Community Broadcasting
In 1993 the Australian Broadcasting Authority allocated licenses for a sixth television channel for non-profit community and educational use on a trial basis. The groundwork for community television was laid in the Broadcasting Services Act 1992, which defined a new service category, community television, for the first time.
Prospective community television providers were invited to apply for transmitter licenses, which were granted to groups in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Lismore. In February, 1995, the West Australian Community Broadcasting Association was appointed to manage access to the sixth channel in Perth and Mandurah on behalf of groups based in the two cities.
Licenses were also granted in 1996 to Hobart Access Community Television Inc in Hobart and Bendigo Community Television Inc in Bendigo however these were not renewed. Similarly, a license for BushVision in Mount Gambier was granted in 2005, but it later lapsed.
Permanent licenses for Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth were allocated in 2004, while trial license remain in effect in Adelaide and Lismore.
The Australian Community Television Alliance, established in March 2008 is the national representative organisation for community television. The CEO of TVS Sydney, Laurie Patton, is the Secretary and represents ACTA on the Federal Government's Digital Switchover Taskforce Industry Advisory Group.
In addition to these, a number of community groups produce programming in regional areas, including Bushvision in Mount Gambier, Queanbeyan Canberra Television (QCTV) in Canberra, Hunter Community Television in Newcastle, Illawarra Community Television (ICTV) in Wollongong and WARP Television in Bathurst.
Groups in a number of areas including Bendigo, Ballarat, Victor Harbour and Hobart have unsuccessfully applied for licences. Aurora Community Television, Australian Multicultural Television, Ballarat Community Cable Television, Channel Vision (Canberra) and Satellite Community TV, although not licensed as community stations, provide similar services.
Community Television stations will go digital to launch in 2010.
Read more about this topic: Television Broadcasting In Australia
Famous quotes containing the words community and/or broadcasting:
“The community has no bribe that will tempt a wise man.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“We spend all day broadcasting on the radio and TV telling people back home what’s happening here. And we learn what’s happening here by spending all day monitoring the radio and TV broadcasts from back home.”
—P.J. (Patrick Jake)