50 years of colour TV

The revolution will be televised

On 1 March 1975, Australian television flickered into a new era – glorious, a bit garish and, honestly, not before time. While the US had colour TV from the mid-1950s and the UK from 1967, we had to wait until 1975! The lead-up was pure spectacle: ‘colour-monster’ panic, last-minute technical tweaks, and the small matter of making sure news anchors didn’t look radioactive. It was a revolution in living rooms and on soundstages alike – a shift as thrilling as it was chaotic. Let’s rewind to when the tube went technicolour.

Bye bye, grey days

Australians had been hearing it for years – colour TV was coming. But as C-Day closed in, the hype turned electric. Networks fine-tuned their broadcasts, magazines cranked up the buzz and households faced the big question: stick with black-and-white or dive into the dazzling unknown?

The night TV lit up

For one surreal week in February 1975, colour TV was both here and not here. Test broadcasts had been running for months, but the Australian Broadcasting Control Board ordered a full blackout of colour programming after 6 pm in the lead-up to C-Day. The idea? Maximum impact. The first moments of colour had to land with a bang – and when 1 March arrived, they did.

TV stations treated the switch like a grand performance. Some counted down to midnight, others launched with glossy promos and over-the-top fanfare. Families crowded around their brand-new sets, while those without peered into shop windows, eager to see the world beyond black-and-white. The colours weren’t subtle – blues blazed, reds popped and skin tones took on a whole new life (sometimes a little too much). In this clip from 7 Perth: The First 50 Years (2009), Channel 7 captures the moment the screen changed forever.

Cover of a magazine called TV Times from March 1975. It features a man in a suit with a pipe in his mouth seated between two smiling women. One of the women is lighting his pipe with a match. .

Bold headlines for a bold new era

TV Times wasted no time celebrating the colour revolution. The 1–7 March 1975 edition shouted the news in bold, red-and-yellow block letters, paired with a cover image of Days of Our Lives stars basking in all their newly vibrant glory. TV had never looked so sharp – and neither had the hype. For households still clinging to black-and-white, the message was clear: the future had arrived.

A page from a newspaper showing mirror images of a close up of a woman - one image is colour the other is black and white. There is also a headline 'At home... with color' and an article about the introduction of colour TV in Australia.

Ready for the rainbow?

While TV Times played up the spectacle, The Australasian Post took a more practical approach. Its 1 August 1974 edition prepped audiences for what to expect – and how to adjust. Lighting, furniture placement, even the way you watched had to change. Some viewers swore they needed to dim the lights to handle the brightness. Others weren’t so sure about the new look at all. One thing was certain: there was no going back.

Testing, testing… is this thing on?

Colour TV didn’t just arrive – it had to be tested, tweaked and, in some cases, fought off with comedic force. While broadcasters fine-tuned their signals with hypnotic test patterns, The Aunty Jack Colour Day Special took a more dramatic approach, treating the new era like an existential threat.

Colour test pattern, STW9 Perth, 2 November 1974. Courtesy: Nine Network. NFSA title: 411868

The first flickers of colour

The transition to colour wasn’t an overnight switch – it took months of testing to get the signal right. To help both broadcasters and viewers adjust, the Australian Broadcasting Control Board (ABCB) allowed stations to transmit colour test patterns from 7 October 1974. These daily transmissions ran for one hour in 15-minute bursts, offering a first glimpse of the new spectrum.

This particular test pattern from STW9 Perth might look simple, but it played a crucial role in fine-tuning settings before the big day. For anyone watching at home, it was a tantalising promise: soon, TV would never look the same again.

Aunty Jack Colour Day Special, 1975. Published with the cooperation of Grahame Bond and Rory O’Donoghue. Copyright ABC. NFSA title: 569666

Aunty Jack vs the colour monster

At midnight on 1 March 1975, Aunty Jack went to battle – and the enemy was colour television. While most shows embraced the new technology, The Aunty Jack Colour Day Special leaned into panic. Aunty Jack, Thin Arthur and Kid Eager treated colour like an invading force, resisting its arrival with grim determination (and a solemn rendition of 'Wollongong the Brave').

Colour crept in anyway, transforming the screen before their eyes. As Aunty Jack finally gave in, the grey tones of black-and-white seemed lifeless by comparison. The stunt was part satire, part spectacle – and a perfect send-off for Australia’s old TV landscape.

Turn up the saturation

Mid-'70s TV cranked everything to eleven. Neon stage lighting, eye-popping outfits and deeply saturated sets made sure no one missed the shift. For Australian audiences, it was a wild new way to watch – louder, brighter and impossible to ignore.

