the company and subsequently moved to the USA. On 2 March 1981 , the station began broadcasting at the Kingsgate Hyatt Tower (now Elan Building) on UHF channel 49, later moving to UHF channel 52 in February 1983 to allow for ABC and SBS to set up transmitters there. This transmitter was installed to cover areas of central Sydney where reception is affected by the ghosting caused by the high-rise buildings in Sydney's central business district. In January 1987, Kerry Packer sold the Sydney and Melbourne stations to Alan Bond's Bond Media for $1.055 billion, including $200 million in shares of Bond Media. Bond already owned the Perth and Brisbane Nine affiliate stations (among others). In 1990, Bond Media's inability to pay out preference shares to Packer forced Nine into receivership. In July 1990, Packer bought back the expanded Nine Network (Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane) for only $200 million, one-fifth of what he sold it for. Perth was not included due to Bond selling it to Sunraysia Television before Packer buying back the company. In 1994, Packer's print operations (owned by Australian Consolidated Press) and the Nine Network were merged into one new company, Publishing and Broadcasting Limited (PBL). On 1 October 1997, TCN-9 performed the first on-air trial of digital broadcasting in the southern hemisphere. TCN commenced digital television transmission on 1 January 2001, broadcasting on VHF Channel 8 while maintaining analogue transmission on VHF Channel 9. The analogue signal for TCN was shut off at 9.00am AEDST, Tuesday, 3 December 2013. In 2014 and 2015, TCN produced both Inside Story and The Verdict for the Nine Network, hosted by Leila McKinnon and Karl Stefanovic respectively. The Verdict did not build a solid audience and as expected the program was axed in 2016. In January 2017, following the affiliation formed between Nine and Southern Cross in 2016, the station became home to the new Nine News Canberra and Southern NSW bulletins. The bulletins were anchored by Vanessa O'Hanlon. In late 2018, It was announced that after 25 years on air, the Nine Network axed and retired The NRL Footy Show, bringing to an end 25 years of live primetime variety from the station. It was also announced to public and then staff, that after 64 years in Willoughby, TCN would move to North Sydney. This move occurred in stages throughout the second half of 2020. The final broadcast of