The Viewer Access Satellite Television service, or VAST, is a

satellite television Satellite television is a service that delivers television programming to viewers by relaying it from a communications satellite orbiting the Earth directly to the viewer's location. The signals are received via an outdoor parabolic antenna comm ...

platform in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, providing digital

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

and

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...

services to remote and rural areas, as well as viewers in terrestrial black spots. The service using the

Optus C1 This is a list of the satellites operated by Optus, an Australian telecommunications company. The satellite communications facility is located at Belrose on Sydney's Northern Beaches. Optus' satellites are divided into 4 classes A, B, C and D. As ...

and

Optus D3 Optus D3 is an Australian geostationary communications satellite, which is operated by Optus and provides communications services to Australasia. D3 was the third Optus-D satellite to be launched. It is a satellite, which was constructed by Orb ...

satellites. It is partly funded by the Australian Government and managed through a joint-venture between Southern Cross Media and Imparja Television. It is an even more restricted

free-to-view Free-to-view (FTV) is a term used for audiovisual transmissions that are provided free without any form of continual subscription . It differs from free-to-air (FTA) in that the program is encrypted. Free-to-view vs. free-to-air The free-to-view ...

replacement for

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 ...

providing channels which have been absent (such as a

Network Ten Network 10 (commonly known as Ten Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network owned by Ten Network Holdings, a division of the Paramount Networks UK & Australia subsidiary of Paramount Global. One of five ...

affiliate and digital only secondary and HD network channels) on the remote service until now. The platform uses only

H.264 Advanced Video Coding (AVC), also referred to as H.264 or MPEG-4 Part 10, is a video compression standard based on block-oriented, motion-compensated coding. It is by far the most commonly used format for the recording, compression, and distr ...

video encoding and

8PSK Phase-shift keying (PSK) is a digital modulation process which conveys data by changing (modulating) the phase of a constant frequency reference signal (the carrier wave). The modulation is accomplished by varying the sine and cosine inputs at ...

, which allows for more lower bit rate channels on the limited transponder space that's available. The EPG uses an

MHEG-5 MHEG-5, or ISO/IEC 13522-5, is part of a set of international standards relating to the presentation of multimedia information, standardised by the Multimedia and Hypermedia Experts Group (MHEG). It is most commonly used as a language to describe ...

guide instead of the usual more compatible DVB EIT.

History

On 10 January 2010, the Australian Government announced a new satellite service to deliver digital television and radio channels to Australian viewers who reside in remote and rural areas, or who can't obtain adequate television signal in an existing metropolitan or regional terrestrial broadcast area, commonly referred to as being in a ''black spot''. Initially, the service was only available to viewers in and around Mildura, Victoria, to coincide with Australia's first analog television switch-off. On 15 December 2010, the service was made available to viewers in the existing Remote Central and Eastern Australia and Mt Isa licence areas. In April 2011, the Western VAST service began for Regional and Remote Western Australia viewers. From December 2013, CRN, NIRS, RPH, and the

BBC World Service The BBC World Service is an international broadcasting, international broadcaster owned and operated by the BBC, with funding from the Government of the United Kingdom, British Government through the Foreign Secretary, Foreign Secretary's o ...

were transitioned to the new satellite platform over a two-month period from the existing Aurora platform and were the final channels to make the transition. February 2014 was when the last Aurora uplink ended.

Availability

Anyone is entitled to access ABC and SBS channels on the VAST service, after completing a successful application, regardless of location within Australia. Several different groups of people are currently entitled to use the VAST service to receive ''commercial stations'': * Those who live in areas designated as being part of the Remote Central & Eastern Australia licence area. * Those who live outside the Remote Central & Eastern Australia licence area and meet any of these conditions: ** live in an area predicted to have no terrestrial digital coverage ** have approval to view the existing Optus Aurora service; due to being in a signal black spot ** those who do not have Optus Aurora approval, in which they may apply for VAST from 6 months before the switchover in their licence area.¹ * Those who are traveling in the Remote Central & Eastern Australia and the Regional and Remote Western Australia licence areas may apply for a temporary travellers approval. (Allowing 6 months access). * Those who live in areas of Western Australia where terrestrial coverage is not predicted to be available after the completion of the digital switchover in that state.
¹- It was previously possible to apply for the Optus Aurora service instead, and then move to VAST before the 6-month period preceding digital switchover in the applicable licence area.

