On 1 July 2016, due to WIN Television becoming the Network Ten affiliate in the region, MDV switched its affiliation to the Nine Network[5] and rebranded as Nine Mildura.
On 1 July 2021, due to WIN Television becoming the Nine Network affiliate in the region,[6] MDV switched back its affiliation to Network 10. On 31 December 2021, one of the joint-venture partners of MDV, Prime Media Group, was acquired by Seven West Media.[7]
Closure
On 8 May 2024, it was announced that MDV would cease broadcasting on 30 June 2024 due to continued financial losses.[8][9] WIN claimed in a FAQ posted to their website about the closure that the station had been unprofitable since it began, and that no job losses would result from the closure.[10]
In early June, MDV began to air a commercial advising viewers of the closure, directing them to the same FAQ website.[10][11]
On 30 June 2024, Mildura Digital Television went to air for the final time, ceasing operations just past midnight during a re-run of the day's broadcast of The Project, thus ending operations of MDT after 18 years.[12] Following the final broadcast, the MDT license was handed back to the Australian Communications and Media Authority.
Availability
The station was a Network 10 affiliate for most of its history, which is jointly owned by Seven West Media and WIN Television. MDV is available on LCN 5 in the Mildura and Sunraysia area in standard-definition.
10's multichannels 10 HD (which is 10's main channel in high definition), as well as 10 Bold Drama and 10 Peach Comedy were available on LCN 50, LCN 51 and LCN 52 respectively. Before the 2021 affiliation swapback, Nine's multichannels 9Gem (in high definition) and 9Go! were available on LCN 50 and LCN 55 respectively.[13] Before MDV's affiliation change on 1 July 2016, Ten's multichannels One and Eleven were available on LCN 50 (from 1 December 2009 for One)[14] and LCN 55 (from 11 January 2011 for Eleven in Mildura)[15] respectively.
WIN was responsible for handling playout and then transmits this signal via satellite to transmission facilities in Mildura. WIN also handled the business administration and used to handle the national advertising sales for MDV, until 1 July 2022 when Southern Cross Austereo took over national sales. Local sales remained unchanged, with WIN's sale team continuing to support local businesses in Mildura.[16]
The Mildura/Sunraysia region changed frequencies as part of a nationwide retune process on 26 August 2014, and the station moved from UHF 33 to VHF 10 as a result of the retune.[17]
