Westlink, formerly known as Westlink Network, was an Australian

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 ...

digital television channel broadcast to regional and remote areas of

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 ...

on the

Viewer Access Satellite Television The Viewer Access Satellite Television service, or VAST, is a satellite television platform in Australia, providing digital television and radio services to remote and rural areas, as well as viewers in terrestrial black spots. The service using ...

service. Funded by the

Government of Western Australia The Government of Western Australia, formally referred to as His Majesty's Government of Western Australia, is the Australian state democratic administrative authority of Western Australia. It is also commonly referred to as the WA Government o ...

, the channel was managed and operated by the Department of Regional Development and broadcast a range of community-based content, particularly training and educational programs, using an open-narrowcast licence. The channel was received in over 150 remote locations such as telecentres, schools and colleges. The channel was quietly shut down on 16 December 2017 following the live broadcast of the West Australian Symphony Orchestra's "Symphony in the City" concert.

Programming

The channel was primarily used for educational and talk-back style programs, including video conferences, corporate training videos, and health and educational focused training segments. Many of the programs were viewed in group situations, such as

telecentre A telecentre is a public place where people can access computers, the Internet, and other digital technologies that enable them to gather information, create, learn, and communicate with others while they develop essential digital skills. Telecent ...

s and

TAFE Technical and further education or simply TAFE (), is the common name in English-speaking countries in Oceania for vocational education, as a subset of tertiary education. TAFE institutions provide a wide range of predominantly vocational cours ...

colleges. Some bodies that used Westlink were; * Department of Health * Rural Health Education Foundation * Telethon Institute * Office of Shared Services * Diocesan Pastoral Formation Centre The now defunct community television channel

Access 31 Access 31 (call sign ATW-31) was a free-to-air community television station based in Perth, Western Australia which operated between 1999 and 2008 before closing due to insolvency. The station had broadcast on UHF 31 from NEW's television mast at ...

from Perth was once simulcast on weekends. This simulcast ended when Access 31 closed down on 6 August 2008. On 13 November 2009, community broadcaster

Indigenous Community Television Indigenous Community Television (ICTV) is an Australian free-to-view digital television channel on the Viewer Access Satellite Television service. It broadcasts television programs produced by, and for, Indigenous Australians in remote communit ...

entered into an agreement with Westlink to allow them access to the then-

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 ...

channel on weekends. The agreement ceased on 18 April 2013, when ICTV officially launched their own dedicated channel on the VAST service.

Availability

Westlink was formerly available on the Viewer Access Satellite Television service on

virtual channel In most telecommunications organizations, a virtual channel is a method of remapping the ''program number'' as used in H.222 Program Association Tables and Program Mapping Tables to a channel number that can be entered via digits on a receiver's ...

602, and could be accessed by all viewers nationally. The channel was previously available on the

satellite service, but was migrated to VAST in April 2013. Analogue terrestrial transmissions were also broadcast in Albany and Bunbury. Approximately 25% of all free-to-view satellite users in Western Australia watched Westlink. The Goldfields-Esperance region had the most viewers, with approximately 6.1% out of a total 11.8% satellite households report viewing the service.

Identity

Westlink often played a loop of still scenic photographs and information slides in between scheduled programs throughout the day due to the large gaps between programming.

References

External links

Official Website
(archived)
TelInfo case study on Government initiated works
{{Channel 31 , state=expanded Television stations in Western Australia English-language television stations in Australia Defunct television channels in Australia Television channels and stations established in 1992 Television channels and stations disestablished in 2017

Programming

Availability

Identity

See also

References

External links