Editing The Herald and Weekly Times

{{short description|Australian newspaper publisher}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}}
[[Image:Herald and Weekly Times Building - 2004.jpg|thumb|181px|The old Herald and Weekly Times building in [[Flinders Street, Melbourne]]]]

'''The Herald and Weekly Times Pty Ltd''' ('''HWT''') is a [[newspaper]] publishing company based in [[Melbourne]], [[Australia]]. It is owned and operated by [[News Corp Australia|News Pty Ltd]], which as News Ltd, purchased the HWT in 1987.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Dean |first1=Anabel |last2=Deans |first2=Alan |last3=Wright |first3=Lea |title=Winners And Losers In HWT Takeover |url=http://newsstore.fairfax.com.au/apps/viewDocument.ac?page=1&sy=nstore&kw=%22WINNERS+AND+LOSERS+IN+HWT+TAKEOVER%22&pb=all_ffx&dt=selectRange&dr=entire&so=relevance&sf=text&sf=headline&rc=10&rm=200&sp=adv&clsPage=1&docID=news870211_0013_5854 |work=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]] |date=1987-02-11 |page=29 |access-date=2012-01-09}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Not All Bad News |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/119476218 |work=The Canberra Times |date=1987-01-19 |page=2 |access-date=2022-08-19}}</ref>

==Newspapers==
The HWT's newspaper interests date back to 1840 and the launch of ''The Port Phillip Herald''. The company publishes the morning daily [[tabloid (newspaper format)|tabloid]] ''[[Herald Sun]]'', which was created in 1990 from a [[merger]] of the company's morning tabloid paper, ''[[The Sun News-Pictorial]]'', with its afternoon [[broadsheet]] paper, ''[[The Herald (Melbourne)|The Herald]]''. ''The Herald'' had a 150-year history, and ''The Sun News-Pictorial'' a 68-year history, in Melbourne. The HWT had bought ''The Sun News-Pictorial'' in 1925.

The HWT also publishes ''The Weekly Times'', aimed at farmers and rural businesses.

The HWT bought a controlling stake in ''[[The Advertiser (Adelaide)|The Advertiser]]'' of [[Adelaide]] in 1929. From 1929 until 1987, HWT owned and operated Melbourne radio station [[KIIS 101.1|3DB]]. In 1929, 3DB along with [[3UZ]] participated in experimental television broadcasts using the ''Radiovision'' system.<ref>Bielby, Peter. ''Australian TV – The First 25 Years'', p. 173. {{ISBN|0-17-005998-7}}</ref> ''The Advertiser'' took a stake in ''[[The News (Adelaide)|The News]]'' two years later. ''The News'' was sold in 1949.

The HWT bought ''[[The West Australian]]'' in 1969. 

By 1986 Queensland Press was the largest shareholder of HWT which was targeted for a takeover by the media tycoon [[Rupert Murdoch]] in the course of the big media shake-up of 1986/87, which was enabled by the Australian Federal Government under Prime Minister [[Bob Hawke]] to curry favour with the nation's major media and their owners in order to foster its re-election chances in the [[1987 Australian federal election]]. In the end, some major assets of HWT were divided up between Murdoch's rival [[Robert Holmes a Court]]. Holmes a Court agreed to drop his $1.4 billion bid for the Melbourne-based Herald and Weekly Times in return for the right to buy its two Perth newspapers, ''The West Australian'' and its afternoon counterpart, ''[[Daily News (Perth, Western Australia)|The Daily News]]'', as well as the Melbourne television station of Channel 7, [[HSV-7]]. Murdoch in turn acquired Queensland Press in January 1987 via his family company Cruden Investments for $ 700 million.<ref>{{cite news |last=Hutcheon |first=Stephen |title=Rivkin Takes A Slice Of HWT |url=http://newsstore.fairfax.com.au/apps/viewDocument.ac?page=1&sy=nstore&kw=RIVKIN+TAKES+A+SLICE+OF+HWT+&pb=all_ffx&dt=selectRange&dr=entire&so=relevance&sf=text&sf=headline&rc=10&rm=200&sp=adv&clsPage=1&docID=news870304_0017_7816 |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=1987-03-04 |page=40 |access-date=2012-01-09}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[HSV (TV station)|HSV-7]] – owned and operated by the HWT from 1956 to 1986

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{News Corporation}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Herald And Weekly Times Ltd}}
[[Category:Organisations based in Melbourne]]
[[Category:News Corp Australia]]
[[Category:Publishing companies established in 1990]]
[[Category:Newspaper companies of Australia]]
[[Category:1990 establishments in Australia]]

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