Events February – Kim Kilbey starts hosting Australia's Funniest Home Video Show, replacing long-time host Jo Beth Taylor. 12 February – British Swiss children's animated TV series Pingu (which started off as a segment on the Seven Network's The Book Place) makes its debut on ABC, starting off with the first two episodes at 8:25am. It will later broadcast several more episodes on 24 March at 3:55pm and again in several months on weekdays at 10:25am, 9:25am, 7:25am (for Sundays), 8:25am (for a second time) and at 4:55pm (until 1 January 1999 in all states and on 8 January 1999 in Western Australia). 16 February – The pink rabbit Mixy from The Ferals/Feral TV presents her own children's weekday morning block on ABC, starting from 7:30am to 10:00am. 16 February – British children's series Teletubbies debuts on ABC. 18 February – The talk show The Panel debuts on Network Ten. 24 February – The hospital drama series All Saints debuts on the Seven Network. 27 February – The British drama series Midsomer Murders premieres on the Nine Network. 1 March – The American comedy series Dharma and Greg premieres on the Seven Network. 27 March – Darwin finally gets a second commercial television station when TND-34 opens, taking a Seven Network affiliation. WIN Television WA is granted a licence to expand its broadcast into regional & remote Western Australia. 27 April - Network Ten launches game show Battle Of The Sexes, hosted by Ed Phillips. Also that night, Network Ten begins Fast Forward’s Funniest Moments, featuring sketch highlights from the former Seven Network comedy show for twelve episode run. Fast Forward’s Funniest Moments was digitised and was released on DVD in 2004 as part of the Fast Forward In Rewind collection. 10 May – Australian drama series SeaChange debuts on ABC. 24 June – Karl Kennedy (Alan Fletcher) has a massive fight with Susan Kennedy (Jackie Woodbourne) about his feud with serial bombshell Sarah Beaumont (Nicola Charles), and slaps him in the face very hard on Neighbours. 29 June – British sitcom Father Ted premieres on the ABC, two years after its debut on the Nine Network. 7 July - GMA with Bert Newton celebrates its 1500th episode. The show began as The Morning Show in 1992 and took on the Good Morning Australia name the following year. That night, Network Ten screens the Kylie Minogue concert special Kylie — Intimate And Live, including behind-the-scenes footage of two months of preparation, planning and rehearsal for Minogue’s Australian tour. 20 July – Hey Hey It's Saturday launches its Red Faces documentary series and spin off Gonged But Not Forgotten, premieres at 8:30pm, on the Nine Network. 31 July – The Wiggles' first self-titled television series debuts on the Seven Network. 22 August – British pop duo Lighthouse Family perform on the Nine Network variety program Hey Hey It's Saturday. 28 September – Pokémon makes its debut on Network Ten. 12 October – Nine Network debuts a brand new talk show called Strassman, presented by American ventriloquist and comedian David Strassman at 9:00pm. 22 November – The 1995 film Babe premieres on the Seven Network. 27 November – After thirteen years, the final edition of Midday airs on the Nine Network, and Ray Martin leaves A Current Affair. He was replaced by Mike Munro. Martin would later return to the program five years later. On the same night, Brian Naylor retires from reading Melbourne's National Nine News after twenty years; he is replaced by Peter Hitchener. December – The remote Central & Eastern Australia markets are aggregated, with Imparja taking a Nine Network affiliation & Seven Central (formerly QSTV) taking a joint Seven & Network Ten affiliation. 20 December – The pay television station Disney Channel Australia introduced Foxtel to The Wiggles who debuted in a special taking place in Disneyland, California titled The Wiggles in Disneyland. This was later screened on the Seven Network. Future Hollywood actor Hugh Jackman hosts the 1998 Carols in the Domain, live on the Seven Network. 21 December – Network Ten debuts a brand new children's series aimed at pre-schoolers called In the Box, replacing The Music Shop. 24 December – The children's series Misery Guts which only ran for thirteen episodes, premieres on Nine Network.
