Countdown (Australian TV program)

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Countdown
Logo
Genre	Music
Created by	Michael Shrimpton Robbie Weekes Ian "Molly" Meldrum
Directed by	Robbie Weekes Paul Drane
Presented by	Ian "Molly" Meldrum
Theme music composer	Brian May
Country of origin	Australia
Original language	English
No. of seasons	14
No. of episodes	563
Production
Executive producer	Michael Shrimpton
Producer	Robbie Weekes & Paul Drane
Production location	Ripponlea, Victoria
Camera setup	Multi-camera
Running time	25 min First six episodes 55 min
Original release
Network	ABC
Release	8 November 1974 (1974-11-08) – 19 July 1987 (1987-07-19)
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Countdown was a weekly Australian music television program that was broadcast by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation from 8 November 1974 until 19 July 1987.^[1] It was created by Executive Producer Michael Shrimpton, producer/director Robbie Weekes and record producer and music journalist Ian "Molly" Meldrum. Countdown was produced at the studios of the ABC in the Melbourne suburb of Ripponlea. It was screened Sunday night from 6:00pm to 7:00pm.

Countdown was the most popular music program in Australian TV history. It was broadcast nationwide on Australia's government-owned broadcaster, the ABC, and commanded a huge and loyal audience. It soon exerted a strong influence on radio programmers because of its audience and the amount of Australian content it featured. The first half-hour episode went to air at 6.30pm on Friday, 8 November 1974, but for most of the time it was on air, it also gained double exposure throughout the country by screening a new episode each Sunday evening, and then repeating it the following Saturday evening. The majority of performances on the show were lip synced.

Molly Meldrum, the program's talent co-ordinator, began appearing on-air in 1975, presenting the "Humdrum" music news segment and conducting interviews. Meldrum soon became the "face" of Countdown. He appeared regularly on-air until 1986. Another attraction to the program was the local and international acts who would host an episode—usually performing as well. During the show, Meldrum would interview them (while co-hosting) or have a chat with them before the show went out with the number-one single of the week. In October 2014, Meldrum published his autobiography, The Never, Um, Ever Ending Story.