Access 31 (

call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally assign ...

ATW-31) was a

free-to-air Free-to-air (FTA) services are television (TV) and radio services broadcast in unencrypted form, allowing any person with the appropriate receiving equipment to receive the signal and view or listen to the content without requiring a subscripti ...

community television Community television is a form of mass media in which a television station is owned, operated or programmed by a community group to provide television programs of local interest known as local programming. Community television stations are most c ...

station based in

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth i ...

, Western Australia which operated between 1999 and 2008 before closing due to

insolvency In accounting, insolvency is the state of being unable to pay the debts, by a person or company ( debtor), at maturity; those in a state of insolvency are said to be ''insolvent''. There are two forms: cash-flow insolvency and balance-sheet ...

. The station had broadcast on UHF 31 from

NEW New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator ...

's television mast at Carmel in the

Perth Hills Perth Hills is a term used primarily for marketing purposes to identify the part of the Darling Scarp and hinterland east of the scarp that lies within the Shire of Mundaring, City of Swan, and the City of Kalamunda and as part of the constituen ...

. It was also available at certain times on the Westlink Network, which at the time was broadcast via the

Optus Aurora Optus Aurora was a free-to-view satellite television platform in Australia, which aimed at providing television and radio services to remote and black spot areas using the Optus C1 and B3 satellites. The service was available in all areas, usin ...

satellite service and some analogue terrestrial repeaters which included the city of Albany.

History

Access 31 started broadcasting on 18 June 1999, and received a permanent broadcasting licence in 2002. The station was originally based at the Mt Lawley campus of

Edith Cowan University Edith Cowan University (ECU) is a public university in Western Australia. It is named in honour of the first woman to be elected to an Australian parliament, Edith Cowan, and is the only Australian university named after a woman. Gaining unive ...

before moving to premises in Belmont in late 2003. Access 31 had complemented existing television services in the state with an emphasis on locally produced programming, and at its height drew in a viewing audience in excess of 800,000 different people per month, competing favorably against other television networks. However, as viewers began to move to

digital television Digital television (DTV) is the transmission of television signals using digital encoding, in contrast to the earlier analog television technology which used analog signals. At the time of its development it was considered an innovative adva ...

in the mid-2000s, Access 31's audience reach became progressively reduced as no access to the digital broadcasting spectrum had yet been allocated to the analogue-only community Channel 31 stations by the

Australian Federal Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Like other Westminster-style systems of government, the Australian Government ...

at the time. With ramifications for future advertising revenue, combined with a financial situation already compounded by an estimated $600,000 in debts, in June 2008 the station announced that it was in serious danger of closing due to

unless additional funding could be obtained and a guarantee for future access to digital television services from the Federal Government could be secured. A grant from

Lotterywest Lotterywest was established in 1932 as the Lotteries Commission of Western Australia, to run the lottery in Western Australia. It is referred to in the legislation as the Lotteries Commission. It distributes profits to a number of community bene ...

and a financial contribution from Garry Baverstock, a Perth architect totaling $750,000 had been planned to keep the station on the air for at least the next 18 months, time the station's board believed would see action from the Federal Government.Access 31 to stay afloat with financial lifeline
/ref> However the station was also forced to cut jobs and volunteer numbers, in addition to limiting broadcast hours and in-house production of programs in order to keep the station afloat for the time being.Access 31 - snatching defeat from the jaws of vict
Later it was revealed that a total of $1.3 million was required to keep the station operating until December 2009, when it was thought the Federal Government would provide a rescue package.
/ref>

Closure

At 5pm ( AWST) on 6 August 2008, Access 31 ceased transmission after both the Lotterywest grant and the private contribution was withdrawn.Access 31 has closed down
, ''Australian-Media.com.au'' CEO Andrew Brine had resigned the previous day, the station unable to pay his salary. Programme providers were not informed of the decision to close the station. Fred Mafrica, host and producer of ''The Couch'' - one of the station's more popular programs, offered to run the station for free on a temporary basis, backed by almost 100 volunteers, while also appealing for help from the state government. Ma Xi Bo, owner of local media company Perth Chinese Media Group, also presented an offer to return the station back on the air, as did a consortium of local producers and business people aligned with Murdoch University. Ultimately, on 1 September 2008 the station's board voted to liquidate Access 31's assets in order to pay off its debtors. The Australian Communications and Media Authority cancelled the station's broadcasting licence later that month.

