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12 month lifeline for NITV

A lifeline has been thrown to National Indigenous Television with federal government funding guaranteed for the next 12 months.

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A lifeline has been thrown to National Indigenous Television (NITV) with federal government funding guaranteed for the next 12 months.

The ABC reports that the government will be reviewing funding after that.

Last month the broadcaster said it would be forced to switch off after June 30th without government assistance. It was forced to cancel its planned coverage of the Ngurratjuta Lightning Cup, an AFL tournament held in Alice Springs over the Easter long weekend,

NITV broadcasts original indigenous programming in the Sydney Metropolitan Area, Geelong, Ballarat, Mildura, plus Foxtel, Optus and Austar and on 147 terrestrial transmitters in remote areas of Australia. It was founded in 2006 to make and broadcast indigenous content for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community and the wider population. It started on air in July 2007.

The Government currently funds three Indigenous television organisations, five indigenous radio stations and remote broadcasting services.

The Indigenous Affairs Minister, Jenny Macklin, says the Government is reviewing all of the services to make sure they are adequate for Indigenous people.

Source: ABC, The Australian

20 Responses

  1. NITV’s channel had some text at the bottom of the screen reading, it will be switched off april 30 as it has. There website was reading, it will be switched off June 30. Ive read they recieved funding though cant find any content telling me it will come back on free to air. Can someone let me know if i will see it in Sydney on free to air again as I am always watching it & support them %100

  2. Here’s hoping that NITV continues for a long time after that inital extra 12 months. It’s a vital service to Indigenous Australia and a valubable tool in reconcilliation.

  3. ABC famously cost us 8cents per day. On nitv website, pat turner ceo says that it would cost 8cents, per viewer, per Year to put NITV in capital cities on FTA digital. I would happily pay 8 cents a year for NITV!

  5. Gee, I wish Paul(l) was running ACMA, granting television licences to whomever he chooses. Maybe then we’d all have FTA access to the highbrow programs of Fox8. Joy to the world! [smirk]

  6. NITV’s not actually available over terrestrial FTA in Geelong, Ballarat and Mildura – it’s just on cable there. It is available in Sydney (as stated), Alice Springs, Mt Isa and lots of smaller places though.

    There’s little point continuing with it unless it can be made more available to more people. At the very least, it should recieve major capital coverage as part of the new Channel A mux; plus be carried on the very-soon-to-be-announced new version of Optus Aurora (ie Freeview Sat).

    Right now, it could be carried on SBS2 overnight.

  7. It really should be on free to air, as others have commented. I would imagine that a large section of their target audience (and I know I am generalising there) are in communities that can’t afford to have foxtel. Having the station free to air with full government support would open a lot of doors for the station in terms of exposure and support from the wider community.

    That said though, couldn’t the station just cut down its broadcasting to 12hrs a day instead of 24 to cut back on the costs instead of switching off?

    (as an aside “Last month the broadcaster said it would cease to be forced to switch off after June 30th without government assistance” – that reads like they were allowed to stay switched on without government assistance! Which doesn’t make sense in the context of the story? or am I reading that wrong? I think the words “ceased to” shouldn’t be there?)

  8. Maybe Foxtel should give there total support, you know we are right behind you sort of thing then months later?. Just like Ovation with a SBS commissioned channel!

    If NITV were an Optus channel it would’ve have been off the platform by now.

  10. I couldn’t agree more, Andrew. If K Rudd wants to help close the gap with indigenous communities, keeping this station on the air will assist in that.

    The money spent on this station will help stimulate television production in indigenous communities promoting indigenous stories to the greater community. There is no better stimulus than a stimulus of the mind!

  11. Maybe NITV should be used as a community channel for NT and Darwin in a similar manner to the newly digital only community channels in Sydney and Perth.

  12. Get rid of SBS 2 and replace it with nitv.

    As fo d44, it will be disappointing seeing that service go- although I guess I don’t actually watch it that much. If I really wanted to watch infomercials I’d tape hope shopping on GO from 2-4am week days, instead of watching expo.

  13. Why not expand channel 44 nationally and have this on there as well as ACC and Expo and the Government channels. I really wonder why the Govermdnt doesn’t fund this datacasting channel – it could help with the push to digital. Bloody Rudd!!

  16. so in other words the Government have just extended NITV’s funding to beyond the next election? Very convenient.

    The Government is willing to hand out $250m to the commercial networks, the least it should then do is give a long term commitment to NITV and get it on the digital free-to-air platform nationally – not just the temporary digital channel it’s been allowed in Sydney.

  17. It’s disgraceful that the government has taken so long to provide this funding and is only providing it for one year. If we are to get proper reconciliation in this country we need services like NITV that provide programmes of interest to indigenous viewers and programmes that will inform the wider community about indigenous culture and social issues. We should be following NZ and making sure our indigenous broadcaster is available free to air nationally (satellite doesn’t count as most don’t have the equipment to receive it), rather than giving it miserly hand-outs at the last minute to ensure nothing more than its continued operation in its current form, unavailable to most viewers, indigenous or otherwise.

  20. Maybe it should be added to the FTA group of digital channels. Could pick up more viewers in the remote locations and therefore make a better profit.
    I know it is on Foxtel, but do not know anyone that watches it, along with the Christian and community channels.

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