Access 31 off the air

Access 31, Perth’s community television station, has this afternoon gone off air.

The closure follows ongoing financial difficulties for the volunteer-run station.

Despite promises of government support and securing of a financial backer, today it closed its doors at 5pm.

TV Tonight understands a number of staff have been resigning in recent weeks, leaving the place dangerously under-manned.

A decision was made by the board on Monday, but it was only this afternoon that the decision was made public. Around the same time regular transmission ceased, replaced by a simple ‘thankyou’ message. Sources say none of the independent program producers, who comprise the bulk of production, were informed ahead of time.

CEO Andrew Brine led the station for 11 years but resigned a few weeks ago, only maintaining some consultancy to the board.

Perth architect Garry Baverstock, who was providing $500,000 along with $250,000 from Lotterywest, is understood to have now pulled out, effectively ruining any chance the station had of survival.

In many ways the closure of Access 31 symbolises the struggle of community television stations in Australia, all of whom have lobbied the Federal Government for financial assistance to migrate to digital television.

Additional Source: WA Today

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