Programming

Access 31 had broadcast a number of popular local programs including '' Wake Up! WA'', a

breakfast show Breakfast television (Europe, Canada, and Australia) or morning show (United States) is a type of news or infotainment television programme that broadcasts live in the morning (typically scheduled between 5:00 and 10:00a.m., or if it is a lo ...

broadcast live daily; ''WAFL On'', which focused on the

West Australian Football League The West Australian Football League (WAFL) is an Australian rules football league based in Perth, Western Australia. The league currently consists of ten teams, which play each other in a 20-round season usually lasting from March to September ...

; ''Charlie's Kitchen'', a cooking show; ''flicktease'', a film review show; ''Sweet and Sour'', a discussion panel program; and ''The Couch'', a chat/variety show that also featured live performances from up and coming local musicians. The station also carried a number of programs originally produced at other Channel 31 stations in other states. Access 31 also had broadcast old movies, classic television shows and programming and current news bulletins sourced from Deutsche Welle,

Voice of America Voice of America (VOA or VoA) is the state-owned news network and international radio broadcaster of the United States of America. It is the largest and oldest U.S.-funded international broadcaster. VOA produces digital, TV, and radio content ...

and

BBC World News BBC World News is an international English-language pay television network, operated under the ''BBC Global News Limited'' division of the BBC, which is a public corporation of the UK government's Department for Digital, Culture, Media and ...

. In July and August 2001, Access 31 broadcast the 2001 Ashes series in England free-to-air in Perth after the

Seven Network The Seven Network (commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is a major Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by Seven West Media Limited, and is one of five main free-to-air television networks in Australia ...

opted not the broadcast the series for Perth audiences due to time differences. Then-

Premier of Western Australia The premier of Western Australia is the head of government of the state of Western Australia. The role of premier at a state level is similar to the role of the prime minister of Australia at a federal level. The premier leads the executive bra ...

Geoff Gallop, who had pressured Seven to release the rights to Access 31, made appearances during the broadcast as a guest analyst. After its closure, a small number of Access 31's locally produced shows secured broadcast slots on Foxtel's

Aurora Community Channel Aurora Community Channel is an Australian subscription television channel that screens locally produced community television programs. Launched in 2005 on Foxtel, it is currently on channel 173, prior to the launch of Christian channels on Foxte ...

. A number of shows previously broadcast by Access 31 also appeared on successor channel

West TV West TV (WTV, call-sign CTW32) was a free-to-air community television station that began broadcasting in standard-definition digital format on logical channel 44 in Perth, Western Australia at 10 am on 10 April 2010.https://www.facebook.com/ ...

Controversy

Access 31 previously faced closure in 2003, when the station went into

voluntary administration As a legal concept, administration is a procedure under the insolvency laws of a number of common law jurisdictions, similar to bankruptcy in the United States. It functions as a rescue mechanism for insolvent entities and allows them to carry o ...

. The station had faced criticism for alleged mismanagement of their finances for years. Garry Baverstock, who pledged $500,000 to rescue the station before withdrawing his offer, claimed that he was misled about the station's financial position. In the weeks before its closure, the station claimed that the Federal Government had committed to community digital television after Access 31 was rescued, yet this statement concerning a change in policy was dismissed by the

Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy The Australian Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy is a former department of the Government of Australia that was charged with the responsibility to help develop a vibrant, sustainable and internationally competitive ...

. The Federal Government later allowed community stations access to the digital spectrum from late 2009, more than a year after the closure of Access 31.Community TV wins digital breakthrough
/ref>

References

External links