“Worst time to be closing C31”: Melb. City Council backs extension

Melbourne City Council has backed Channel 31 in its campaign to a further extension of its broadcast licence, ahead of a looming switch off.

On Tuesday council voted to ask Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Communications Minister Paul Fletcher to again extend the licence by three years

It follows repeated, and last minute, extensions for the broadcaster -along with Adelaide’s C44- facing a switch-off on June 30 and transition to an online only model.

Last year’s extension granted by Minister Fletcher came at the ’11th hour’ for the broadcasters.

A recent Senate Estimates hearing questioned the strategy and immediate use of available spectrum but the Communications Department was unable to quantify its immediate use.

SA Senator Marielle Smith asked what was relevant about the date of June 30, given there would be static in its place.

“Is anything happening on the first of July? ….It’s just the date the Minister chose… that’s why we’re working towards that date. Is that correct?” she asked.

Pauline Sullivan, First Assistant Secretary of the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development & Communications replied, “It was the date the Minister chose.”

This week a Future Melbourne Committee agreed on the following:

1.1. Declares its support for community television station Channel 31 and the 1,100 people who work as volunteers, students and employees at the station each week.
1.2. Recognises Channel 31 as a vital community media outlet in Melbourne and Geelong which provides an important community service and has been a training ground for thousands of people working in the creative industries.
1.3. Notes that at a time when people in the creative industries are amongst the worst hit by the Covid-19, this is worst time to be closing Channel 31.
1.4. Calls on the Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Commonwealth Minister for Communications Paul Fletcher to act immediately to save Channel 31 by not terminating its broadcast licence on 30 June.
1.5. Requests the Lord Mayor and/or CEO write to the Minister for Communications and Secretary of the Department of Communications and Arts to ask that Channel 31 have its broadcast licence extended for three years.
1.6. Notes the following background information for context:

1.6.1. On 30 June 2021 the Morrison Government plans to terminate the broadcasting of community TV in Australia. For Melbourne this means the loss from the airwaves of community TV station Channel 31 after 26 years of broadcasting.
1.6.2. Located on William Street in Melbourne’s CBD, Channel 31 has around 1,100 employees and volunteers who work on its broadcasts each week including students from RMIT and Deakin University.
1.6.3. This is not a Budget savings measure. Unlike the ABC and SBS, community TV is not government funded. Channel 31 has been a training ground for aspiring broadcasters, producers, sound engineers, directors and screenwriters. It has helped launch the careers of TV personalities who are now household names.
1.6.4. During the COVID lockdowns, Channel 31 has broadcast live-to-air religious services. The Greek Orthodox Parish, the Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne, the Victorian Board of Imams and the Victorian Sikh Gurduaras Council have all utilised the Channel 31.
1.6.5. The Australian Government Green Paper released in December 2020 indicates that the broadcast spectrum currently occupied by Channel 31 is not scheduled to be repurposed until 2024, possibly later. This means when it is switched off it will be replaced by nothing but white noise.