9Life is an Australian free-to-air digital television multichannel owned by Nine Entertainment. The channel airs mostly foreign lifestyle and reality programs, with the channel having a licensing agreement with Discovery Inc. (previously Scripps Networks Interactive) for the distribution of many formats.[1]

9Life
Logo used since 2015
TypeLifestyle programming
CountryAustralia
Broadcast areaSydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, Darwin, Northern NSW and Gold Coast, Regional QLD, Southern NSW/ACT, Broken Hill NSW, Griffith NSW, Regional VIC, Mildura VIC, Tasmania, Spencer Gulf SA, Eastern SA, Regional WA
NetworkNine Network
Programming
Language(s)English
Picture format576i SDTV
Ownership
OwnerNine Entertainment
Sister channelsChannel 9
9HD
9Gem
9Go!
9GemHD
9Rush
Extra
9Go!HD
History
Launched26 November 2015; 8 years ago (2015-11-26)
Links
Website9now.com.au
Availability
Terrestrial
TCN Sydney (DVB-T)1059 @ 8 (191.5 MHz)
GTV Melbourne (DVB-T)1074 @ 8 (191.5 MHz),
QTQ Brisbane/Sunshine Coast (DVB-T)1030 @ 8 (191.5 MHz)
NWS Adelaide (DVB-T)1106 @ 8 (191.5 MHz)
STW Perth/Mandurah (DVB-T)1026 @ 8 (191.5 MHz)
Freeview Nine metro (virtual)94
Freeview Nine affiliate (virtual)83/84/85
Streaming media
9Now

History

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The channel was first announced on 28 October 2015, and began broadcasting on 26 November 2015 in metropolitan areas on channel 94.[2] 9Life replaced the main broadcast of datacasting channel Extra, which was moved to channel 95 to replace its timeshift channel Extra 2.[1]

9Life began being included in the official OzTAM ratings on 1 December 2015, where it recorded a 2.3% primetime share, nearly double that of sister channel 9Gem, which has been the biggest channel launch since 9Go! in 2009.[3]

NBN Television announced on 16 February 2016 on their website that they would carry 9Life from 1 March 2016 on channel 84.[4]

Regional affiliate WIN Television announced on 10 February 2016 it would launch 9Life in the coming months.[5] It was later confirmed the channel would launch on 1 March 2016 on channel 84.[6] Four WIN regions were excluded from the 1 March launch date. Griffith, Tasmania, and Eastern South Australia did not receive the channel until 2 March 2016 due to technical issues.[7][8] In addition, the Regional WA station did not launch the channel until 10 March 2016.[7][9]

On 29 April 2016, Nine announced that it had signed a new affiliation deal with Southern Cross Austereo, dumping WIN Television as its primary affiliate starting 1 July 2016.[10] Upon the switchover, 9Life became unavailable as WIN ceased broadcasting it and Southern Cross did not have the technical equipment to broadcast the channel. Three months later, the channel recommenced broadcasting in the Regional Queensland, Southern NSW/ACT and Regional Victoria markets on channel 54 on 17 July 2016.[11][12] This left Regional WA, Tasmania, Mildura and Griffith without the service.

In 2017, 9Life began broadcasting in Darwin via Nine's O&O station, NTD.

On 30 September 2018, 9Life recommenced broadcasting to Tasmania, this time via TDT Tasmania,[13] and it became available to the Spencer Gulf/Broken Hill region (via GTS/BKN) for the first time.

On 12 March 2021, Nine announced that it would return to WIN Television as its regional affiliate in most markets beginning on 1 July 2021, in a deal that will last at least seven years. From 1 August 2021, 9Life is available in regional areas via WIN Television on channel 83, replacing Sky News on WIN.[14] This returned the channel to Regional WA, Mildura and Griffith after an absence of five years.

Programming

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The majority of programming comes from Discovery's lifestyle and reality shows produced for an American audience, some of which have already aired through the Foxtel and Fetch TV platforms.[1]

Original programming

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Current programming

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Past

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Availability

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9Life is available in standard definition in metropolitan areas through Nine Network owned-and-operated stations: TCN Sydney, GTV Melbourne, QTQ Brisbane, NWS Adelaide, STW Perth and NTD Darwin as well as NBN Northern New South Wales and other stations WIN Southern NSW/ACT, GTS/BKN Broken Hill NSW, AMN Griffith NSW, GTS/BKN Spencer Gulf SA, Port Augusta SA, SES/RTS Eastern SA, RTQ Regional QLD, VTV Regional VIC, STV Mildura, TVT Tasmania and WOW Regional WA.

The 9Life channel is not available in the Remote Central & Eastern TV market only.

Slogan

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  • 26 November 2015 – present: Starts Here

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Barrett, Dan (28 October 2015). "Nine 2016 Upfront: Plans to broadcast in HD and launch new lifestyle FTA channel". Mediaweek. Retrieved 28 October 2015.
  2. ^ Knox, David (28 October 2015). "Nine Upfronts 2016: Nine goes HD, new lifestyle channel -and Daryl Somers returns". TV Tonight. Retrieved 28 October 2015.
  3. ^ Knox, David (1 December 2015). "New channels up and rating for Nine and SBS". TV Tonight. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
  4. ^ "New Digital Television Services coming to NBN". NBN Television. 16 February 2016. Archived from the original on 20 February 2016. Retrieved 16 February 2016.
  5. ^ Knox, David (10 February 2016). "No 7flix for Prime, new channels "soon" for WIN". TV Tonight. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
  6. ^ Knox, David (26 February 2016). "WIN HD, 9Life launch for regional viewers March 1st". TV Tonight. Retrieved 26 February 2016.
  7. ^ a b "WIN HD and 9LIFE". WIN Television. Retrieved 1 March 2016.
  8. ^ @WIN_TV (1 March 2016). "To our Tas, Griffith & S.A viewers, the roll-out of #WINHD & @9LIFE will be delayed until tomorrow, we apologies for the inconvenience" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  9. ^ Knox, David (10 March 2016). "WIN HD and 9Life now in regional WA". TV Tonight. Retrieved 11 March 2016.
  10. ^ White, Dominic (29 April 2016). "Nine and Southern Cross in multi-year affiliation deal". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 29 April 2016.
  11. ^ "SCA Affiliation Agreement with Nine Entertainment Co., FAQ". Southern Cross Austereo. 5 May 2016. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
  12. ^ "Nine On 5 FAQ". Southern Cross Austereo. 12 June 2016. Archived from the original on 11 June 2016. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
  13. ^ "9Life to return to Tasmanian viewers,". TV Tonight. 15 September 2018. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
  14. ^ "Regional TV viewers left wondering what has happened to 9LIFE?". TV Blackbox. 1 July 2021. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
  15. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "Say hello to Australia's first free - to - air lifestyle channel" (PDF). Channel Nine Publicity. Nine Entertainment Co. 28 October 2015. Retrieved 24 November 2015.
  16. ^ "9Life Celebrates First Year Of Success". Nine Entertainment Co. 24 November 2016. Archived from the original on 27 November 2016. Retrieved 26 November 2016.
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