Debuts
Domestic Program Channel Debut date Breakers Network Ten Mixy ABC TV The Panel Network Ten Hot Streak Seven Network All Saints Seven Network Kings in Grass Castles Seven Network Bananas in Pyjamas: Bumping and a Jumping ABC TV Denise Seven Network Battle of the Sexes Network Ten SeaChange ABC TV The Micallef P(r)ogram(me) ABC TV Live and Kicking Seven Network Petals ABC TV Bobtales SBS TV Gonged But Not Forgotten: Australia's Best & Worst of Red Faces Nine Network The Wiggles // Let’s Wiggle Seven Network The Games ABC TV Search for Treasure Island Seven Network Something Stupid Seven Network Driven Crazy Network Ten Changing Rooms Nine Network Stingers Nine Network Skippy: Adventures in Bushtown Nine Network House From Hell Network Ten The Toothbrush Family (season 2) Network Ten Ketchup: Cats Who Cook Network Ten The Big Cheez Network Ten Strassman Nine Network The Day of the Roses Network Ten A Difficult Woman ABC TV The Russell Gilbert Show Nine Network 19 October Hazards, Disasters and Survival ABC TV Too Much Medicine? ABC TV Global Village SBS TV In the Box Network Ten Misery Guts Nine Network
International Program Channel Debut date Ghost Stories Network Ten Ramadan Journeys SBS TV The Lazarus Man Seven Network Campus Cops Network Ten The Merchant of Venice (1996) ABC TV All Dogs Go to Heaven: The Series Seven Network The Last Frontier Seven Network Big Bad Beetleborgs Network Ten The Great American Sex Scandal Seven Network Jumanji Network Ten Men in Black: The Series Network Ten / Nostromo ABC TV Soul Man Seven Network Stickin' Around (TV series) ABC TV Veronica's Closet Nine Network Just Shoot Me! Network Ten / Pingu ABC TV Team Knight Rider Network Ten Teletubbies ABC TV Extreme Dinosaurs Network Ten Materials We Need ABC TV Stephen Hawking's Universe ABC TV Midsomer Murders Nine Network Dharma and Greg Seven Network Goode Behavior Seven Network / The Little Lulu Show ABC TV Jonathan Creek ABC TV Homeboys in Outer Space Seven Network // White Fang Seven Network One West Waikiki Seven Network Toonsylvania Nine Network Kipper ABC TV Sometime, Never ABC TV Soul Music ABC TV Buddies Seven Network The Angry Beavers ABC TV Our Mutual Friend (1998) ABC TV Pauly Seven Network Fly by Night Seven Network / Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation Network Ten Mummies Alive! Seven Network Hypernauts Nine Network Spirits of the Jaguar ABC TV Big Cat Diary ABC TV Around the World in 80 Dreams Seven Network Bureau of Alien Detectors Network Ten Extreme Ghostbusters Network Ten Power Rangers Turbo Seven Network True Tilda ABC TV Hairy Maclary ABC TV The Forgotten Toys (TV series) ABC TV The Morph Files ABC TV Wyrd Sisters ABC TV Radetzky March SBS TV Freaky Stories ABC TV / Tabaluga Seven Network A Respectable Trade Nine Network Jungle Cubs Seven Network Space: Above and Beyond SBS TV Land of the Tiger ABC TV // The Adventures of the Black Stallion Seven Network Baywatch Nights Network Ten Merlin Nine Network The Animal Shelf ABC TV Enid Blyton's Enchanted Lands ABC TV EZ Streets Network Ten Deadly Games Seven Network Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist SBS TV Game On ABC TV Pensacola: Wings of Gold Nine Network Working Seven Network Reckless Seven Network Oscar and Friends ABC TV The Scold's Bridle ABC TV Nick Freno: Licensed Teacher Nine Network The Human Body ABC TV / Minty ABC TV Ally McBeal Seven Network Fall from Grace Network Ten Mad TV Nine Network In the Red ABC TV Plotlands ABC TV Science Court Seven Network Airport Nine Network Cow and Chicken Seven Network The Visitor Seven Network Pokémon Network Ten The Roseanne Show Network Ten The Magical World of Margaret Mahy ABC TV Mr. Rhodes Seven Network USA High Seven Network A Season in Purgatory Network Ten Aliens in the Family (1996) Seven Network Mr. & Mrs. Smith