BRUCE GYNGELL. Born in Melbourne, Australia, 8 July 1929. Educated at Sydney Grammar School; studied medicine at Sydney University. Married: 1) Ann, two children; 2) Kathryn, 1986, children: Adam and Jamie. Pilot with the Citizen's Air Force. Trainee radio announcer, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 1950; radio announcer, ABC, United States, 1950-55; in television at NBC and KGMB Hawaii, 1955-56; joined Sydney's TCN9 as program manager, opening first commercial television broadcast in Australia, 1956; general manager, 1966-69; managing director, Seven Network, 1969-71; producer and programmer, ATV Network, 1971, deputy chairman and director, ATV Network, from 1973; manager of ITC Films U.K., from 1974; free-lance producer, 1975-77; the first chair of the new regulatory body, the Australian Broadcasting Tribunal, 1977-80; chief executive of the new fifth Australian television channel, SBS Television, 1980-84; returned to London as managing director of TV-AM, 1984-92; returned to Australia as chief executive, TCN 9, from 1993 to 1995; director of Yorkshire Tynetees Television, England, from 1995. Member: Federation of Australian Commercial Television Stations. Address: do Yorkshire Television, The Television Centre, Leeds, LS31JS, England.

Bruce Gyngell is best known by the general public in Australia for being the first face on television. When the commercial station Channel 9 in Sydney made the first broadcast in September 1956, Gyngell was the announcer who appeared to report the fact that television had arrived. His career has been a remarkable and unique one in that he trained in the United Stares, has operated in all spheres of the industry in Australia and has also played a significant role in television in the United Kingdom.

Gyngell's remarkable career cannot be understood without understanding the structure of television in Australia. From 1956 until 1980 when the national multicultural network SBS (Special Broadcasting Service) was established, the Australian television system was divided into two sectors. The ABC (Australian Broadcasting Commission, later Corporation) was modeled loosely on the BBC. A commercial sector first consisted of two networks (Nine and Seven) and later, in a controversial move, was joined by a third, the Ten Network. Because Australia had a small population (then around 15 million) spread over a very large land mass, three commercial networks were thought to be too many to be viable. Two of the commercial systems were owned by print media barons from their beginnings, and in 1980 the third, Network Ten, also fell into the hands of a print media owner, Rupert Murdoch. While there was fierce competition among the three comercial networks, there was also collusion. Programs were acquired from U.S. suppliers, for example, in a manner that would not drive up prices for any individual broadcaster. Ultimately, Australia has been able to maintain all three commercial networks because traditionally there has been a high level-until recently, more than 50%- of imported programming. But foreign programming does not by itself make for popularity. It has been the mix of local and overseas material which has led to strong ratings, and Gyngell's skill as a programmer contributed to the successes of the stations with which he was involved.

Having trained in the United States in the mid-1950s, Gyngell became programming director at Channel 9 Sydney in November 1956. Always the showman, he helped to make the Nine Network the dominant force in Australian commercial television. Gyngell's contribution was built upon a keen sense of audience tastes and an enthusiasm for catering to them. He scheduled a judicious mix of hit American shows such as I LoveLucy, The Mickey Mouse Club and Father Knows Best alongside popular and long-running Australian-made programs like Bandstand and In Melbourne Tonight. Gyngell developed very strong links with American program suppliers in those years and his U.S. contacts and his strong commercial instincts remained strong assets throughout his television career.

Gyngell became managing director of Channel 9 in 1966 and remained until 1969, when a programming dispute with the owner, Sir Frank Packer, drove him to Network Seven. There he became managing director and led the so-called "Seven Revolution," a programming strategy successfully designed to put his new network ahead of Nine in the ratings. In 1971, after three years at Seven and at the age of 42, he moved to the United Kingdom and became involved with Sir Lew Grade's ATV, then a leading U.K. company holding the lucrative Midlands franchise. Gyngell was also deputy managing director of ITC Entertainment, Grade's production company. From this position Gyngell supported the production of the first episodes of The Muppet Show, which the U.S. network CBS was unwilling to wholly finance. Between 1975 and 1977 Gyngell was a free-lance producer, working between the United States and Australia.

In 1977 in a move that was extremely controversial, Gyngell was appointed to be the first chair of a new broadcasting regulatory authority, the Australian Broad-casting Tribunal, established as a result of an inquiry organized by the conservative Fraser government. The former regulator, the Australian Broadcasting Control Board, had itself been replaced because it was seen to have been captured by the industry. Thus, Gyngell's' complete identification with commercial television resulted in a great deal of criticism from observers worried about media concentration, the amount of Australian content and the need for quality on television.

