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Channel 31 Melbourne is a non-profit community Television station in Melbourne , Victoria , Australia . Its signal is transmitted from Mt. Dandenong , reaching much of the Greater Melbourne area, and parts of Geelong on free-to-air television. The station is also available on Neighbourhood Cable in Geelong. HISTORY The station began broadcasting officially on 6 October 1994. The Australian Broadcasting Authority had granted MCTC with a temporary open-narrowcast license on 5 March 1993. The framework of Community Television in Australia can be traced back to 1992, when the Government asked the ABA to conduct a trial of community television using the vacant sixth television channel ( Channel 31 ). On July 30, 2004, the Australian Broadcasting Authority granted the station a full-time community broadcasting license. FUNDING Channel 31 is primarily funded through sponsorship, grants, sale of airtime and member donations. The station does not receive any regular Government funding. The annual revenue of C31 is approximately (AUD) $2 million per year. For comparison, the Nine Network, Australia's leading commercial station, has $907 million annual revenue. VIEWERSHIP The station claims that "1.3 million Melburnians tune in each month" This figure is supplied by the ratings company OzTam . Individual programs can have ratings of up to 60,000 to 70,000 viewers. TRANSMISSION QUALITY C31's signal is broadcast in UHF only and at a lower power than Melbourne's other television stations (it is, for example, one quarter of SBS 's output power). Nevertheless, viewers with good line-of-sight to the main transmitter on Mt Dandenong can receive a usable signal from as far away as Geelong , Castlemaine and Moe . There is also a translator transmitter on the Como building in South Yarra to provide in-fill for the St Kilda area; this operates on UHF 64. TUNING Most TV sets are capable of receiving C31, although it is often not included in the factory settings. However, using a TV's automatic tuning function can tune the station in if it is able to be received. Often a signal amplifier attached to the antenna can provide a much better C31 reception. Unlike the other free-to-air stations, C31 is not yet broadcasting digitally. However, government reviews are underway to find a way to facilitate this. Fortunately for C31, many people have yet to convert to digital only television (in a recent government report, it was noted that only 13% of Australians had gone digital.) PROGRAMMING Channel 31 broadcasts a vast array of locally-produced content including news, sport, arts, and entertainment programmes. The station also features a substantial amount of local multicultural programming, celebrating Melbourne's ethnic diversity. Fishcam Fishcam is arguably Channel 31's best-known programme. It is the live broadcast of a fish tank located in the station's studios, set to music by independent artists . It was originally shown in place of a Test Pattern when the station had no programming available for broadcast. After it was discovered that Fishcam was reasonably popular, Fishcam became a scheduled show and is now listed in the TV guide. Channel 31 has boasted that Fishcam is "very popular" and is so widely recognized in the Melbourne community that "many people know Channel 31 as 'the fish station'." The station has previously made VHS tapes of Fishcam available for purchase. The Shambles with Sos, Valvo & Lynchy Debuting in 2004, The Shambles has quickly become one of C31's most popular programs. This sketch comedy show starring Sos, Valvo & Lynchy was awarded BEST DIRECTOR and BEST COMEDY SHOW at the 2005 Community Tv Antenna Awards . No Limits No Limits is a talk show about living with disability. It is a high-profile and popular show. Its 'politically-correct' content gives support to C31's raison d'etre. Chartbusting '80s Since 2000, one of C31's most popular and resource-intensive studio shows. Famous Programmes/Personalities
Many comedians and performing artists have built up on-camera experience at C31 as guests of shows before moving to mainstream television, including Adam Hills , Mach Pelican and others. Sport C31 cover local Soccer on the Victorian Soccer Show including coverage of the Victorian Premier League . In Pit Lane is C31s weekly motor sports program that has run for 11 years. EXTERNAL LINKS
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