CTVAA - A Yahoo! Groups Post! 10th February 2004

Forward by Greg Tingle:

On the 7th February 2004 the following was posted on the Mediaman Yahoo! Groups website. (Joy Hruby, producer and presenter of Channel 31 Community TV Sydney's "Joy's World", made Mediaman fully aware of the post's content on the afternoon on the 10th February 2004. I, Greg Tingle, later attended the Channel 31 Sydney monthly meeting at Artarmon, which I spoke to the board about my support of Channel 31 Community TV Sydney, and specifically, "Joy's World".

The following post is re published here for the benefit of all interested parties.

For the record, permission was not requested by Glenn@ace.org.au to openly post to the Mediaman Yahoo! Group, and I will be writing to them about this today. In the spirit of freedom of speech / the press, the article is published on the Mediaman website, and I intend to remove the post from the MMA website newsletter. (I will first see whether the CTVAA Yahoo! group allows me to openly post on their newsgroup! This will be interesting. PS: What "misconceptions?! (see bellow) GT.

From: "Australian College of Entertainment Ltd" <Glenn@ace.org.au>
Date: Sun Feb 1, 2004 7:44 pm
Subject: Community Television Association of Australia

Dear Group Members,

Please find enclosed a post to the CTVAA Group site.

Dear Group,

I am writing as one of the initiators of the CTVAA and wish to clarify a few points and try to clear up some misconceptions which I note reading some of the mesages.

Firstly I will note I have been silent and have only joined Yahoo group today. There is an important reason for this and I will share it.

As the Founder of the Australian College of Entertainment Ltd and Chief representative for the Licence Applications by this organisation for Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne and Perth it was important that there was not seen to be an attempt to utilise the formation of this Community Television Only, Truly representative, National Peak Body as a vehicle to improve the applications positions.

The Australian College of Entertainment Ltd was asked to participate, as was the other 5 applicants for Sydney in an individual closed application hearing for the Sydney Licence.

The notification of this hearing came a week after formal moves had been made to establish the Community Television Association of Austrlia.

The formation of the Community Television Association of Austrlia has been undertaken after considerable national consultation across all 8 states and territories and also in Metropolitan, Regional and Remote regions into the future needs of the industry.

The CBAA was not consulted on the basis that theh CBAA is primerrily a Community Radio association and the very limited membership of Community Television representatives only represents singular
interests of the current Trial Licensees. Additionally the CBAA openly supports the Renaissance Television involvement in the Community Television Sector which, in its current arrangements with
trial licenses, goes against the interests of almost all people who wish to see a true Community Television Sector.

Additionally, during the current Licence process there has been considerable onging two way communication between the CBAA, Trial Licensees and the ABA in relation to the Renaissance Television issue including draft reports even being made available for comment. Agian this is a clear indication that there is inequity in the current CTV structure in Australia and that the CBAA is not truly a Peak Industry representative Body.

Also the CBAA would have fought to have had a majority of the reccomendations for the Community Television Industry put forward by the ABA and DCITA reports of 1997 and 2002 respectively if it was
truly representative of the Community Television Industry and not just the current Trial Licensees.

These statements are not meant to bring into judgement the current Trial Licensees just the fact that the CBAA is not a truly representative CTV Peak Body.

Links to the two Government Reports referred to can be found on the CTVAA website - www.ctvaa.org.au the reports will also note that a key fundamental reason the CTV sector is in such a poor financial
state and did not receive initial Government Funding was as a direct result of reccomendations from the CBAA (formaly known as the PBAA)

An excerpt of the report follows:

The Public Broadcasting Association of Australia (now the Community Broadcasting Association of Australia) stated in its submission to the HORSCOTCI inquiry that community television would be capable of establishing a service without government funding, citing the example of the establishment of community radio stations. In light of this, no government funding was made available for the community television trial. In retrospect, it is clear that the community radio paradigm was inappropriate for community television. The cost to set up and operate community radio is substantially less than the amount required for community television.

I will concur with Ralph that the CBAA has played a positive roll in recent years in relation to some parts the new legislation and the currnet application process but to cite the CBAA membership and note
there is even a Vice President for CTV, the readers might like to know that that VP is Andrew Brine, a representative of the Perth Trial Licence and an Applicant for the Perth Licence and membership
is limited to the Trial Licensees, a few Aspirants and possibly a handfull of non voting associate interested parties.

Also Ralph, having only Licnesees and Aspirants as voting members does not represent the CTV Industry. The CTV Industry is the broader community and producers and the Licensees should be fulfilling their requirements and meeting their needs within the guidelines of theActs and regulations.

Again I will note that Melbourne (Ralphs Group)has worked very hard to positively achieve this in recent time but the other Trial Licensees around the country have failed to date.

I will note here that existing trial CTV licence holders were consulted on the basis of their willingness to be involved in a unified CTV sector nationally and the broader national infrustructure and funding plan being proposed and their willingness to sign a generic committment to unity letter not on any letterhead to be sent to the ABA.

Brisbane, Sydney and Perth responded positively on a verbal basis but chose not to take the matter any further. Melbourne (I spoke to Greg Gee) were equally positive to the suggestions and further presented a re-work of the proposed letter by their board but the proposed letter was on their letter head and the wording was crafted to remove the non-biased, non-alligned unified approach. This is the letter that
Ralph stated that his board wrote but the Australian College of Television did not support. It is important to note there is always two sides to every story.

Now that the Application Hearing with the ABA is over The CTVAA will be openly promoting broad membershp on a National Basis through all 8, already established, State Divisions and will welcome membership applications from all CTV interested Individuals and groups as outlined on the CTVAA website - www.ctvaa.org.au

This includes very much the currnet trial licensees.

I do hope everyone sees the positive spirit of this letter, including Ralph and understands that we have already achieved the foundations to the open and transparent, truly representative National CTV Peak
Body the industry has needed since 1992.

Yours Sincerely
Glenn Stapleton
National President

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Links (added by Greg Tingle, Mediaman)

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Press Release: Renaissance Television Welcomes ABA Ruling on Community Broadcasting Services - Melbourne - 5th March 2003

Channel 31 profile