Seven Network In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great ABC TV How Do You Want Me? ABC TV Ultraviolet ABC TV Brooklyn South Nine Network 1914-1918 ABC TV The New Adventures of Zorro (1997) Nine Network The Cola Conquest ABC TV The Jerry Springer Show Network Ten Delia's How to Cook ABC TV The Love Boat: The Next Wave Network Ten The Life of Birds ABC TV La Femme Nikita Nine Network Felicity Seven Network Tarzan: The Epic Adventures Nine Network Looking After Jo Jo ABC TV The Net Network Ten PSI Factor: Chronicles of the Paranormal Network Ten Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place Seven Network Townies Seven Network The Ambassador Seven Network Alright Already Network Ten V.I.P. Network Ten Brambly Hedge Nine Network / More Tales of the City Nine Network Kids Say the Darndest Things Nine Network Storm Warning Network Ten The Boss ABC TV Invasion America Nine Network The Gregory Hines Show Nine Network Meego Nine Network Father Christmas and the Missing Reindeer Seven Network / Oscar's Orchestra ABC TV / Poltergeist: The Legacy Seven Network Meet the Ancestors SBS TV Project ALF Seven Network Koki ABC TV
Subscription television Domestic Program Channel Debut date Funhouse Fox Kids
International Program Channel Debut date Good & Evil thecomedychannel The Wacky World of Tex Avery Disney Channel Pepper Ann Disney Channel Nightmare Ned Disney Channel Paul Merton in Galton & Simpson's arena Extreme Machines Discovery Channel Guiding Light FOX Soap Singled Out MTV Australia Renford Rejects Nickelodeon Journey of Allen Strange, The The Journey of Allen Strange Nickelodeon Family Affairs UKTV CatDog Nickelodeon Wild Thornberrys, The The Wild Thornberrys Nickelodeon Franklin Nickelodeon 1998 // The Adventures of Paddington Bear Nickelodeon 1998 / The 3 Friends and Jerry Nickelodeon 1998 Breaker High Fox Kids 1998 / The Adventures of Sinbad Fox Kids 1998 Bear in the Big Blue House Disney Channel 1998 // The Country Mouse and the City Mouse Adventures Nickelodeon 1998 Kassai and Luk Nickelodeon 1998 Austin Stories The Comedy Channel 1998 Rex the Runt The Comedy Channel 1998 / Captain Star The Disney Channel 1998 Pond Life The Comedy Channel 1998 / Pocket Dragon Adventures Fox Kids 1998 Student Bodies Disney Channel 1998 The All New Captain Kangaroo Fox Kids 1998 Space Goofs Fox Kids 1998 The Adventures of Dawdle the Donkey Fox Kids 1998 The Big Comfy Couch Disney Channel 1998 Chicken Minute Disney Channel 1998 The Kidsongs Television Show Disney Channel 1998
Telemovies
International Program Channel Debut date King Leek arena
Specials
International Program Channel Debut date Paul Reiser: Three and Half Blocks From Home thecomedychannel
Changes to network affiliation This is a list of programs which made their premiere on an Australian television network that had previously premiered on another Australian television network. The networks involved in the switch of allegiances are predominantly both free-to-air networks or both subscription television networks. Programs that have their free-to-air/subscription television premiere, after previously premiering on the opposite platform (free-to air to subscription/subscription to free-to air) are not included. In some cases, programs may still air on the original television network. This occurs predominantly with programs shared between subscription television networks.
Domestic Program New network(s) Previous network(s) Date The Gift ABC TV Nine Network
International Program New network(s) Previous network(s) Date Murder, She Wrote Nine Network Network Ten Keeping Up Appearances Seven Network ABC Heartbeat Seven Network ABC The New Archies Network Ten Nine Network / Father Ted ABC Nine Network Jim Henson's The Storyteller ABC Network Ten / A Christmassy Ted ABC Nine Network
Subscription premieres