Well Hitchhike TV in Queensland has been inactive since last year.
No wonder since the name change as well.
You’d be surprised at how difficult this concept is!
Commercials behind a JV like this are very complex, and usually not at the level a CTV broadcaster can afford…
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@DJPizarro Question for somebody associated with Ngaarda Media: I understand you produce radio and TV content, do you run your own TV channel as well?
There’s a ”Ngarda TV” listed on Wikipedia, and Oz Digital TV states that there’s a station with the callsign HPO34 broadcasting to Roebourne, but the Ngaarda Media website seems to imply that you don’t broadcast on TV.
Clarification would be much appreciated!
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There is a tv licence we have and it was been used to broadcasts in the past, but it’s currently in-active
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C31 has launched a campaign to raise $31,000 by 31 May. According to the donate website, donations are tax deductible.
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The fact they are now asking for charity… seems like the business model of online won’t work. Considering they are still on FTA as well,
Doesn’t bode well for the channel especially in a PR way that they are now asking for donations… or does their sales team need to think outside of the box for revenue…
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I personally wondered why they haven’t already been donation funded.
It’s nothing particularly unusual. Community radio stations have been holding annual radiothons, etc, for public donations for years. This is no different. The sector can’t survive on sponsorship revenue alone. Light 89.9 and Joy 94.9 have regular appeals for donations, etc. I think even big guns like 3RRR are similar. (EDIT: 3RRR has a radiothon plus a separate donate page on its website https://www.rrr.org.au/donate) It comes with being not-for-profit, volunteer driven community media.
C31 has never been overly proactive in having a paid membership model, etc. It’s probably something they should have been doing more of all along to supplement sponsorships.
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Oh agreed.
However to launch this now doesn’t look good in the public eyes. When you have them recently relocating to new premises, hosting an awards night that would have cost upwards of $30,000 (which granted didn’t happen because of lockdown) it seems the direction and the aim of what they should be focusing on is not being targeted. You can’t post social media posts about how you reach 1million viewers a month when statistically it’s an inflated average when most of their programming doesn’t hit above 30,000. Which even in that scale is minute when an OzTAM box could give then that figure which equals one person…
They need to get with the times, engage and interlink more. Partner with a training institute, or run short term production courses. Be relevant,
It’s endless. Turn the model into training and education rather than flying around the country filming content with the same “internal” talent that seem to be mates of the staff visiting wineries and beer contests. It’s not engaging and what people actually want to see. It’s the same content.
Bring back more live TV. Get a nightly panel show on there.
All it takes is commitment and a little bit of funding and direct the energy for the actual channel, not personal internal ambitions and pet projects and helping your mates.
I just really an sad about the lack of progress and innovation that hasn’t happened
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I understand their connection to stupid old studios is probably frustrating to other talent but remembering that that’s only because RMITV has imploded and doesn’t produce anything worthwhile anymore with up and coming comedians to fill that void.
Memberships should have been a priority this whole time, pledge drives etc make a lot of sense especially with all the community support in recent years.
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It’s not frustrating to other talent, as all other programming is produced externally to the channel.
What they are limiting is allowing graduates an opportunity to present content and shows that they do make internally.
The stuff that they do produce internally is helping their mates at “stupid old studios” it’s the same crap that they have been flogging for 5+years that isn’t engaging or remotely interesting.
What they do throw grants at and produce internally is the wrong direction it should be going.
In regards to RMITV, they have been a lost cause for programming for years and are a mess. They haven’t had any close ties to c31 and the internal factions of it for decades.
What I’m suggesting is that they partner with another institute and make it part of a training package. Outside of that run short term production classes and packages etc.
get the students who study those classes to make the content for C31 rather than the institute like RMITV did which just “happened to be broadcast” on c31.
You could produce a nightly TV show out of the c31 studios easily that gives new people opportunities and not benefiting external “production companies” and helping their bottom line.
I can appreciate that with recent uncertainties around having a broadcast licence that they might have considered it a risky proposition to sign up memberships, not knowing if they had any future beyond the end of the financial year, but even before then it was something that they never really pushed which I think was to its detriment.
When Channel 31 first started in 1994 they did invite paid memberships and I think I actually signed up as a member, but I can’t remember that anything eventuated. The membership system just seemed to not to be there. And I get that it was just a new organisation and just finding its feet but it never developed that stream of income.
Other community media outlets like RRR, Joy, Light FM etc have a paid membership structure and even though it can’t replace donations entirely it might give some relief to the bank account.
I’m looking more at PBS than radio here for inspiration with some of their drives and retaining monthly pledges for rewards type of stuff.
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Agreed re: RMITV. That place has been chronically mismanaged for years, it looks like SYN will overtake it as they’ve moved into video content now, and basically overtook their facilities the other year too.
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So another extension?
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Yeah, seems like it until their clapped out transmitters fall over.
Continuing to beat that dead horse.
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