List of Australian music television shows
This is a list of Australian produced music television shows.
Early days of music television pre-dated video clips, and included variety style series, miming series, and pop series, and with the advent of music videos, shows gave way to slickly prepackaged film clips with a host compère mixing live local acts. The most recent trend has been towards near and complete compère-free shows which show music videos exclusively.
Talent quests and competitions are shown in the second table below.
Music television
| Title | Period | Network /Channel | Presenter | Notes | |
| Accent on Strings | 1956 | TCN-9 | ? | Sydney only. Piano and string recitals. Series debuted during the first official day of programming on station TCN-9 | |
| Campfire Favourites | 1956 | TCN-9 | Frank Ifield | Sydney only | |
| The Isador Goodman Show | 1956-1957 | HSV-7 | Isador Goodman | Consisted of Isador Goodman playing the piano in a 15-minute time-slot. | |
| Billabong Band | 1957 | ABV-2 | ? | A live program which ran for a short series of four episodes. It featured Australian folk songs, but little else is known about the series. Broadcast in Melbourne. At least one of the episodes survives as a kinescope recording. | |
| Blues, Studio One | 1957 | HSV-7 | Joan Bilceaux and her Quintet. | Joan Bilceaux was a jazz singer. This short-lived series aired live in a 15-minute time-slot. Replaced on the schedule with first Australian-produced sitcom Take That | |
| Neptune Presents | 1957 | GTV-9 | ? | Melbourne only, this was a weekly 5-minute series featuring vocalists. | |
| Rhythm Roundup | 1957-1960 | ATN-7 | Roy Hampson | Exact format is unknown. Hampson, a disc jockey, also hosted Record Roundup during the late-1950s. | |
| Teenage Mailbag | 1957-1959 | HSV7 | Ernie Sigley, Heather Horwood and Gaynor Bunning | Melbourne; Cast sang requested songs | |
| Hillbilly Requests | 1957-1958 | GTV-9 | Tom Campbell | Episodes starred the Victoria Banjo Club | |
| The Hit Parade | 1957–1959 ? | HSV7 | John Eden | Melbourne. | |
| Juke Box Saturday Night | 1957-1958 | GTV-9 | Bob Horsfall | Replaced with The Astor Show in early 1958 | |
| Choice of the People | 1957-1958 | ATN-7 | Milton Saunders | The series presented songs requested by viewers. Milton Saunders was a pianist and played the requests on the piano. | |
| Melody Time | 1957-1959 | ABV-2 | Ormonde Douglas | Professional musicians performed live | |
| TV Disc Jockey | 1957-1958 | TCN9 | John Godson | Sydney only | |
| Accent on Youth | 1958 | TCN-9 | John Godson, quickly replaced with Brian Henderson | This was the follow-up to TV Disc Jockey. There is conflicting information as to when the series debuted and who was the host. The format consisted of teenagers dancing to records, while there was also guest vocalists. It later became Bandstand. | |
| Ardath Hit Parade | 1958-1959 | ATN-7 | Keith Walshe, Jimmy Parkinson | A different series to the Melbourne "Hit Parade", this series featured the top 10 hits of the week. There were guest singers and groups from time to time. It was a spin-off from the variety series Sydney Tonight. | |
| The Astor Show | 1958 | GTV-9 | |||
| Country Style | 1958 | ABC | ? | Aired in Sydney and Melbourne, this was a live variety series with emphasis on country and western music. Frank Ifield appeared and sang in several episodes. | |
| Eunice Gardiner Presents | 1958 | TCN-9 | Eunice Gardiner | Sydney only. Eunice Gardiner played selections on the piano, and also interviewed personalities in the field of music. After several months it was replaced on the schedule with Music for You. | |
| Melody with Milton | 1958-1960 | ATN-7 | Milton Saunders | Milton Saunders was a pianist. Daytime series in Sydney only. | |
| Music for You | 1958-1960 | TCN-9 | Isador Goodman | Sydney only. Goodman was a pianist. | |
