Community TV is on its death bed, when will Conroy step in?
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As Australians warm to digital television before its official takeover in 2013, community broadcasters are watching their analogue programming wither on the vine. “Our fortunes are directly linked with getting a digital licence, and the uncertainty of when that’ll happen is killing us,” Richard McLelland, General Manager of Melbourne’s Channel 31, told Crikey. Channel 31 Melbourne — still broadcasting in analogue — has lost 20 per cent of its audience this year as digital set top boxes start infiltrating Australian lounge rooms. While SBS and ABC have been allocated space on the digital network, which will replace analogue services completely by the end of 2013, community broadcasters are still waiting for a slice of digital spectrum. “The community television sector is marooned on the analogue service, so as the Federal Government is successful in persuading viewers to move across to digital, our audience is diminishing and you can see the direct link with sponsors,” said McLelland. Sponsorship is Channel 31’s main source of income, since the Victorian Government’s support has fallen by 85 per cent to less than $90,000 over the last 15 months. “The Rudd Government inherited a flawed system that made no room for community television,” Laurie Patton, Chief Executive of Sydney’s local broadcaster TVS and spokesperson for the Australian Community Television Alliance, told Crikey . A representative from Stephen Conroy’s Ministry of Communications told Crikey that community stations are guaranteed digital spectrum, but the package they’ll be offered is still under construction. Broadcasters are hoping the options will be more clearly outlined in a yet-to-be-released Green Paper on the future of community television, which was marked for publication on July 31 this year. “We’ve been hearing that the Government is on its way to announcing a digital changeover for a while. A number of dates have been earmarked, like the budget, but that goes back to June and we’re still waiting,” Paul Mills, CEO of Queensland’s local broadcaster QCTV told Crikey. Like Channel 31, QCTV is having trouble building its audience amid the changeover uncertainty. “We’re stuck in limbo and as long as we’re waiting we can’t make any plans for future programming,” said Mills. The move from analogue to digital will add up to ten extra channels to the original five free-to-airs, but with reruns and international sport now filling most of the extra space, it won’t be hard for quantity to eclipse quality in the digital revolution. “Commercial networks won’t be putting money into Australian content, they’ll be importing content from overseas, so [making] community television the only new source of local programming.” said Patton. Channel 31 in Melbourne alone produces 95 Australian shows each week, with 2.5 hours a day reserved for youth television. TVS in Sydney broadcasts 75% local content, and aims to make that around 80-90% over the next couple of years. “An increase in television channels is a good reason why we have to continue to fund Australian programming. We need a balance so we don’t lose that sense of ‘Australianness’ reflected through TV, where we can see things about out culture that we can celebrate and also be analytical about,” Dr Wendy Davis, media and education research fellow at Central Queensland University, told Crikey. “The Government needs to recognise that TV remains central to our culture whether we like it or not.” |
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15 Comments
In Adelaide, Community TV is a disaster. C-31 Adelaide is still operating on a trial licence, having not demonstrated to ACMA that they deserve a full Community TV licence after five years of operation.
99% of C-31 Adelaide’s programming is from interstate or old content that nobody is interested in. Despite that they have received a handout from the State Govt. here of more than $200,000 for a more powerful analogue transmitter!
Community TV has never worked in Adelaide, probably because it’s run by the same people who presided over the previous incarnation, ACE TV.
Does Community TV broadcast Two and a Half-Men or Australia’s Funniest Home Videos? No? Then why should we care if it dies?
Channel 31 is great and deserves all the support it can get. With a wide range of shows made for all of Melbourne.
Why does it need digital? TVs can still receive analog signals, and will for ages.
Ch31, specifically TVS here in Sydney catchmen, needs to get it’s megaphone out with a well constructed pitch to the public. Perhaps with the same folks who do the great Get Up adverts. Why isn’t it running profile adverts on the one platform they control being their own tv channel, every 30 minutes? You have the means of getting the govt’s attention in your own hands for God sake.
Do you think anything comes with struggle and effort? How naive can you be?
And Laurie you are way overpaid compared to all the community programme providers, so get off your backside dude and get on with the obvious method of effective outreach. In other words stop being a passenger and earn your keep. And that goes for the directors in the other state nodes.
Why do we need community television? It is an incubator for new talents in the industry. Ask Rove.
When I used watch TV from digital box set, there were Parliament Channel and Christian Channel but sadly TVS was not there.
Hi Tom
If you go to http://www.youtube.com/user/TVSTelevisionSydney#p/u/38/YpWRZVrHtdk you will see the appeal to the Prime Minister that is running around the clock on TVS and has been for some time now. A copy was also sent to Mr Rudd.
