Nine Network

Background

The Nine Network (commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is a major Australian commercial free-to-air television network, founded in 1956 as the National Television Network, becoming known as the Nine Network in the late 1960s. Nine adopted their famous "dots" logo in 1970. In 1975, Nine Network along with all other Australian TV channels switched to full time colour broadcasts. The Nine Network is one of three main free-to-air commercial networks in Australia, the others being Seven and Ten.

1st (known) Logo (1972-1975)

Nicknames: “The Channel Nine Feeling”, “Channel Nine Shuffle”

Logo: On a black background, there are 2 white dots stuck to each other. A dot slides across the screen and splits the 2 dots. Then, 2 more dots drop down and position themselves in a plus shape. 2 colons slide up and down from the screen edges and collide with the ends, forming an incomplete square. One final dot slides in from the right side of the screen and pushes one of the dots to the middle, forming a 3x3 grid of dots. The middle dot zooms in to turn the screen white, going to a random live-action part. After it finishes, the screen fades back to the dots, which then turn into a squishy-looking "9". The "9" then cuts out as the dots appear column by column, before the "9" appears to complete the famous logo.

Variants: There are several variants of the live action sequence (around 40 were reportedly made). Here are just some of them:

One variant starts with people walking across what looks like a clothing shop for women. One of the females standing on a huge step, starts dancing to the tune soon after and finishes the dance by looking to her right.
One variant starts in a clothing shop where people are buying clothes. One of the people picks up a shirt and starts dancing the same way as the previous variant.
A variant starts with a woman walking in park as a man sits on a bench reading a newspaper and eating what appears to be his lunch. The woman then starts dancing in the same way as the previous variants before running off while the man takes notice of what she's doing and stands up in shock.
A variant starts with two people fighting with what looks like a stick. The person on the left starts dancing the same way as the previous variants. The man on the right then points his stick and the man on the left reveals his face as happy.
Another variant starts with a man mowing his grass before he starts dancing in the same way as the previous variants. He then looks to his right.
Another variant starts with a man closing the gates at a manually operated level crossing. He then starts dancing in the same way as the previous variants and then looks to his right.
Another variant starts with a person in a hairdressers room. She then starts dancing during progress and then goes back to allow her hair to be fixed again.
We see someone making food in another variant and starts dancing in the same way as the previous variants. He then throws his ingredients on a table.
We see someone playing golf. Just when he's about to shoot the ball, he starts dancing the same way as the previous variants. He then swings but misses the ball.
We see a man juggling with three balls as the camera zooms out. He then starts dancing while he's juggling but fails to keep juggling.

FX/SFX: The dots moving, the live-action.

Music/Sounds: A funky trumpet tune. Before finishing the tune, an announcer says "Get the Channel Nine feeling."

Music/Sounds Variant: There is also a variant where the trumpet tune is more of a fanfare. The announcer here explains the transmitter info.

Availability: Extinct.

Editor's Note: None.

2nd Logo (March 1, 1975-1977)

Provided ID could not be validated.

Nicknames: "Come on Along"

Logo: We zoom out from a neon city background, similar in style to the previous logo, to reveal a boulevard rendered in the same style in which we see Channel 9 personalities dancing and having fun. The personalities seen include Paul Hogan (later known for Crocodile Dundee), Humphrey B. Bear, cricket commentators Richie Benaud and Tony Greig, presenter and comedian Bert Newton and journalist Ray Martin, among others. As the fanfare crescendoes, we pan up and see the 9 logo, in gold and sans dots as per the previous logo, rise up from behind the city background. The logo shines.

FX/SFX: Live Action and CGI

Music/Sounds: A reorchestrated version of the "Come on Along!" song from ABC's idents at the time.

Availability: Extinct. Check those tapes.

Editor's Note: None

10th logo (1984-1987)

Adelaide variant, celebrating the 25th anniversary of the local 9 station.

Provided ID could not be validated.Provided ID could not be validated.

Provided ID could not be validated.

Nickname: "Millennium Nine", "Nine 2000"

Logo: We zoom through a firey red background filled with gold spheres. We zoom into one of the dots, which opens to reveal "2000" with three CGI spheres as the zeroes. We zoom through one of the zeroes as nine more spheres fly past us to form the iconic dots as the nine logo is revealed in an updated version of the previous ident's bacgkgound with numerous 2000's in a horizontal line repeating in the background. The "still the one" slogan appears below.

FX/SFX: CGI again.

Variants:

One variant has "New Millenium Television" instead of "Still the one".
In Adelaide, the slogan reads "spirit of south australia"

Music/Sounds: A triumphant, adventurous fanfare, leading into the "Still the One" jingle.

Availability: Per the previous logos.

Editor's Note: None.

17th Logo (2001-2002)

"Sport"
"Urban"
"Lifestyle"
"Entertainment"
"News"

Provided ID could not be validated.

Nicknames: "Dot Matrix Nine"

Logo: There are several idents.

"News": The nine dots appear in the middle of the screen before more dots appear spreading horizontally across the screen, then vertically in strands, eventually filling the screen with strands of dots animating in a Matrix-esque manner, before a swoosh appears, revealing the 9 logo on the bottom right of the screen with a white rectangle on the left and the "still the one" slogan on the right as well as a white rectangle. A world map appears behind the logo.

"Lifestyle:" We see a silhouette of a woman dancing with chinese fans though a kaleidoscope effect. Eventually, two rectangles appear and split apart to reveal the 9 logo.