Excerpt from Hey Hey It's Saturday, circa March 1975. Courtesy Somers Enterprises Australia Pty Ltd. NFSA title: 1526924

Saturday morning got louder

Few shows embraced the chaos of mid-'70s TV like Hey Hey It’s Saturday, and adding a full spectrum of saturation only made it more unhinged. This clip from the NFSA collection features what is believed to be the earliest surviving colour footage of the show, recorded in the opening weeks of C-Day in March 1975.

Melbourne band Stylus perform ‘Summer Breeze’ in peak '70s fashion, and the footage captures the show’s signature mix of live music, over-the-top sets and plenty of visual spectacle. If Hey Hey had been colourful in spirit before, now it had the visuals to match.

Chequerboard chaos and neon nightmares

Skyhooks never did things halfway, and neither did mid-'70s TV. 

This 1976 performance of 'Horror Movie' is all high-voltage theatrics – a chequerboard stage, eerie neon lighting and costumes that demand attention. The mix of bold visuals and split-screen effects turns the whole thing into a fever dream of glam rock and TV spectacle. 

If early colour television had any limits, Skyhooks made sure they weren’t visible here.

A sunshine kind of day 

With colour TV just around the corner, Eric Porter's animation studio began production on the children’s series Yellow House, which jumped with both feet into the bright possibilities of the new medium. The show was a mix of cartoon animation, puppet shows and live action, and featured a children's band, the Koalas. In the opening sequence, the set is a psychedelic explosion in shades of daffodil, with the Koalas and their clown pal getting up to all kinds of circus antics, and bright explosions of balloons, streamers and confetti.

Now kids could watch cartoons with kaleidescope eyes. 

Helen Reddy performs 'I Am Woman' on The Helen Reddy Special, broadcast 19 October 1975. Courtesy: Seven Network. NFSA: 1530818

A powerhouse in green sequins

Helen Reddy didn’t need pyrotechnics to command attention. Draped in shimmering green sequins against a glowing backdrop, she delivered her hit single, 'I Am Woman', with quiet confidence. 

Filmed for The Helen Reddy Special in 1975, the performance is a study in strength and style. The deep, rich tones of the set make every frame feel iconic, capturing a defining moment in Australian music history with striking clarity.

Selling the future

Colour TV was here, and manufacturers wasted no time convincing Australians to make the switch. From glossy ads to magazine competitions, every trick in the marketing playbook was deployed to sell the thrill of full-spectrum viewing. For those still holding onto black-and-white, the message was clear: upgrade or miss out.

A whole new world (of colour)

Philips promised more than a sharper picture. Their ad campaign claimed colour TV would transform the entire viewing experience. ‘Colour that makes you feel like you’re really there,’ the tagline declared.

The pitch wasn’t subtle. ‘We want you to have the best,’ the ad urged, playing on the fear of being left behind. By 1977, most Australian households had made the switch, but holdouts still needed convincing.

For those watching in black-and-white, the message was clear. Colour wasn’t the future — it was the present.

An page from a newspaper about the start of colour television in Australia featuring a photo from a TV show of 3 people sitting on a sofa.

Colour TV: seen in print

Newspapers helped Aussies adjust to the colour era. Articles explained the technology and reassured hesitant buyers. This clipping shows a still from comedy series The Last of the Australians, created by Crawford Productions to kick off the 1975 season, with Jacki Weaver a standout guest star in bright yellow and red. Print media kept the message front and centre: black-and-white was fading fast, and colour was the way forward.

Magazine advertisement for a colour TV set featuring a sad-looking clown on the screen and two kids sitting on the floor watching the TV.

A clown, a TV and a sales pitch

A colour TV was meant to make everything look better – even a sad clown. In this TV Week ad from 1975, two mesmerised children watched a PYE television while a forlorn clown stared out from the screen. The image was strange, but effective. It exaggerated the gap between black-and-white and full colour, making the decision to upgrade feel inevitable.

A page from a magazine advertising a competition to win a cruise or a new colour television.

Win big, watch bigger

In 1975, TV Times launched the Star Girl competition, offering readers the chance to win a cruise or a brand-new colour television. The prize was exciting, but the competition was also a marketing strategy. The more people dreamed of winning a set, the more likely they were to buy one. If colour TV wasn’t in your lounge room yet, maybe luck would bring it home instead.

A two-page spread magazine article for colour television sets from 'National Pana-colour' showing a range of TV sets with colour images on the screen against a backdrop of black and white sketches.

From black-and-white to bright

National Pana-colour wanted black-and-white to look outdated. Their two-page magazine spread featured sleek colour TVs against a backdrop of black-and-white sketches. The contrast wasn’t subtle.

