Hitchhike TV (also known as HTV) is a

news website An online newspaper (or electronic news or electronic news publication) is the online version of a newspaper, either as a stand-alone publication or as the online version of a printed periodical. Going online created more opportunities for newspa ...

. Originating as Brisbane

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 ...

channel Briz 31, the service became available on 28 February 2017 as the station's terrestrial broadcasting went offline but started serving news through their website to the viewers.

History

1994–February 2017: Brisbane community television

Brisbane's first community television channel was formed by Wes Tatters, Ric Adams, Simon Bunker, Ben Morrisson and Cait Spreadborough. The station began broadcasting a two-week test transmission in 1992 during the opening of

South Bank Parklands The South Bank Parklands are located at South Bank within the suburb of South Brisbane in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The parkland, on the transformed site of Brisbane's World Expo 88, was officially opened to the public on 20 June 1992. ...

, under the name Briz TV. During the broadcast week many different formats produced by the members went to air. Along with live footage from the opening of South Bank, member-produced formats included a variety show ''On the Bed with Simon and Karen'' where guests were invited to a studio in their

pyjamas Pajamas ( US) or pyjamas (Commonwealth) (), sometimes colloquially shortened to PJs, jammies, jam-jams, or in South Asia night suits, are several related types of clothing worn as nightwear or while lounging or performing remote work from hom ...

and be interviewed by the hosts. The following two years were spent lobbying the

Australian Broadcasting Authority The Australian Broadcasting Authority (ABA) was an Australian government agency whose main roles were to regulate broadcasting, radiocommunications and telecommunications. The Authority took over the functions of the Australian Broadcasting Trib ...

(ABA) for permission to broadcast on a full-time basis and developing a draft funding model for the organisation. At that time, there were no licence categories available except the experimental broadcasting category. The station began broadcasting in the Brisbane area from Vulture Street Studios on 31 July 1994 as Briz 31 on analogue channel 31 (callsign CTQ-31) after an arrangement was struck with

Telstra Telstra Group Limited is an Australian telecommunications company that builds and operates telecommunications networks and markets voice, mobile, internet access, pay television and other products and services. It is a member of the S&P/ASX 20 ...

to provide broadcasting facilities at the ABQ-2 transmitter tower on

Mount Coot-tha Mount Coot-tha is a mountain and a suburb of the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the , there were no residents in the suburb. Visible from much of the city, Mount Coot-tha is a popular bushland tourist destination including the Mou ...

. With the lack of a marketing campaign to drive brand awareness at the time, many people confusingly called it "Bruce 31". During Briz 31's early years daily programming consisted of ''Community Billboard'', a text-based information service consisting of weather, local news and classifieds. Regular programming would begin from 4pm usually consisting of locally-produced content and public domain films. Notable programmes from this era included ''Crazy Crosswords'', a crossword puzzle game show interlaced with self-aware humour and ''Tamara Tonite'', a long-running variety show hosted by titular Brisbane drag queen which continued into 2004. As Briz 31 moved into the 2000s, regular programming eventually took up the channel's daytime slot and the station was successfully given a permanent broadcasting license by the ABA in 2004. A nightly news bulletin produced by the

Queensland University of Technology Queensland University of Technology (QUT) is a public research university located in the urban coastal city of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. QUT is located on two campuses in the Brisbane area viz. Gardens Point and Kelvin Grove. The univ ...

's journalism school was broadcast on the channel, as well as current affairs programmes by Deutsche Welle. To reflect its expansion into other parts of Queensland outside of Brisbane, the station was renamed Channel 31 in October 2006. In 2007 the station had a major transmitter upgrade, which allowed it to reach another 40% of viewers mainly in

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line ...

and the surrounding areas. In July 2008 the station was renamed QCTV for "Queensland Community Television". In November 2009 the station announced their intent return to the "31" name and was renamed 31 QCTV before being renamed simply 31 in April 2010. The station had announced in March 2010 that after a long period of uncertainty it would begin broadcasting in digital by 7 June 2010, and upon launching on digital channel 44 (broadcast on 529.500 MH) on 7 June 2010, the station was renamed 31 Digital. The station's analogue broadcast later ceased on 15 May 2011. In September 2014, Australian federal communications minister

Malcolm Turnbull Malcolm Bligh Turnbull (born 24 October 1954) is an Australian former politician and businessman who served as the 29th prime minister of Australia from 2015 to 2018. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. Turnbull grad ...

announced that licensing for community television stations would end in December 2015. In September 2015, Turnbull, now

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

, announced an extension of the deadline to 31 December 2016. The deadline was again extended to 30 June 2017 by Minister for Communications Mitch Fifield in December 2016. Leading up to the various deadlines, 31 Digital, like other community television stations, moved operations online, and streamed its channel live on their website which allows access to viewers outside of its traditional broadcast area. 31 Digital ceased broadcasting on television at 11:59 pm on 28 February 2017. Days before 30 June 2017, the deadline was again extended to 31 December 2017 by Fifield, but 31 Digital had already ceased broadcasting.

March 2017–present: Online service

With the close of terrestrial broadcasting, the channel shifted its focus to online

video on demand Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos without a traditional video playback device and the constraints of a typical static broadcasting schedule. In the 20th century, broadcasting in the form of ...

and reinvented itself as Queensland Online TV (also known as Q Online TV). Sports discussion program ''The Commentary Box'' was released via Facebook on 27 February 2017 as the inaugural show under the new branding. The show featured three fans discussing the highlights of the previous week, with a Queensland focus. In June 2018, the service was rebranded as Hitchhike TV, returning to a linear streaming service with the video on demand element removed. Hitchhike TV streamed legacy 31 Digital content from their website in short programming blocks with an announcement it would eventually become a 24-hour streaming service. However, the service was discontinued in 2020 with no official statement.

HTV Awards

The HTV AWARDS is an initiative by Hitchhike TV where individuals and organisations are awarded in a series of categories, each of which isolate a specific contribution to their industry. The standard awards list nominees in each category from which a winner is selected.

Programming

Produced in-house

* ''Crazy Crosswords'' (1994–1996) * ''The Bike Show'' * ''Clips 31'' * ''Tamara Tonite'' * ''Art Studio'' * ''The Boat Show'' * ''The Late Nite Show with Scott Black'' * ''This Town Brisbane'' * ''The Storyteller'' (1995–1996) * ''Community Billboard'' (1994–2002) * ''The Commentary Box'' (2017)

Other programming

* ''

Hot Dog with the Lot ''Hot Dog with the Lot'' is a comedy game show created by Mark Ciobo that first aired in 2005 on community television ( Channel 31) throughout Australia and New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwest ...

'' * Harness Racing * ''Underground Sounds'' * ''4WDTV'' * ''Queensland

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'' * ''QUT News'' - a news bulletin produced by

* ''My

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Brother'' - A show created to raise autistic awareness

Identity history

31 Digital * 1994–1999: ''Getting Together'' * 2006–2008: ''Your local television'' * 2008–2009: ''Queensland's Only Community Television Station'' * 2010–2017: ''Your stories... Your station'' Queensland Online TV * 2017–2018: ''Q Online. Local. Always.'' Hitchhike TV * 2018–2020: ''Locally Sourced. Crafted with Love.''