Equipment

Viewers accessing the service must use a VAST certified satellite television

set-top box A set-top box (STB), also colloquially known as a cable box and historically television decoder, is an information appliance device that generally contains a TV-tuner input and displays output to a television set and an external source of sign ...

and

smartcard A smart card, chip card, or integrated circuit card (ICC or IC card) is a physical electronic authentication device, used to control access to a resource. It is typically a plastic credit card-sized card with an embedded integrated circuit (IC) c ...

, and go through an application process. The original set-top box is a model provided by the South African owned vendor ''Altech UEC'', which also offers models with recording functions along with the newer offerings from Korean owned vendor ''Humax'' and a basic model "SatKing" from Australian owned vendor ''Phoenix Technology Group''. The units with a recording function inhibit forward cuing and skipping to prevent commercials being bypassed. Unlike the Aurora service, VAST only uses Irdeto version two and three (not version one) for DVB encryption key management with each smart card locked to the serial number of the provided set-top box.

Channels

VAST is designed to provide the same number of digital television and radio channels available in metropolitan terrestrial areas. A minimum of 17 digital television channels are currently available to eligible viewers. The service also provides a minimum of 39 digital radio channels and a number of niche channels. The channels are sorted into bouquets based on a number of states and territories in Australia. Each VAST certified set-top box is assigned a bouquet suitable for the geographical location the set-top box is registered to.

Television

ABC Television ABC Television most commonly refers to: *ABC Television Network of the American Broadcasting Company, United States, or *ABC Television (Australian TV network), a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Australia ABC Television or ABC ...

provides digital television channels ABC TV, ABC HD,

ABC TV Plus ABC TV Plus (formerly ABC2 and ABC Comedy) is an Australian free-to-air television channel owned by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and part of its ABC Television network. The channel broadcasts a range of general entertainment prog ...

Kids Kid, Kids, KIDS, and K.I.D.S. may refer to: Common meanings * Colloquial term for a child or other young person ** Also for a parent's offspring regardless of age * Engage in joking * Young goats * The goat meat of young goats * Kidskin, lea ...

ABC Me ABC Me (stylised as ABC ME) is an Australian English language children's free-to-air television channel owned by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. It was officially launched by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on 4 December 2009 as ABC3. Hist ...

and

ABC News ABC News is the news division of the American broadcast network ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast ''ABC World News Tonight, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other programs include Breakfast television, morning ...

from 7 states and territories.

SBS Television The Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) is an Australian hybrid-funded public service broadcaster. About 80 percent of funding for the company is derived from the Australian Government. SBS operates six TV channels ( SBS, SBS Viceland, SBS World ...

also provides SBS,

SBS HD SBS is a national public television network in Australia. Launched on 24 October 1980, it is the responsibility of SBS's television division, and is available nationally. In 2018, SBS had a 7.7% audience share. As of 2022, SBS is the lowest ...

and

SBS VICELAND SBS Viceland (stylised as SBS VICELAND) is an Australian free-to-air television channel owned by the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS). It began as SBS TWO on 1 June 2009, and was branded as SBS 2 between 2013 and 2016. On 8 April 2017, SBS ...

from 7 states and territories, as well as

SBS Food SBS Food is an Australian free-to-air television channel owned and operated by the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS). The channel airs programs about food and cooking, from cultures around the world. History SBS first revealed it would laun ...

SBS World Movies SBS World Movies is an Australian free-to-air television channel showing international movies. The channel features foreign language films, documentaries, independent and mainstream cinema and interviews with international movie stars. It w ...

