collection of stories and images will be offered to the National Film and Sound Archive (NFSA) as a permanent record, subject to the approval of the many contributors.

We hope you find this site useful and informative, and welcome all suggestions.

Any help with stories or photos will be most welcome.

Working at TVW Channel 7 in the Early Days:

Private staff party showing Peter Partridge and Gwen Andrews

My introduction to working as a secretary at Channel 7 was for Bill McKenzie when he was Film Manager to fill in for Margie Naylor (Heweston) while she was on leave in South Africa. From the first day I felt so ‘at home’ and enjoyed the friendly atmosphere of TVW. When Margie came back we worked together for a little while and I really valued hers and her twin sister, Joy’s friendships during my time at Seven.

I went to work for Brian Treasure when he was still General Manager and his office was on the ground floor. (I also had the pleasure of getting to know Jocelyn (Brian’s wife) and his 4 children quite well over the years I worked for him.)

Brian Treasure

After the new section of the building was completed upstairs, Jill Norton (Korbosky) and I shared space with the Sales Staff with Brian’s and Greg Byrne’s offices opening into ours. When we were given our new ‘golf ball’ typewriters we were ecstatic, although we still needed to type six copies at a time (with carbon paper between the pages when doing reports) and not being able to make mistakes certainly honed our skills to be accurate with our typing. When the first photocopier came into accounts we were in awe!! (A far cry from the gestener in the room downstairs!!)

What fun it was to work at 7 back then. We were often called on to do other jobs as well and had many fun times helping out the producers on outside broadcasts, hosting at the special events (like the Sandover Medal) held in the studios, the Sales Christmas party in the Studio Grounds every year, Miss West Coast, ushering at big events and answering the phones and working at Telethon, etc. There was always something different and exciting happening and Jill and I were usually lucky enough to be involved in some way. You never knew who would be walking through the door next and the array of personalities from all over the world was amazing. We were often informed of what was happening with world events via the News Room and would know of major happenings mostly before they went to air. We had lots of fun, but also worked long hours (often on public holidays) staying until everything was done!!

Seven was small, but expanding so rapidly and Brian was always on the lookout to make Seven bigger and better. Along with many other things like Telethon, the Entertainment Centre, Miss West Coast, etc., Brian’s (and Michael Edgley’s) vision of bringing Disney on Parade to Australia was very successful. For me, it was an amazing opportunity being involved in such a production, first here in Australia and then being seconded to work overseas for Mike Grilikhes of Walt Disney Productions on the European Disney on Parade. When first doing the auditions, we were catching planes every second day all over Western Europe and Scandinavia for about 6 weeks. I was accommodated in the beautiful Grosvenor Hotel in London for 4 months (using it as my office) and had a chauffer driven car to take me to the theatre or airport. We also had 6 weeks in beautiful Geneva for the initial rehearsals. When the show started, I became a ‘night owl’ with the rest of the company. I would start work around 11am (a bit before the cast) and finish up after the show with everyone around 11pm. Then if we had the energy (which we always seemed to have back then) we would go to a movie, for a meal, to a club, etc! The opportunity to work and travel with so many people from so many different countries was amazing experience and something I will always be grateful for.

I look back on my years at Channel 7 with many happy memories and consider myself to have been very fortunate to have been part of those early years.

Gwen (Wendy) Storey (nee Andrews)

MEMORIES OF DAYS AT CHANNEL 7

1959 – as a child. I attended Children’s Channel 7 starring Rolf Harris; his wobble board and his magical sketches which appeared suddenly from a multiple of squiggles and Oliver the Octopus.

1968 – 9 years later. I was hooked from the moment I stepped inside the corridors of the Channel 7 studio for an interview. So much activity, so many different things to see. Studios, cameras, telecine and large offices manned with very happy people. And it covered such an enormous area. This place had something special going for it.