"Urban:" A gold-clad woman is shown through various kaleidoscope effects.The 9 dots then appear and move to the side as the rest of the logo and the slogan appear.

"Sport:" TBA

"Entertainment:" We see various angles of a woman dancing with a shining shroud against a background of CGI light streaks. The logo animates in in the same manner as in "Urban"

Variant: Sometimes the ninemsn url will appear in place of the slogan.

FX/SFX: CGI, with live action in some cases.

Music/Sounds:

"News": A rousing string orchesration leading into the "still the one" jingle" with a female vocalist singing "still the one" to the three-note jingle.
"Lifestyle:" A contemporary beat.
"Urban:"

Availability: See the previous logo. "News" was the main ident and so is the easiest to find. The "Lifestyle" ID has cropped up on YouTube, though the others are much harder to find.

Editor's Note: None.

18th Logo (2002-2004)

Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday

Provided ID could not be validated.

Nicknames: "9 Box", "Dotless 9"

Logo: On a grimy, warehouse like background, we see two panels at a diaginal angle facing inwards and the new 9 logo, a white 9 (an updated version of the original logo's 9) in a blue box, in the middle.

Variants:

Initially, a cloud background was used instead of the "warehouse"
One variant, made to mark 50 years of Australian television has a clip of Nine's founding boss, Bruce Gyngell, saying "Good Evening and Welcome to Television" reflected on the panels. This clip was the first moment of Australian Television in 1956.
An updated version has the box rotating as a cube with every second face showing the iconic dots.

FX/SFX:

Music/Sounds: A contemporary beat

Availability: Extinct

Editor's Note: This rebrand was recieved very poorly due to it's abandonment of the 9 dots and the apparent cheapness of its associated on-air graphics, which were said to resemble a PowerPoint presentation.

21st Logo (2007)

Nicknames: "9 Box II", "9 Cube", "Personalities", "Dotless Nine II"

Logo: We see a number of Channel 9 personalities pan past the frame, some of them interacting with the 9 logo, taking it away, putting it back or moving it. As this happens, the 9 logo occasionally rotates in a cubic fashion.

Later Variant: Starting May 2007, the dots are revealed on two opposite sides with the number "9" intact on the other way.

FX/SFX: CGI and live action.

Music/Sounds: An intense score.

Availability: Extinct.

Editor's Note: None.

22nd Logo (2008-2009)

dotless variant used on STW-9 in Perth and NWS-9 in Adelaide, which were under seperate ownership to the rest of the network.

Nicknames: "We love TV", "We heart TV" "Smile" "Return of the dots"

Logo: On a sky background, we see a translucent rendering of the new slogan, "we heart (the heart being an actual heart symbol) TV" as a series of CGI circles fly around it. The slogan rotates and turns into the 9 from the previous logo as the dots settle into place next to it to form an updated version of the classic 9 logo.

Variants:

FX/SFX:

Music/Sounds: The new network song, a cover of "Smile" by the Supernaturals.

Availability: Extinct.

Editor's Note: This ident marks the full return of the famous 9 dots, 2 years after their apparent retirement, and a year after they were used as a secondary element of the "rotating cube".

23rd Logo (2009)

Adelaide/Perth variant

Nicknames: "Choose 9" "Circles"

Logo: We see a green dot zoom out and explode into many dots. This leads to a cascade of other dot "explosions". The explosions rotate, changing colour with each turn from greens and yellows to pinks and purples to blues and whites. Finally, we see 9 of the dots rotate in to fill about halfthe frame. the word "Choose" appears in one of the dots, next to which the Nine logo appears.

Variants: There are two short variants, one with only the pink section leading into the end of the ident and one with only the green portion leading into the end of the ident.

FX/SFX: CGI.

Music/Sounds: An upbeat tune with male singers vocalising throughout then singing what sounds like "smile" at the end.

Availability: Extinct

Editor's Note: Given the short lifespan and apparent cheapness of these idents, it's possible they were a placeholder for the next ident

24th Logo (2009-2012)

Nicknames: "Welcome Home" "The Big Blue 9"

Logo: We see a blue structure from various angles, as streaks of light pass through the logo. We pan through one of the walls to reveal that the structure is actually the Nine logo. We then see the logo from various close-up angles a-la Columbia Showcase Theatre. We finally cut to a front-on angle as the logo zooms into place and the new slogan, "Welcome Home", writes itself in in a cursive font

FX/SFX: Impressive CGI.

Music/Sounds: A grand, rising orchestration leading into the classic "Still the One" jingle.

Availability: Extinct. Check those recordings.

Editor's Note: This ident marks the return of the classic Nine jingle, three years after it's apparent retirement.

25th Logo (2012-2017)

Nicknames: "The Swoosh", "Colourful 9" "Welcome Home II"

Logo: We see various shots of a "swoosh" passing the frame in variouys colours, sometimes weaving around spheres in the same colour as the swoosh and the background. The colours are as follows: blue, red, green, purple, yellow, green. Eventually we cut to a shot of the swoosh moving up the left side of the frame as the Nine logo appears on the right with "Welcome Home" below it. As this ha[ppens, the colour changes three more times from purple to yellow to blue

FX/SFX: Again, impressive CGI.

Music/Sounds: An upbeat tune with vocalising, leading into the "Still the one" jingle"

Availability: Extinct. While elements of this branding are still used, albeit in a slightly updated form, the ident itself is no longer used.

Editor's Note: This is Nine's final regular ident to date. As of 2017, only holiday-themed idents are used as well as some made for special occasions and significant events.