Labor’s digital TV plan to black out local television
30th January, 2009
Local communities which rely on television broadcasts from a ‘black spot’ transmission tower will lose access to local television content under the Labor Government’s digital TV plan, Federal Member for Wide Bay and Leader of The Nationals Warren Truss has warned.“Labor’s analog switch off plan will leave thousands of households and businesses without access to local news, local weather, local community service announcements and local advertising,” Mr Truss said.
Under Labor’s plan, people living in the footprint of a ‘black spot’ transmission tower will be offered a subsidized satellite dish as their analog signal is turned off. Instead of simply converting the towers to digital, Labor will close them down and beam capital city TV — often from interstate into their communities by satellite.
“People living in ‘black spot’ areas will no longer see their local news and their local emergency community service bulletins will be lost. Local businesses will lose their target audience as television advertisements from other parts of Australia are beamed to their customers.
“People in ‘black spot’ areas who go to tune into their local news service will be astounded when the first stories of the day are focused on the latest implosion in the New South Wales Labor Government, Sydney’s horrific traffic congestion or further failings in its public transport systems.
“Imagine how Sydney or Canberra would react if they turned on their television to watch the news and they received broadcasts about local events on the Sunshine Coast, Bundaberg, or Alice Springs.
“Different time zones will mean people relying on satellite transmissions will not receive their regular television program during its normal time slot. This has significant implications for the viewing classification system which determines the programs that can be seen on television at particular times.
“The National and Liberal parties understand that local content is important to local communities. When in Government we made funding available to construct transmission towers in regional and rural areas where television broadcasts could not be received,” Mr Truss said.
“It is totally unacceptable that the Labor Government will not upgrade these black spot transmission towers to digital signal.
“Labor’s analog switch off plan is another demonstration of how out of touch the Labor Government is with rural and regional Australia.”
