STW is an Australian television station owned by the Nine Network that is based in Perth, Western Australia. STW broadcasts from a shared facility transmitter mast located in Carmel. The station callsign, STW, is an acronym of Swan Television, Western Australia. History Origins In February 1964, Swan Television was awarded a licence to operate Perth's second commercial television station. The company's shareholders at the time included Ansett Transport Industries, which was also preparing to launch ATV-0, the third commercial station in Melbourne, in October that year. STW-9 began broadcasting at 5.30pm on Saturday 12 June 1965. Broadcasting from a purpose-built studio complex in the Perth suburb of Dianella, the station employed around a hundred staff. The station was officially opened by the Premier of Western Australia, David Brand, following a documentary film entitled Montage of Perth. Its first night programming included the film Guys and Dolls, an MGM-produced tribute to Cecil B. DeMille called The World's Greatest Showman and a replay of TV Spells Magic, a variety show produced for the opening of TEN-10 in Sydney the preceding April. Upon launch, both STW and rival station TVW-7 launched a joint company entitled TV Facilities to allow the two commercial channels in Perth to share access to networked programs from the east coast. 1970s and 1980s Among the station's key achievements, it produced a major drama series in 1973 - The Drifter, starring Alan Cassell. In the run up to the launch of colour broadcasting, STW produced the first full colour TV news bulletin in November 1974. The station won its first Logie Award in 1971 for locally produced variety show Spotlight. STW remained independently owned until 1978, when it became affiliated with the Nine Network, allowing direct access to its programming. In 1984, the station was bought by businessman Alan Bond for just under $50 million, becoming part of Bond Media. It became a network owned and operated station when Bond purchased the Nine Network from Kerry Packer. In April 1984, STW9 became the first station in Perth to commence 24-hour broadcasting. The station also claimed the first hour-long news program in the city, beating TVW, and mirroring Ten's in SA and eastern Australia (Ten did not have a station in the city until NEW-10 launched in 1988). In 1989, Bond Media sold STW to Sunraysia Television for A$95 million. The deal also involved Bond Media purchasing the Sunraysia owned