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The history of the ABC's television operations can be traced back to 1953, when the federal television Act was passed, providing the initial regulatory framework for both the ABC and commercial television networks. Over the next three years, planning for the introduction of a national television service was put in place—land for studios and transmitters in Sydney and Melbourne was acquired, and overseas tutors were brought to Australia to assist with training.

Commercial station TCN-9 Sydney was the first to broadcast in Australia, soon followed by the ABC's own ABN-2 Sydney and later ABV-2 in Melbourne. Six stations, three in Melbourne and three in Sydney, were in operation in time to cover the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne. The ABC's first television broadcast was inaugurated by Prime Minister Robert Menzies on 5 November, at the Gore Hill studios in Sydney, followed two weeks later by transmission in Melbourne.

Although radio programs could be broadcast nationally by landline, television relay facilities were not put in place until the early 1960s. This meant that news bulletins had to be sent to each capital city by teleprinter, to be prepared and presented separately in each city, with filmed materials copied manually and sent to each state. A purpose-built television studio was built in Sydney, and opened on 29 January 1958, replacing temporary sound studios used since the ABC's television services launched in 1956. In the same year, technical equipment was also moved to permanent locations, while main transmitters were introduced to Melbourne and Sydney in 1957 and 1958, respectively.

Direct relays between Sydney and Melbourne, as well as Canberra, were also established in 1961, replacing temporary microwave relays as a means of simultaneously airing programs across multiple stations. Videotape equipment, allowing the sharing of footage with much greater ease and speed, was installed in each state capital by 1962.

ABQ-2 Brisbane was the third ABC TV station to launch and was followed a year later by counterparts in Perth, Hobart, and Adelaide. ABC-3 Canberra opened a year later, with ABD-6 Darwin finally completing the ABC's coverage of every state in 1971.

Teletext services were introduced to ABC-TV in 1983 to allow hearing-impaired viewers access to closed captions. International television service Australia Television International was established in 1993. Australia Television was sold to the Seven Network in 1998, however the service continued to show content from ABC News up until its closure in 2001.

The ABC's television operations joined its radio and online divisions at the Corporation's Ultimo headquarters in 2000. In 2002, the ABC launched ABC Asia Pacific, the replacement for the defunct Australia Television channel operated previously by the Seven Network. Much like its predecessor, and companion radio network Radio Australia, the service provided a mix of programming targeted at audiences throughout the Asia-Pacific region. Funding cuts in 2003, meanwhile, led to the closure of Fly and the ABC Kid's Channel.

ABC2, a second attempt at a digital-only television channel, was launched on 7 March 2005, running on a budget of $3 million per year. Minister for Communications Helen Coonan inaugurated the channel at Parliament House three days later.Genre restrictions limiting the types of programming the channel could carry were lifted in October 2006—ABC2 was henceforth able to carry programmingclassified as comedy, drama, national news, sport and entertainment.

In the lead up to the 2007 federal election, the Australian Government endorsed a proposal submitted to the Australian Communications and Media Authority by the ABC to launch a second digital channel targeted at children. The new channel, titled ABC3 would aim to provide at least 50% Australian-made content.

At midnight on 1 January 2008, ABC Television was rebranded as ABC1, complementing the existing ABC2 digital-only channel launched on 7 March 2005.

As of 2009 ABC announced an Australia wide upgrade to their Digital service, provide a 7 day Electronic Program Guide and give new logical channel numbers for all of ABC’s television services. The new ABC logical channel numbers are below.