West TV (WTV, call-sign CTW32) was a free-to-air

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 ...

station that began broadcasting in standard-definition digital format on logical channel 44 in

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

, Western Australia at 10 am on 10 April 2010.https://www.facebook.com/wtvperth In February 2020 West TV ceased broadcasting on free-to-air television due to financial difficulties, but will continue with a presence on social media and

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

History

The station was awarded a two-year trial licence by the

Australian Communications and Media Authority The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) is an Australian government statutory authority within the Communications portfolio. ACMA was formed on 1 July 2005 with the merger of the Australian Broadcasting Authority and the Austr ...

after the closure of previous Perth community station licence holder

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 ...

in 2008 followed by an apparatus licence at the end of April 2009. On 4 November 2009 Communications Minister

Stephen Conroy Stephen Michael Conroy (born 18 January 1963) is an Australian former politician who was an Australian Labor Party member of the Senate from 1996 to 2016, representing the state of Victoria. He served as a minister in the Rudd and Gillard gov ...

approved a digital TV only licence which allows West TV to broadcast with other

stations which are planning to simulcast their services until the switch to digital-only television in capital cities by 2014. On 1 April 2010, the first video test was performed, with a testcard and then a promotional video loop going to air. 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, announced an extension of the deadline to 31 December 2016. The deadline was further extended twice at the last minute by Minister for Communications Mitch Fifield, first to 30 June 2017, and later to 31 December 2017. Fifield made an additional extension to 30 June 2018 as part of the government's deal with the

Nick Xenophon Team Centre Alliance, formerly known as the Nick Xenophon Team (NXT), is a centrist political party in Australia based in the state of South Australia. It currently has one representative in the Parliament, Rebekha Sharkie in the House of Represent ...

to garner support for large-scale media reforms in the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

, while a further extension, announced on 1 June 2018, gave broadcasters an additional two years through 30 June 2020. WTV, like other community television stations, later began streaming its channel live on their website, which allowed access to viewers outside of its traditional broadcast area. On 20 February 2020 the station announced that it was forced to cease broadcasting on free-to-air television due to financial difficulties. The station will continue to engage with viewers and the community through social media and YouTube however. A

GoFundMe GoFundMe is an American for-profit crowdfunding platform that allows people to raise money for events ranging from life events such as celebrations and graduations to challenging circumstances like accidents and illnesses. From 2010 to the b ...

campaign was also launched to try and raise $30,000 for facilities, equipment and administration costs.

Programming

West TV featured a broad range of programs broadcast around the clock, seven days a week. The programming reflected the diversity and needs of the Perth community and included documentaries, films, sport, music, education, religion, multicultural, entertainment, leisure and lifestyle programs. While the focus is on WA-based programming, some programs are sourced from interstate community channels and from other professional programme makers world-wide. Local programming included the entertainment show ''Friday Night Live'' and current affairs program ''Undercurrent''. West TV also broadcast classic movies and television shows and also live programming and news bulletins from

Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle (; "German Wave" in English), abbreviated to DW, is a German public, state-owned international broadcaster funded by the German federal tax budget. The service is available in 32 languages. DW's satellite television service con ...

Al Jazeera English Al Jazeera English (AJE; ar, الجزيرة‎, translit=al-jazīrah, , literally "The Peninsula", referring to the Qatar Peninsula) is an international 24-hour English-language news channel owned by the Al Jazeera Media Network, which is own ...

, RT World News. West TV was given the broadcast rights to the world exclusive concert for UK superstar Sir

Cliff Richard Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is an Indian-born British musican, singer, producer, entrepreneur and philanthropist who holds both British and Barbadian citizenship. He has total sales of over 21.5 million s ...

The Shadows The Shadows (originally known as the Drifters) were an English instrumental rock group, who dominated the British popular music charts in the late 1950s and early 1960s, in the pre- Beatles era. They served as the backing band for Cliff Richard ...

; the concert was screened in June 2010. West TV also produced local

outside broadcast Outside broadcasting (OB) is the electronic field production (EFP) of television or radio programmes (typically to cover television news and sports television events) from a mobile remote broadcast television studio. Professional video camera ...

s such as the

Tom Hoad Cup The Tom Hoad Cup was an annual four-day international water polo event, staged in Perth, Western Australia Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Austr ...

VIII international water polo tournament which was held in Melville.

References

External links

WTV's HomepageWTV's Facebook Page
{{DEFAULTSORT:West Tv Australian community television Television stations in Perth, Western Australia Television channels and stations established in 2010 English-language television stations in Australia Defunct Australian television channels Television channels and stations disestablished in 2020 2010 establishments in Australia 2020 disestablishments in Australia

History

Programming

See also

References

External links