NITV National Indigenous Television (NITV) is an Australian free-to-air television channel that broadcasts programming produced and presented largely by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. It includes the half-hourly nightly ''NITV News'' ...

and

SBS WorldWatch SBS WorldWatch is an Australian free-to-air television channel owned and operated by the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS). The channel shows multilingual international news bulletins in more than 30 languages, as well as two local bulletins i ...

. The channels are assigned the same virtual channel numbers as terrestrial areas, but are also assigned 3-digit virtual channel numbers for out-of-area or interstate viewers.

Southern Cross Austereo Southern Cross Media Group Limited, doing business as Southern Cross Austereo, is an Australian media company which operates broadcast radio and television stations. It is the largest radio broadcaster in Australia, operating 86 radio station ...

Imparja Television Imparja Television (IMP) is an independent Australian television station servicing over , across six states and territories: Northern Territory, South Australia, Tasmania, Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria. It is based in Alice Spring ...

and

Central Digital Television CDT is an Australian digital television station broadcasting in remote central and eastern Australia. It is jointly owned by Southern Cross Austereo (owner of Southern Cross Central) and Imparja Television Pty Ltd (owner of Imparja Television ...

provide

commercial Commercial may refer to: * a dose of advertising conveyed through media (such as - for example - radio or television) ** Radio advertisement ** Television advertisement * (adjective for:) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and s ...

digital television channels to VAST viewers in the Remote Central and Eastern Australia license area, which covers all states and territories except

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

Standard-definition Standard-definition television (SDTV, SD, often shortened to standard definition) is a television system which uses a resolution that is not considered to be either high or enhanced definition. "Standard" refers to it being the prevailing sp ...

digital television channels 7 Central, 7TWO, Imparja Television,

9Go! 9Go! is an Australian free-to-air digital television multichannel, which was launched by the Nine Network on 9 August 2009, replacing Nine Guide. It is a youthful channel that offers a mix of comedy, reality, general entertainment, movies, anim ...

, 10 Central and

10 Peach 10 Peach is an Australian free-to-air television channel operated by Network 10. It was launched on 11 January 2011 as Eleven. It is owned by ElevenCo, which was established as a joint venture between Ten Network Holdings and CBS Studios Inter ...

are each split into two separate feeds based on

Australian Eastern Standard Time Australia uses three main time zones: Australian Western Standard Time (AWST; UTC+08:00), Australian Central Standard Time (ACST; UTC+09:30), and Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST; UTC+10:00). Time is regulated by the individual state ...

and Australian Eastern Summer Time respectively. High-definition digital television channels

7mate 7mate is an Australian free-to-air digital television multichannel, which was launched by the Seven Network on 25 September 2010. The channel contains sport and regular programs aimed primarily to a male audience, with programming drawn from a c ...

9Gem 9Gem is an Australian free-to-air digital television multichannel, launched by the Nine Network in September 2010. The channel provides general entertainment and movie programming, from which the original name "GEM" is derived. History Nine N ...

and

10 Bold 10 Bold is an Australian free-to-air digital television multichannel owned by Network 10. It originally launched on 26 March 2009 as One HD with a focus on broadcasting sports-based programming and events, but rebranded to One in April 2011 to ...

are also available. Commercial digital television channels for VAST viewers in the Regional and Remote Western Australia license area are provided by

Golden West Network GWN7 was an Australian Television broadcasting in Australia, television network serving all of Western Australia outside metropolitan Perth. It launched on 10 March 1967 as ''BTW-3'' in Bunbury, Western Australia, Bunbury. It was an affiliate ...

WIN Television WIN Television is an Australian television network owned by WIN Corporation that is based in Wollongong, New South Wales. WIN commenced transmissions on 18 March 1962 as a single television station covering the Wollongong region. The WIN Netwo ...

and

West Digital Television West Digital Television is an Australian digital television network jointly owned by Seven West Media and WIN Corporation. It broadcasts free-to-air on a number of digital terrestrial transmitters in regional and remote areas of Western Au ...