| The Toppanos | 1958-1959 | ATN-7 | Enzo and Peggy Toppano | Live music and ad-libbed comedy | |
| Valerie Cooney Sings | 1958 | ABN-2 | Valerie Cooney and the Jack Allan Trio | Replaced on the schedule by Vic Sabrino Sings | |
| Vic Sabrino Sings | 1958 | ABN-2 | Vic Sabrino | Sabrino's real name was George Assang, and he was a singer. At the time, ABN-2 was not a 24-hour station, and Vic Sabrino Sings was used as the final program of the programming day for several weeks. Like many ABC series of the 1950s, it aired for a much shorter season than shows on commercial television. | |
| Your Hit Parade | ? | ? | Brisbane | ||
| Club Seven | ? | Seven | Brisbane | ||
| In Time | ? | ? | Adelaide | ||
| At Your Request | 1958-1959 | HSV-7 | Charles Skase | "Requested songs". Information on this series is scarce. Charles Skase was a baritone. | |
| Bandstand | 1958–1972 | Nine Network | Brian Henderson | ||
| Cool Cats Show | 1958-1960 | HSV-7 | Don Bennetts | Aimed at teenagers. The Ted Vining Trio were regulars. | |
| Australian All Star Jazz Band | 1959 | ABC | ? | Variety series with emphasis on jazz music. The band consisted of Terry Wilkinson, Freddie Logan, Ron Webber, Dave Rutledge and Don Burrows. | |
| The Bert Newton Show | 1959 - 1960 | GTV 9 | Bert Newton | Became Hi-Fi Club in 1960. Artists lip-synced their songs. | |
| The Jimmy Parkinson Show | 1959-1960 | ATN-7 | Jimmy Parkinson | A music series starring singer Jimmy Parkinson. | |
| Johnny Gredula Sings | 1959-1960 | ATN-7 | Johnny Gredula | Johnny Gredula sang requested songs in this series. | |
| Make Ours Music | 1959-1961 | ABC | Included music performances and dancing. Produced by James Upshaw | ||
| Patrick O'Hagan Sings | 1959 | ATN-7 and GTV-9 | Patrick O'Hagan | Irish tenor sang songs in a 15-minute time-slot during daytime | |
| Serenade | 1959-1960 | ATN 7 | Ray Melton, Peggy Brooks | Johnny O'Keefe, & others | |
| Words and Music | 1959-1960 | ATN-7 | Milton Saunders and Colin Croft | Sydney only. Milton Saunders was a pianist. | |
| Youth Show | 1959-1960 | ATN-7 | Keith Walshe | Sydney only. A music series, with a focus on teenage talent, particularly artists who had not yet reached stardom. | |
| Bongo | 1960 | GTV-9 | Russell Stubbings | Melbourne only. The actual format is not known. It aired live and was aimed at teenagers. | |
| The John Konrads Show | 1960-1961 | TCN-9, HSV-7 | John Konrads | A music series aimed at teenagers, with singers, dancers and musicians. | |
| The Lorrae Desmond Show | 1960–1964 | ABC | Lorrae Desmond, & others | Episodes consisted of music performances, and dance production numbers. | |
| Tea for Two | 1960 | HSV-7 | Jocelyn Terry | A daytime music series featuring singer Guido Lorraine. | |
| The Johnny O'Keefe Show / Sing, Sing, Sing | 1961–1962 1962-1965 | Seven Network | Johnny O'Keefe | ||
| The Bryan Davies Show | 1962-1963 | ABC | Bryan Davies | ||
| Trad Jazz | 1962-1963 | Seven Network | Graeme Bell | Re-titled "Just Jazz" in 1963 | |
| Saturday Date | 1963-1967 | TCN-9 | Jimmy Hannan, later Tony Murphy | Aimed at teenagers. | |
| Jazz Meets Folk | 1964 | ABC | Alan Dean | ||
| Teen Scene | 1964–1965 | ABC | Johnny Chester | ||
| The Go!! Show | 1964–1967 | ATV-0 | Alan Field, Ian Turpie, Johnny Young | Melbourne only | |
| Kommotion | 1964–67 | ATV-0 | Ken Sparkes | Monday to Friday at 5.30 pm. | |
| Club Seventeen | 1965?–1969? | TVW-7 | Gary Carvolth, Johnny Young | aka 7-Teen. Perth. | |
| It's All Happening | 1966 | Seven Network | Billy Thorpe | Sydney. | |
| It's A Gas | 1966 | ABC | Bobby & Laurie | Later renamed Dig We Must. | |
| Uptight | 1967–1969 | ATV-0 | Ross D. Wyllie | 8am to 12pm Saturday mornings. | |
| Where The Action Is | 1967 | TEN-10 | Johnny O'Keefe | Sydney. | |
| GTK | 1969–1975 | ABC | 10-minute show at 6:30pm weeknights/ | ||
