Michael Charlton, the first person to appear on ABC television’s opening night, has died at age 98.
He was the son of broadcaster Conrad Charlton, who was the first voice to be heard when ABC was inaugurated in 1932, and elder brother to Tony Charlton.
Studying at University in Western Australia, he started his broadcasting career at Perth radio station 6PR as part of the Macquarie radio network, followed by 3DB in Melbourne, then joining ABC radio as a general announcer before moving to sports commentary.
In anticipation of the advent of television in Australia, he studied the medium at the BBC in the mid-1950s. On his return to Australia he was chosen to host the Opening Night introduction for ABC’s first television station — ABN2, Sydney, in November 1956. He presented ABC’s first election night coverage in 1958. Then in 1961, he collaborated with producer Bob Raymond to develop Four Corners, then described as a “television newspaper” with news and analysis from around the world. The program had an immediate impact in bringing domestic and world events to Australian viewers. The following year Charlton, with Raymond and camera operators Peter Leyden and Warren Seip became the first Australian television crew allowed into the Soviet Union.
His popularity with viewers was rewarded with a TV Week Gold Logie in 1963, but by then he had already secured a role at BBC’s current affairs flagship, Panorama, where he stayed for over a decade.
In the 1980s he reunited with Raymond to produce a seven-part documentary series, Out Of The Fiery Furnace, which was seven years in the making and sold to over 20 countries.
YouTube: ABC News In-depth
Source: ABC. TV Week, 30 March 1963. The Bulletin, 16 March 1963, 20 March 1965. The Age, 8 September 1966.
