The Australian Community Television Alliance responds to Malcolm Turnbull's arguments for moving community TV onto the internet.
In the last two weeks community television staff, volunteers, interns and producers have had a taste of what it feels like to come under attack when the work that they do stands in the way of the interests of powerful people.
Since making the decision to terminate community television’s access to free-to-air broadcast spectrum, the Minister for Communications Malcolm Turnbull has waged a campaign in the Fairfax press and on national radio and television designed to disparage and undermine the value of community television in order to justify his decision.
"It is on an unfortunate technicality that community TV services are to be terminated"
In many respects we feel like the proud householder whose home is to be demolished to make way for the new freeway with the explanation that the house was small and ugly anyway, an eyesore that won’t be missed.
Community TV exists in order to provide the general public with a resource to access free to air broadcast spectrum, to create and broadcast programs that are of interest to them.
Free-to-air TV is still the most watched media form in this country and importantly it is “free” to access. Despite the claims of the minister, community TV is regularly watched by around three million viewers every month.
"Interest in watching and participating in community TV is high and this goes some way to explaining the extraordinary backlash to this decision"
Each week we screen over 120 first-run locally-made programs. Interest in watching and participating in community TV is high and this goes some way to explaining the extraordinary backlash to this decision.
Turnbull continues to lecture community TV that the internet is not new – patronising the sector with the purpose of painting community TV as old and staid.
Community TV is an innovator and has been preparing itself to remain relevant as online viewing continues to evolve and develop.
C31 Melbourne was one of the first stations in Australia to offer a “catch-up TV” service online. Presently this offering attracts around 15,000 unique browsers per month, as opposed to one million viewers per month on our broadcast signal.
Community TV simply will not reach the same number of viewers if forced online only.
If online delivery is presently the “best outcome” for community TV why does the same standard not apply to all other broadcasters?
Minister Turnbull continues to cite the UK broadcast environment as being instructive, particularly referencing the decision of the BBC to move their youth focused BBC3 channel online.
"Community TV simply will not reach the same number of viewers if forced online only"
There is more to this story that he does not refer to – the fact that spectrum has been made available for the roll-out of Local TV stations in the major cities. These stations are to be partially-funded by the BBC and are designed to provide opportunities for local communities and students to access public free-to-air spectrum emulating our own community TV stations.
The minister has recently stated that our licences are “temporary”. This is not correct – three licensees (Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane) operate on permanent Broadcasting Service licences that are reviewed every five years.
This year, all three stations had their licences renewed to 2019 having successfully demonstrated to the government regulator, the ACMA [Australian Communications and Media Authority], that we were fulfilling all requirements of the licence including community engagement and financial viability.
It is on an unfortunate technicality that community TV services are to be terminated.
Community TV understands that the spectrum we have been granted is valuable.
We welcome the announcement that broadcasters are to be encouraged to move to MPEG4 technology, which will enable more services and more HD broadcasts.
"All the sector is asking for is what it has not been granted to date – a consultation process involving all stakeholders seeking to find a pathway to preserving or perhaps enhancing this public resource on free-to-air television"
We also understand that there is future demand for spectrum for new wireless services and we do not wish to stand in the way of these policy objectives.
Community TV does not demand government funding or excessive guarantees. All the sector is asking for is what it has not been granted to date – a consultation process involving all stakeholders seeking to find a pathway to preserving or perhaps enhancing this public resource on free-to-air television whilst still enabling efficient management of spectrum.
There are options available that could provide a genuinely mutually-beneficial outcome for all parties should there exist the will to open dialogue.
Community TV, its volunteers and viewers do not deserve to be summarily dismissed with a vague notion of a bright future on the internet and a wilful misrepresentation of our worth.
WHAT MALCOLM TURNBULL SAID: Click here to read Malcolm Turnbull's arguments for moving community TV onto the internet and freeing up radiofrequency.
The Australian Community Television Alliance (ACTA) is a not-for-profit industry association representing free-to-air community television (CTV) channels licensed by the Australian government under the Commonwealth Broadcasting Services Act, 1992.
ACTA has been established to represent existing and potential CTV licensees and to advance the interests of community television. ACTA is currently governed by an executive group consisting of the heads of the capital city CTV stations.