This 2009 photo shows the upper floor corridor looking towards where the former offices of Brian Treasure and Greg Byrne were located in the early 1970s

What a fantastic department to work in. Greg Byrne, Sales Manager and the mighty sales team of Joe Sweeney, Bob Horley and Don Odgers (The artful Dodger). Then working alongside me, Gwen Storey (Andrews) Secretary to Brian Treasure (BST) the General Manager. Being near the Oval Office (as I call it now) which was Brian Treasure’s domain, meant that many of the personalities and entertainers came to see him. During 7 years at 7 a few of these characters were; Abigail, Sabrina, Art Linklater, Jill Perryman, Stuart Wagstaff, Sammy Davis Jr., The Stars of Number 96, Michael Edgley & members of his family. The Edgley’s were regular visitors during the heady days of Disney on Parade.

A long corridor stretched from the large double glass doors of the office revealing every coming and going. Fat Cat and Percy Penguin were favourite appearances. I believe Greg and Judy Byrne designed them. Kevan Johnston and others gave life to these creations.

Attempting to fill Gwen’s shoes whilst she toured America with Disney on Parade was a great experience.

A trip to the Supply department (Ken Kemp’s domain) was an excursion. The warren passed so many interesting places; Telecine and rooms overlooking the studios (where, if you were lucky something might be happening) and engine rooms. Then it was down a large flight of steps to retrieve stationery. Supply was surrounded by the huge undercover props and costume area where something was always being constructed particularly near Christmas Pageant time.

MEMORABLE MOMENT was The first Moon Landing. Brian Treasure had a fairly impressive office with large TV. It was able to be blacked out and it was an extraordinary day July 29, when the sales team, Mossie, Gwen etc went in to witness this monumental event.

OTHER EVENTS

Memories of Christmas Pageants dressed as a Clown and riding a bike. A youthful, happy time, particularly seeing the beautiful children and their happy faces.

Bathtub Derby entrant at the South Perth foreshore circa 1971. Although no photographs, I recall wearing a fairly new pair of fine leather gloves to help grip the throttle. That wasn’t going to work as they were too tight and just before the start of the race the fingers had to be cut so they became a mitten. Expensive exercise and last past the post.

Telethon: Wonderful days. Ushering people into the studios on a rotation basis. Non-stop entertainment, phone rooms. The annual appearance of Mrs Bacon who just loved Stuart Wagstaff. She would arrive with her fruit mince pies. Handing over those pies became a necessary part of Telethon and Stuart did the right thing each time in his charming, gentlemanly manner. It was so much fun that we didn’t know when to, or want to, go home in case something was missed.

Disney on Parade. Before the Entertainment Centre was built, this event was held at Perry Lakes Stadium. It was another occasion for staff to usher and get to see the show. The atmosphere was electrifying.

World Championship Wrestling was also held at the Perry Lakes Stadium. Ushers were needed. No interest in wrestling but it was fun and amazing to see the crowd that attended.

Miss West Coast. In order to get entrants we would drive down to the beaches in a Beach Buggy and slowly cruise along looking for potential entrants. Entrant forms were handed to the many gorgeous girls who were interested. The heats were held at Beatty Park Aquatic Centre. What a night this was. It looked stunning in the evening. The water was still and sparkled under the bright lights. The girls were nervous and looked magnificent in their swim suits. Some of the entrants went on to enter the Miss Australia Quest.

Martin St James & Moonman. Spellbound was one of the most entertaining live shows I remember. I’m sure all the neighbours watched it.   

A much anticipated event was the Christmas Party for clients and advertisers. Held in the giant marquee out the back. There was so much good food and refreshments and entertainment. The girls acted as waitresses. It was all good fun.

The Entertainment Centre was Brian Treasure’s dream and it enabled Perth to have shows Like Disney on Ice.

It sounds like no work was done at all. Believe me, they were very busy days and tight deadlines had to be maintained to keep the show rolling. But it was such a marvellous and secure place to work, that time ceased to be relevant. We worked until the work was done. We even took on more duties, by working weekends, typing up the news reports.

Who needed to have a life outside of work when the social activities were combined with work mates. We went horse riding, had parties, occasional after work drinks at the John Barleycorn hotel in Osborne Park. We baby sat for bosses and their wives treated us like extended family. We made resolutions to get fit and go for early morning beach runs. These precious years with the TVW 7 FAMILY will always be recalled fondly and serve as a great reminder of youth.