| Hitscene | 1969–1972 | ABC | Dick Williams | - | |
| Happening '70 | 1970–1972 | ATV-0 | Ross D. Wyllie | ||
| Now Sound | 1970 | GTV-9 | Ronnie Burns | Age - Green Guide - 6 June 1970 - 30 Minutes, prior to Bandstand at 5:00PM | |
| Sounds Unlimited / Sounds | 1974–1987 | Seven Network | Donnie Sutherland | ||
| Countdown | 1974–1987 | ABC | Ian "Molly" Meldrum, various guest hosts | Initially on Friday evenings, later Sunday evenings at 6pm with a repeat on following Saturday. | |
| Bandstand 76 | 1976 | Nine Network | Daryl Somers | ||
| Target | 1976 | ABC | Mark Holden Jane Fennell | magazine type program which included music, week nights at 5:45 | |
| Funky Road | 1976 | ABC | Stephen McLean Bernie Cannon Albie Thoms | Started 24 February 1976 as a rebadged GTK which moved to a weekday 10:30 slot 30min program | |
| Flashez | 1976-77 | ABC | Ray Burgess | Mon-Fri 4:30pm magazine style incl music | |
| Nightmoves | 1977–1986 | Seven, and later Ten | Lee Simon | Ch 7 1977-83, Ch 10 1984- | |
| Music Express | 1975–1984 | SteveCurtis | In Sth Aust ADS7 4-6pm Saturday's and on relay to SES 8,RTS5a and BKN7 | ||
| Studio One | 1980–1983 | BTQ-7 | 7 Brisbane had this local program, because Sounds ex ATN-7 Sydney was screened on QTQ-9 Brisbane. | ||
| VideoDisc | 1981–82 | ABC | 5 minute clip prior to 7pm news | ||
| Rock Arena | 1982–1989 | ABC | Peter Holland ?, Andrew Peters, Glenn Shorrock Suzanne Dowling | Originally concerts as per Nightshift, 1st episode was a concert of The Kinks 1979. Later in 1982 started showing clips and by 1984 recorded live studio performances as well. | |
| Wrok | 1982 | Network Ten | 5pm-5:30pm Mon-Fri | ||
| Countdown Friday | 1982 | ABC | Clip show with voiceover from John Peters, Approx 22 episodes July-Dec | ||
| Breezin | 1981–1984 | Bendigo BCV8 | John Hurst and Glenn Ridge | Friday nights around 10pm for 1 hour | |
| Rock Around the World | 1982–1985 | SBS | Basia Bonkowski | Mon-Thurs 6-630pm, Friday 1 hour at approx 11pm | |
| Take 5/Take V | 1983–1984 | ABC | 5 minute clip prior to 7pm news, replaced Videodisc | ||
| Countdown Flipside | 1983 | ABC | Request show hosted by John Peters | Saturdays 5pm | |
| Clipz | 1983–1987 | QTQ9 Brisbane | Brisbane only | ||
| Music Video | 1983–1987 | Network Ten | John Torv 1984-85, Basia Bonkowski 1985-86 | One of the earliest all night music programs before Rage which consistently showed music clips along with interviews and reviews. Was cut in early 1987 when Video Hits started. | |
| Saturday Juke Box | 1983–1988? | BTQ-7 | Brisbane only, replaced Studio One | ||
| Trax | 1984?–1989? | Ch 7 -1986, Ch 10 1987-? | Andrew Peters, SAFM DJ's | Clip show in Sth Aust and WA only | |
| Wavelength | 1984 | Nine | Jono & Dano | clip show 5:30pm Mon-Fri | |
| Continental Drift | 1984 | SBS | Basia Bonkowski | Saturday 6-6:30pm | |
| Freeze Frame | 1984 | SBS | Friday 6-630pm covered music, fashion and comedy | ||
| Antenna | 1984–1985 | ABC | Sunday morning 10-10:30, music clips, lifestyle and reviews | ||
| Tracks | 1984?–1988? | TVT-6 Hobart / Tas TV | Tony Fox | Clip show in Tasmania only | |
| Night Shift | 1985 | Ch7 | Shown in Adelaide | ||
| Simulrock | 1985 | Andrew Peters | Shown in Adelaide in conjunction with SAFM | ||
| Top 40 Video | 1985 - 1989 | Adelaide, 3 hour show playing the Top 40 clips | |||
| Kulture Shock | 1985 | SBS | Tony Hughes, Oriana Panozzo, Gee Ling | later became The Noise, Nomad and Alchemy | |
| The Noise | 1986? | SBS | Annette Shun Wah? | later became Noise TV | |
| Nomad | ~1987 | SBS | Annette Shun Wah? | ||
| Alchemy | ~1987 | SBS | Annette Shun Wah? | ||
| SevenRock | 1985?–1987? | BTQ-7 | Bill Riner, BBQ Bob Gallagher | Late Friday evenings - Brisbane only, six week summer simulcast with FM104 which was so popular it lasted over 6 years | |