If you go to http://www.tvs.tv and look in the news section you will see all the releases that TVS and ACTA (Australian Community Television Alliance) have put out over the last year or so relating to the need for digital spectrum. You can also watch TVS streamed live on the internet.
Apart from the public campaign the CTV station heads, working through ACTA, have collectively made repeated representations to the Government. We have received a very positive response from Minister Conroy and remain optomistic about an imminent decision in favour of the Community Television sector.
As is the case with our interstate colleagues, TVS is committed to providing a platform for community groups and individuals to air programs that add to media diversity and increase the level of Australian content on our screens.
Our message to the Government is not so much about what Community TV is now, or has been in the past, but what it can be in the future in a multi-channel digital world.
ACTA has already secured the agreement of the other free-to-airs that will see community channels included on the Freeview Electronic Progam Guide once we go digital. When this happens the profile of Community TV will grow sigificantly and so too, we are confident, will our audience numbers.
Okay, points well made. Happy to be corrected. I want to withdraw the personal innuendo too which is OTT!. Will go to the YouTube. Will blog it up too no doubt. Only when I scan TVS Sydney a bit this last few weeks (back on mains with good antenna about a month) I haven’t seen the pitch on your station.
Good luck really.
Am just wondering in terms of crude politik: One suspects in the major cities analogue will run alot longer than we are being officially told post GFC. Sydney is still 2013 from memory too, which is why I take all the digital hoo haa with a grain of salt. Even while I miss ABC 2 reruns and morning news show.
The other factor is the hugely expensive NBN and expectation of local fragmented broadband ‘tv’, that perhaps the federal agency will see as easier to ‘manage/ignore’ and whether the gov thinks that’s enough for those little community guys?
It all sounds very noble but if state-based community channels were genuine about supporting local production they’d forget about being broadcasters and focus on being aggregators of content. There’s too much ‘old TV’ thinking in the community sector and not enough innovation.
CTV NEWS ALERT: There is great promise on the horizon where a newly designed community television sector plan is being seriously considered by Senator Conroy and the ACMA.
I know, our media group proposed it in 2008 and now in 2009 has been recalled for consideration by the federal government, and it’s getting close to that final decision.
STAY TUNED!
Kind regards my fellow revolutionary friends:-)
What a load of bunk from C31 station managers! Admittedly, money can be lost due to loosing an audience because of change of broadcasting systems, but if the C31 stations were more committed to dedicated memberships rather then viewers, financial situations might be a bit different.
Let’s look at Melbourne’s relationship with their state government. The state government, as well as the federal government should not be a sole source for local community television, or at least not for a long term. Although CTV is part of an art form, it is also part of an industry, thus should and can stand alone with a majority of local support. It’s call community engagement. The state or federal government should not have continued interest in a local media service; this service belongs to the community and nothing else, unless these two government levels desire to purchase air time on a particular CTV station. How would the local public relate to a television station that’s supposed to be for them when the interest of the station is more directed towards state and federal government interest? But anyway, sorry for the reduction of Victoria’s state government continual funding, but we shouldn’t really be so dependent on again state or federal tax dollars.
And, too Mr Laurie Patton, saying the Rudd government inherited a flawed system isn’t really what happened. If society, who wanted a new government really didn’t realize what Conroy was truly about, they just want to get rid of Howards’ and Coonans’ arrogance. The last government did have an excellent plan with the allocation of channel A and B, but the desire to change federal controllers’ over road common sense. Instead, digital spectrum took on a new look with Conroy’s main interest in launch his ideals under the NBN concept, which allowed may still a primary choice to put community television through this system, yet. Conroy has more of an internet interest then major television broadcasting interest if you really haven’t noticed. Look at the article: “Community TV is on its death bed, when will Conroy step in?”, dated 21 Oct 09 (this one) where the federal government stated “community stations are guaranteed digital spectrum, but the package they’ll be offered is still under construction.” Although CTV may still be on the books of digital spectrum, how long can they hold with a rapid digital set top box uptake? One only knows?
I think what’s really holding up the process of issuing community television any digital spectrum and especially financial support is being held up by the many indecisions of the community television sector. The federal government has opened its doors many times to discuss many issues from the ACTC, but their uncertainties in deciding what broadcasting systems are preferred by the CTV stations are probably confusing what the federal government are able to offer. There are many issues between CTV stations have created no conformity among each station’s objectives, which I am sure the federal government is paying much notice too. There are much more difficulties and misrepresentations existing in the operations of Australia’s community television sector that go beyond their principle model of what they were designed for, and have yet to accommodate their primary purpose.