The graphic arts department designed brilliant artwork. In particular my farewell card featured SKIPPY the kangaroo (my namesake) bearing a caricature of my face. I will treasure it and memories of 7 always.

Peter documents the demise of the Ampex ACR25s and how high maintenance and new technology made them obsolete.

We debated long and hard what to do as it broke our hearts to scrap these great machines, but they were so big and heavy (they weighed literally one tonne) that we just couldn’t find any reason to keep them. You’ll notice that we were wearing black armbands in one of the shots. These were partly a joke, but we were genuinely fond of these machines as techs.

It’s not as if they’d been kept, they could just be switched on and operated. They required a compressed air supply, a 30A mains feed (very heavy initial current draw on power on) and to be fed with sync pulses. Not to mention a floor capable of supporting 1 tonne.

We thought about keeping various bits. They were full of big motors and power supplies and so on, but every time I thought of grabbing something, I thought “What am I going to do with it??? Don’t be silly!”

So in the end, unfortunately, we got a scrap metal dealer in to make us an offer to take them away for scrap.

They were amazing machines and a masterpiece of electronic and electromechanical design. The Ampex company was something special. I was lucky enough to visit their premises in Redwood City, California in 1988 and got a very brief look at a machine being documented after manufacture. The handbooks alone occupied 4 large ring files of block diagrams, plus two monstrous ring files of the actual circuitry, plus about a dozen books describing the circuitry and operation. The great thing was that the circuits were accurate! This is not always the case with complex electronic gear, but with Ampex, you could rely on the wiring diagrams.

A major part of the manuals was “the interconnect”. This was a set of scores of fold out pages showing how all the parts of the machine were connected through all the hundreds of connectors and rear module connections. Once you learnt how to read these you could trace a signal or wire from source to destination through a mass of intermediate stages. The amazing thing is, I don’t remember ever finding an error in these diagrams.

We got our machines in late 1974 and boy, were they a steep learning curve! Most electronic equipment in those days was inherently unreliable and a fault a day was not uncommon on these machines. The theory was that a lot of the faults would occur early in the life of the machines (the first 3 – 4 years) and decline as they bedded in, then slowly rise as they got “old”. In those days, equipment was considered to have a useful life of about 10 years. (In the seventies, any new VTRs were accompanied by a manufacturer’s engineer who helped install the machine, then spent up to a week fixing the faults that were found on switch-on.)

But these ACR25s were so important to the station’s revenue that they had to be kept going, no matter what.

Complicating the scene was that (a) the first digital formats were coming out; (b) Sony was becoming a force in broadcast equipment, offering superb build quality and unheard of reliability (basically, fault free!); (c) Ampex and Sony’s digital formats were incompatible; and (d) TVW7 lost its autonomy in equipment choices after we joined the Seven Network, with control coming from Sydney.

The result was that choice of a digital replacement commercial cartridge storage system was long delayed, way beyond the design life of the ACR25s. In fact they had to be kept going until about 1996, a service life of 22 years!

The Ampex company had been steamrollered by Sony and Panasonic and had decided to concentrate on digital data tape storage for computer use. They still made a digital VTR, and a digital cart machine that STW9 bought, but the Seven Network dithered for years after Ampex dropped support for the ACR25s.

We, in fact, bought a whole range of assemblies for the ACR from scrapped machines in other states (ie from stations that had made their digital choices and moved on.) These were complete power supplies, mechanical assemblies, motors, headwheels and so on. They were quite cheep and a good bargain.

However, in the last few years, we were forced to remake a few of the printed circuit boards etc to keep the machines alive. They also no longer went direct to air. All the commercials still came from the ACR25s, but went to digital cassettes as whole breaks, so that any faults could be fixed without loss of revenue. It was extremely labour intensive and wasteful, but the transition to a new cart system took a long time.

The new cart system was the Panasonic MARC machine, which contained five D5 digital cassette decks. Each station in the Seven Network got one, at a cost of a bit over $1 million each. These were very good, but videotape was rapidly overtaken by digital recording to hard disks and they were only used for about seven years! They were replaced by Tektronix boxes filled with standard hard disk drives, offering almost no moving parts operation. So ended videotape. The end of an era.