The "Newcastle Broadcasting and Television Corporation Limited" was set up in May 1958 to apply for the upcoming commercial television licence to serve the greater Newcastle area, from Bungwahl in the North, Aberdeen in the West, and Broken Bay in the South. They were awarded VHF channel 3 by the Australian Broadcasting Control Board, to transmit from Mount Sugarloaf with a footprint over the city.

A $1.5 million construction project began in November 1961, supervised by engineers from the Radio Corporation of America (RCA). For them it was a step backwards, working with a black and white broadcast just as colour was becoming the norm in the United States. The 142-metre transmitter at Mt Sugarloaf took longer than expected to construct, mainly due to the weather, road conditions of the mountain and excited sightseers blocking work trucks during weekends. Staff worked seven days a week to make the deadline.

And at 6pm on March 4 1962 it began. The station was callsigned NBN (for Newcastle Broadcasting Network, however the last N is standard for New South Wales) but promoted as Channel 3, being the number everyone had to remember to tune their new TV sets. The first programme was a taped welcome by the then-Postmaster General Charles Davidson, followed by a guided tour around the NBN studios by the original production manager, Matthew Tapp. During the official opening, the Lord Mayor of Newcastle, Alderman Purdue declared on-air, "The Newcastle region has character and individuality of its own and by the establishment of a local television station, greater opportunity will be given for expression of this individuality."

At 6.30, Murray Finlay began his lengthy newsreading career presenting NBN's first news bulletin, which he read entirely standing up. That was followed by The Phil Silvers Show (Sergeant Bilko) at 7pm, and NBN's first movie, Green Light (1937), starring Errol Flynn. Three of The George Sanders Theatre episodes followed at 9pm, including the opening episode, "The Man in the Elevator", then the first episode from the Halls of Ivy, followed by the first Mystery Theatre program, "The Missing Head" at 10pm.

Anglican Bishop of Newcastle James Housden gave the first "Evening Meditation" at 10.30pm, which went to air at the end of each days transmissions and were always live. The minister had to wait til the end of all programs every night to make the telecast.

Commercials on that first night included ads for Rothmans Cigarettes, Streets Ice Cream, Ampol, Commonwealth Savings Bank, Shell, and W.D. and H.O. Wills, amongst others.

Local sport was high on the agenda, and NBN began using their new outside broadcast unit to televise local rugby league and soccer matches in the region. Film cameras shot on 10 minute reels, which were later edited together to also add sound effects and commentary.

Miss Kim with a less-classroom styled set in 1992.
Can you guess who the boy 3rd from right is...? ;)

The first hour-long news bulletin in Australia began on NBN in March 1974, and is still in production today. It is the only 1 hour news bulletin on regional television, combining local stories with national and international pieces sourced from Channel Nine. In 1975 NBN began broadcasting in colour.

Even with the increased competition from aggregation, and the fact NBN's news was running against bulletins which had been produced for over 30 years on other local stations, NBN News became the highest rating news service in Northern NSW. It lead the other 2 commercial stations to such a degree that most local bulletins competing against NBN News were eventually axed. Nationally successful personalities who have passed through as presenters on NBN News include Chris Bath, Anna Coren, Matthew White, Antonia Kidman, Vanessa Trezise and Darrell Eastlake.