By 1975, colour TV was a marker of progress. Advertisers knew some buyers were still hesitant, so they reinforced the idea that holding onto black-and-white meant falling behind.

The ad framed the decision as a choice between the past and the present. The world had already moved on. Your lounge room needed to catch up.

A page from TV Week magazine in 1975 advertising a competition to win a colour television

Sanyo sweetens the deal

In 1975, TV Week and Sanyo made colour TV the ultimate prize. Their competition gave readers the chance to win a brand-new set, tapping into the hype around Australia’s TV revolution. Contests like these created demand. If buyers weren’t ready to invest, they could at least imagine winning – and once they saw colour in action, there was no going back.

Do you dream in colour?

I was about 8 or 9. We were the first house in the street to have colour TV. People would come over to our house to watch ads so when they went home, they could remember the colours.
Michele, Sydney NSW
I can't believe it's been only 50 years. I feel like it should be longer. I do remember not being interested in watching anything that wasn’t colour. Scary movies were scarier when red blood dripped down the screen instead of greyish ooze.
Karen, Shellharbour NSW
We only had a black-and-white TV. But when I first saw a colour television, I was walking along the main street of Goulburn, looking in the window of an appliance store. Stopped me dead in my tracks upon seeing colour for the first time. Wow, the colour – even through the big pane glass window.
Brendan, Goulburn NSW
I think it made Aussies realise and appreciate how beautiful our country was with shows like 'The Leyland Brothers', 'Jack Absalom's Outback' and 'Alby Mangels’ Adventure World'.
Jenny, Brisbane QLD
I remember watching 'The Six Million Dollar Man' during a late-shift tea break at work on black-and-white. That night, I was discussing a plot twist with my girlfriend. She pointed out that the guy in the blue shirt was the villain, a colour cue I’d missed.
John, Ipswich QLD
A retro television set against a floral wall
To me, colour TV means that I’ll have to change my complete wardrobe. A blue frock with green shoes doesn’t look too good. When colour comes, I’ll have to be more careful.
Patti Newton, TV presenter

Big business, big scams

Colour TV meant brighter screens and a booming industry. Factories raced to meet demand, politicians seized the moment and eager buyers lined up for the latest technology. But where there’s hype, there’s always a hustle. As new sets rolled out, scammers showed up, offering impossible ‘black-and-white-to-colour’ upgrades.

Whitlam bangs the gong

In 1974, Gough Whitlam cut the ribbon on a new Rank NEC factory in Penrith, cementing Australia’s place in the colour TV boom. The plant would produce thousands of sets for eager households, fuelling jobs and local manufacturing.

As Whitlam toured the facility, shaking hands with Japanese executives and inspecting the production line, the event ended with a theatrical flourish – a bodybuilder stepping forward to strike a massive gong, the unmistakable trademark of the Rank Organisation. With that, Australia’s colour TV rollout was making noise.

Beware the TV tricksters

The arrival of colour TV brought excitement – and con artists. In the lead-up to C-Day, dodgy salespeople knocked on doors, promising to ‘convert’ black-and-white TVs into colour for a fee.

ATN 7 Sydney aired a warning in August 1974, featuring an expert who shut down the scam: no magic fix, no secret switch, and no need for a new aerial. If you wanted colour TV, you had to buy the real thing. Some fell for the pitch, but most quickly learned the truth – if a deal sounded too good to be true, it probably was.

More collection highlights

Read NFSA curator Bronwyn Barnett's two-part history of Colour TV in Australia and view more highlights in the links below.

Olympics in colour

In 1956, television was introduced to Australia in time for the Olympic Games in Melbourne. In 1976, the Olympic Games in Montreal contributed to the high uptake of colour, as is highlighted in this clip from 20 Years of Television (1976).

Channel Seven's colour television demonstration with Percy the Penguin

Stations used the colour broadcast tests to tantalise viewers with some of the programming they would be able to watch once colour television commenced, as can be seen in this clip from Channel 7 Perth.

Manufacturing colour TVs

This clip from Australian Movie Magazine No. 7436 offers a fascinating glimpse inside the manufacturing of colour television sets at the Philips plant in Clayton, Victoria.

Credits and acknowledgments

Curatorial: Tara Marynowsky, Bronwyn Barnett, Siobhan Dee, Simon Smith 

Multimedia producer: Rachael Priddel

Feature article: Rose Mulready

Editorial: Kate Scott

Licensing and Rights: Anna Yates

Digital producer: Mel Bondfield

With thanks to: 

Nine Network 

Cinesound Movietone Productions 

Seven Network