SBS scores jackpot in federal budget

SBS might not have had a ticket in last night’s OzLotto $70 million jackpot but it has won an even greater prize… more than $158 million over the next five years, as announced in the Federal Budget.

The funding boost is in contrast to the 2009 round of triennial funding which saw SBS denied funds intended for improving its digital broadcasting initiatives.

The increased funding for Australia’s second national broadcaster includes $63 million over the next four years to facilitate the network’s launching of a national free-to-air Indigenous channel by the end of 2012.

The new channel will largely incorporate the existing NITV, which launched in 2007 but has had limited capacity for market reach.  NITV is currently available via terrestrial broadcast only in remote and outback communities with access in larger, more populated areas limited to pay-TV platforms.  The new channel will be available via SBS digital television across Australia, through terrestrial broadcast as well as the VAST satellite system.

In a statement issued by the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Senator Stephen Conroy said the increased funding will help SBS maintain its relevance in an increasingly competitive and changing media landscape:

“The Australian Government recognises SBS as one of Australia’s most important institutions.  This represents the most significant funding boost SBS has ever had, and will ensure SBS can continue to provide a unique broadcasting service that includes comprehensive television, radio and online services.”

“This additional funding will allow SBS to address its immediate financial pressures, adapt to the changing media environment and build or upgrade its technology capabilities.”

“The creation of a truly national free-to-air Indigenous television service, built on the foundations of the existing NITV service, will greatly expand the availability of Indigenous broadcast content for all Australians.”

The Budget has also allowed additional funding for ABC, in particular to allow Australians in regional and remote areas better access to ABC radio coverage.  The funding will also enable ABC to migrate distribution of its radio networks from the Optus Aurora satellite, which will cease at the end of 2013, to the Government-funded VAST system.

Australians who have direct satellite-to-home access to VAST will also gain access to ABC’s digital-only radio stations as a result of the transition. 

Source: DBCDE, SBS

TV4 coming to the Seven Network

The Seven Network has announced that it will be broadcasting the datacast channel TV4 on its digital signal from early December.

TV4, operated by marketing and production company Brand New Media, has been broadcast on the digital signal of Seven’s regional affiliate Prime7 since 18 September.

The channel promises “information rich content around lifestyle, finances, community, education and shopping”.

If online discussion about Prime7’s broadcast of TV4 is any indication, Seven Network viewers can expect the channel to largely consist of infomercials – low-rent programming that is normally reserved for mid-dawn timeslots.

Datacast services are intended for the transmission of information or niche format content and are precluded from providing general entertainment or mainstream programming.  An extended trial of datacasting was conducted in Sydney via Digital Forty Four, providing access to shopping and religious programming, government information and parliamentary broadcasts as well as an electronic program guide (EPG) for all free-to-air channels.  The trial also provided a free-to-air outlet for National Indigenous Television (NITV), whose access in most areas is otherwise limited to pay-TV platforms.  The trial concluded in 2010.

Seven will be broadcasting TV4 on digital channel 74 in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth and regional Queensland.  TV4 is currently available on digital channel 64 via Prime7 in regional NSW, Victoria and the ACT.

TV names battle it out in federal election

Last night’s Federal Election might not have returned a clear result but there were some familiar faces along the way.

Sarah Henderson (pictured), representing the Liberal Party, had contested the Victorian marginal seat of Corangamite, including areas surrounding Geelong.  Henderson will be familiar to television viewers from her work as a newsreader and reporter at Network Ten in Melbourne as well as appearing on ABC programs The Investigators, The 7.30 Report and Holiday.  She has also worked at radio 3AW and has worked in management roles at Network Ten and National Indigenous Television (NITV).  At the time of writing the result for Corangamite was still inconclusive with a narrow margin between Henderson and the ALP’s incumbent, Darren Cheeseman, but ABC has this afternoon predicted a narrow ALP win.