| Beatbox | 1985–1988 | ABC | TBC | Saturday morning - replaced by The Factory | |
| Rockit | 1985 | Ch 9 | Lee Simon | ||
| Between The Teeth | Sep1986–Sep1987 | ABC | Paul Schluter, Emma Honey | Saturday morning 10-11am, produced in 1 Davey St Studios, Hobart, Tasmania. Producer Richard Reisz, Script John Muirhead, Director Ron McCollough, Sound Alvin de Quincey, Andrew Ross, Voice Neil Grant. Video hits show largely experimental in approach with comperes frequently acting out skits that linked one video clip to another. Tried to break stereotypical approach of most compered shows. Filmed on location and studio. Included top ten summaries from UK, USA and Australia. Included a flashback and alternative hit. | |
| Video Hits | 1987–2011 | Network Ten | Kelly Cavuoto, Axle Whitehead, Faustina "Fuzzy" Agolley, Nathan Sapsford, Hayden Guppy, Dylan Lewis | Saturday and Sunday mornings | |
| Off The Record | 1987?–1989? | Ballarat BTV6 | Glenn Ridge | Saturday mornings 10:30-12:00 | |
| rage | 1987–current | ABC | Friday show is generally compère-free. Saturday show has numerous guest presenters | Friday and Saturday nights until early morning | |
| Nightshift | 1987–1989 | Network Ten | Friday and Saturday nights approx 12am-6am | ||
| MTV | 1987–1992? | Nine Network | Richard Wilkins | late night show, later moved to pay-TV | |
| The Factory | 1987–1989 | ABC | Andrew Daddo and Alex Papps | Saturday morning | |
| Countdown Revolution | 1989–1990 | ABC | Tania Lacy | ||
| Video Smash Hits | 1990–1996? | Seven Network | Michael Horrocks, Emily Symons and Kym Wilson | Saturday mornings. Ran opposite Ten's Video Hits | |
| Racket | 1991-92 | ABC | Toby Creswell, James Valentine and Stephanie Lewis | Friday nights before Rage | |
| Take 40 Australia | 1993–2009 | Network Ten/2Day FM | Andrew G | produced in association with the syndicated radio program of the same name. | |
| The Drum | 1993 | Channel V Australia | Ian "Molly" Meldrum | Revived on Fox-8 in 2002. | |
| Turn It Up | 1994–1996 | Australia Television Channel 31 Optus Vision | Paul Fidler | 1995 - Beamed to over 40 countries globally, Back in production January 2009 | |
| Big Music Soup | 1994 | Tas TV | Paul Franklin, Filthy Fi | Saturday mornings. Clip show in Tasmania only. | |
| MC Tee Vee | early to mid 1990s | SBS | Annette Shun Wah | Mainly dance, house and hip hop tracks. | |
| Recovery | 1996–2000 | ABC | Dylan Lewis | Saturday mornings from 9:00am to 12:00pm | |
| Alchemy TV | 1998–2000 | SBS | Frank Rodi, Robbie Buck, Nicole Fossati | Friday nights from 10.55pm | |
| Ground Zero | 1998–1999? | Network Ten | Penne Dennison, Jade Gatt, Ugly Phil O'Neil, Jackie O | ||
| 1999–2000 | ABC | Dylan Lewis, Angus Sampson | |||
| Studio 22 | 1999–2003 | ABC | Clinton Walker, Annette Shun Wah | Live performances of artists from Australia and overseas | |
| The House Of Hits | 2000 | Network Ten | Leah McLeod, Ian Meldrum | Saturdays, 6:30pm. | |
| AMV | 2000–2002, 2000–present | Seven Network | 7am to 9am weekday mornings | ||
| So Fresh TV | 2002–2006 | Nine Network | David Campbell and Elysia Platt | Saturday Mornings. | |
| Underground Sounds | 2004-current? | C31 | Shane McNamara and Kelli Mcdonald | Saturday Nights | |
| Eclipse Music TV | 2005–2009 | Seven Network | Lizzy Lovette James Tobin Virginia Lette | Saturday afternoon | |
| Eclipse Music TV | 2010–2013 | GO! | Suze Raymond Shura Taft Zoe Balbi | Saturday afternoon | |
| 1700 | 2006-current | C31 Melbourne & Geelong | Various | Weekdays 5:00pm–6:00pm. Online only from July 2017. Produced by SYN TV | |
| jtv | 2006–current | ABC | Rosie Beaton and various other Triple J presenters | Friday nights, weekend mornings | |
| The Music Jungle | 2007–2008 | Nine Network | Asha Kuerten, Angela Johnson, Lizzy Lovette | Saturday Mornings. | |
| The ARIA Music Show | 2009 | Nine Network / GO! | Monday to Friday late night | ||
