Eric Welch's Sports Album

Australian TV series or program

Eric Welch's Sports Album
Genre	Sports
Presented by	Eric Welch
Country of origin	Australia
Original language	English
Original release
Network	GTV-9
Release	24 January (1957-01-24) – 1 August 1957 (1957-08-01)

Eric Welch's Sports Album was an Australian television series which aired from 24 January to 1 August 1957. The series aired at 8:30PM on Thursdays on Melbourne station GTV-9, and featured a mix of live and filmed material.^[1]

Eric Welch was a sports commentator (particularly commenting on horse racing and boxing) and announcer on radio from the 1920s to 1970s, working at 3LO, 3DB and 3AK. He was well-known and respected for his annual commentary of the Anzac Day march in Melbourne. On 3DB he was a panelist on the Australian version of the popular program Information Please. He was part of GTV-9's 1956 Olympics coverage team.

Sports Album utilized the Movietone library of vintage newsreel footage of Australian sporting events such as the Melbourne Cup, combined with live interviews of Australian sports figures.^[2]

The series was both an early example of sports-related programming on Australian television, as well as one of GTV's earliest locally produced series.

References

^ "Thursday Television". Radio/TV Supplement. The Age. 31 January 1957. p. 12. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
^ "Filmed Highlights Of Sport". GTV-9 Supplement. The Age. 18 January 1957. p. 15. Retrieved 7 July 2013.