BETTER ACCESS TO TV SERVICES IN NSW AND VICTORIA

25 July 2004
90/04

More than 1,286 Australian households in New South Wales and Victoria will get new access to television services under the latest instalment of the Howard Government's Television Black Spots Program.

This round's spending of $450,000 will fund the establishment of 15 new television services in the two States.

The funding will go towards equipment, installation and site establishment costs, licence fees and technical survey costs to assist households in black spot affected areas.

The $35 million Television Black Spots Program forms part of the $120 million Television Fund established with proceeds from the sale of the second tranche of Telstra.

It reflects the Howard Government's ongoing commitment to ensuring better access to television services by all Australians.

The communities receiving new access to television services include:

• NSW - Megalong Valley ($150,000 to establish ABC, SBS, TEN, TCN, ATN)
• VIC   - Forrest ($150,000 to establish ABC, SBS, BCV, WIN, Prime)
            - Wye River ($150,000 to establish ABC, SBS, TEN, WIN, Prime)

The Television Black Spots Program has so far provided more than $4.5 million to replace obsolete equipment at 182 retransmission sites.

With this round of funding, more than $21.9 million will have been provided for 836 new services in 243 black spot areas covering approximately 64,743 households across Australia.

A further six communities have been offered funding under the New Services component of the program and are submitting fully costed proposals to establish television services at new retransmission sites.

More information about the Television Black Spots Program is available from the Broadcasting home page at www.dcita.gov.au

Media Contact: Carina Tan-Van Baren (02) 6277 7480 or 0439 425 373