RMITV

Last updated

RMITV
Type Community Television
Country
Australia
Availability C31, TVS, C44, 31 Digital, WTV
Founded1987
Headquarters RMIT University, Level 3, Building 12, Room 97, 402 Swanston Street, Melbourne, Victoria
Launch date
1987
Official website
 www.rmitv.org
Language English

RMITV is a not-for-profit, community access television production facility based at RMIT University City Campus in Melbourne, Australia. It is a full member of the Melbourne Community Television Consortium, [1] a not-for-profit consortium that operates the community access channel C31 which broadcasts throughout Melbourne and Geelong. [2]

Contents

About

RMITV is a student run media production house based within RMIT University, with the majority of its funding granted by RMIT University Student Union (RUSU). RMITV is dedicated to providing hands on television experience to students. RMITV also produces content to be broadcast, most commonly on C31 Melbourne and have helped many students find their way to careers in the television industry. Although based at RMIT University in Melbourne, they also work to provide opportunities to members of the local community wanting to get involved in television production. [3]

Designed by RMITV member Nic Mason [4] in the early 2000s, the "R" and "M" in RMITV's logo are based on the series of classification marks from the OFLC used to designate "Restricted" and "Mature" broadcast content and the "I" and "TV" are based on the 'General' (G) and 'Parental Guidance' (PG) classification marks but making use of different letters and antennas on the TV to signify television [5]

History

RMITV is one of the oldest community television organisations in Australia, having been involved in lobbying the government for community access to the television spectrum. It transmitted its first test broadcast in 1987.

Early on RMITV struggled with licences for television spectrum. After originally lobbying for a public licence, similar to those seen in the American public television sector, RMITV was knocked back as public licences are not available in Australia. They were then granted a licence to broadcast to private audiences in a 10 km radius of the RMIT City Campus. The license was granted on the 09/08/1987. A week after a Channel 10 news report by Mal Walden about RMITV's upcoming open day 1987 broadcast the licence was cancelled.

The first licence was a General Licence Class D (Section 24). The Licence number was 211744/2. The callsign was VH3BVK.

RMITV was also responsible for broadcasting ETV, a closed-circuit television system operated at the RMIT Campus in previous years.

The government encouraged Melbourne's many aspirant community television broadcasters to form an umbrella organisation to apply for a broadcasting license, and so RMITV became a founding member of the Melbourne Community Television Consortium; the license holder for Melbourne's Channel 31.

RMITV has a long history of successful producers and practitioners moving into professional employment within the Australian television industry. Most notable alumni include: Waleed Aly (The Project), Rove McManus (Roving Enterprises), Hamish and Andy (Fox FM), Shona Devlin (JTV – Triple J), Tommy Little ( This Week Live ), Dave Thornton ( This Week Live ), Peter Helliar and many more. RMITV has also had many crew members go on to work at the ABC, Network 10, Videoworks and Staging Connections.

RMITV's Productions are not only limited to C31, many of RMITV's productions air on community stations all around Australia. For example, Live on Bowen (2012–2015) which were broadcast on C31, Face Television - Sky Channel 083 (New Zealand), WTV (Perth) and 31 Digital (South East Queensland), [6] The Inquiry (2009-2010), [7] In Pit Lane (1998–present) and 31 Questions (2012–2014). [8]

Throughout its time RMITV has produced some of the most well known programs on Australian community television, including: The Loft Live , Under Melbourne Tonight , Chartbusting 80's , Raucous , Dawns Crack , PLUCK , Studio A , The Leak and countless outside broadcasts.

Mid-2015 spawned a webseries collaboration between RMITV and Catalyst , RMIT's Student Magazine, entitled "Politics at the Belleville". Based on the podcast "Politics on the Couch" the program was hosted by the same talent and was released every Friday afternoon.

Internal structure

RMITV is an RMIT Student Union department, with close ties to the not-for-profit incorporated organisation, Student Community Television Inc.. For most operational purposes, both RMITV and Student Community Television Inc. share a common Board of Directors, and management team.

The group employs five part-time staff members to look after the organisation and membership- a General Manager, Marketing Manager, Content Manager, Technical Manager and Training Manager. A large number of others look after the management of the organisation in volunteer roles.

Additionally, Student Community Television Inc. is a paid full member of the MCTC which provides them with free airtime on C31 Melbourne and representation on the MCTC assembly.

See also

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<i>Under Melbourne Tonight</i>

Under Melbourne Tonight was a weekly live variety hour television program produced by RMITV that broadcast on C31 Melbourne. Reaching a weekly viewership of 55,000 people each week, the show was reviewed in The Age's Green Guide by Jim Schembri on 22 December 1994 as "Sometimes funnier than Letterman". Under Melbourne Tonight was hosted by Stephen Hall and Vin "Rastas" Hedger and featured regular segments with 3RRR's Tony Biggs, Merrick and Rosso's Merrick Watts and Tim Ross, Corinne Grant, Peter Helliar and many more. The show included segments ranging from live music, stand up comedy, movie reviews, music reviews, video game reviews, sports, news, current affairs, science and sketches. In 1998 the show was rebooted as Under Melbourne Tonight Presents...... What's Goin' On There? and Whose Shout at the Stumpy Arms in 1999.

<i>Whats Goin On There?</i>

What's Goin' On There? was a weekly live variety hour television program produced by RMITV that broadcast on C31 Melbourne. The show was a reboot of Under Melbourne Tonight but with quiz show elements. The show featured a combination of theatre sports, live bands, topical quizzes and sitcom sketches. The regular cast included Stephen Hall, Vin "Rastas" Hedger, Tony Biggs, Corrine Grant, Bernie Carr and Bambii Lush as the scorer for the quizzes. Special guests included Alan Brough, Rove McManus, Wil Anderson, Adam Richard, Dave Hughes, Dave O'Neil, Lawrence Mooney, Peter Helliar. The second reboot of Under Melbourne Tonight was called Whose Shout and aired in 1999.

<i>The Loft Live</i>

The Loft Live was a weekly live variety hour television program produced by RMITV that broadcast on C31 Melbourne. The cast included Rove McManus (1997-1999), Scott Brennan, Peter Helliar, Adam Richard, Myf Warhurst, Ged Wood, Bert Kennedy, Kim Hope, Matilda Donaldson, Bernie Carr and special reporters. Like its predecessor Under Melbourne Tonight, The Loft Live provided a platform for up and coming talent airtime and gained a following between 50,000-100,000 viewers a week.

References

  1. ↑ "Melbourne Community Television Consortium - MCTC". Mctcltd.org.au. Retrieved 21 March 2019.
  2. ↑ "About". C31.org.au. Retrieved 21 March 2019.
  3. ↑ "RMITV About Page". Rmitv.org. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
  4. ↑ "NicMason.com - Portfolio". Nicmason.com. Retrieved 21 March 2019.
  5. ↑ "Imgur". Imgur.com. Retrieved 21 March 2019.
  6. ↑ "Live On Bowen Official Site". Liveonbowen.com. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
  7. ↑ "TV Guide TVS Sydney (guidetv.com.au)". Guidetv.com.au. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
  8. ↑ "Indiegogo Fundraising Project -31 Questions Season 2". Indiegogo.com. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
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