Mr Paul Mills is correct with his statement about C31 being stuck in limbo. He should realize since I was told by New Zealand media industry that he came from two defunct NZ community television stations he had managed previously being selected to the Briz31, I mean QCTV community television station. Probably a very strong businessman, but what successes are he bringing to Australia’s concepts in this area?
I especially like the local programming percentage that some of the C31 stations attempt to project to the federal government and their public. For instance, the Melbourne CTV station claims that they alone produce 95 Australian shows each week, but if you really review their weekly schedules, most shows are produced by the local community producers, along with coming from many other CTV stations and outside the state’s area of interest. So are they really producing their own Australian content or all they making claim to their local public’s hard earned produced efforts?
TVS in Sydney has always had high ambitions since they began operating their services, but is far from offering any of their public opportunity in directly participating in their station operations. However, they do boast that they are a proud to broadcast the creative works of others that they support, or is that prostitute? Again, the Sydney CTV station also says its program schedule consist of 75% of local content, but this is mainly similar to what Melbourne CTV station states; coming from outside the station’s area of interest.
To say that Australian’s require producing more content that presents Australia in this article is true, but when you have local producers creating shows like movie reviews, they will normally present Hollywood movies and not locally independent filmmakers from Australia. Even in most recent days of the latest community television campaign concepts to promote their exposition channels, they are again attempting to support this genre by telling them to bring their creative movies to their stations for the best start in promoting their films. Well, if we look back in the history of who actually created the initial campaign for the development of a community television service was from the independent filmmakers, and they saw to possible growth on a big market other than through film festivals and other promotional methods that brings larger interest and in some financial reward. Although television program schedules lack Australian representation, it has to be insisted upon the local producers that this is what the community television sector would like more content in and not just come in and do anything you want to only promote individual interests; i.e. Rove MacManus, Hamish and Andy, along with others who have promoted their possessed talents towards commercial success through their local CTV stations, saving them thousands of dollars and hard times like our primary celebrities. Not that we shouldn’t allow success from beginning from the community television services, but it the CTV stations should provide thorough training services to help all who become involved in their services opportunity to also advance to more lucrative careers.
Lastly, I do think that the federal government is fully aware of the importance of television and how it is central to a culture, because most of DBCDE’s management staff use to work in the community television sector, while having great knowledge to the earlier concerns of what it would mean to local communities to have such services to express and create programs that are relative to them.
I would suspect that the federal government is really thinking about the mode and concept it wants to support for developing a more viable and industrial media learning sector that improves upon public’s advances in enhancing the future of where television or whatever this industry will turn into for the future.
Well, I just received correspondence (26 Oct 09) from Senator Conroy’s office stating that their delay in allocating the community television sector and providing funding for its digital transition has come down to federal government costs, along with the digital spectrum itself and more. The correspondence also stated that they have reviewed all proposals and has declined all submissions, while also trying to figure out where any money or lost of providing free digital spectrum to the community television sector while in this economic crises. While they have turned down my plan for these reasons, I would expect that the concept of having a community television sector in Australia to be a failed one, unless the industry can find another way of providing its services. Me, I am thoroughly discussed that the federal government is more concerned about promoting the NBN and foreigners entering Australia then the local Australian public. I also believe your C31 Forum will be useless, it will be like waisting time, money and the public’s efforts to sustain a community television sector. Good Luck!
In response to Media Researcher… couldn’t agree with you more. I too noted the comment that Channel 31 in Melbourne ‘produced 95 Australian shows per week’. It’s an outrageous claim and you are absolutely correct in saying these programs are produced by various people around the country. It’s these same producers who are then required to sign their programs away for three year ‘exclusive’ contracts. There is a better way and any future Government support should be based around the notion of supporting the independent producer not the broadcaster.
Paton wrote above: “you will see the appeal to the Prime Minister that is running around the clock on TVS and has been for some time now”
Yet I still haven’t seen any advocacy on Ch31 TVS in Sydney as a very part time watcher. Seeing is believing.
Has anyone else see the advocacy there via pitch to their Sydney audience?
What’s wrong with this picture when the Australian Federal Government totally neglects to identify the Australian Community Television Alliance (ACTA) and the community television stations?
On 2 Nov 2009, the Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy (DBCDE), launched a new website (looks great), but neglected to list the community television alliance and the community television industry as a recognized link in Australian television industry.
What does this mean? It just might mean there may not be a future for the community television service.
Check out their link.
Go to: The Australian Community Television Alliance (ACTA) is not even linked in DBCDE’s new website:
Related sites
http://www.minister.dbcde.gov.au/sites