Close to 180 hours worth of archived film footage detailing 20 years of the region's history has been donated to Orange Regional Museum.
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Prime Television donated the news, sport and current affairs footage dating from 1962 to 1982, when it operated as CBN-8 and Midstate Television on the corner of Lone Pine Avenue and Bathurst Road.
CBN Channel 8 first went to air on March 17, 1962, and started with five hours of programming a day from 5.30pm at its studio on the corner of Bathurst Road and Lone Pine Avenue.
Over the years its production crews generated hundreds of hours of original content including a regional news service, Rural Roundup, Weekend Report, Sports Action and event programming.
Jim Wilkinson worked as a senior technician for the station in 1962 and became the chief engineer in 1981.
"I had a bit to do with the nuts and bolts up on Mount Canobolas up on the tower so I had to go up there to fix things," Mr Wilkinson said.
He said colour transmission was introduced to the station in 1975.
Orange Regional Museum manager Dr Mary-Elizabeth Andrews said the footage included the Royal visit to Orange and events such as shows and field days.
"Looking at the content of just one news compilation reel we have a Festival of Arts procession in Orange, the Canowindra Heritage Carnival, women's basketball, baseball, pigeon racing, water shortages, local politicians, agricultural shows and much more,"she said.
"We can't wait to discover more from this incredible archive."
However, she said the film will not be exhibited but funding will be sought so it can be digitised for use in exhibits.
Dr Andrews said some of the larger reels contain three to four weeks of film but there is no footage of Romper Room because it was filmed live.
Orange mayor Reg Kidd said the film arrived in dozens of canisters and appears to be in fantastic condition considering its age.
"This archive is extremely significant for the history of the region, both in terms of the breadth of material about recent events, as well as for its value as part of the history of an important Orange organisation that employed generations of locals," he said.
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Tanya Marschke
I am based at Orange and cover a wide range of subjects as well as the weekly business column. I've worked consistently in the the media industry since 2006 including the past seven years at the Central Western Daily. Before moving to Orange, I worked as a journalist at weekly newspapers the Beaudesert Times and the Gold Coast Sun in Queensland, as well as the Scone Advocate in the Hunter Valley. I started my career at the Ridge News in Lightning Ridge while I completed my journalism studies remotely at Charles Sturt University in Bathurst.
I am based at Orange and cover a wide range of subjects as well as the weekly business column. I've worked consistently in the the media industry since 2006 including the past seven years at the Central Western Daily. Before moving to Orange, I worked as a journalist at weekly newspapers the Beaudesert Times and the Gold Coast Sun in Queensland, as well as the Scone Advocate in the Hunter Valley. I started my career at the Ridge News in Lightning Ridge while I completed my journalism studies remotely at Charles Sturt University in Bathurst.
