9Life is an Australian free-to-air digital television multichannel owned by Nine Entertainment. The channel airs mostly foreign lifestyle and reality programs, with the channel having a licensing agreement with Discovery Inc. (previously Scripps Networks Interactive) for the distribution of many formats.[1]
History
The channel was first announced on 28 October 2015, and began broadcasting on 26 November 2015 in metropolitan areas on channel 94.[2] 9Life replaced the main broadcast of datacasting channel Extra, which was moved to channel 95 to replace its timeshift channel Extra 2.[1]
9Life began being included in the official OzTAM ratings on 1 December 2015, where it recorded a 2.3% primetime share, nearly double that of sister channel 9Gem, which has been the biggest channel launch since 9Go! in 2009.[3]
NBN Television announced on 16 February 2016 on their website that they would carry 9Life from 1 March 2016 on channel 84.[4]
Regional affiliate WIN Television announced on 10 February 2016 it would launch 9Life in the coming months.[5] It was later confirmed the channel would launch on 1 March 2016 on channel 84.[6] Four WIN regions were excluded from the 1 March launch date. Griffith, Tasmania, and Eastern South Australia did not receive the channel until 2 March 2016 due to technical issues.[7][8] In addition, the Regional WA station did not launch the channel until 10 March 2016.[7][9]
On 29 April 2016, Nine announced that it had signed a new affiliation deal with Southern Cross Austereo, dumping WIN Television as its primary affiliate starting 1 July 2016.[10] Upon the switchover, 9Life became unavailable as WIN ceased broadcasting it and Southern Cross did not have the technical equipment to broadcast the channel. Three months later, the channel recommenced broadcasting in the Regional Queensland, Southern NSW/ACT and Regional Victoria markets on channel 54 on 17 July 2016.[11][12] This left Regional WA, Tasmania, Mildura and Griffith without the service.
In 2017, 9Life began broadcasting in Darwin via Nine's O&O station, NTD.
On 30 September 2018, 9Life recommenced broadcasting to Tasmania, this time via TDT Tasmania,[13] and it became available to the Spencer Gulf/Broken Hill region (via GTS/BKN) for the first time.
On 12 March 2021, Nine announced that it would return to WIN Television as its regional affiliate in most markets beginning on 1 July 2021, in a deal that will last at least seven years. From 1 August 2021, 9Life is available in regional areas via WIN Television on channel 83, replacing Sky News on WIN.[14] This returned the channel to Regional WA, Mildura and Griffith after an absence of five years.
Programming
The majority of programming comes from Discovery's lifestyle and reality shows produced for an American audience, some of which have already aired through the Foxtel and Fetch TV platforms.[1]
