1988 in Australian television

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Events

• 1 January – Australia Live, a four-hour celebration welcoming a year of celebrations for Australia's bicentennial of European settlement airs on the ABC, SBS, the Nine Network and regional solus stations.
• 2 January – Imparja starts broadcasting to remote Central Australia via satellite It would have its official launch on 15 January.
• 17 January – The first episode of Home and Away one of the longest running Australian TV soaps since Neighbours airs on Seven Network.
• 18 January – A Current Affair launches on the Nine Network after a ten-year absence, hosted by Jana Wendt.
• 24 January – Network Ten unveils new logo, the "X" logo.
• February – Seven Network launches Family Feud.
• 8 February – Canadian teen drama series Degrassi Junior High, the second in the Degrassi trilogy series debuts on the ABC.
• 16 February – The Comedy Company starring Mark Mitchell (Con The Fruitier), Glenn Robbins (Uncle Arthur), Maryanne Fahey (Kylie Mole), Ian McFayden, Kim Gyngell (Col'n Carpenter), Chris Keogh, Russell Gilbert, Siobhan Tuke, Paula Gardener and Peter Rowsthorn debuts on Channel Ten (1988–1990).
• 26 March - In Neighbours, Daphne Clarke becomes the first character in history to die to do so after being in a coma in a car crash four months earlier.
• 25 April - The 10.30pm timeslot becomes an unlikely battle ground as Graham Kennedy returns to the Nine Network after a 13 years absence to co-host Graham Kennedy’s News Show (re-titled Graham Kennedy's Coast To Coast when the show returns for 1989) up against Seven’s Newsworld with Clive Robertson and Ten’s Late Night Australia with Don Lane.
• 29 April – QSTV (now Seven Central) starts broadcasting to remote Eastern Australia via satellite.
• 20 May – Perth's third commercial television station NEW-10 opens, giving Perth the same number of stations as the eastern states.
• 18 May - In Neighbours, Madge Mitchell and Harold Bishop marry.
• 20 June – ABC debuts a new children's sketch TV series called Swap Shop (based on the British Saturday Morning children's programme of the same name) at 4:30pm.
• 17 July - In Neighbours, this was Charlene Robinson's final episode. Kylie Minogue leaves the show to focus on her recently launched recording career.
• 10 September – Brisbane's TVQ-0 becomes TVQ-10. On the same day, Toowoomba's DDQ-10 became DDQ-0.
• 24-25 October - In Neighbours, Mrs. Mangel marries Englishman John Worthington, immigrate to the UK and lived happily ever after.
• 31 October – The British long running science fiction series Doctor Who returns to the ABC with the very first serial of Season 24 Time and the Rani, which marked the first episode to star Sylvester McCoy as the Doctor. Because the show is no longer airing at an early evening timeslot, it now airs as part of the hit weekday afternoon magazine series The Afternoon Show at 5:30pm. The show will also end on 23 November with the last part of Remembrance of the Daleks to celebrate the series' 25th anniversary.
• 4 November – In Neighbours, Bronwyn Davies and Henry Ramsay get together.
• Christopher Skase buys Perth's TVW-7 & SAS-7 from Alan Bond's Bell Group for $130 million, meaning that all stations in the Seven Network were owned by the one company for the first time.
• 12 December – Final episode of Neighbours for 1988 airs on Network Ten.

Debuts

Domestic

• 17 January – Home & Away (Seven Network)
• 18 January – A Current Affair (Nine Network)
• 16 February – The Comedy Company (Network Ten, 1988 – 1990)
• 29 February – The Bartons (ABC TV, 1988)
• 20 June – Swap Shop (ABC TV, 1988 – 1990)
• Family Feud (Seven Network, 1988 – 1996)
• Mulligrubs (Network Ten, 1988 – 1996)

New International Programming

• 4 January – Spirit Bay (ABC TV)
• 1 February – The Tracey Ullman Show (ABC TV)
• 8 February – Degrassi Junior High (ABC TV)
• 21 March – The Children of Green Knowe (ABC TV)
• 4 July – Spartakus and the Sun Beneath the Sea (ABC TV)
• 6 July – Telebugs (ABC TV)
• 8 August – The New Adventures of Beans Baxter (ABC TV)
• 28 November – Your Mother Wouldn't Like It (ABC TV)
• 19 December – The Ghosts of Motley Hall (ABC TV)
• 25 December – Fox Tales (ABC TV)
• 26 December – The December Rose (ABC TV)
• Sky Commanders (Seven Network)
• The Adventures of Teddy Ruxpin (Network Ten)
• ALF: The Animated Series (Seven Network)
• Popeye and Son (Seven Network)
• Dinosaucers (Nine Network)
• BraveStarr (Nine Network)

Television shows

1950s

• Mr. Squiggle and Friends (1959–1999)

1970s

• Hey Hey It's Saturday (1971–1999)

1980s

• Wheel of Fortune (1981–1996, 1996–2003, 2004 – present)
• Neighbours (1985 – present)
• Sunday (1981–2008)
• Today (1982 – present)

Ending this year

Date	Show	Channel	Debut
December 1988	Romper Room	Seven Network/NBN Television	1963
1 December 1988	Young Talent Time	Channel Ten	24 April 1971