Former ABC journalist and presenter Maxine McKew (pictured), who famously snatched the Sydney seat of Bennelong for the ALP from former prime minister John Howard in 2007, lost out last night against the Liberal Party’s John Alexander, former tennis star and commentator for the Seven Network.  McKew has since lashed out at the ALP, saying the ALP’s campaign lacked clarity and that the recent dismissal of prime minister Kevin Rudd has had to have had an impact on the public vote.

Steve Titmus (pictured), a former newsreader for Southern Cross Television in Tasmania and representing the Liberal Party, was unsuccessful last night in his bid for the northern Tasmanian seat of Bass.

Meanwhile, the campaign for the attention of viewers last night was won by ABC with its marathon coverage headed by Kerry O’Brien returning a rating of 28.0 per cent (combining ABC1 and ABC News 24 which were in simulcast).  Nine came second on 20.3 per cent, followed by Seven (16.8), Ten (10.5) and SBS1 (3.3 per cent).  Viewers also demonstrated a definite appetite for alternative programming, with digital channels 7TWO scoring 8.1 per cent, GO! 6.9 per cent and even SBS2 getting a higher than usual 1.2 per cent.

Source: Geelong Advertiser, Wikipedia, Sydney Morning Herald, The Examiner, ABC, TV Tonight

NITV gets funding lifeline… for now

Indigenous broadcaster NITV recently issued a plea for support to gain a commitment for Government funding after the current funding period which is due to expire on 30 June 2010.

The Federal Government has now committed $15 million in funding to keep NITV broadcasting for the next 12 months.

NITV chairperson Ms Terri Janke has said in a statement:

“I thank Minister Garrett and the Rudd Government for their commitment to NITV and the Indigenous production sector. We now have the certainty for the immediate future to commit to staff, the Indigenous production sector, commercial partners, and most importantly our audience.  Demonstrated by the deluge of letters and messages of support we have received from right across the country, it’s clear NITV is the trusted voice for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders and a critical cultural reference point for all Australians.”

However Arts Minister Peter Garrett has explained that a review of the Government’s funding of indigenous broadcasting activities, including NITV and other broadcasters such as Imparja Television and community radio, will be carried out.  Input will be sought from the indigenous community and broadcasters such as NITV as part of the review.  The review will explore options for the future funding and carriage of indigenous media to the wider audience and may include involvement with the recently-announced VAST operation.

NITV is currently broadcast on free-to-air television in Alice Springs, Mount Isa, Broome and approximately 150 remote area sites.  It currently has no free-to-air carriage in any capital city apart from a trial broadcast on Sydney’s Digital Forty Four which is soon to be discontinued.  NITV is also available on pay-TV operators across Australia.

Source: NITV, Media Release from Ministers Peter Garrett, Jenny Macklin, Stephen Conroy.

NITV risks shutdown without funding

The National Indigenous Television network (NITV) is warning that it will be forced to close by 30 June 2010 if it does not get a commitment for continued government funding.

NITV, launched in 2007, currently broadcasts on a range of free-to-air and pay-TV platforms – including digital free-to-air in Sydney (on the trial Digital Forty Four service that is soon to be discontinued), through pay-TV providers including Foxtel, Austar and Optus, and through approximately 147 free-to-air transmitters across remote and outback Australia, including Alice Springs (UHF 34) and Mount Isa (UHF 35).  It is also available direct from the Optus Aurora satellite and can be seen via in the in-house television service in Parliament House in Canberra.

NITV presents a 24/7 hour television service and produces most of its own programming – with more than 1400 hours of first-run programming aired – including The Marngrook Footy Show (pictured), Living Strong, Barefoot Rugby League Show, Milli Milli Nganka and NITV Nightly News. 

The station employs around 50 Australians, with 70 per cent those being Indigenous, and through itself and its outsourced productions provide training and experience to Indigenous Australians seeking a career in television.

Once the Digital Forty Four trial service is closed down at the end of April, almost 95 per cent of homes that can access NITV will only be able to do so via subscription or pay-TV.  With increased and continued funding, NITV can also expand its distribution networks to increase its free-to-air TV coverage to place it on a comparable reach with the existing national and commercial television services.

