[1] Over the next three years, planning for the introduction of a national television service was put in place, land for studios and transmitters in Sydney and Melbourne was acquired, and overseas tutors were brought to Australia to assist with training.

[1] The ABC's 1956 Annual Report stated that it aimed to create a “television service as truly national in character as its resources will permit”.

It was restored in time to be displayed at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney and was used to film the visit of Queen Elizabeth II to the site of the National Museum in 2000.

[4] ABQ in Brisbane was the third ABC TV station to launch, in November 1959; it was followed in 1960 by counterparts in Perth (ABW), Hobart (ABT), and Adelaide (ABS).

Although radio programs could be broadcast nationally by landline, television relay facilities were not put in place until the early 1960s.

In the same year, technical equipment was also moved to permanent locations, while main transmitters were introduced to Melbourne and Sydney in 1957 and 1958, respectively.

[6] In 1963, using microwave transmission as a temporary measure, television programs from Adelaide were viewed simultaneously across the four eastern capitals.

[6] Videotape equipment, allowing the sharing of footage with much greater ease and speed, was installed in each state capital by 1962.

It was only after considerable developments in technology and construction of further infrastructure, that in 1970/71 that test cricket was broadcast live in every state and the ACT.

[6] Teletext services were introduced to ABC TV in 1983 to allow hearing-impaired viewers access to closed captions.

[7][8] Australia Television was sold to the Seven Network in 1998; however, the service continued to show content from ABC News until its closure in 2001.

[citation needed] During the 1960s and early 1970s the channel continued to broadcast programmes on popular music, including the pop show Hitscene, performance specials by groups such as Tully and Max Merritt & The Meteors, as well as the magazine-style programme GTK, which premiered in 1969 and screened for 10 minutes, four nights per week at 6:30 pm, immediately prior to Bellbird and the 7:00 pm news bulletin.

[9] The hugely popular rock music program, Countdown began in 1974,[6] produced at ABC Melbourne's Ripponlea studios and hosted by Molly Meldrum, and ran until 1987.

On 19 December that year, the channel's idents were revamped featuring a modified ABC logo transforming to a television.

[citation needed] ABC2, a second attempt at a digital-only television channel, was launched on 7 March 2005, running on a budget of $3 million per year.

[18] On 22 April 2009, the Labor government announced its commitment to the proposal as part of its response to the Australia 2020 Summit conducted in 2008,[19] and ABC Me was launched on 4 December.

The iview website streams video at 650 kbit/s in the H.264 format, and uses the RTMP protocol, which makes it accessible to web browsers installed with Adobe Flash.

Iview is also available through native apps for iOS and Android smartphones, tablets, and HDMI devices, as well as on some brands of internet-connected TVs.

ABC television services within Australia carry no advertising by external sources; it is banned under the Australian Broadcasting Corporation Act 1983, which also ensures its editorial independence.

[42] ABC Australia, which broadcasts throughout the Asia-Pacific region, receives additional funds through DFAT and some advertising on the channel.