Gyngell was a controversial and high profile chairman. Under his tenure the promotion of children's television improved-a committee to advise the Tribunal on programs suitable for children was established and quotas for such programming reinforced. But Gyngell also presided over the award of the Ten Network to Rupert Murdoch, a bitterly contested decision. Because of Murdoch's already substantial media holdings there was fear of his domination of both print and broadcasting media. Gyngell argues the legislation did not permit him to refuse approval of Murdoch's acquisition, but other commentators saw the incident as affirming Gyngell's closeness to commercial broadcasters and disregard for the public interest. At the present time there has been no sober reassessment of this period of Australian broadcasting history; the jury is thus still out on Gyngell's tenure as chair of the Tribunal.

In 1980 Gyngell moved yet again to a new sector of the Australian broadcasting scene. Responding to determined "ethnic" lobbying the Fraser government had established multicultural broadcasting in Australia in the late 1970s. When the first television station dedicated to this service was established in 1980, Bruce Gyngell was called upon to be its managing director. Given his lack of experience with either multicultural policy or public service broadcasting, this was another controversial appointment.

The beginnings of the SBS, as the new service was called, were naturally fraught with difficulty. The ethnic communities and the government probably expected that the television station would be like the multi-ethnic radio station-an access channel for which ethnic groups could make their own programs. Gyngell had quite a different idea. Instead of a low-grade, well-meaning but amateurish channel, he envisioned a top-class station which would show the best of television from around the world. With programming skills well-honed from watching hundreds of programs at the annual Los Angeles buying sprees, Gyngell set out to acquire programs mainly from European sources. He programmed SBS with quality programs from Italy, France, Germany, and Spain as well as from the Middle East and Asia. And he attempted as far as possible to match the nationality of the programs with the composition of the ethnic audience in Australia.

SBS television is generally deemed a success story although its audience has never topped 2-3%. In its early days its appeal was limited by its poor transmission conditions (a weak signal on UHF whereas all other television was on VHF) making it accessible only to part of the population. Although it has remained controversial over the years, and though the very late advent of pay television in Australia in 1995 is likely to change its role considerably, the direction generally set by Gyngell has been adhered to and has led to SBS occupying a permanent place in Australia's broadcasting mix.

Bruce Gyngell's next big career move was to become managing director of Britain's first breakfast television ser-vice, TV-AM. The franchise was awarded to TV-AM in 1984 and at the end of its first year of operation, when Gyngell arrived, it had accumulated losses of £20 million. He applied the experience he had gained in the more competitive environment of Australian television and began trimming costs, which had the desired effect of turning around the financial fortunes of the service. However, Gyngell's tenure at TV-AM was as controversial as his ventures in Australia. Many observers saw the service's profitability being won at the expense of quality. There was no doubt that TV-AM was the most tabloid-like of any of the British franchises but the material found a willing audience.

The controversy surrounding Gyngell deepened when in 1987 he took on the broadcasting unions in much the same manner as his compatriot, Rupert Murdoch, had challenged the print unions. Needing to trim the coast of his regional studios, Gyngell wanted to replace workers with automated studios. The unions went on strike and for many months Gyngell and other managers ran the service, replacing local programming with a high dose of repeat imported programs. Gyngell eventually broke the strike by installing automated equipment and recruiting new, untrained staff whom he trained quickly, winning in the process a Department of Industry Award for innovations in staff development. No doubt these maneuvers were the basis of his reputed high standing with then British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. When TV-AM failed to bid successfully for the breakfast franchise in the 1992 round of allocations, Thatcher sent Gyngell a personal letter of commiseration.

After TV-AM's removal from the British broadcasting scene, Gyngell returned to Australia to become executive chair of his old company, Network Nine. This position was largely ceremonial, however, and he returned to the United Kingdom in 1995 to become chair of the newly merged Yorkshire Tyne Tees service in Britain.

Bruce Gyngell is a consummate television executive who has played a significant role in television in both Australia and Britain. He has worked in both the commercial and public service sectors and as a regulator. He has been an influential figure in Australian television since its foundation and has brought to it a showman's flair, a deep love of the medium and a keen sense of how to please audiences. It is no accident that when pay television finally arrived in Australia in 1995, his was once again the first face to be seen. He was recalled from Britain to announce the arrival of a new era of television.

-Elizabeth Jacka