A not-for-profit public company, NITV is seeking a commitment from the Government to maintaining its funding beyond 30 June 2010 and encourages viewers and supporters to put their support to NITV in writing to:

The Hon Peter Garrett AM, MP
Minister for Environment Protection, Heritage and the Arts.
Parliament House Contact
PO Box 6022
House of Representatives
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600

Or to send an email, go to www.aph.gov.au/P_Garrett_MP/  then click 'contact form'.

More information on NITV can be found at its website and NITV can also be followed on Twitter.

Imparja news signing off

Imparja Television, Australia's last independently-owned regional TV operator, is reported to be closing down its regional news and current affairs unit.

ABC reports that the Alice Springs-based, indigenous-owned broadcaster is closing its local news operations in a round of cost cutting.   Already seven jobs are believed to have been cut with more to follow.

The cutbacks follow the station's recent move into a multi-million dollar complex in Alice Springs and its failed bid to purchase the Nine Network's Darwin station NTD8.  Curiously, the bid to purchase NTD had to include a commitment to maintaining local news and staffing levels in the top end capital.

Earlier this year Imparja made significant changes to its schedule by aligning itself with the Nine Network line-up, adding the Nine Network 'dots' to its logo and scrapping programs sourced from Network Ten.  The station also cancelled its nightly half-hour locally-produced news bulletin, in favour of a relay of National Nine News from Brisbane, and aligned its schedule to Eastern Standard Time instead of Central Standard Time.  Local news was to be provided only via one-minute updates during the evenings and a new weekly program Footprints.

Imparja was launched in 1988 with a commitment to producing and promoting Aboriginal culture.  With the cutbacks to its local news coverage the station's only indigenous-based production now is a weekly children's program although Imparja does provide facilities and transmission capacity to the indigenous broadcaster NITV. 

Now for around 430,000 viewers located in remote and outback Australia the only local news coverage on television can be found on bite-sized news updates on Southern Cross Seven Central, produced from a newsroom in Canberra, and the news service of the fledgling NITV whose broadcast coverage is limited.

The cancellation of local news by Imparja follows some other regional broadcasters going down a similar path, with Prime and Southern Cross Ten in much of their eastern states coverage areas providing limited news coverage that barely fulfils the guidelines set down by the broadcasting authority.  In contrast, regional networks WIN, NBN, GWN and Southern Cross Television provide more substantial local news coverage with full-scale evening bulletins across their respective regions.

Source: ABC

NITV goes to Sydney

Australia's national indigenous broadcaster, National Indigenous Television (NITV), is expanding its coverage by gaining access to Sydney's Digital 44 free-to-air service.

NITV commenced operation in July last year, initially broadcasting via the Optus Aurora satellite and re-transmitted through the facilities of Imparja Television in remote areas.  The channel is also available via Foxtel, Optus, Austar, Neighbourhood Cable and TransACT pay-TV platforms and even via the in-house television system at Parliament House in Canberra.  The expansion to Digital 44 marks the broadcaster's first free-to-air transmission in a capital city, adding to the 150 transmission sites already in operation in remote and regional communities.

As the name implies, NITV provides programming made by, and aimed at, Australia's indigenous communities, including children's programs, documentaries, drama, music, entertainment, news and current affairs.

Earlier this year NITV's sports program, Marngrook Footy Show, won Best Sports Program at the Antenna Awards in Melbourne, and NITV and SBS were broadcast partners for the Deadly Awards held at the Sydney Opera House earlier this month.  NITV was also a sponsor at this year's St Kilda Film Festival in Melbourne.

NITV has also joined with international broadcasters including Maori Television New Zealand, S4C Wales, SABC South Africa, BBC Scotland, APTN Canada, Taiwan Indigenous Network, TG4 Ireland and Australia's SBS, to form the World Indigenous Broadcast Network, giving NITV programs the potential to be given a global audience.

Digital 44 is a datacasting service operating on an extended trial basis in Sydney.  The service is not allowed to provide mainstream television but carries a number of niche or narrowcast channels including Expo Channel, Australian Christian Channel, news and weather reports (ABC), parliamentary broadcasts and NSW government information.

 

Source: NITV