. Unlike the Remote Central and Eastern channels, they are all available in Western Standard Time and are assigned typical regional virtual channel numbers. Standard-definition channels

GWN7 GWN7 was an Australian television network serving all of Western Australia outside metropolitan Perth. It launched on 10 March 1967 as ''BTW-3'' in Bunbury. It was an affiliate of the Seven Network and served one of the largest geographic tel ...

, 7TWO, WIN, 10 Bold, 10 Peach,

Sky News on WIN Sky News Australia is an Australian news channel owned by News Corp Australia. Originally launched on 19 February 1996, it broadcasts rolling news coverage throughout the day, while its prime time lineup is dedicated to opinion-based programs f ...

(now Sky News Regional),

Nine West Nine West, also known as 9 West, is an American online fashion retailer which is based in White Plains, New York. It was founded in 1983 and closed its brick and mortar stores business in 2018. Its products continue to be sold at other retai ...

(now 10 West) and 9Go! are provided as well as high-definition channels 7mate, WIN HD and 9Gem. Home shopping and sport channels

ishop tv ishop TV is an Australian free-to-air television channel and a digital advertorial datacasting service that was launched on 30 April 2013. The channel is owned by Seven West Media (formerly Prime Media Group) and Brand Developers, broadcastin ...

, Racing.com and

TVSN TVSN (an acronym for "Television Shopping Network") is an Australian and New Zealand broadcast, cable television and satellite television network specializing in home shopping. It is owned by parent company Direct Group Pty Ltd, a home marketin ...

are also provided by the WA commercial broadcasters. As well as government and commercial channels, VAST provides Indigenous Community Television (ICTV) and 3ABN International to all viewers nationally.

Regional news

The Remote Central and Eastern commercial television channels carry minimal local news content due to the size of the licence area. Southern Cross Austereo came to an agreement with the Federal Government to provide the VAST Regional News service, a group of 20 channels broadcasting news bulletins and updates from over 40 regional television stations. The stations send their news programs to a playout centre in

Canberra, ACT Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

, operated by Southern Cross Austereo. A menu placeholder on virtual channel 4 directs viewers to the 401-420 virtual channel range.

Radio

Most terrestrial

analog Analog or analogue may refer to: Computing and electronics * Analog signal, in which information is encoded in a continuous variable ** Analog device, an apparatus that operates on analog signals *** Analog electronics, circuits which use analog ...

and DAB radio channels from ABC and SBS are provided as audio-only DVB channels. A number of niche radio channels such as Faith FM, Niche Radio Network,

Radio TAB RadioTAB is a radio station primarily covering horse and greyhound racing in Australia and internationally, operated by Tabcorp, which operates the Totalisator Agency Boards based in Queensland, Tasmania, South Australia and Northern Territor ...

, Aussie Flashbacks, 2RPH, Vintage FM and

Vision Radio Network Vision Christian Radio is an Australian narrowcast radio station owned and operated by Vision Christian Media, an affiliate of United Christian Broadcasters. It broadcasts a Christian radio format of music and talk from studios in the Brisban ...

are also provided, as well as community radio channels from regional Western Australia, Northern Territory, Queensland and South Australia are also provided, such as Yolngu Radio, CAAMA Radio, Gumala Radio, Radio Larrakia, 2CUZ FM, RadioNGM, PAKAM Radio, PAW Radio, Radio 5NPY, QRAM Central Radio, TEABBA Radio, TSIMA Radio and Waringarri Radio 6WR. A number of community radio channels from

Community Broadcasting Association of Australia The Community Broadcasting Association of Australia (CBAA) is the peak body and the national representative organisation for community radio and television stations in Australia. The CBAA provide leadership, advocacy and support for members to ac ...

such as CRN, NIRS, RPH, the

and

Hope Hope is an optimistic state of mind that is based on an expectation of positive outcomes with respect to events and circumstances in one's life or the world at large. As a verb, its definitions include: "expect with confidence" and "to cherish ...

Christian radio are also provided.

References

{{Viewer Access Satellite Television Satellite television Satellite radio Mass media in Australia 2010 establishments in Australia Joint ventures