Community television a critical plank of media diversity

The Australian Senate is currently conducting an inquiry into media diversity in Australia. The Australian Deer Association has made a submission to the inquiry, focusing on the plight of community television in Australia.

Community television stations are not-for-profit, open-access broadcasters which provide niche services to capital city communities in terms of airing religious content, multicultural content and bespoke sporting and interest-based programming (including hunting).

There was an inquiry into the future use of the sixth television channel (the spectrum on which community television broadcasts) conducted in 1997. It found the community television’s use of the sixth channel provided “the opportunity to correct market failures”. Part of the market failure was seen that current free-to-air television had “abandoned localism”.

The inquiry also noted there were economic benefits from community television’s use of the sixth channel in promoting the Australian production industry. The stations also provided training to students and other community members, some of whom would undertake roles within the commercial industry.

A Department of Parliamentary Services report in 2014 made important observations about Community Broadcasting:

"One thing is agreed — community media contributes significantly to the pool of media voices available. Community broadcasting in particular, as an alternative medium to public service and commercial media, fosters citizen participation and helps to preserve cultural diversity, while promoting an overall ‘Australian-ness’.

"Most importantly, since its beginnings community media has been local media — the voices of communities that echo their interests and concerns.

"Survival is difficult for broadcasting community media because they most often operate on small budgets, receiving a fraction of the support which the Federal Government provides to public sector broadcasters and operating largely as a result of support from the communities they service.

"The broadcasting community media in Australia is more a source which fosters participation than radical idealism; it is the voice of ordinary Australians who mostly do not seek to reorient the world, but to ensure everyone gets a ‘fair go’. It is alternative in that it provides a form to promote cultural diversity within the framework of an overall national culture and in that it delivers strong local voices in a media environment which is increasingly homogenous."

During the COVID-19 pandemic the community broadcasters played an important role by airing religious services.

In September 2014 the (then) Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced that community television licences would be phased out on December 31, 2015.

The continued uncertainty since then has damaged sponsorship and has led to the closure of three community broadcasters (in Sydney, Brisbane and Perth).

Channel 31 (Melbourne) and 44 (Adelaide) were given a ‘last-minute’ reprieve from closure in June 2020 when Minister Fletcher made a surprise announcement of a 12-month licence extension during an appearance on ABC Television's Q&A program.

The original rationale for the closure was to allow space on the “sixth channel” spectrum for the commercial and government broadcasters to test MPEG-4 compression technology.

In Senate Estimates in October 2020, the following exchanges were recorded between Senators and the relevant Department:

Senator Smith: "… is there (a) plan for its immediate use once the spectrum is vacated?"

Mr Richard Windeyer, deputy secretary of Communications and Media: "Senator, there is no immediate plan for the use of the spectrum."

The department also confirmed that there is no significant cost to government to extend the licences that enable community TV stations to serve their audiences on-air:

Senator Smith: "… The cost to government of continuing the extension for another 12 months would be zero? Is that correct?"

Mr Windeyer: "Very close to, Senator. Yes."

The ADA has urged parliamentarians to end the unnecessary attack on community television and provide long-term certainty to this important information platform.