Today, Adelaide’s Channel 44 and Melbourne’s Channel 31 celebrated the future of Australian community television with the launch of the CTV+ app. As the first broadcast TV streaming service to feature 100% Australian made and produced content, the CTV+ app expands on Channel 44 and 31’s free-to-air channels to cement community TV’s future in the Australian media landscape.
The CTV+ app enters the streaming service arena with a well-established audience base, with 1 in 5 Adelaideans and 1 in 10 Melburnians currently engaging with community television per month (2022). With Channel 31 alone seeing a 1.2 million viewers over the 2021/22 summer period (Dec-Feb 2022), audience data highlights the steady demand for hyper-local and community relevant content across the two state’s capitals.
Boasting an impressive 28-year history that has seen over 150,000 individual Australian-made programs air across both stations, Channels 44 and 31 have long held an important role in the Australian media landscape. Not only will the CTV+ platform continue to herald Australian made, community relevant content; it will expand the stations’ role in the growth of up-and-coming talent.
Channel 44 General Manager Lauren Hillman said, “We are incredibly excited to be launching the first national community TV app CTV+ in partnership with C31 in Melbourne. This new broadcast video-on-demand platform will allow our audiences to view hyper-local content anywhere, at any time. Despite the challenges we have faced over the past few years, community TV stations in Adelaide and Melbourne continue to produce high-quality, uniquely local and culturally diverse content which has cemented us as a vital part of the Australian media sector. The CTV+ app will expand our reach beyond metro Adelaide to engage new audiences and program makers in regional SA and interstate.”
With over 80 programs currently available, and with over 100 slated for the platform’s smart TV app launch in early 2023, there is sure to be something for even the most diverse viewing preferences on the CTV+ app. Viewers can tune in to stay informed on current indigenous affairs with Mob Talks or pick up some handy furniture making tips with Woodworking Masterclass. Audiences will be inspired to ‘live life to the max’ with the zingy Over 50, So What! and Move It or Lose It programs and will be immersed in the tantalising cuisines of Italy with Regional Italian Cuisine. With over 1,000 episodes and 25,000 minutes of content available on the platform, CTV+ provides unique and curated programming catered to the diverse interests of viewers.
Marion Pilowsky, Executive Producer of CTV+’s Recipe for Love said, “For Australian community TV, CTV+ represents a huge leap forward in engaging new audiences. CTV+ will allow Channel 44 and 31’s legacy of showcasing and nurturing the work of emerging Australian creatives to live on. Recipe For Love was a vital career pathway for the film students and volunteers who worked so hard on the production, and we are delighted for them, and us, to be able to share Recipe For Love on CTV+.”
Ethan White, Executive Producer of CTV+’s Off The Couch with Ethan said, “My involvement with Channel 44 and community TV started when I was 15 years old, as a young program producer. I think the CTV+ app is an incredible initiative, ensuring that community TV can thrive on a new and emerging platform, reaching unique and engaged audiences. Community TV can continue to thrive as a platform where young and emerging media producers start their career, as well as providing a unique platform for communities to connect with each other, through the media, at a local level.”
Funded by C44 and C31 with the support of the Victorian Government (VicScreen, Creative Vic) and the Community Broadcasting Foundation, the CTV+ app has set impressive growth targets to ensure the platform remains connected and aligned to the local audiences it caters to. With the rise of international streaming services across the country (that are currently held to no obligation to show Australian content) the CTV+ platform will remain integral to ensuring that Australian programming continues to connect with local communities and foster up-and-coming talent for decades to come.
The CTV+ app launched nationally today (24 August) and is available through the App Store (Apple) and Google Play Store (Android).
