The 1956 Melbourne Olympics: The event that made TV take off in Australia

Prior to 1956, most Australians had relied on newspapers and radio to access information about international events.

However, with Melbourne named as Olympic host in 1949, the Commonwealth Government faced growing public and political pressure to introduce television before the Games began, and officials acted quickly as a result.

By the early 1950s, Prime Minister Robert Menzies had supported plans to develop a national television system and had opened the field to commercial broadcasters who could help deliver the new service in time.  

The Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC) and companies such as TCN-9 in Sydney and HSV-7 in Melbourne began to build studios, to buy broadcast vans and to erect transmission towers.

Initial test broadcasts started in September, and as a result, on 16 September 1956, TCN-9 broadcast the first official television transmission in Sydney after a series of test broadcasts that had occurred that month.

HSV-7 followed suit in Melbourne on 4 November. Although technicians still fine-tuned their systems, both networks had finished preparing by the time the Games opened.

That rapid launch was largely driven by public demand and government support, and allowed Australian viewers to watch the country’s biggest sporting moment live on screen. 

By late November, the number of television sets in Melbourne had risen rapidly, especially in central districts.

Earlier in the year, fewer than 500 television sets had existed in the city. Yet by the end of the Olympics, more than 100,000 had been sold in Melbourne alone, with national figures, which were roughly estimated between 50,000 and 150,000, depending on the source.

People crowded into department stores, neighbours' lounges, and local halls to watch key events together, and as a result, many experienced live sport visually for the first time.

That shared excitement helped quickly establish television as both a useful source of information and a shared experience that would soon become common. 

Although the Games officially opened in November, the equestrian events had already taken place in June in Stockholm, Sweden, due to Australia’s strict animal quarantine laws.

Regardless, at the opening ceremony, an estimated tens of thousands watched from inside the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

At the same time, many more gathered around black-and-white television sets in homes, shop windows, and community centres.

During the Games, broadcast crews captured several of the most notable events in Australian sporting history.

Viewers watched Elizabeth "Betty" Cuthbert, who was then just 18 years old, as she won gold in both the 100 and 200 metres, followed by victory in the 4 x 100 metres relay.

Murray Rose, who was only 17, won three gold medals in the pool in the 400 metres, 1500 metres, and the 4 x 200 metres freestyle relay.

Meanwhile, the water polo match between Hungary and the Soviet Union became violent and political and later earned the nickname "Blood in the Water" as it took place just weeks after the Soviet invasion of Hungary.

The ABC, HSV-7 and other commercial broadcasters, which primarily used rooftop antennas and mobile broadcast vans, transmitted signals across Melbourne.

As reliable connections between states had not yet existed, broadcasters flew film reels to Sydney for next-day or, in some cases, later broadcasts.

So, although delayed, viewers outside Victoria still received video coverage of Olympic events for the first time. 

The Olympics let Australian audiences see themselves as active participants in a global event.

For a country long described as geographically distant and isolated from other countries, the ability to watch local athletes compete before a worldwide audience changed how Australians saw their country.

The footage, which had also been sent abroad for international use, allowed people in Europe and North America to witness Australia's ability to host a modern sporting event.

At home, Australians saw their country in a new light, and that exposure encouraged new pride and increased interest in what television might continue to offer.

At the same time, the shift began the decline of cinema newsreels, which had led visual reporting in Australian theatres for decades.

By early 1957, other cities quickly began to set up their own broadcast stations.

Adelaide and Brisbane launched regular broadcasts within months, while the pace of household adoption increased.

Sport soon became a regular feature of Australian programmes, as networks saw that live competition drew consistently large audiences, and as such, they began to expand their coverage.

The success of the 1956 Olympics had clearly shown that television was a practical tool for daily use that quickly introduced a new form of mass communication that connected neighbourhoods.

Over time, television gradually even changed Australian daily habits. News updates, variety shows, educational programmes and entertainment regularly filled household schedules.

Children typically watched cartoons in the morning, families gathered for evening broadcasts, and election campaigns started using more visual messaging.

Ultimately, the Olympics had provided the perfect opportunity to introduce the medium, and broadcasters had used it to great effect.

Without that moment of national attention, the adoption of television in Australia might have taken much longer.