| MTV Hits Weekly Hot30 Countdown | 2010-current | MTV Hits Australia/Today Network | Erin McNaught, Matty Acton | Every Sunday, 6:00pm – 8:30pm | |
| The Hit Rater.com | 2010-current? | Southern Cross TV | Every Sunday, 8:30-9am | ||
| The Loop | 2012-2020 | Eleven | Scott Tweedie, Liv Phyland and Ash London | Saturday Mornings, 9am-11:30am | |
| Volumz | 2011-current | NITV/SBS | Alec Doomadgee | - | |
| Fusion with Casey Donovan | 2012-current | NITV/SBS | Casey Donovan | - | |
| SBS PopAsia | 2011-current | SBS | Jamaica dela Cruz and PopAgent JayK and Andy Trieu | Every Sunday, 8:30-10:30am, Every Monday, 5pm - 5:30pm | |
| Jukebox Saturday Night | 2009-current | Aurora Community Channel | Ken Sparkes | Focuses on music videos from the 1950s to 1980s. Airs Saturday at 7:30pm, Sundays at 1:30pm and 10pm and Thursdays at 9:30pm. | |
| The Set | 2018-2019 | ABC | Linda Marigliano and Dylan Alcott | Wednesday nights, 9.30pm |
Music-oriented talent quests/shows
shows have been popular throughout Australia's television broadcasting history. A typical format is a selection of unknown singers or musicians performing before a panel of judges who award points with the winner receiving a cash prize or a recording contract. More recent incarnations have had the heats and eliminations running over several months with public votes included.Young Talent Time was one of Australia's longest running talent quest shows and included a mix of regular in-house performers with a weekly talent competition.
| Name | Period | Network /channel | Presenter/s | Notes |
| Stairway to the Stars | 1956-1958 | HSV-7 | Eric Pearce, Geoff McComas | Aired in Melbourne only, this may have been the first talent show produced for Australian television, having debuted 9 November 1956. While not specifically focused on music, most of the contestants were either singers or instrumentalists. It ran for about 2 years, and it is not known if any footage survives of the series, given the wiping of the era. |
| Australia's Amateur Hour | 1957-1958 | TCN-9 and HSV-7 | Terry Dear | Based on a long-running radio series. Unlike most Australian series of the 1950s, this series was not live. Rather, it was kinescoped in advance so it could be shown in both Sydney and Melbourne. |
| TV Stars of Tomorrow - Tarax Show segment | 1958? | Nine Network | Kids talent segment, included Denise Drysdale, Wendy Stapleton, Marty Rhone | |
| New Faces | 1963–1985 | Nine Network | Frank Wilson, Bert Newton | Originally titled Kevin Dennis Auditions, renamed New Faces in 1968 |
| Young Talent Time | 1971–1988, 2012 | Network Ten | Johnny Young Rob Mills | Mainly focussed on young teens. Notable for establishing performers such as Tina Arena, Jamie Redfern, Kylie Minogue, Dannii Minogue, and Debra Byrne. |
| Pot of Gold | 1975–1978 | Network Ten | Tommy Hanlon Jr. | Bernard King was a regular judge. |
| Tasmanian New Faces | 1979?–1981? | TNT-9 Launceston | Jim Cox | Tasmanian talent show based on New Faces |
| Pot Luck | 1987 | Network Ten | Ernie Sigley | Based on Pot Of Gold. Competitors included Kym Wilson |
| Bert's New Faces | 1992–1993 | Network Ten | Bert Newton | |
| Popstars | 2000–2002 | Seven Network | Luke Jacobz | Tuesday 7:30pm to 9:30pm |
| Australian Idol | 2003–2009 | Network Ten | Andrew G, James Mathison and Ricki-Lee Coulter | Sunday 7:30pm & Monday 7:30 Late Winter – Late Spring |
| Popstars Live | 2004 | Seven Network | Luke Jacobz | Sunday 7:30pm & Monday 7:30 |
| The X Factor | 2005, 2010–2016 | Network Ten Seven Network | Daniel Macpherson, Luke Jacobz, Jason Dundas | Sunday 7:30pm & Monday 7:30 |
| The Voice | 2012–present | Nine Network | Darren McMullen Sonia Kruger | Sunday 7:00pm |
| The Masked Singer | 2019-present | Network 10 | Osher Günsberg | Monday & Tuesday 7:00pm |