The article is divided into the following sections:

Community Television Sydney (CTS) Scheduling and Programming History Transitional period Television Sydney (TVS) Related Links

Community Television Sydney (CTS)

CTS was composed largely of member groups representing the many ethnic groups that reside in the Sydney metropolitan area (as a consequence, most programming on the C31 service were in languages other than English), although educational groups, youth groups, health groups, comedy groups etc. were represented. CTS' centre of operations was in Wiley Park and they shared a transmitter tower with the ABC located in Gore Hill.

Scheduling and Programming

CTS - known on-air as C31 - had a scheduling system that markedly differed from all of the other "Channel 31s" of Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide. Instead of commissioning programmes from each of CTS' member groups to screen under a unified schedule, CTS allocated timeslots to each member group for a fee - each group would then be responsible for the programming of their timeslot. While such a system would allow greater freedom for the programme providers, it did have many detractors, complaining about the lack of in-between programme continuity and, as a result, an apparent lack of professionalism, therefore, there were those people that looked upon the service with disdain, yet others that were fervent supporters of the service - in particular those people that belonged to the community groups represented on C31. CTS primarily broadcasted between 4pm to 12am weekdays and 9am to 12am weekends.

In the time that C31 was on the air, many programmes were screened and produced. The ethnic groups would screen a mixture of overseas programmes, supplemented with their own in-studio and on-location news and interviews - this was the standard programming formula for the ethnic groups, which varied slightly from group to group. However, production was not limited to just the ethnic groups - other English-language programmes of note included vegan cooking show Cooking Cleverly with Beverly, science programme Theories of Everything with David Tow and comedy ensemble programme Dolphin Juice. Perhaps CTS' most notable and successful programme was the male-pursuits show Blokesworld, screening not only on CTS but also on the other Channel 31s and even on Auckland-based community channel Triangle Television - seeing the cult hit that Blokesworld became, Network Ten acquired the rights to the show and now further episodes of Blokesworld are being produced and can be seen late Friday nights on the network.

History

CTS commenced transmission in April 1994 under a temporary community television broadcasting licence (renewed annually). Broadcasts back in CTS' early days were sporadic and experimental in nature - while the ethnic groups broadcast their programmes, one group in particular - SPN - contributed much to CTS' schedule with their youth-based programming, producing shows such as Street Noise, Warzone and Flicks.

CTS had transmission problems and was even off the air temporarily in the late Nineties on a few occasions, however a transmitter upgrade in the early Noughties allowed CTS to broadcast a stronger, clearer, more reliable signal.

In 2002, Melbourne-based retirement village proprietor, Primelife, acquired the previously unused 8am to 4pm weekdays timeslot on CTS to screen a semi-commercial service targeted at the over-55's age group Renaissance Television (RTV), simulcast on MCTC31 and Briz 31.

Transitional period

By 2002 the Federal Government decided that community television in Sydney was feasible and a new permanent licence would be issued. Only not-for-profit organisations could apply for the new licence. CTS applied for the new licence along with other applicants in 2003. On the 11th of March 2004, the ABA decided in favour of Television Sydney Ltd (TVS) to broadcast the new licence. CTS appealed against this decision in the Federal Court, which allowed it to stay on air for another month, but

the Federal Court upheld the ABA?s decision to grant the new licence to TVS.

This decision, however, did not stop two CTS splinter groups from being formed - Salvatore Scevolo's (producer of the Italian programme on CTS) Australian Multicultural Television (AMTV) and Satellite Community Television (SCTV), both of which invited former CTS member groups to produce programmes for the two services; SCTV also invited community groups from the NSW cities of Newcastle, Wollongong, Bathurst and Queanbeyan to produce programmes for their service. Both services commenced broadcasting on the Optus B3 satellite in 2005.

Television Sydney (TVS)

TVS is an organisation that is composed of two sub-groups:

• ETC, which represents all of Sydney's institutions of higher learning (the University of Western Sydney (UWS) and Metroscreen are joint-partners), and;
• SLICE, which represents Sydney's community groups.

Its centre of operations is based at UWS' Werrington campus and its acting chairman is Laurie Patton.

Plans to commence transmission in mid-2005 were delayed, due to necessary equipment upgrades, however, TVS was granted a six month extension to startup transmissions, followed by a further four week extension granted in August. TVS commenced broadcasting on November 20th 2005 with a a repeated screening of a promotional reel of programmes that sampled the kind of programming TVS intends to screen when they would officially launch with a full schedule of programmes. TVS was officially launched on the 20th of February 2006 at 4pm.

The federal government is currently moving to implement digital radio and TV - and unfortunately, as there has been no funding provided to the community broadcasting sector for an upgrade from analogue to digital broadcasting equipment, the move could spell the end for community TV and radio in Australia. These stations do not have the resources to fund infrastructure, as most operate on a shoestring budget, and without funding support, Channel 31 would be off air by July to December 2008 - they need a $6 million injection.

Digital TV will be replacing analogue transmissions from 2010 to 2012, with Digital Radio to follow suit from January 1st, 2009.

Related links

Television Sydney (TVS):
http://www.tvs.org.au

SLICE TV:
http://www.slicetv.org.au

Australian Multicultural Television:
http://www.amtv.com.au

Satellite Community Television:
http://www.communitytv.com.au