Simon Tayler, Sydney
Sydney's community TV channel, Channel 31, will remain on air for now, after a win in the courtroom for the many supporters of the station's current broadcasters.
On March 18, the Australian Broadcasting Authority announced its decision not to award the community broadcasting licence to Community TV Sydney (CTS), and instead awarded it to a rival consortium, TV Sydney.
Community TV Sydney (CTS) has been managing Channel 31 for 11 years, and has provided continual broadcast in that time. TV Sydney, however, has said that it won't be ready to begin broadcasting until at least the beginning of 2005.
CTS has launched a legal campaign to maintain control of the channel and ensure that it continues broadcasting. On March 19, CTS won a temporary court injunction to stay on the air, and on March 25 launched a case in the Federal Court. CTS is asking that the court order a review of the decision by the ABA.
The court injunction has been extended until the court case ends. Even if CTS loses the case, the injunction is likely to be extended for several months in order to allow CTS to wind down its broadcasting.
The legal action has already brought to light a number of anomalies in the allocation. Only three of the ABA's seven members voted in favour of the TVS consortium. Of the remaining four, one voted against, one was absent, and two did not cast votes.
In parallel with the legal struggle, CTS has been mobilising its considerable public support. On March 19, the ABA' phones were flooded with callers, angry at the impending close of transmission.
On March 26, 400 people gathered outside the Sydney offices of the ABA to protest the decision. The rally was addressed by speakers from Sydney's Italian, Maltese, Macedonian, Iranian, Arabic, Vietnamese, Armenian, Turkish, Serbian, Croatian, Spanish and Latin American communities, as well Anna Samson from the Stop the War Coalition, Raul Bassi from the Socialist Alliance, Palestinian activist Rihab Charida, and John Reynolds from Actively Radical TV.
Meanwhile, hundreds of supporters who couldn't make the rally registered their protest by jamming the ABA's phone lines with protest calls and emails.
The ABA complained to the Federal Court about the constant phone calls, but Justice Ronald Sackville dismissed their complaint. He said that such a response was only to be expected, when the channel's audience was given only a day's notice of the end of transmission.
From 91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳ Weekly, March 31, 2004.
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